A take on tears
Tutorials/exercises - 2 pages - Literature
The thing that irks people about Allen Ginsberg is that he doesn't care who he offends…or, for that matter, if he offends. He wants to awaken emotion in people, and he doesn't care whether the emotions are good or bad—just as long as they're there, and they're strong. His poem...
A view of a view
Thesis - 2 pages - Literature
Elizabeth Bishop's poem “View of the Capitol from the Library of Congress” possesses profound imagery and, when it is read, the reader immediately gets transported into the speaker's serene vision. Bishop takes the reader on a journey with her words, and through this journey a speaker...
Marvell's "Horatian Ode": Conflicts and ambiguities
Thesis - 3 pages - Literature
Analyzing the poem “An Horatian Ode Upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland” by Andrew Marvell was difficult, because the poem is constantly undermining its own constructions. Also, reading the poem in the Broadview Anthology, one cannot help but glance at the footnotes, to gain further...
An American as a melting pot
Thesis - 3 pages - Literature
A definition such as this is rare, especially among early American literature. To clearly state an exact concept so simply is difficult, however defining what is an American is near impossible. J. Hector St John de Crevecoeur was one of the exceptions. In his book, Letters From an American...
The imagination's art
Thesis - 2 pages - Literature
Art is life and life is art. There is no difference, at least not when literature is at hand. Three key elements exist in the realization of a written work of art. There is the author who gives the unintentional start to the creation of literature as an art form. Also there is the reader who...
"Surfacing", Margaret Atwood (1972)
Book review - 8 pages - Literature
Atwood's contribution to the Canadian Literature is regarded as one of the most important of the past century. As an author, a poet and also a critic, she has distinguished herself by her literary eclecticism and her political and feminist involvement. She is also among the most-honoured...
Summary of Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut
Essay - 1 pages - Literature
Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut is the fictional story told by Leon Trout, the ghost of a man who died during the construction of the ship “Bahia de Darwin.” Trout observes the passengers of this ship as they make their way on the “Nature Cruise of the Century.” Excited to travel...
Imagery in Arnold Wesker's drama
Essay - 4 pages - Literature
The British literature in the 20th century is marked by a wave of anti-conformist writers who adopt a different style in their writings. In effect, after the two world wars, many illusions disappear and the literary field is where people's concerns are much illustrated. Among others, drama is a...
African-ness in African writings
Essay - 3 pages - Literature
After the independence in Africa, an emergence of waves of African writers is noticed. Throughout that emergence, different concerns manifest themselves ranging from the assimilationist vision of the colonial supremacy to the rejection and deconstruction of that power. The advocators of the...
Comparison and contrast between Rober Lawell's "Man and Wife" and Gretel Ehrlich's "A match to the heart"
Essay - 1 pages - Literature
It was 1959 when Robert Lowell completed an amazing set of poems included in a collection named “Life Studies”. The most conspicuous among them - “Man and Wife”, tackles the problems of personal tragedy. The main accent is put on the troubled marriage, as the author reviews...
"Twelfth Night", William Shakespeare (1601)
Worksheets - 3 pages - Literature
This document sums up the William Shakespeare's comedy "Twelfth Night", written around 1601-02. Here are a few extracts of the document : "Act 1, scene1 : "Orsino, the Duke of Illyria is moaning about his unshared love for Olivia. Valentine, a lord of his court, is coming from her house...
"Jane Eyre", Charlotte Bronte (1847) - "But the privations (...) to put in a coffin"
Text commentary - 4 pages - Literature
The excerpt under scrutiny, located in the first part of the novel, comes directly after the protagonist has accepted the harsh lifestyle of Lowood and declared she would rather be there and endure the never-ending privations than back at Gateshead. This passage acts as a sort of pause in the...
"After great pain, a formal feeling comes", poem 341, Emily Dickinson (1955)
Text commentary - 3 pages - Literature
The poem, "Under Scrutiny' is strongly reminiscent of 'Pain has an element of blank' in the way it describes a state of numbness, a sort of in-betweenness placing the subject at the limit between consciousness and oblivion. The two poems echo each other perfectly in their evocation of...
"The Autobiography of my Mother", Jamaica Kincaid (1995) - "What makes the world go round? (...) cocoa tree grew in England"
Text commentary - 3 pages - Literature
Jamaica Kincaid wrote 'The Autobiography of my mother' in 1955. She was from the small island of Antigua located in the Caribbean area. It was colonized by the Spanish and by the British. In this way, the reader easily understands the importance of the colonial theme in the book. The...
"My Antonia", Willa Cather - chapter XIV "I remembered ... any longer"
Text commentary - 3 pages - Literature
Because of his losing his parents, Jim Burden has left Virginia to live with his grandparents in Nebraska. He discovers the Bohemian girl who has arrived to Black Hawk on the same train, on the same day as himself. This excerpt we have to study deals with Mr Shimerda's death. We can assert it...
