Essays on Literary Genres

3307

Man and The Natural World

1 page / 1202 words

Byron's "The Prisoner of Chillon"[1], a dramatic monologue narrated by a prisoner, Francois de Bonnivard, was written immediately after the poet's famous sailing expedition on Lake Geneva with Percy Shelley. When visiting the thirteenth-century Castle of Chillon, Byron must have heard of and felt a...

Poetry

3308

Attraction and Desire in Byron's "She Walks in Beauty"

1 page / 810 words

Lord Byron’s ‘She Walks in Beauty’ was inspired by Mrs Wilmot, his cousin, Robert Wilmot’s wife. Byron’s glimpse of Mrs Wilmot, as well as the environment that surrounded them, contributed to the images of darkness in ‘She Walks in Beauty,’ from the mourning clothes she...

Poetry

3309

The Theme of Redemption in Manfred by Lord Byron

1 page / 892 words

Manfred, in the dramatic poem of the same name, written by Lord Byron, is a character that possesses many flaws. As Manfred mourns the loss of his beloved sister, it is revealed that their incestuous relationship was deemed illegal by and disgusted their society. As...

Poetry

3310

Battle Between Good and Evil in The Destruction of Semnacherib

1 page / 948 words

In The Destruction of Semnacherib, Byron uses different types of imagery to illustrate contradictory feelings about victory in war. In this poem, the complete demolition of the Assyrian people is described in both a horrific and peaceful way, demonstrating how success in war is always...

Poetry

3311

Rationality to Economic and Social Problems

1 page / 2486 words

Humanity constantly seeks change to improve itself, be it through economic restructuring, political reforms, or educational agendas. When a collection of these changes towards progress mesh nicely together, while possessing a common, encompassing goal, an author is able to construct his or her version of...

Fantastic

3312

Love and Family in Little Women

1 page / 1992 words

According to Nina Baym, the heroine of woman’s fiction “brings into being a new kind of family life, organized around love rather than money. Money subsides into its adjunct function of ensuring domestic comfort” (39-40). Little Women is the epitome of this idea, and the...

Little Women Novel

3313

Weakness Succumbs Authority and The Expectations

1 page / 2175 words

Martin Amis’ London Fields depicts a non-traditional murder story which Samson Young, the narrator, seeks to transcribe. On a quest to find her murderer as part of a suicidal death wish, Nicola Six forms relationships with Keith Talent and Guy Clinch, two candidates she believes...

Novel

3314

Life in The West World: Lonesome Dove by Larry Mcmartry

1 page / 2164 words

Most novelists do not kill off half of the characters in their book to prove a point, but this one does. The tragic, bloody deaths in the novel only enforce the fact that the West was wild and could not be conquered by any one...

Character Novel Western Culture

3315

The Dangers of Succumbing to Societal Roles in Alice Munro's Short Stories

1 page / 1778 words

The myth of “happily ever after” has pervaded Western culture for centuries. Nearly all of our fairy tales and bedtime stories conclude with the hero and his beautiful bride riding off into the sunset. Because of these stories, the idea that marriage is the final...

Short Story

3316

Growing Up and Growing Away: Linda Pastan’s "To a Daughter Leaving Home"

1 page / 843 words

Linda Pastan’s 1988 poem, “To a Daughter Leaving Home”, concerns the idea of children growing up and leaving, whether it be for college or simply riding a bike for the first time. The speaker of the poem starts out with a nostalgic feel, addressing the...

Poetry

3317

In Life Someone Needs Everyone to Survive

1 page / 811 words

Sometimes a stranger offers to help, sometimes a person is forced to ask a stranger, but when the car won’t start, odds are two strangers are going to meet. Linda Pastan’s 1984 poem, “Jump Cabling,” reveals how the simple act of jump-starting a car may...

Poetry

3318

The River and The Source

1 page / 1400 words

Linda Pastan’s To a Daughter Leaving home and Margaret Atwood’s Death of a Young Son by Drowning both apply imagery and symbolism to exemplify the difficulties of being a parent. These poems describe the moments and instances that no parent wants to consider. They confirm...

Poetry

3319

Good Relationship with One Another

1 page / 1525 words

Race played a huge role in determining a relationship with the police in London after the mass migration of non-caucasian individuals. The poem ‘Sonny’s Lettah’ by Linton Kwesi Johnson provides a clear representation of how the black race was treated on the streets, and their...

Poetry

3320

Living Poor Life Leads to Evils Deeds to Survive

1 page / 1513 words

In Gloria Naylor’s Linden Hills, the vignette of Ruth and Norman’s lives on Wayne Avenue serves as a stark contrast to the tales of the inhabitants dwelling in the adjacent, more affluent neighborhood of Linden Hills. Naylor uses this couple to illustrate that, despite their...

Novel

3321

Need for Intervention from a Greater Power

1 page / 1357 words

The Oresteia opens with a plea from a watchman: “I ask the gods for release from this misery” (3). This petition reveals the plight of many Aeschylus’ characters. The curse on the house of Atreus is one of corruption, and it is a curse that...

Literature Review Murder Tragedy

3322

Lack of Justice Leading to an Outdated Way of Revenge

1 page / 820 words

In the Oresteia, Aeschylus presents his three books (“Agamemnon”, “The Libation Bearers”, and “The Furies”) so that the narrative progresses from madness and lack of justice in “Agamemnon”, where Clytemnestra receives no penalty for her homicide, to Athena’s establishment of a justice system so that...

Justice Revenge Tragedy

3323

Media and Reality in Libra by Don Dedillo

1 page / 3723 words

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while touring downtown Dallas. The death of the president and the subsequent arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald marked the beginning of a national frenzy for information. The public wanted to know more: more about Kennedy’s...

Novel

3324

Analysis of Walt Whitman's "Spontaneous Me" as a Natural Poem

1 page / 1995 words

Walt Whitman’s “Spontaneous Me” (Norton 2151-2152) crystallizes his attempt to create poems that appear natural, impulsive and untamed. The natural effect is a carefully crafted technique that appears throughout his writing, hinting at a philosophy of life while seeming to simply offer observation. As in...

Poetry Walt Whitman

3325

Love as a Fundamental Principle for Humanity

1 page / 786 words

Love is one of the fundamental principles of humanity. It is what ties humans together as a people, and is vital to society. As such, it has influenced the world in countless ways, just one of which being through literature. Les Miserables tells the tale...

Novel