The picture of Dorian Grey - Oscar Wilde (1890) - Do the seeds of Dorian Gray's destruction ultimately lie in Dorian's self-hatred?
Text commentary - 1 pages - Literature
From the beginning of the novel, Dorian portrays the essence of male beauty and youth. Basil is taken aback by the perfection in Dorian's appearance. Lord Henry is friends with Basil. Basil is hesitant for Lord Henry to be introduced to Dorian. Basil knows the ways of Lord Henry and is well...
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde (1890) - Psychological mechanisms of dissociation and projection
Text commentary - 2 pages - Literature
Throughout the novel The Picture of Dorian Grey, it becomes clear that Dorian Gray's psychological well-being becomes compromised with every negative thing that happens within his life. To make matters worse, the majority of his issues stem from actions that he has consciously taken, making him...
Youth marginality in Britain: Contemporary studies of austerity - Shane Blackman and Ruth Rogers (2017) - Offering evidence-based recommendations for policymakers to achieve social justice for young people
Text commentary - 3 pages - Literature
The selected book for review is Youth marginality in Britain: Contemporary studies of austerity by Shane Blackman and Ruth Rogers. This book was published in 2017 and is based on case studies on factors affecting young people in the United Kingdom. The book has 17 chapters written by different...
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (1899) - Cruelty
Text commentary - 2 pages - Literature
Within the text of Heart of Darkness, cruelty is a prominent concept. The corruption exhibited is essential to the book, shaping not only the story but the characters such as Kurtz. Cruelty is an important factor for the victims because it serves as a crucial motivation to live and as a major...
David Copperfield - Charles Dickens (1849); Cat's Eye - Margaret Atwood (1988); Juno - Jason Reitman (2007) - Difficulties in friendship and love relationships
Text commentary - 2 pages - Literature
This passage is an extract from the novel David Coperfield by Charles Dickens, at the time David Coperfield was married to Dora Spenlow. David felt completely in love with Dora, and they decided to get married. However, their relationship is not reasonable because Dora has no sense of everyday...
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...
A Book of Dreaming (A bok of swevenyng)
Text commentary - 7 pages - Literature
A Book of Dreaming traces its roots to the Latin Somniale Danielis and has been reproduced in numerous manuscripts across Europe from the 9th to the 15th centuries. In other words, some stylistic effects could have been lost in the translation from Latin to Middle English. Indeed, the editor,...
As I Lay Dying - Dewey Dell
Text commentary - 9 pages - Literature
Il s'agit d'un commentaire littéraire sur la section 14 dédiée au personnage féminin: Dewey Dell. Dans cette analyse j'ai cherché à montré l'ambivalence de l'esprit maternel à travers l'interaction entre le sociolecte, l'idiolecte et le dialecte de Dewey Dell. Ainsi,...
Is a road trip running away from things or running towards something?
Text commentary - 1 pages - Literature
A road trip is a travel, an escape by campervan or motorcycle (like a Harley Davidson), through vast spaces and during long hours on the road, to discover new landscape, cities or countries. I will take three texts as examples.
Oedipus The King - Sophocles (425 B.C.) - The Dramatic Power of Fate
Text commentary - 3 pages - Literature
Over the centuries, people have believed in the influence of divine or diabolical power in their lives. One of the most often discussed themes of ancient Greek tragedy is fatalism, the idea and belief that human actions are guided by the hand of fate, destiny, the gods or some other supernatural...
How to become a part of the Great British story?
Text commentary - 2 pages - Literature
Cultural heritage, representing culture and civilisation, has a vital importance in Great Britain, and in this context the school has an important place. Access to culture is achieved primarily through education and training and, in addition, literature, theatre and art, which are unique and...
Dance of the Happy Shades: And Other Stories - Alice Munro (1946) - Comparaison with Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth (1990)
Text commentary - 3 pages - Literature
The first text we study here is a story from Dance of the Happy Shades: And Other Stories, which was written by Alice Munro in 1946. From the beginning of the text, the protagonist explains that her mom spends all of her time working on sewing her daughter's dress for the dance. She spends...
