The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Book review - 1 pages - Literature
Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep depicts Los Angeles at a time of great unrest. The atmosphere is that of mistrust, deception, selfishness and a slight hint of hedonism amongst some of those who dwell in the city. In stories, or situations taking place in such an environment, we usually find...
Commentary Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck - publié le 20/04/2009
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is known as one of the author's most powerful novels. Even though the story is completely imaginary, the plot takes place in a very precise historical and geographical context: 1930s California. Moreover, one of the main themes of the novel is humanity and...
Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes (1651), (Book II, Chapter XXI)
Text commentary - 2 pages - Politic philosophy
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) is one of the founding fathers of the modern political philosophy even though his writings have created controversy. He has been accused of legitimizing totalitarianism ; especially in his two main works Leviathan (1651) and De Cive (1642). However, his work cannot be...
An essay concerning Bloom's reading of the Republic
Essay - 5 pages - Philosophy
Philosopher and literary critic Allan Bloom (1968) writes that “The Republic is the true Apology of Socrates, for only in the Republic does he give an adequate treatment of the theme which was forced on him by Athens' accusation against him. That theme is the relationship of the philosopher...
Hobbes and the question of Legitimate Authority in the Leviathan: liberalism or fascism avant la lettre?
Book review - 3 pages - Politic philosophy
Hobbes contends that the human state of nature exists where every man is at war with every other man and in order to free ourselves from this state, we must relinquish all of our rights to one unified authority. The intention of this sovereign body is supposedly to serve the good of the people,...
Analyze of the sonnet ?to sleep' by J. Keats
Text commentary - 3 pages - Literature
One may get the impression that this poem is about pain and agony and troubles encountered throughout life, yet at the same time one expects a sonnet to possess the qualities of romance, adoration, and themes of love. Although this poem may appear to only deal with dark images about the...
Analyze of Socrates' Crito
Book review - 4 pages - Politic philosophy
The Crito strikes us as an oddly shocking story simply because Socrates, who was once portrayed as a loyalist to the gods, now argues the importance and essentiality of obedience to the laws of the state. It is natural to find The Crito surprising because Plato had described Socrates in The...
Fighting fire with fire
Tutorials/exercises - 4 pages - Linguistics & languages
The antebellum viewpoint on slavery remains controversial. Presaging the Civil War, a fierce political debate took place between the Southern defenders of slavery and the Northern abolitionists. The two sides argued over the political, economic, social, religious, biological, and racial...
The one sided battled between man and nature
Thesis - 4 pages - Literature
As long as the existence of literature, writers have sought to provide insight on the battle between man and nature. In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the unyielding power of nature and the dire consequences of man's desire to conquer nature, play out in this cautionary tale. Two examples that will...
De Lacey Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Book review - 6 pages - Literature
In a disconcertingly candid manner, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein offers its readers a sensible critique on the callous superficiality of human social interaction. Shelley imaginatively introduces a repugnant, yet kindhearted monster into the world of man, who is only to be received, and...
Science in action: Review
Book review - 5 pages - Literature
Latour suggests that the construction of facts and machines is a collective process. He argues that there is nothing inherent in a statement that makes it a fact; rather it is the future processes of others who accept it, support it, ignore it, challenge it, etc wherein the destiny of a statement...
Compare and contrast Rousseau's and Tocqueville's accounts of the civil function of religion in a democracy. Consider closely the respective merits of their case before offering your own assessment - publié le 16/04/2009
Essay - 4 pages - Politic philosophy
Rousseau and Tocqueville fundamentally agree that the civil function of religion is to strengthen the bond that exists between the people and the law. However, the two men differ in their views on how this bond should be strengthened. Rousseau argues in favor of a new, civil religion being...
Barack Obama's use of the indefinite article /a/
Thesis - 6 pages - Linguistics & languages
The purpose of my research project was to examine Barack Obama's use of and pronunciation of the indefinite article /a/ during his speeches for the 2008 presidential campaign. I examined this element because I wanted to find out if there was any correlation between Obama's use of the indefinite...
Catastrophe and image, international post-modern fiction
Thesis - 11 pages - Literature
I have found two common, linked problems under scrutiny in three short stories by non-American authors. The three stories are “And of Clay We Are Created” (Isabel Allende), “The Laugher” (Heinrich Böll), and “The Street-Sweeping Show” (Feng Jicai), and the problems...
Why has class conflict not occurred in the form expected by Marxist thinkers and why has history not developed in the way Marx predicted?
Thesis - 4 pages - Philosophy
Karl Marx (1818 - 83) was responsible for one of the first and most influential theories of class within the sociological discipline. For Marx, classes can be seen as basic social groups divided by their specific position within the division of labor, and distributed within society according to...
