Conflict in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo & Juliet vs. Shakespeare’s

Shakespeare’s original play, Romeo and Juliet and Luhrmann’s appropriated version, both investigate different types of conflict. The two texts are set in completely contrasting social and historical contexts of Elizabethan England to Southern California in Verona Beach. Despite the contrast of the two settings, both texts explore the external conflict which stemmed from the family…

The Chimney Sweeper: Songs of Innocence and of Experience

William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience contain parallel poems that contrast innocence and experience. Two such poems that share the name “The Chimney Sweeper” both depict a young boy working the deadly job of a chimney sweeper but in startlingly different ways. The narrator of “The Chimney Sweeper” in Songs of Innocence lives…

The Writer’s Duty: Rhetorical Analysis

In December of 1950, William Faulkner was awarded a Nobel Prize in Literature, his acceptance speech titled “The Writer’s Duty”. Faulkner’s post WWII speech targets young writers and persuades them to see the importance of literature. He strategically arranges the speech, chooses specific stylistic elements to use, and appeals to his audience in many ways,…

16th Century England Theatre: The University Wits

Theatre in the 16th Century England The theatre’s transition from the medieval to the Renaissance is more readily apparent in England than in Italy or France. As the rediscovered classics gradually found their way to England, English plays did begin to reflect their influence. Religious and political controversies and religious strife between Catholic and Protestant…