Essays on American Literature

The complexities of racism, and the ways in which society should end it, remains intriguing fodder for literature. Some of the most intriguing portrayals of these arguments are in Frances Watkins Harper’s “The Slave Auction” and “The Slave Mother,” Luis Valdez’s “Los Vendidos,” and Zitkala-Sa’s School Days of an Indian Girl. While Harper’s direct, anguished portrayals of the evils of the slave trade elicit an implicit argument to stop these practices and end their pain, Valdez is more explicit in his call for aggressive revolution and demolishing of stereotypes, and Zitkala-Sa similarly advocates for a ...

Drug addiction and brotherly love. Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin. Drug addiction and brotherly love. Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin. African American literature frequently reveals the suffering of people who live in the world full of racism. The Western society used to put African American people in unfavorable conditions throughout the whole history and life in this condition may lead to tragic circumstances. The following essay concerns the story named “Sonny’s Blues” which was written by James Baldwin. It will discuss the main themes of the story which are struggling of people who live in the ...

A. Bibliographical research about Robert Frost

1. Childhood and youth of Robert Frost 2. Life twists in later years

B. Career challenges and achievements

1. First steps in literary world 2. Poetry keyline and poetic achievements C. Writing style and attitudes of Robert Frost 1. Style and peculiar features 2. Major themes D. Poem presentation III. Conclusion Being a renowned American poet, Robert Lee Frost is an eminent figure in the literary world and a distinguished artist with a profound oeuvre of remarkable masterpieces, remembered, nurtured and admired to this date. His life and artistic legacy raise a particular interest and urge to investigate his life story and fundamental factors ...

A Reflection on Human Nature

When The New Yorker published Shirley Jackson’s famous story “the Lottery” in 1948, American readers immediately backlashed against the author and the magazine because they found the topic of the story—a mass stoning of a housewife whose name was drawn at random from a lottery—extremely offensive and grotesque. Readers went as far as cancelling their subscriptions to the magazine and numerous threatening mails started pouring in, addressed to the author and editorial staff of the magazine. Readers were also offended because many easily recognized their rural communities and the typical activities conducted in these places such ...

American Literature

One of the most charming and striking characteristics of the American literature of the nineteenth century is its naïveté. The protagonists regardless of being positive or negative heroes have a unique trust to the world and people surrounding them. This naïveté adds to the romantic and sincere nature of the poem or short story. It usually enhances the idea mentioned in the story and is intended to emphasize the meaning of it. To a certain degree, it may be taken as a symbol of American literature of the nineteenth century as naïve ideals and naïveté ...

The 19th century was a time of vast change for the entire world, from the birth of electronics to the publishing of On the Origin of Species to the rapid expansion of the world powers. It is, perhaps, no wonder that it is also at this time of great, and sometimes terrible, human feats that a movement began that defied human imperialism over other humans and over nature itself, thus was the birth of Transcendentalism. This was a movement started in on the east coast of the United States, primarily in Massachusetts, that sought to uplift the individual and ...

Abstract

“Bartleby the Scrivener” is a marvelous short story of the American nineteen century that has been discussed greatly from various disciplinary perspectives over the last century. Bartleby has been seen as a revolutionary figure who intentionally disrupts the capitalist system and has been traced to numerous real people, including Thoreau, Emerson, and even Melville himself. Critics have attached numerous equivalences to the protagonist; therefore, it is important to study the historical, political, and cultural context to choose the proper one. “Bartleby the Scrivener” demonstrated not only allusion to specific people and conflicts in New York but also showed class ...

Cusick’s Iroquois Creation Story recounts the alliance between six Native American tribes living in the seventeenth century (Baym, Wayne, and Gura et al. 18). The Iroquois nation comprised of the Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Tuscarora, and Cayuga. They lived in the northeast of L. Ontario. It is a story of two worlds in conflict with each other. The first one comprises monsters and great darkness while humans populate the second one (Baym, Wayne, and Gura et al. 22). The humans are live above the monsters; however, tension exists between the two worlds. Throughout the book light is associated ...

