American Literature

On the outset, Cheever depicts everyday characters engaged in ordinary feats, but his art lies in his extraordinary treatment of his subjects, through vivid images and spectacular storylines. His short story The Swimmer is an example of this treatment, as it is about Neddy, a middle-aged suburban dweller, who decides to swim his way back home one fine afternoon through a series of pools. His unsettling experiences at each private pool and a public one make him realize that this is not the kind of...

During the 17th century the people were preoccupied with the belief that the world has a grand design and behind it is a designer who knows and sees all things. This belief was the mechanistic world view in which the designer being pertained to is God. God is the omniscient being, supreme in intellect as well as other aspects. Thus, everything that takes place has a reason and will ultimately lead to something of great lengths. While this theme was popular  in the said era, it has been found...

Into the wild by John Kraukauer is an interesting story that looks through the western American from the eye of an adventurer who chose to forsake both his family and an assured future. Kraukauer, in this masterpiece, makes an enlightening picture which symbolizes the greedy characteristic of man through obsession. Man in nature therefore sums up the dominant thematic aspect of Into the wild. Chris McCandless deeply believes that his important joy in life originates from his close association with...

Introduction Benjamin Franklin was born on 17th January, 1706 in America. He was a successful man, hardworking and a focused man. He was a publisher, printer, politician and a smart diplomat. Franklin was the tenth son of a Massachusetts soap and candle maker (Brux, pp 10). Largely self-taught, Franklin displayed an intellectual ability, readily apparent to those around him, that would earn him an international reputation in various fields. According to Franklin (pp 24), he began his career as a...

Published on October 2, 1838, Hans Christian Andersens The Wild Swans quickly made its way to childrens hearts and fairytale books, and continues to be a well-loved story even by todays children. Its plot rings with the familiarity of Europes stereotype in the 1800s that of a selfless, innocent female protagonist and an aggressive, powerful male romantic interest, normally acting as the rescuer and hero. In this story, the protagonist is a fifteen-year-old princess named Elisa, and the hero is a...

Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr were leaders, who fought for rights of African American people in different paths.  They were against racism. Malcolm X Separatism and militancy contrasted with non violent tactics of Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X was born on May 19th 1925 in Omaha. He was Black Muslim pilgrim, who determined to create an organization for blacks regardless of their religion. In his book The Auto biography of Malcolm X particularly in chapter 4, he describes about his...

Literature the enlightenment, romanticism, realism, modernism, and postmodernism. Where does one begin To some, those words can be as scary as the word computer is to others. This essay is designed to help you become a great literary interpreter. Getting the motivation is three fourths of the battle to getting into the heads of the artists. To begin, an outline of some of the literary movements has been provided. The enlightenment was also called the Age of Reason. It spanned from 1660-1770. The...

Foreword This research paper provides an analysis of the power of storytelling of two stories  The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich and Ghost Singer by Anna Lee Walters  in relation to the issues of identity. Thesis The storytelling of the Native Americans is much diversified when talking about its beliefs, language, and cultural patterns, but it has one common feature  the power of storytelling makes a strong emphasis on physical and spiritual harmony between humanity and nature...

The homosexualtransgendertransvestite culture has been a prominent issues or theme in various fields, such as psychology, sociology, and even arts and entertainment wherein the said culture is discussed and portrayed in numerous films and pieces of literature. Before we further explore the homosexualtransgendertransvestite culture, we will seek to define each concept in order to allow the readers to understand the content of succeeding discussions. Based on scholarly studies, homosexuality may...

The two main characters in Iliad, Hektor and Achilles, represents the values and the issues of the two warring nations. Both characters seem to have sealed their fates and death with the army by being military men primarily before their household duties, of being a husband and father for Hektor and of being a son for Achilles. They strive for peace although they have been burdened with leading the armies in war. But have they really been fighting for the glory of their countries or for themselves...

Joseph ONeills Netherland tackled a lot of issues both in the macro and micro level using the character of Hans van den Broek. The story took place at the early part of the century somewhere after the 911 bombings. It was narrated that Hans was born in Ireland but was raised in Netherlands, who eventually moved to New York. The questions and problems of the protagonist started to materialize after the 911 bombings, and that was where the story took off. For us to better understand the importance...

Nationalism requires a sense of identity as it supplements the characteristics that allows the individuals creation of a self based on his conception of the cultural link between his group and its land. In relation to this, the most important facet of national identity is the description of a common national experience. If such is the case, it follows that the creation and existence of a national identity involves the political act of enabling the validation of a particular account of a nations...

The main characters in the three works, Othello, Tattoo, and Love Calls Us to the Things of the World, are vain and self-obsessed people.  The say they love, but not in a spiritual way.  They love in the way you love pizza  its the best thing ever when youre eating it, then youre full and you dont think about it until you want it again.  As Wilburs title points out, this lust for things of the world, mistaken for love, is a great flaw of men, and is a main thread in all three...