Three English essays
Essay - 4 pages - Educational studies
Children's stories often evoke the importance of family for the happiness of children. It can be demonstrated through the presence of strong parental figures in the stories, but on the contrary, by showing the lack of love resulting from broken or absent families. In this case, it is common...
Jane Eyre - Franco Zeffirelli (1996) - The issue of adaptation
Artwork commentary - 18 pages - Film studies
Zeffirelli had to combine several, sometimes contradictory constraints: he had to update the text, to maintain a specific filmic transcription of the novel, and to negotiate a delicate balance between recognising the influence of the source text and the need for a specific creativity in...
A Lesson before dying - Ernest J. Gaines (1993) - Reader's response essay
Text commentary - 4 pages - Literature
'A Lesson Before Dying' is a touching novel created by Ernest J. Gaines, a remarkable African-American writer whose works illustrate the lives of the rural Southerners in the era of segregation. This novel is set in a small Louisiana town in the late 1940s where the topics...
Junky - William Seward Burroughs (1953) - Is Junky merely the story of the narrator's drug addiction?
Essay - 4 pages - Literature
Junky, the first novel of W. BURROUGHS, was published for the first time in 1953. It deals with the story of drug addiction, through one example: William LEE, the narrator. It is a major work relating the lifestyle of drug addicts during the 1950s. He employs a laconic tone, but he always...
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë (1847) - How important is time in the work of Charlotte Brontë?
Essay - 3 pages - Literature
The novel was published in 1847 under the male pseudonym of Currer Bell. The historical context is the Victorian era, during which the British Empire was at its height with possessions all over the world. The literary context of the work coincides with the beginning of the Romantic...
Bleak House - Charles Dickens (1852) - Examination of Dickens's Social Commentary on Poverty and the Class System
Text commentary - 3 pages - Sociology & social sciences
The dense, gloomy fog in the first scenes of this novel by Charles Dickens symbolizes more than just the physical weather; it stands as a profound metaphor for the dark and fog-shrouded Victorian era, with fog so thick one cannot see and no lodestar to follow. The use of such a gloomy...
The House of Mirth (Edith Wharto, 1905) and Passing (Nella Larsen, 1929) - Women identity issues in the early twentieth century
Essay - 3 pages - Literature
The House of Mirth (Edith Wharton) and Passing (Nella Larsen) are novels presenting female characters struggling to fit into the 20th century society. At the time, women were not very independent and had almost no means to earn a living. In The House of Mirth, Lily Bart's parents died...
Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger's (1951)
Book review - 5 pages - Literature
This novel is often considered to have been the bible of the postwar young, the story of Holden Caulfield, an upper-middle-class adolescent schoolboy just on the edge of losing his presocial and presexual innocence - which he is able to express, like Huckleberry Finn, in his own vivid...
Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus - Mary Shelley (1818)
Text commentary - 2 pages - Literature
The text studied is an abstract from the novel Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, written by Mary Shelley and published in 1818. Its genre is fantastic, or horror novel. It is sometimes considered to be a gothic novel.
Maggie, A Girl of the Streets - Stephen Crane - Maggie is impossible to weep over
Text commentary - 3 pages - Literature
Individuals are determined by heredity and their social category (which covers the place they live in and their standard of living). Maggie, the protagonist of Stephen Crane's novel Maggie, A Girl of the Streets published in 1896, is modelled, shaped, and ultimately determined by her...
Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus - Mary Shelley (1818) - How does Mary Shelley transition from the time Victor Frankenstein was very excited and joyful about his project, to realizing it was a foolish and horrific idea?
Tutorials/exercises - 2 pages - Linguistics & languages
Frankenstein is the most famous novel by Mary Shelley; it became a classic of literature and has been adapted many times since its creation. During her lifetime, Mary Shelley wrote around ten books, including poems and novels. Frankenstein is her second work, and also the most...
El Cuarto de Atrás - Carmen Martín Gaite (1978) - In what ways El Cuarto de Atrás could be thought to open up space for political dialogue? - Detailed Plan
Text commentary - 3 pages - Literature
As part of a course on "The battle of memory in the contemporary Spanish novel", the document comments on the novel El Cuarto de Atrás by Carmen Martin Gaité. The novel El Cuarto de Atrás was written by Carmen Martín Gaite and was published in 1978. The work is a unique...
The 42nd Parallel, Extract - John Dos Passos (1919) - How does this extract illustrate the author's critique of capitalism and the class struggle?
Text commentary - 3 pages - Literature
The 42nd Parallel is a famous novel written by John Dos Passos. This book offers an interesting portrait of the early 20th century in America. The extract we will focus illustrates Charley's psychology; a young man shared between his professional aspirations and his emotional and...
Beloved - Toni Morrison (1987) - Black people's conditions in the seventies
Book review - 2 pages - Sociology & social sciences
Beloved is an American fiction novel by Toni Morrison, published in 1987. Its story's plot is based on the notorious real adventure of Margaret Garner, an African American slave who succeeded into escaping to Ohio, murdering her last child rather than offering a new slave to the world....