The famous antiwar novel by Ernest Hemingway “A Farewell to Arms” was filmed several times ("A Farewell to Arms (1932)", n.d.). Frank Borzage released a classical film adaptation in 1932, which has been awarded with two Oscars. The book was imbued with hatred for the war, to all those who unleashed it, as well as an unquenchable thirst for life. The text of the novel is incredibly sincere and true due to the fact the writer himself has passed the World War I (Hemingway as his character served as a lieutenant in the Italian Red Cross corps). Military experience ...

Introduction

Moby Dick is considered the great American novel. There are many reasons Moby Dick has earned this award, from the accolades of English critics in Melville’s day to the positive commentary by Literary critics and theorists today. Melville was a master of sentence style, and wrote many complex and highly structured sentences in the novel. Likewise, he filled his text with allusions and references to the greatest works of literature, including the Bible, Paradise Lost, King Lear, and the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson. While all of these elements contribute to the greatness of Moby Dick they are ...

Rebecca Harding Davis, an American writer who anticipated the phenomenon of American literary realism by over two decades, was undeservingly forgotten for almost eighty years after her death (Larson). Only in the early 1970’s the name of Rebecca Davis was rescued from oblivion by the feminist American writer Tillie Olsen who found some of her coverless works in an Omaha junkshop (Lasseter). Rebecca Harding Davis was born in June 24, 1831 in Alabama but then her family moved to Virginia and settled in Wheeling where Rebecca spent all her childhood and left the town only when she got ...

During the late 1940s, America was made up of small rural villages, in which it was customary for the community leaders to construct civic gatherings, to draw the citizens together at a time when the world was at war with one another. People were encouraged to socialize through town activities that drew them together and create a stronger, more cooperative community. This was the main theme of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”—a story centering on one of the rural communities in America during the 1940s. The story features a lottery being taken place in a community composed of ...

The study of African American Literature was entertaining and enlightening. Through this course, I got to see African American history through the eyes of the African Americans. The authors and texts studied revealed the history of Black people, their culture and the growth that this society has undergone over the years. History is sometimes shaped by its authors. The history of the black people apparently comes out through their literary works. From the insightful slave narratives from back in the day, I learned what went on in those days and the feeling of blacks about slavery. It is educating ...

The essay ‘The joyful sixties in Latin American Literature’ is written by Reinaldo while he is political imprisonment. His writings are based on the lives of people who had been imprisoned and are shaped by his own life experiences. His body of art indicates the animosity that existed in the Cuban government. Arguing from his biography, it is vital to understand that Reinold and the people of Cuba were infringed their rights to freedom of speech (Reinaldo). For instance, he was arrested from publishing his books abroad without the official consent of the government. His art depicted the atrocities ...

Perez in his book “The Desi Chain” talks about the Cuban-American culture that he sees as an achievement by the 1.5 generation. He explains that the 1.5 generation is an individual who is neither in the old generation nor in the young generation. He or she belongs to the middle generation, and his or her culture is unique from those of the older or younger generation. He attributes this achievement to the intercultural placement that enables them to undertake the negotiations and reach agreements that result in ethnic culture (Perez 06). He, however, says that the 1.5 generations is ...

"Walden or Life in the Woods" by Henry David Thoreau belongs to the vivid and memorable American works of classical literature. The personality of the author and the pages of his famous book highlight anti-capitalist, romantic, and utopian ideas that received considerable spread in the United States in the 30-40-ies of the last century and these ideas were a kind of protest against the brutality of the bourgeois industrial progress and its accompanying social ills.   The ideological pioneers of the anti-capitalist and romantic-utopian protests were called transcendentalists. It is a circle of prominent representatives of the American democratic intelligentsia, ...

A great writer Nathaniel Hawthorne is a person who uses different themes and characters in his writings. He is a romantic writer who uses different literary devices, such as metaphor, irony, symbols in order to make his works more understandable and reaching to the reader. He himself as a person has a very interesting family history. His father died and he was forced to live with his relatives, mother and sister. Every writer’s storyline influences their writings and Nathaniel Hawthorne was not an exception to the rule. Hawthorne’s family history shaped the theme of his writing including ...