"Son of celluloid", Clive Barker (1986) - cinema and its metaphors
Artwork commentary - 4 pages - Literature
Son of celluloid' is a short novel written by the British author Clive Barker in 1983. It was originally published in 'The Book of Blood' in 1986 and it was an extract from a comic series called 'Trapping the Vein'. Barker is well-known for his work in both fantasy and horror...
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Act III, scene 1, l.1- 125
Text commentary - 2 pages - Literature
Remembering their previous apparition, a comic and ridiculous situation is expected. Indeed, once again, it turns out that they are poor actors. Their play is supposed to be tragic and to trigger the pity and compassion of the audience while their acting keeps getting worse like the use of...
The nature and the role of women in Shakespeare's Macbeth
Thesis - 6 pages - Literature
William Shakespeare's Macbeth is among the few of Shakespeare's plays where a female character plays a catalytic role. The female characters in this play are Lady Macbeth, Lady Macduff, the Three Witches, and Hecate. Lady Macbeth and her husband, Macbeth are the chief protagonists of the play....
On Chrétien de Troyes' The knight of the cart
Thesis - 2 pages - Literature
In The Knight of the Cart, after Lancelot disposes of an opposing knight and saves a fair damsel, she offers a place of refuge so long as Lancelot sleeps with her. However reluctant, Lancelot agrees and to kill the time between dinner and sleep, he roams around outside the house. When he returns,...
Rationale behind silence and Queen Eufeme's Chaste Kissing
Thesis - 3 pages - Literature
What a scandalous scene in Silence when Queen Eufeme and the protagonist, whom the story is named after, come close, very close to sleeping together. It is such an emotionally charged scene: a predator chasing its unwilling prey. Will Silence succumb to the Queen's advances to keep up...
Doing gender: Reasserting masculinity
Thesis - 2 pages - Literature
Gender is a socially constructed status. Based on how others perceive us we are labeled as men or women, the only two genders recognized in Western society. Walking to class I notice everyone is ‘doing gender,' or they display evidences of masculinity or femininity. I see a heterosexual...
"High Stained Glass, Philip Larkin (1974) - themes and poetic style of Larkin
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
Larkin's anthology, 'High Windows', shows some recurrent themes, like life and death, aging, youth and sexuality, religion and socialising, that run through the different poems, linking and contrasting them. The presence of symbols is quite significant and can be seen as a common...
The Whitsun Weddings", Philip Larkin (1964) - identity, belonging and rootlessness in "Home Is So Sad", "Afternoons", "A study of reading clothes", "Self's the Man", "Mr Bleaney '
Text commentary - 1 pages - Literature
In his anthology, 'The Whitsun Weddings', Larkin develops several themes, such as the concepts of identity, belonging etc. He expresses his opinions on these themes with the use of certain language features that help set a mood for the poem. In 'A Study of Reading Habits and...
How does Shakespeare explore the theme of loyalty?
Essay - 4 pages - Literature
The theme of loyalty, and thereby disloyalty, has been presented by Shakespeare in various plays such as Anthony and Cleopatra, Hamlet, and Julius Caesar. In Othello, the presentation of loyalty is complex, as Shakespeare deals in the same play with other themes like authority and marriage....
"The Merchant of Venice ", William Shakespeare (1594) - relationships between characters
Text commentary - 2 pages - Literature
In 'The Merchant of Venice', the characters are linked together on account of their love, their friendship and also because of money. The plots thus, have many dimensions and the play itself has many important themes, among which is the bonds. Indeed, this notion is very ambivalent and it...
Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley
Text commentary - 1 pages - Literature
This passage corresponds to a climax in the narrative. It corresponds to the birth of the creature that Victor wanted to give life to. Victor is the narrator of this passage and he has just completed his creation after two years of work. This passage is a key moment in the story and corresponds...
Tess of d'Urbervilles: The dark shadow of death
Thesis - 3 pages - Literature
Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of d'Urbervilles tells the story of a young girl named Tess Durbeyfield who is seduced by, Alec d'Ubervilles, her distant relative. The loss of her virginity, and the birth of a child, haunts her and makes it impossible for her to succeed in marriage with the man she...
Detailed Study of Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
Book review - 3 pages - Literature
Jane Eyre is an orphan who has been sent to Gateshead, her uncle's house, early. Her uncle has died and her aunt Mrs. Reed hates her. She always punishes Jane Eyre even if it were her own children who had made a mistake. For example, one day, Jane was shut up in the 'red-room' (that...
A Study on Willa CATHER, O Pioneers!
Book review - 4 pages - Literature
Willa Cather was an American novelist who grew up in Nebraska, where her most famous novel "O Pioneers!? is set. It is her second novel, and she was forty when it was published in 1913. Actually, this fictional novel is in keeping with its author's life insofar as the heroine has similarities...
Macbeth, William Shakespeare - the equivocal ambiguities, puns, play with words and mirror effects
Text commentary - 2 pages - Literature
"Oftentimes, to win us to our harm, / the instruments of darkness tell us truths, / Win us with honest trifles, to betray / in deepest consequence? (Act I scene 3, 123-126). Banquo warns Macbeth, who is wandering if he can believe the rest of the three witches' Prophecies, as he just had been...