Divided We Fall:Gender, Androgyny, and the troubled union of Adam and Eve
Tutorials/exercises - 7 pages - Literature
The single most important question at the center of John Milton's Paradise Lost is the question of predestination. The poem hinges on the assertion that mankind has been created “sufficient to have stood, yet free to fall” (III.99); if we do not accept this assertion, and instead...
Rousseau argues the central importance of a social contract. Is this a satisfactory basis on which to ground political legitimacy?
Essay - 10 pages - Politic philosophy
In Le Contrat Social, attempting to "consider if, in political society, there can be any legitimate and sure principle of government" , Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) took up the problem of legitimacy which has remained a burning issue throughout history, especially when people talk about "the...
Rousseau: Discourse on the origin of inequality
Book review - 2 pages - Politic philosophy
From Plato to Hobbes, many philosophers established the fact that the human nature is bad. For instance, while Machiavelli asserted that sometimes the prince ought to be cruel and should use violence to ensure the salvation of the State, Hobbes declared that a society should be created and a...
Machiavelli- The Prince
Book review - 1 pages - Politic philosophy
Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) received a humanist education which emphasized the prevalence of public goods over private interests which rejected corruption, tyranny and the pursuit of glory. In The Prince (1513), dedicated to the Medici who re-assumed power in Florence, Machiavelli studied the...
Cicero, On the Republic
Book review - 2 pages - Politic philosophy
Marcus Tullus Cicero (106-43 B.C.) was a Roman politician and philosopher. He wrote De Republica in 51 BC while the Roman republic was experiencing a period of political turmoil. Caius Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus were competing each other for the leadership of Rome dividing the whole...
Compare the notion of sovereignty in Hobbes and Rousseau
Text commentary - 4 pages - Politic philosophy
As the study revolves around the notion of sovereignty, it is important to know what sovereignty is. Presenting the definition given by a dictionary might be of no use, but it could partially enlighten us of what we are discussing. Various dictionaries offer alternative definitions for...
Kristevan themes in "Sula" and "The Bluest Eye"
Thesis - 6 pages - Linguistics & languages
When Morrison describes her attempt to express black feminine subjectivity in The Bluest Eye, she claims that, “the problem, of course, was language”(211). According to Morrison, “ ‘civilized' languages debase humans”(Afterward, 216). Pauline, Pecola's mother, finds...
Masquerade in seductive fictions
Book review - 9 pages - Literature
In her Masquerade and Civilization, Terry Castle hypothesizes that the concept of “masquerade” is central to 18th century consciousness, and provides an intriguing insight into how the self was conceived of in “the age of disguise”(Castle, 5). Implicit in the idea of...
Ethics and faith in "Fear and Trembling"
Thesis - 8 pages - Literature
Soren Kierkegaard once wrote about himself, saying “Once I am dead, Fear and Trembling alone will be enough for an imperishable name as an author” (Kierkegaard's Papirer). Undoubtedly one of his most popular works, it is no surprise he could foresee the endless amount of philosophical...
Dorothy Day (Part III): Nonviolent resistance
Thesis - 5 pages - Literature
The Catholic Worker Movement founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin whose aim is to “live in accordance with the justice and charity of Jesus Christ.” As the name indicates, the Catholic Worker Movement was heavily influenced by Catholicism, yet not restricted to simple preaching of...
Machiavellian strategies in Koestler's "Darkness at Noon"
Book review - 6 pages - Literature
What would it be acceptable for a society to sacrifice in order to achieve a utopia? Does this utopia exist, and if so, is it even possible to achieve it? Is it possible to build paradise from concrete? Arthur Koestler, in his novel Darkness at Noon , demonstrates the impracticality of using...
Dual critique: "The American Scholar" and "The Poet"
Thesis - 6 pages - Literature
Emerson begins “The American Scholar” by declaring, “I accept the topic which not only usage, but the nature of our association, seem to prescribe to this day - the AMERICAN SCHOLAR” (53). These opening lines are incredibly specific; the atmosphere in which he finds himself...
Is Thomas More's "splendid few book?"
Book review - 4 pages - Literature
Some critics view Utopia as a program or manifesto where as some urge that the mistake lies with those readers who consider the book as "au grand sérieux". Indeed, how seriously should we take Utopia? In Lewis' point of view, the reader of Utopia is the victim of a joke: "Erasmus speaks of it...
The theme of the declining Big House in Bowen's The Last September - publié le 04/04/2009
Book review - 5 pages - Literature
'The Last September', Elizabeth Bowen's second novel, describes the Anglo-Irish life of the provincial aristocracy during the turbulent times of 1920, and deals directly with the crisis of being Anglo-Irish. In this particular context, Bowen makes a combination between social comedy and...
The role of Barthes and Foucault in either New Criticism, Russian Formalism or Structuralism
Essay - 4 pages - Literature
Structuralism defends the irreducibility of literary texts, which cannot be criticized through biographical or sociological context. In his essay, "The Death of the Author", Roland Barthes argues against incorporating the intentions and biographical context of an author in the interpretation of...