American superheroes and action figures follow a distinct history and background to their origin and existence. Also, that background is chosen to be American in nature, and mostly the work and actions of that chosen superhero revolve around an American backdrop. Superman is an age-old superhero who has gained immense popularity amongst the American as well as worldwide audience due to his saving-the-world way of life, and the various stories that circulate in his life are in one way or the other pertinent to American culture and lifestyle. Different critics have responded to the existence of Superman differently. For ...

Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” My research will analyze and interpret the use of symbolism in the poem and the use of the barriers as a symbol of the emotional and physical barriers that persons face in the society. The primary literature will be taken from the scholarly article of George Montiero who looks at the differences between neighbors and the boundaries that exists on a physical and emotional level. In addition, the review of the poem is important as the author presents a fresh perspective on the views of the renewal and retention of human relationships. Additionally, I ...

The American culture has been greatly affected by the Puritans in very many aspects. It is important to understand who they were and why they are a force to reckon with especially when looking at the formative years of the United States. Puritans were English Protestants that wanted only to reform the Church of England but then carried their cultures to the United States when they immigrated. Long after their very existence, the mythology they created has continued to influence the ways of thinking of the current generation Americans. It is highly likely that even future generations will be ...

Emily Dickinson is an original poet as she used her pen to challenge the existing conventions of poetry. Throughout her poems, Emily clearly experimented with a style of expression that moved away from the traditional styles of poetry and took on a unique style that made her speakers sharp-sighted observers who face the challenges of no escape from their societies. Additionally, Dickenson used her poems as a sword that would serve to liberate the speakers from the inescapable boundaries of the society. Clearly, Dickenson wrote poems that broke away from the traditional rules of poetry which challenged the narrow-minded ...

The first chapter of Leo Marx’s book ‘The Machine in the Garden. Technology and the Pastoral Idea in America’ is named Sleepy Hollow. This name is derived from one of Nathaniel’s Hawthorne’s writings whereby he describes a small space scooped out among the woods which is used for farming Indian corn and which according to Hawthorne “is like the lap of a bounteous Nature, filed with bread stuff”(Marx 12). Hawthorn observes various elements of nature and appreciates the ability of nature to provide a calm and serene environment to think and be imaginative. The nature ...

An Analysis of Richard Wright’s Blueprint for Negro Writing (1937)

An African-American literary icon, Richard Wright was born in 1908 and died in 1960 (Wallach; Wright, “Uncle Tom’s” 882). Growing up in America during the early 20th century, Wright witnessed the great oppression experienced by the African-American community in that time, instilling in him the strong desire to write for his race and struggles associated with racism in America (Wallach; Wright, “Uncle Tom’s” 882). Writing various literary pieces that talked about African-American oppression and strife for freedom and equality, Wright became a literary icon and a pride of ...

Most of the American colonies have people from different cultural backgrounds since the earliest historical eras. This multiculturalism was one of the main causes of conflicts and tensions in the American societies and still persisted disguised as racial discrimination which up to the late 20th century was allowed by some laws like the law of segregation. These conflicts and tensions thrived due to the fact that different people held different perspectives towards the same action or event. As a result, the conflict in ideas led to great tensions and at times turned bloody making a lot of people to lose their ...

The Beat movement that was formed in the late 1940s in the United States and has gained acknowledgement in the 1950s is one of the most important and well-known literary trends that have been in the 20th century in the United States. Modern literary critics consider the beat generation in various guises and forms: as writers existentialists, immoral persons, romantic, apolitical people and bohemians; the most accurate, according to one of the researchers, is to consider the Beat Generation as a motto or symbol of the revolution of American morals. This literary trend and the three most famous representative ...

African American literature is a literature of a rather recent vintage compared to the literature of other civilizations. As a matter of fact, African American literature was born after United States took a break from reconstruction and where segregation emerged. It is this discrimination and oppression of the African Americans that compelled black writers to write. The American social order that was established by the constitution in 1898 was violent and intimidating towards the black Americans. African American literature started taking shape in the 1950s in the context of a challenge to enforce and justify racial exploitation and subordination by law. Art for the ...

