The setting in this story creates the perfect environment for an adulterous affair. In Kate Chopin’s “The Storm”, Chopin not only creates the perfect setting but also uses the setting as a symbol of the affair. Most likely occurring in the late 1800s and taking place in the deep South, the story gives an account…
Maya Angelou’s I Know Why Caged Bird Sings illustrates how an innocent and naive girl growing up in the midst of the Great Depression overcomes life’s many obstacles and becomes the powerful and influential woman she is today. Maya is a world renowned author, teacher, speaker, actress, and mother. Through this autobiographical piece, Maya’s use…
In the play, Macbeth by Shakespeare the three female witches play an important part in the development of the story. This essay will analyze the dramatic function of the witches in Act I of Macbeth. I think that the reason that Shakespeare begins the play with the witches is to give us the impression that…
This poem is about a man who loves his country dearly. The country is England. He believes that if he should die on a faraway battlefield; that people should remember that he was English. Brookes says in his fourth line, “In that rich earth a richer dust concealed.” This means that if he is to…
The play “Death of a Salesman” shows the final demise of Willy Loman, a sixty-year-old salesman in the America of the 1940s, who has deluded himself all his life about being a big success in the business world. It also portrays his wife Linda, who “plays along” nicely with his lies and tells him what…
In the “Astronomer’s Wife” by Kay Boyle, something as simple as a conversation with a plumber about a stopped elbow is enough to trigger an awakening in Mrs. Katherine Ames. When Mrs. Ames realized that the plumber was talking about something she understood (the stopped elbow), she realized that her marital problems were not the…
Soft Voice of the Serpent, a short story by Nadine Gordimer tells of the most bizarre relationship which a man, who has lost his leg, has with a wounded locust. When the man who is still trying to accept his own injury, notices that the locust has also been handicapped by the loss of a…
In Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice the antagonist of the play is Shylock. Shylock is a wealthy Jewish moneylender. Shylock is probably the most memorable character in the play because of Shakespeare’s excellent characterization of him. Shylock is the antagonist in the play because he stands in the way of love, but this does not necessarily…
John Masefield’s poem “Sea Fever” is a work of art that brings beauty to the English language through its use of rhythm, imagery, and many complex figures of speech. The meter in “Sea Fever” follows the movement of the tall ship in rough water through its use of iambs and hard-hitting spondees. Although written primarily…
In Mary Wilkins Freeman’s “The Revolt of ‘Mother’” Mother is the typical woman of the late 1890s, who was brought up to be subservient to men, as was common during the era. America was a completely patriarchal society at the end of the nineteenth century. Women had always been perceived as lesser beings than men;…
The poets of the nineteenth century wrote on a variety of topics. One often-used topic is that of death. The theme of death has been approached in many different ways. Emily Dickinson is one of the numerous poets who uses death as the subject of several of her poems. In her poem “Because I Could…
In Anglo-Saxon literature and most likely in Anglo-Saxon times, men were measured by many of the same aspects of life that men are measured by today. Men of that time period were godless, fearless, fame seeking, and most of all, courageous. Warriors, sailors, exiles, and even gods were in search of these things and often…
“Thirteen ways of looking at a Blackbird” by Wallace Stevens is a poem about what it means to really know something. In this poem, Stevens shows this connection by writing a first-person poem about a poet’s observation and contemplation when viewing a blackbird. He does this by making each stanza an explanation of a new…
All Quiet on the Western Front is a graphic depiction of the horrors of war. In the short note before Chapter One, Remarque lets the reader know exactly what themes he intends. War is a savage and gratuitous evil, war is unnatural, and war is responsible for the destruction of an entire generation. Remarque is…
A shot was heard throughout the Keller home as Joe ended his guilty, worthless life. Miller criticizes that American society has become corrupt- a place of selfishness, where people care too much about themselves, and that which benefits them, and will go to any lengths to achieve that goal; even if the repercussions of their…
In the story “Misery” by Anton Chekhov, I identified despair and misery as a theme. The surroundings amplify the sentiment of the main character, Iona Potapov. Cold and gray surrounds’ Iona Potapov and he is extremely miserable. Iona Potapov wants to speak to another human about his son’s death but no one will listen. Failing…
All Fur is a 19th century German tale written by the Brothers Grimm. The tale deals with incest and how a young lady can escape an abusive father. When the King’s wife dies it becomes imperative that he was to marry again. However, he would not settle on any woman unless she was as beautiful…
In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston shows how the lives of American women changed in the early 20th century. Zora Neale Hurston creates a character in her own likeness in her masterpiece, Their Eyes Were Watching God. By presenting Janie’s search for identity, from her childbirth with Nanny to the…
The Arab League is a regional organization that was founded on March 22, 1945. The league’s function is to promote political cooperation among it’s member states, and to deal with disputes or any breaches of peace in the region. The league’s official name is the League of Arab States. The founding members of the league…
The plot of The Mayor of Casterbridge, by Thomas Hardy, can often be confusing and difficult to follow. The pages of this novel are filled with sex, scandal, and alcohol, but it provides for a very interesting and unique story. It all begins one day in the large Wessex village of Weydon-Priors. Michael Henchard, a…