The Great Gatsby, Chapter III, Excerpt - Francis Scott Fitzgerald (1925)
Text commentary - 3 pages - Literature
In this excerpt from Francis Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby, the narrator, Nick Carraway, offers a reflective account of his life as a young bond salesman during a summer in New York. After having described the dazzling and opulent parties held at Jay Gatsby's mansion,...
Dune - Frank Herbert (1965) - Studying a Pivotal Scene
Text commentary - 3 pages - Literature
In a pivotal scene in Frank Herbert's novel, Dune, the evolvement of Paul Atreides from a noble man of a desert planet into a prophesied Kwisatz Haderach undergoes a turning point. Transfiguration is approaching its critical point, as Paul, along with his mother, is subjected to a...
The Figure in the Carpet - Henry James (1896) - The meaning of art and literature
Text commentary - 2 pages - Literature
The narrator, a young book reviewer, is asked by Corvik, one of his colleagues, to write a review of a well-known author's (named Vereker) latest book. Having read the review, Vereker seizes the opportunity, when he meets the narrator, to tease him by revealing that he has missed the most...
The Best Hairdresser in Harare by Tendai Huchu
Text commentary - 4 pages - Literature
Discover the sociological reflection in this excerpt from The Best Hairdresser in Harare, a multicultural novel by Tendai Huchu, exploring themes of identity, culture, and transition from childhood to adulthood.
Analyzing Qualifying Adjectives in Albert Camus' The Stranger: Unveiling the Notion of Absurdity
Dissertation - 4 pages - Linguistics & languages
"Unlock the secrets of absurdity in Albert Camus' classic novel, The Stranger. This in-depth analysis examines the pivotal role of qualifying adjectives in shaping the narrative and conveying the author's philosophical themes. By applying linguistic theories from Gross, Marengo,...
Analysis of Realism and Psychological Insight in Madame de La Fayette's The Princess of Clèves
Text commentary - 1 pages - Literature
Discover the timeless masterpiece "The Princess of Clèves" by Madame de La Fayette, a pioneering work of 17th-century French literature that explores the intricate lives of exceptional characters amidst a rich historical backdrop. Written in 1678, this influential novel not only set the...
Analyzing Narrative Instances in Albert Camus' The Stranger: Uncovering Absurdity through Vincent Jouve's Theory
Dissertation - 10 pages - Literature
Unlock the complexities of Albert Camus' The Stranger through Vincent Jouve's theory of enunciation, revealing the novel's plural and complex narrative instance. Discover how Camus' deliberate enunciative choices convey the absurdity of Meursault's existence and...
Secret Life of Bees- for women in matters of love and self-liberation by Sue Monk Kidd's
Case study - 3 pages - Educational studies
Described by critics as a must have guide for women in matters of love and self-liberation, Sue Monk Kidd's novel “The Secret Lives Of Bees,” tells the narrative of a motherless fourteen year old girl Lily Owens, desperately yearning for love, yet trapped by her father's cruelty....
Comparative Analysis of Literary Styles: Proust, Céline, Kafka, and Cervantes
Revision sheet - 7 pages - Literature
Unlock the secrets of literary masters Proust, Céline, and Camus through a comparative analysis of their writing styles and narrative techniques. Discover how Proust's intricate prose in "In Search of Lost Time" utilizes involuntary memory to revive the past, while Céline's "Journey to...
Thérèse Raquin: A Crime's Consequences
Text commentary - 3 pages - Literature
Analysis of Émile Zola's novel Thérèse Raquin, exploring the aftermath of a crime and the guilt that haunts the perpetrators.
Representation of Love in Manon Lescaut
Text commentary - 2 pages - Literature
Analysis of the tragic novel Manon Lescaut by Abbé Prévost, exploring the representation of love and its tragic undertones.
Madame Bovary: Emma's Dream Analysis
Text commentary - 2 pages - Literature
Discover the analysis of Emma Bovary's dream in Gustave Flaubert's novel Madame Bovary, exploring the themes of escape, exoticism, and the harsh return to reality.
The Princess of Clèves: Perfect Education or Societal Constraint?
Text commentary - 3 pages - Literature
Analysis of Mlle de Chartres' education in Madame de Lafayette's novel, The Princess of Clèves, exploring its perfection and potential drawbacks.
Hay que sonreír by Luisa Valenzuela
Book review - 1 pages - Linguistics & languages
Summary of the novel Hay que sonreír by Luisa Valenzuela, exploring Clara's journey from San Justo to Buenos Aires and her experiences with prostitution and relationships.
Liv Maria by Julia Kerninon: A Protected yet Authoritative Protagonist
Text commentary - 2 pages - Literature
Analysis of the protagonist Liv Maria in Julia Kerninon's 2020 novel, highlighting her dual nature as a mistress of the island and a protected child.
The Persian Letters by Montesquieu
Presentation - 1 pages - Literature
Critical summary of The Persian Letters, an epistolary novel by Montesquieu, published in 1721, criticizing French society and advocating Enlightenment values.