Harper Lee's 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird tells the story of Scout Finch, the six year old daughter of Atticus Finch, a strong father, a virtuous lawyer and the defender of Tom Robinson. Scout grows up in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s, among the other interesting and entertaining people in the town. Going through her life and growing up with her friends, she learns many lessons from her father and the town itself. Much like Atticus with Scout, this book is incredibly important because of its teachings of morality and virtue; the book teaches the ...

The plight of the African American woman is a subject of critical concern in the modern world. In practice, the African American woman faces diverse challenges in the dynamic and complex information society. Key to note, the changes coming in because of world paradigm shifts and developments have continued to redefine and shape the position of women in the society. Developments such as industrialization, globalization, and urbanization have brought unique challenges to the modern family set-up. Precisely, the rising cost of living among other economic factors continues to redefine the role of the women. Practically, women are increasingly adopting the ...

The Harlem renaissance is a cultural and artistic movement that changed the nature of African American literature and experience. The poetry of the movement was imbued with personal and third party political and social experiences. There is a raging debate on whether the movement was one of social and political propaganda or that of just the development of art. This paper builds on Du Bois’ assertion that all art is propaganda and should be treated as such. It also explores the claim that the movement was partly a modernist exploit that was aiming at creating a new form of art unique to the ...

The given essay is dedicated to the novel of Mark Twain The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It has been published in 1876. The first quarter of the XIX century has become the preparatory era for the half-philosophical and half-journalistic literature of sometimes humorous, sometimes instructive and moralistic writings. National characteristics of Americans with their practicality, utilitarian morality and native cheerful humor that are highly different from the sarcastic and surly British humor are vividly reflected. The whole oeuvre of the author may be characterized by the Enlightment of the 18th century. Unfortunately, the novel received its recognition only after ...

Introduction

Realism is a unique philosophical belief that suggests that a person’s reality (which can be characterized by his perception of life, including the things a person has and the experiences he has encountered), or a certain aspect of such reality is dependent on subjective factors and is ontologically independent from standard conceptual schemes, linguistic practices, beliefs, perceptions, and other established system . Realism is generally the view that entities, which in this are humans, have an objective reality, a reality that is completely and ontologically independent of those entities’ conceptual schemes, linguistic practices, beliefs, and etc. Thus, entities including abstract concepts and universals as ...

Transcendentalism has been regarded as an American philosophy and idea that states that both women and men have knowledge about their existence and are conscious of the world around them, in a manner that transcends their senses. According to Brodrick (2010), the knowledge of self and the environment is realized through either imagination or intuition and not through the senses or logic. Reuben (2011) regards transcendentalism as a spirituality and state of mind that prompts the person to go outside his/her senses, shun corruption, and materialism, and gets united with nature. This ideology started in the 19th century. Some of ...

Introduction

African American literature was born at the end of the 18th century, during the period when the African American people were still going through slavery. Slaves were seen to be less than human and not able to study sciences or arts. White Philosophers during this time viewed slaves as inferior including those that wrote The Norton Anthology of African American Literature (Nellie McKay and Henry Louis Gates Jr.) as well as Immanuel Kant and David Hume. The philosophers noted that the African American people, nicknamed as ‘Negroes’ by then were inferior to the white people, and they did not ...

In the period of Reconstruction after the American Civil War, the nation faced a serious debate about the best way to achieve black equality. Of course, many white politicians argued about the best course of action. However, blacks also held the same debate and their views were not necessarily the same, as one can imagine. The range of differences of opinion in this debate can best be summarized by the writings of Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Dubois. While Washington and Dubois clearly agree that the black man should advance through a persistent effort, they conflict over the attitude ...

‘The lottery’ is luminous piece of literary work by Shirley Jackson. When this short story was published by the New Yorker in the year 1948, it attracted huge controversy and criticism. Jackson, with the help of irony as well as comedy, draws attention towards hypocritical behavior and flaws of the human beings. The story also talks about illogical practices as well as underlying evils of the society. This paper intends to discuss ‘The Lottery’ and several other related aspects. In the journey, after its first appearance, the story has got huge acclamations by the critics as well as ...

