In the Novel Beloved, by Toni Morrison unmasks the horrors of slavery, and depicts its aftermath on African Americans. The story is perfect for all who did not experience nor could imagine how it was to be an African American in America circa the 1860’s. Beloved lends a gateway to understanding the trials and tribulations…
“The beauty that addresses itself to the eyes is only the spell of the moment; the eye of the body is not always that of the soul.” George Sand hit the nail right on the head when he said this in 1872. Appearance versus reality has been a central theme in many American creative works…
Erich Maria Remarque had his novel, Im Westen nichts Neues (In the West Nothing New) serialized in the magazine Vossiche Zeitung in 1928. The pacifist work alienated Remarque from Germany. Ultra-nationalists and Hitler’s propagandists incited the hate of the German people against him. He was burned in effigy in 1933 in the Obernplatz, and his…
Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho has been commended for forming the archetypical basis of all horror films that followed its 1960 release. The mass appeal that Psycho has maintained for over three decades can undoubtedly be attributed to its universality. In Psycho, Hitchcock allows the audience to become a subjective character within the plot to enhance the…
The play “Violet” takes place in the mid-1960’s and focuses on a young woman in search for a miracle, and who bears a horrendous scar on her face from an accident when she was a child. The musical opens with Violet boarding a Greyhound bus that is traveling to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she hopes to…
Alice Walker is an African-American novelist and poet; born in Eatonton, Ga. Her parents, Minnie Lou Grant and Willie Lee Walker, were both sharecroppers. She was raised in a shack minutes from Flannery O’Conner’s house, “Andalusia”. Blinded in one eye from an accidental gunshot wound at the young age of eight, Walker fell into somewhat…
“A Doll’s House” is classified under the “second phase” of Henrik Ibsen’s career. It was during this period which he made the transition from mythical and historical dramas to plays dealing with social problems. It was the first in a series investigating the tensions of family life. Written during the Victorian era, the controversial play…
Shakespeare Insult 1 – The Two Gentlemen of Verona Thou subtle, perjur’d, false, disloyal man! Shakespeare Insult 2 – As You Like It Thou art like a toad; ugly and venemous. Shakespeare Insult 3 – The Tempest Thine forward voice, now, is to speak well of thine friend; thine backward voice is to utter foul…
Colons (:), semicolons (;), and dashes (-) can all be used to join two related ideas. Using these punctuation marks properly will help to add variety to your comparisons. Colon Use a colon to draw attention to the words that come after it. These words may be a list, or a restatement or description of…
Sentences should be grammatically balanced. Allows for clear and understandable words, phrases and clauses. Use similar grammatical structures to balance your writing. Incorrect: A student needs textbooks, notebooks and he needs pens. Correct: A student needs textbooks, notebooks and pens. Incorrect: A student who does well in exams attends class, reads the textbook and reviews…
Obsession an ‘over-focus’ on a goal; the goal takes over your life; it consumes an abnormal amount of your time, energy and attention the novel deals with the dangers of obsession; Victor is so consumed with the idea of creating the monster (life) that he isolates himself; and even becomes ill Mary Shelley’s theme is…
The Chrysalids – Author John Wyndham was born in England in 1903 he became interested in science fiction in the 1920s his work in sci fi is interesting in that he does not concentrate on amusing the reader with strange inventions of technology from a bewildering future Wyndham’s settings in the future are logical, identifiable…
The Chrysalids – Chapter 1 meet the main character, David Strorm the story told in first-person narrative helps us understand his feelings and thoughts Also raises questions for the reader such as Sophie’s six toes are unusual but why such a strong response from her mom? Why does Mary tell David not to share his…
Nature of Evil Human beings constantly look for ways to explain the unpleasant events of life, and often blame the intangible force of ‘evil’ for events. Paranoia sets in as people suspect many possible manifestations of the Devil (evil), such as witches, possessions, serious criminals, or in the case of The Chrysalids, simple genetic deviations.…
The works of Edgar Allan Poe are famous for featuring dark themes, violence, and psychologically unstable characters. The Tell-Tale Heart and The Black Cat are two of his best-known works, both of which involve narrators who are not of sound minds. In The Tell-Tale Heart, the narrator murders the old man he lives with because…
The 18th century was a tumultuous time; from revolution to innovation the world saw many changes in technology and ideals. These changes were rapid and they were feared, for good reason. The monarchs and those who had been in power for centuries that had grown comfortable believed that the past life was sufficient and thought…
Life in the country is often viewed as a calm, quiet escape from the hustle and bustle of the big city. In the movie “Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans”, F.W Murnau depicts a comfortable, friendly country environment and a restless and loud urban setting of the early nineteenth century; a contrast which is as…
In J.R.R Tolkien’s essay “On Fairy Stories” he argues that it is not necessary to be a child to enjoy and read fairy-tales, he states (while making a reference to the races found in H.G Wells novel, The Time Machine), “Let us not divide the human race into Eloi and Morlocks: pretty children—“elves” as the…
In the play Hamlet, we see a man who is driven to revenge after the murder of his father. However, this man, the titular character of the play, Hamlet, is indecisive and goes through a variety of problems in his quest for revenge. He is supported or schemed against by a variety of characters, many…
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the troubled prince has a major flaw, which is his inability to deal with tasks at the proper opportunity. Throughout the play, Hamlet frequently delays opportunities he has to kill Claudius, the king of Denmark. Hamlet has several personal characteristic traits which lead to this flaw of procrastination and delay. During the…