Essays on Literary Genres

3915

Analyzing Windows as Metaphors in Broken April

3 pages / 1580 words

While windows are technically supposed to show a viewer the outer world, in Broken April they are used to give the reader a peek into the inner feelings of the main characters. When ‘Bessian put(s) his head close to the glass’ and ‘stay(s) a long...

Novel

3916

Sara Smolinsky’s Journey to Fulfillment in Bread Givers

5 pages / 2308 words

Anzia Yezierska’s Bread Givers is the story of Sara Smolinksy, a young Jewish girl, growing up in New York City in the early twentieth century. Even as a young girl, Sara rejects the Orthodox Jewish teachings of her father, a rabbi. She refuses to accept...

Character Novel

3917

Reb’s Positive Influence on Sara in Bread Givers

3 pages / 1332 words

In 1925, American author Anzia Yezierska wrote the book Bread Givers. The story follows a poor immigrant family living in the lower east side of 1920’s New York. Throughout the novel, the family’s four daughters are treated merely as wage-earners by a father (Reb Smolinsky)...

Novel

3918

Bread Givers: The Limits of The American Dream

3 pages / 1154 words

For many immigrants, coming to America was an opportunity to leave their home country in hopes of finding a better life in a new land. In this vein, Anna Yezierska writes about the struggles of an immigrant Jewish family living in New York’s Lower East...

American Dream Novel

3919

The Appropriation of Perrault’s "Bluebeard" in Carter’s "The Bloody Chamber" and "The Piano"

4 pages / 1749 words

The fairy tale of Bluebeard has fascinated writers, filmmakers, photographers, and artists throughout history and across national boundaries. Coming from the European oral tradition, the first, and most famous, written version is Charles Perrault’s La Barbe Bleue, published in 1697. Developing a tale of a...

Fairy Tale Piano The Bloody Chamber

3920

The Beautiful Ambiguity of Blankets

2 pages / 815 words

“The Beautiful Ambiguity of Blankets: Comics Representation and Religious Art”, written by the University of Florida’s Benjamin Stevens, provides a great deal of insight into Craig Thompson’s 2003 autobiographical graphic novel Blankets. Stevens’ analysis focuses on characteristics of the novel such as style, the search...

Novel

3921

Social Behavior in Saramago’s Blindness

5 pages / 2165 words

Jose Saramago’s Blindness depicts a world suddenly stricken by a blindness epidemic. As an inexplicable wave of blindness spreads, society fragments and people freely express an “animalistic” form of human nature in face of the increased pressure for survival. The characters’ responses to their blindness...

Literature Review Novel

3922

Proverbs and False Comfort in Blindness

3 pages / 1338 words

In Blindness, Jos? Saramago questions the morals innately present in human nature through characters who ignore or misuse the advice provided by sayings. By inserting old, vague, and contradictory proverbs, Saramago demonstrates that in bewildering times, sayings become a comfort rather than actual guidance. He...

Literature Review Novel

3923

Robert Frost and Ted Hughes: Journeys in "Out, Out," "Daffodils," and "Red"

2 pages / 1067 words

By embracing the concept of a journey, we frequently reach our destination with a greater understanding of ourselves and current surroundings. After scrutinizing the concept of journeys it has become self evident that our lives can be quite capricious so it is crucial to value...

Daffodils Poetry Robert Frost

3924

"Frederick Clegg is a Failed Man": Punishments in The Collector

2 pages / 782 words

John Fowles’ 1963 novel The Collector is a deeply disturbing, intensely psychological book based around the principles of beauty, power, control, and class. The story follows Fred Clegg through his capture and abuse of Miranda Grey, an attractive young art student from London. Fowles reveals...

Literature Review Novel Punishment

3925

Good Intentions Gone Wrong: The Connecting Factor of "Best Worst American"

4 pages / 1626 words

Across generations, language barriers, and cultures, there is one question that has stood the test of time: does the intent of our actions really matter if our actions have the impact of furthering the marginalization or oppression of those around us? Jamie Utt addresses this...

Science Fiction

3926

Love and Alcohol in Raymond Carver's Beginners

2 pages / 876 words

In Raymond Carver’s short story “Beginners,” the use of alcohol is the most apparent and important image and helps show the characters’ true feelings about their love life. Through the characters’ consumption of alcohol, we are able to see their eventual confusion and simplification of...

American Literature Poetry

3927

Dorothy Allison’s Creation of The Post-modern Appalachian Woman

3 pages / 1440 words

Dorothy Allison’s novel Bastard Out of Carolina tells the story of ‘white-trash’ girl Bone Boatwright and her “no-good, lazy, shiftless” family (3). The novel explores some of the most common myths and realities plaguing the Appalachian region such as poverty, incest, and domestic abuse. Specifically,...

Literature Review Novel

3928

The Art of Acting: Character and Social Class in Behind a Mask

2 pages / 1047 words

Louisa May Alcott’s novella “Behind a Mask” portrays a protagonist who uses her acting skills to move up in society from a governess to a lady of British aristocracy. An article written by Elizabeth Schewe titled, “Domestic Conspiracy: Class Conflict and Performance in Louisa May...

Novel

3929

George F. Babbitt and Women: a Vicious Cycle of Dissatisfaction

8 pages / 3423 words

In his book Babbitt (1922), Sinclair Lewis presents George F. Babbitt, a tormented man anchored in the Roaring Twenties. Firstly described as an active citizen who is pleased with his job, his Club and all the thriving technological developments of his time, the protagonist of...

American Culture Novel

3930

Dai Sijie’s Creation of Beauty

2 pages / 799 words

Beauty is a central theme in Dai Sijie’s novel Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, where it manifests in various forms through the characters, their surroundings, and the intricate literary techniques employed by the author. Sijie’s exploration of beauty is multifaceted, revealing the deep human...

Beauty Literature Review Novel

3931

Two-faced: Characterization in Bad Haircut

2 pages / 944 words

Tom Perrotta’s Bad Haircut is a collection of short stories about Buddy, a boy growing up in New Jersey in the 1970s. In these stories, Perrotta often introduces characters who bear false facades that do not resemble their true selves. Later on in the book,...

Literature Review Short Story

3932

Healing Humanity and Other Recipes

2 pages / 907 words

Pope Francis said, “He -Jesus- does not stand a safe distance and does not act by delegating, but places himself in direct contact with out contagion”. In this quote, Pope Francis notes how Jesus selflessly gets directly involved in the earthly turmoil. Many literary figures...

Fairy Tale

3933

Lorde and Master: Confrontation, Context, and Scholarship for "Power"

4 pages / 2000 words

In 1973, a 10-year-old African American boy named Clifford Glover was shot and killed by Thomas Shea, a policeman for the NYPD. In the days that followed, riots and protests tore through the surrounding area in Queens. Then, a year later, Shea became the first...

Poetry