The issue of how an American is or should be defined is something which United States of America has struggled with since time immemorial. It is something that emerged even before the signing of Declaration of Independence, before ratification of the Constitution and before American Immigration and Enforcement as well as Border Patrol was created. United States has always grappled with the struggle between newcomers and the natives or the new and the old. This is something that undocumented immigrants calling America their home has a deep and sobering experience (Spiro 79). These are the primary reasons why immigration and ...

A Critical Analysis

Robert Frost has been remarked to “stand at the crossroads of 19th-century American poetry and modernism, for in his verse may be found the culmination of many 19th-century tendencies and traditions as well as parallels to the works of his 20th-century contemporaries” (“Robert Frost”). He holds a unique place in American poetry, and within that space he created some remarkable poems, at times following strict meter and rhyme, but always creating poems rich in imagery and meaning. His poem, “Fire and Ice,” is no different. Within this brief poem are layers of meaning revealed in strong imagery and the connotation of ...

Literature reflects the values and issues of the culture that produced it. Reading stories and poetry from different generations helps one to gain a better understanding of the period it was written, and offers a glimpse into history. Throughout American history literature has been used as an outlet for analyzing or commentating on societal issues and promoting change. Reviewing the literature produced at different times during America’s history can offer an enlightening perspective of the changes that occurred in American culture as well as which values and societal topics were important at different times. For example, American literature offers a creative ...

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave was published In 1845, and was immediately successful in the U.S. and abroad. At the time, it was seen as both a powerful autobiography, an effective political polemic condemning slaver, and great art (Sisco 195). The Narrative has become the most famous slave narrative, a genre of literature that was extremely popular throughout the 1850’s and 60’s, and has “received tremendous scholarly and pedagogical attention in recent decades” (Blight). Douglass would go on to become the preeminent abolitionist in the country, the most famous black American of his ...

In Toni Morrisons’s Beloved the use of the phrase “This is not a story to pass on” in three different iterations is confusing, because if history and literature has emphasized anything it is “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Morrison is making sure the story is literally passed but the real meaning is deliberately ambiguous, having different meanings depending on how you read or analyze the novel. It could mean “this is an important story, do not pass on it”; or miss the experience of knowing it. It could also be saying that slavery ...

Classic English Literature

Test of Faith in Young Goodman Brown In the short story "Young Goodman Brown," the author Nathaniel Hawthorne makes use of mystery and suspense in order to grasp the readers’ attention. This story is apparently a parable, bursting as it is filled with symbolism of the obscurity within the hearts of common people. The predominant message that Hawthorne intends to deliver through the story is about the powerlessness of the human race, and in order to convey the same, the author has used numerous literary techniques in an entertaining manner to the readers. The story seem to be predominantly ...

Poetry is one of the most versatile and most potent forms by which human emotions seep out into cultural consciousness. Poets, through verse, elucidate human experience and attempt to convey their thoughts, feelings, and desires in the pursuit of artistry. And yet, happiness and optimism are not the only avenues which are explored through the art of poetry. For some, depression, loneliness, and regret are also potent sources of inspiration. In this regard, the transition between the poetic and artistic movement of modernism and postmodernism is fertile ground. The key figures here are Theodore Roethke, Elizabeth Bishop, and Robert ...

Informal Writing on Nella Larsen's Passing

One of the most important works relevant for the American literature is the novel Passing by Nella Larsen. There have been many attempts by the literary critics to discover the reasons for such ending of the novel, but there is not mutual agreement on the reasons for Claire's death. The final scene of the novel brings its readers an unexpected twist and climax of the tragic hero. However, the question is how did Claire die? For me, both women are tragic heroines because Claire ended her life by sudden death, and Irene destroyed her family life by introducing ...