Twelfth Night, Act 3 scene 1, v.59-162
Text commentary - 4 pages - Literature
Act III opens in Olivia's garden. We can say that this scene is light and jovial because Viola (disguised as Cesario since Act I) has just encountered Olivia's Clown Feste. It is mainly a scene between Olivia and Viola, and we may say that the last time they were together on stage was in...
"The Reception" by Maria Barrett
Text commentary - 3 pages - Literature
This is an extract from Dishonored written by Maria Barrett in 1996. Thanks to the title "Reception", we can know at the first sight that this text relates an invitation and a kind of meeting. This story deals with relationships and reactions between the different characters and reveals the...
Martin Luther King: "I've Been to the Mountaintop"
Text commentary - 5 pages - Literature
King's final speech took place in a specific context of tension and it represented the heyday of the civil rights movement. Large riots in major cities and the divisive issue of the Vietnam War had shattered the liberal consensus for civil rights and created an atmosphere of crisis. On April...
W.E.B. DuBois "Of Alexander Crummel" - The Soul of Black Folks
Text commentary - 5 pages - Literature
With the collection of fourteen essays The Soul of Black Folks , published in 1903, W.E.B. DuBois created a huge division within the movement of black protest in the USA. When the most influential leader of this movement, Booker T. Washington promoted educational training and especially an...
Amanda Smith Jemand -The South is our home - Black Women in White America
Text commentary - 5 pages - Literature
The document "The South is our home" written by Amanda Smith Jemand is an article extracted from the journal The Independent, Vol.52 N°2725 dated February 21, 1901. This article was reprinted in the book Black Women in White America. This book is an anthology of documents about black history in...
Soliloquies in Richard III
Text commentary - 6 pages - Literature
Ce travail propose une analyse de trois principaux soliloques de la pièce de Shakespeare ayant pour titre Richard III. Quelle est la fonction d'un monologue/ soliloque? Comment Shakespeare les utilise-t-il pour nous montrer la vraie nature de ses personnages?
Art and Life in The Picture of Dorian Gray
Text commentary - 3 pages - Literature
Ce travail propose une réflexion sur le thème de l'art et de la vie dans le roman The Picture of Dorian Gray d'Oscar Wilde. Comment ces deux concepts interagissent-ils tout au long du livre? Quels rapports les personnages entretiennent-ils avec l'art? L'art est-il plus important...
Commentaire du texte "Their First slave" extrait du roman Queen écrit par alex Haley en 1993. Rédigé en anglais.
Text commentary - 2 pages - Literature
This text is an extract from the novel Queen written by Alex Haley in 1993. The excerpt is called "Their first slave". The story takes place in the USA, and more precisely in Nasheville, in the 19th century, that is to say when slavery was still legal. Two young Irish immigrants, Washington and...
Résumé Anglais Terminale S Emma Jane Austeen 550 Mots
Text commentary - 1 pages - Literature
Let me tell you about a XIX century love story... Her name is Emma, Emma Woodhouse. She is beautiful, clever and rich. Her mother died when she was only five. So Mr. Woodhouse, her father, found Miss Taylor, a housekeeper, to look after his two daughters. Thus Emma lived with his father, Miss...
"Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus", Mary Shelley (1818) - letter IV
Text commentary - 1 pages - Literature
This last letter before the first chapter of the book is written at sea. It is composed of three letters (5th August, 13th August and 19th August). The story takes place in the three weeks between 31st July and 19th August; we can know it because the chronology is very detailed. This story...
"Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead", Tom Stoppard (1967)
Text commentary - 4 pages - Literature
In this excerpt from 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead', the two minor characters turned protagonists are reunited with the player they encountered earlier and on whom they walked out as he and his companions were acting out a play form theme. There ensues a lament on the...
"Flying Carpet", Steven Millhauser - "flying up to the sky" - publié le 30/06/2010
Text commentary - 4 pages - Literature
Steven Millhauser is a writer of realist fiction. However, his work cannot be limited by labeling it only realistic. Another dimension is added to his short stories. They are full of interpretations. In Flying Carpet, though the story seems to be quite casual, even banal - a child trying to reach...
"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...
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 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...
