The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is the story of moral corruption by the means of aestheticism. In the novel, the well meaning artist Basil Hallward presets young Dorian Gray with a portrait of himself. After conversing with cynical Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian makes a wish which dreadfully affects his life forever. “If…
In William Saroyan’s play The Oyster and the Pearl there is a lot of symbolism. The theme of the play is to take it easy and relax and life will be much happier. Harry Van Dusen is a barber that has a philosophy of “Take it easy.” He tries to spread his philosophy by talking…
In the book the Outsider by S.E. Hinton Ponyboy is the main character, in the book he is mostly referred to as Pony. Pony has two brothers, Sodapop and Darry. Pony is fourteen and doesn’t have any parent’s; they died in a car accident. Pony and Soda and Darry all live in the same house,…
The story of Silas Marner is a beautiful, eloquently told story which gives the reader a vivid depiction of the period in which it takes place in a rustic village in England in the 1800s. The story evokes many emotions from the reader as well as teaches some moral lessons about life which are timeless.…
In The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway describes an old fisherman and the unfortunate trials he faces as his “luck” runs out. Through the novel, the fisherman, Santiago, replicates Hemingway’s ideal man, a noble hero. Hemingway had a Code of Behavior that he himself followed. He had morals that were strict and an…
Chapter One Here we learn that a small town has been taken over by one of the many Nazi groups during World War Two. Mr. Corell “The town good guy”, the way I view it, sent the town postmen and policemen on a boating trip, keeping them from the invasion (we learn later that “The…
Othello is a play that evokes many emotions from a reader’s mind. The mood is changing, yet throughout; it demands a lot of contempt for the villain, Iago. Beginning with act one; there is an immediate setting for suspicion which will remain characteristic throughout the whole story. There is a touch of happiness for the…
The Mill on the Floss is a book written by George Eliot, whose real name is Mary Anne (later Marian) Evans. There is a great deal of autobiography in this book. The facts of Mary Anne’s life do not match Maggie Tulliver, but there is an obvious reflection of her own life. Book One: Chapter1-13…
The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers is the story of an adolescent girl who triumphs over loneliness and gains maturity through an identity that she creates for herself in her mind. It is with this guise that twelve year old Frankie Adams begins to feel confident about herself and life. The author seems…
In The Martial Chronicles, Ray Bradbury provides a glimpse into the future that not only looks at people from a technological standpoint, but from a human one as well. His well crafted, almost poetic stories are science fiction in setting only. They put much more emphasis on the apathy and inhumanity of modern society, rather…
The character of Salzman, throughout the novel becomes increasingly mysterious. His appearance at many different times is extremely awkward. It is also spooky how he has the knowledge of things that he plainly should not be informed of. His character to put it plainly is just weird. Salzman has the typical salesman characteristics in the…
William Shakespeare wrote “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark”. “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” is a tragedy. William Shakespeare was born 1564 and died 1616. William Shakespeare himself, was one of the greatest play writers of all times. Hamlet was an odd character in the play because of the way he acted. Hamlet is intelligent, mad, and selfish.…
Shirley Jackson’s insights and observations about man and society are reflected in her famous short story “The Lottery”. Many of her readers have found this story shocking and disturbing. Jackson reveals two general attitudes in this story: first, the shocking reality of human’s tendency to select a scapegoat and second, society as a victim of…
Everybody has read a horror story before at some point, but a story from Alfred Hitchcock is different because at the end he leaves the reader thinking what has happened. In “The Knife” he uses Plot, Setting, and Conflict to do just this. Edward Dawes and Herbert Smithers are just two friends having a drink…
Place and Time Setting The setting and time of my novel plays a key part in the storyline. The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara, is about the Battle of Gettysburg, so it is set in Gettysburg, PA around the early 1860’s. The town is important in the battles because the terrain is situated so that…
The House on Mango Street is a collection of mini stories wrapped around a Latin-girl’s view of her neighborhood and neighbors. Esperanza hates her name, it’s hope in English but has too many letters in Spanish. She is named after her free-spirited Grandmother, and lives with her parents and two brothers and one sister. Esperanza…
Setting The setting takes place in two major places. Reston, Virginia which is a suburb of Washington DC. and the second major area is in Kenya, Africa. The story takes place in the 1980’s. Characters Charles Monet: He was the first host to the deadly Ebola virus breakout in Africa. He was 56 years old…
Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit, one of a race of short, timid creatures who live in cozy tunnels and who prefer to keep their lives ordered and predictable. One day, he unexpectedly finds himself playing host to Gandalf the wizard and thirteen dwarfs. The dwarfs, with Gandalf’s help, plan to travel to the Lonely Mountain…
The performer known worldwide as Harry Houdini was born on March 24, 1874 in Budapest. Although Houdini often claimed to be born in Appleton, Wisconsin, Houdini actually came to the United States when he was four years old. To this day many connected with the small town of Appleton still claim the untruth that Houdini…
Daniel Smith’s, The Great Departure illustrates very well the United State’s evolution from a traditionally isolationist nation to an interventionist nation. WWI literally dragged the U.S. out of its isolationist shell and placed the U.S. at the forefront of international politics. The pressure to join WWI was resisted greatly by the Wilson administration and the…