Robert Frost, an American poet of the late 19th century was dubbed as one of America’s finest poets. Literally, his poems reflect the serene appreciation of quiet living in the countryside, the simple appreciation over small things and the values of life (Fagan, 33). In this paper, I would like to argue that Robert Frost’s poems reflect individuality, despite the gentle poetic words of his poems. Normally, a reader might perceive Frost as an ‘effeminate; due to the quality of his chosen words. Most poets at the time of war use a much stronger voice in order to express ...

The human perception of the world makes the most vivid changes in human minds in the moment of complete unity between the nature of self and the nature of outer. Those who managed to feel this integrity within their beings could never step aside and remain muted. From this very moment, they devote their existence to life, nature, nation, and people. Mostly, their whole life is marked by a constant fight for freedom. Not only do they want to help themselves, but also they try to convey a crucial message of fundamental needs of the society they live in. Their voices “ ...

ENGL 2328/HIST 1302

The Depiction of Slaves in Novels and Stories, and its Significance The narratives in novels and stories depict the lives of slaves from erstwhile era in different perspectives. The White Americans presented a fabricated picture of the reality, whereas, the autobiographies and stories from black slaves depicted the true conditions in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. The novels and stories about slavery and the depiction of slaves were fairly done by the former slaves and therefore, they made a significant contribution to American literature by provoking debates on racism and social injustice. This research will also examine the significance of ...

There can be no doubt that Edgar Allan Poe is one of the best writers in the history of American literature. One of his most well-known short-stories, “The Tell-Tale Heart” is a classic that has endured decades of critical research and analysis. Throughout this lengthy scholarship, it immediately becomes apparent that Poe is one of the premier gothic writers of his generation, with his ability to tell a story as if he was his own demented protagonists. Critics and scholars also conclude that Poe has mastered the writing style of the first-person narrator (Ronald 2). In “The Tell-Tale Heart”, Poe uses ...

English

Benjamin Franklin was born on the 17th of January, 1706. He was also known as The First American” as he was one of the founding fathers of the United States of America. In addition to this, he was also a dominant author and printer as well as a postmaster, politician, statesman, diplomat and most importantly, a civic activist. Franklin had made many discoveries and inventions in the field of science as well. The invention of the lightning rod, Franklin stove and bifocals were some of them. As a civic activist, he had founded and facilitated a university and Philadelphia’s fire department. He had ...

The enlightenment period or the age of enlightenment as it is commonly known is a period in the 18th century where the smartest minds of the time tried to explain formerly unexplainable phenomena using scientific methodology and reasoning as opposed to tradition and faith which were more puritan ideals (Nina, 365). Everything at the time was subject to critical reasoning. Some of the fields that faced the reasonable critique were politics, religion and most importantly literature. Before the enlightenment period the dominant force on knowledge was religion, especially Christianity. The 18hth century saw major transformations with many believing that the ...

Letter From Birmingham Jail

Introduction. Birmingham, Alabama, at the peak of the civil rights movement, was the bastion of racial segregation. In this city, separate public facilities for white and black people such as toilets, lunch counters, stores, and bars, among others was conventional. Signs stating, “Whites Only” or “Coloreds” can be seen in every establishment, giving emphasis on their implementation of segregation laws. Of course, this was only the tip of the iceberg. African Americans, at that time, experienced more than exclusion. They also suffered from prejudiced court decisions, physical and verbal abuse on a day-to-day basis and bombings of churches and houses ...

Using every context and all available information in their own interest, the tricksters are represented in the African American culture by small animals that make their way through stories by tricking people, getting out of difficult situations by outsmarting their much bigger opponents (Harris, “The Trickster”). In Folktales, tricksters act as fable or legendary figures that tell a story about society, about humans’ characters, personifying people, while portraying a caricatured, but vivid image of social Moravians (Rutledge 64). The tricksters are central figures of the African American literature, exhibiting various characteristics that can be depicted in human behavior, such as ...

