Ordinary People by Judith Guest is the story of a dysfunctional family who relates to one another through a series of extensive defense mechanisms, i.e. an unconscious process whereby reality is distorted to reduce or prevent anxiety. The book opens with seventeen-year-old Conrad, son of upper middle-class Beth and Calvin Jarrett, home after eight months…
Characterizations Oliver Twist – A loving, innocent orphan child; the son of Edwin Leeford and Agnes Fleming. He is generally quiet and shy rather than aggressive. Oliver’s affectionate nature, along with his weakness and innocence, earn him the pity and love of the good people he meets. Dicken’s choice of Oliver’s name is very revealing…
The play “Oedipus Rex” is a very full and lively one to say the least. Everything a reader could ask for is included in this play. There is excitement, suspense, happiness, sorrow, and much more. Truth is the main theme of the play. Oedipus cannot accept the truth as it comes to him or even…
Fate is an issue that is mentioned in almost every religion. The majority of people living since the beginning of time up until the present, have had a some sort of opinion on the subject. Oedipus Rex is a story that is held together by the fact that fate is more powerful than anyone’s free…
Setting The story takes place during the Revolutionary War from about 1775 to 1779 in Redding, Connecticut, with some parts taking place in New York and other small towns. Main Character Even though the book is named after Sam, the story is told by his younger brother Tim. We learn everything from Tim’s point of…
Author Willa Sibert Cather, Nebraska’s most noted author was born in Virginia. At the age of ten she moved with her family to Webster County, Nebraska. Many of Cather’s acquaintances and Red Cloud area scenes can be recognized in her writings. Cather wrote poetry, short stories, essays and novels, winning many awards. In 1920 she…
In the novel A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, the author uses many minor characters. Although labeled “minor”, these characters contribute fully, and are essential to the depth and excitement of the novel. Three such characters are: Miss Pross, Gaspard, and Jerry Cruncher. These three characters take on a couple different roles, depending…
Plot Summary Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy are the March sisters. Their father is off to war and they rely on their mother, Marmee, to see them through the hard times of the Civil War. In the first part of this book, the reader is introduced to the characters. Meg is the sensible one, Jo…
John Neufeld is the author of “Lisa Bright & Dark”. He lives and works in New York City these days. He was educated at Yale. His style of writing is usually touching stories. Finding information about John Neufeld is quite difficult since the Internet nor the book has provided any help whatsoever. Lisa Shilling is…
In Laura Esquivel’s novel, Like Water for Chocolate, the food (recipes) and tradition are the main part of the book just as they are the main part of the Mexican tradition. Esquivel’s novel is very different from most books. Her novel incorporates recipes into the book in order to tell a story. These recipes, however,…
In William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, there is a major difference between two of the characters, Brutus and Mark Antony. Brutus was very honorable and Antony was very persuasive. When Brutus spoke at Caesar’s funeral, he appealed to the people’s logic and Antony spoke to the emotions of the people. Antony is very smart and…
Howard Griffin was a journalist and a specialist on race issues. After publication, he became a leading advocate in the Civil Rights Movement and did much to promote awareness of the racial situations and pass legislature. He was middle aged and living in Mansfield, Texas at the time of publication in 1960. His desire to…
Jack London fought his way up out of the factories and waterfront dives of West Oakland to become the highest paid, most popular novelist and short story writer of his day. He wrote passionately and prolifically about the great questions of life and death, the struggle to survive with dignity and integrity, and he wove…
Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O’Dell, is an unforgettable tale about courage, hope, and discovery of yourself and the world around you. It deals with love and respect for animals and people. The story takes place on an island in the Pacific Ocean that looks like a big fish sunning itself on the…
Through Gregor Samsa’s death, we see the truth behind his parents, which in itself is ironic. It is difficult to pinpoint one specific thing to write about in the story; there are just so many things that can be brought to light. If I happen to lose sight of my topic bear with me, there…
Author Jon Krakauer is the author of three books including Eiger Dreams and the acclaimed bestseller Into the Wild. He is also the contributing editor of Outside magazine. He and his wife live in Seattle Into thin Air is a great adventure story about Jon Krakauer’s ascend of Mt. Everest. Krakauer was a member of…
The Truth about Stanley Kramer’s Inherit the Wind History is consistently used in films as a technique to teach the values and morals of events that occurred. But what’s the point in teaching history through films when they are terribly fictional? In films, the director finds the best scheme to intrigue their audience only by…
The short story by Tillie Olsen, I Stand Here Ironing, is an example of a mother-daughter struggle. From what I understand, the young mother initially has a rough life, and can barely keep track of herself and her daughter, Emily. Because the mother must work to support them, she always put Emily into other people’s…
In the novel Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck goes through many adventures on the Mississippi River. He escapes from Pap and sails down the Mississippi with an escaped slave named Jim. Huck goes through the moral conflict of how wrong it is to be helping Jim escape to freedom. Eventually, Huck decides he will…
In 1907 that James Murray Spangler, a building maintenance man faced with cleaning endless hallways, found a way to improve on the invention by developing a motor that attached to the sweeping machine. In 1908, Spangler teamed up with William H. Hoover, and the Hoover Suction Sweeper Company was formed. Since then, Hoover has led…