‘Instructor’s Name’

‘Subject’ Literature has been used in its various forms, like short fiction, novels, poems, plays, for centuries by writers, who use this medium to express their imaginations, emotions, and ideas. Each genre, in its own way, entices its reader and tries to entertain and enlighten him. Sometimes, a similar literary device, like symbolism, metaphor or imagery, is handled in a different way in different genres. The two literary works discussed in this essay, “The Road Not Taken” and “A Worn Path”, have both employed the symbolism of the journey. Both the authors have portrayed, in their work, a journey, which is ...

Literature has always been the thread that has weaved together the times of the human race. The aesthetic work of the writers have transcended over the ravages of time to be immortalized in the history of literature. American literature exudes the artistic richness and triumphs over the heart of the gazillion readers across the globe with the quintessential works. The student of literature can very well trace the strong links between the various phases of literary works in the nation. There are thematic commonalities which bind the works together and explore the American society to the very core. Edgar ...

‘Instructor’s Name’

‘Subject’ An Analysis of ‘The Long Way Home’ Writing solidifies the fluid memories of a man’s life and serves as a tool for self expression. Literature has many genres and travel writing is one of the earliest genres. The ‘Odyssey’ written by Homer together with ‘The Iliad’ formed the foundation of Western literary tradition. Odyssey is more or less the account of the perilous journey undertook by its protagonist Odysseus to reach his way home after Troy fell to its enemies. Early travelogues, like Odyssey, were mostly dominated by religious thoughts. During the nineteenth century, writers like Sarah ...

A Comparative look at the theme of nature in the poems “The Oak” Alfred Lord Tennyson and “The Road Not Taken” Robert Frost Both Alfred Lord Tennyson’s The Oak and Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken deals with the theme of nature. Both poets incorporate each word in a specific manner that adds literal and figurative meanings to the overall essence of the poems. Robert Frost and Alfred Lord Tennyson use symbolism, figurative language, and rhyme to convey their views of the road that Frost cannot choose and the oak tree that develops from a human perspective. Tennyson ...

Robert Hayden is considered to be one of the greatest African-American poets of the 20th century; writing many poems about the black experience, both contemporary and historical, Hayden also managed to tackle universal themes of loneliness, desperation, parental approval and freedom. Hayden’s work was deeply rooted in the plight of African-Americans, many poems dealing directly with the anxieties and tensions that existed for minorities even during his time. Living through segregation-era America and the Civil Rights Movement, Hayden’s work becomes seemingly synonymous with the struggles of black people to have a voice in culture and art. In ...

Literature review of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” (1885) – is an outstanding novel by Mark Twain. Once Ernest Hemingway stated: "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn All American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since" (Esther, “What Have Writers Said About Huckleberry Finn?”). Hemingway was referring to the broadest aspect of the impact of the Twain`s novel: its democracy and humanity, its versatility, and a new language for literature, simple and as close to the spoken language. All these characteristics became common for American literature of ...

Ideological Position of Contemporary Culture as Related by Eggers, Foer, and Morrison

Definitive conclusions regarding contemporary literature and the ideological position it takes have yet to be conclusively drawn. What is clear is that writers of the twenty-first century have departed greatly from the predecessors of the previous century in terms of their place within the culture and understanding of it. While difficult to make broad statements about American literature as a whole due to its diversity, it is possible to closely analyze three popular works and connect similarities, which can then be used to make broader statements about the culture as a whole. Three books that have been widely printed and sold ...

Plan / Outline

In order to reflect the challenges that has been faced by the African-American literature, the paper plans to compare the content of two poems. One poem is written in the 1950’s era which was a difficult and crucial period for the African Americans, while the other one has been written in the contemporary era to highlight the work of the poet of that poem and how African American literature survived in Amercia. The essay has also quoted examples from the essay to make it more simple and explainable. - Introduction - This paper aims to compare and ...

When on January 17, 1706 in Boston in the family of a poor soap-boiler fifteenth child was born no one could imagine that this boy would not only glorify the dynasty of Franklins, but also the entire country, that he would become a world-renowned scholar and one of the founders of the new nation – the United States of America. The boy`s name was Benjamin. His life story is an example for any young person entering the life and seeking to make one's way in life. An active politician, diplomat, writer, educator, scientist, and inventor About this remarkable man many ...