Newest Literature Essays

Sometimes, ignoring reality is easier than facing it. When traumatizing events occur, repression is a common coping mechanism used to deal with one’s feelings and thoughts. As an unknown person once said, however, “When something bad happens you...

Francois Truffaut, director of the film The 400 Blows (1959), concerns himself with the delinquent child abandoned by the education system and even the family. As a French New Wave director, Truffaut’s motive is to represent the real-life drama of...

In The Color of Water, Ruth, a Caucasian young woman, gravitates toward Black men because of the rejection, lack of love, paternal neglect, and sexual abuse she encountered at the hands of her own father, and because of the first love of her life...

In Sundiata: The Lion King of Mali, responsibility closely aligns with life purpose for those who must fulfill key roles in Malian society, and throughout the story, exemplary characters dutifully perform the obligations. Responsibility in this...

Webster’s presentation of the fallen world in Act V of The White Devil appears as a more developed and grander reflection of Milton’s fallen world in Book IX of Paradise Lost. Milton’s outstanding attributes of the fallen world are developed by...

Modernist poet Edward Estlin Cummings (pen name e. e. cummings) uses diverse poetic structures in “Buffalo Bill’s” and “next to of course god america i” to draw the reader’s attention to the deeper meaning behind the words. Cummings experiments...

Modern psychology, although a relatively new and largely still-debated scientific field, focuses on not how people do certain things, but why. Most people would agree that modern psychology began with Sigmund Freud in the early 1900s. Freud’s most...

“The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim.”

This quote from Edsger W. Dijkstra is a fantastic illustration of the question that surrounds the world of artificial...

Knowing the elements of Arabesques (1986), authored by Anton Shammas, clarifies the meaning of the ancient art form as well as enlightens the reader on the significance of the novel. His purpose, technique, and message are intertwined with the...

Though most children’s literature is not necessarily always intended to be read solely by children, it is important to consider the reception of the child. In the Grimm Brothers’ “Cinderella” and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s...

Beauty - in its physical embodiments - is one of the most important overarching themes of Dai Sijie's novel Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Dai creates a sense of beauty in the novel by highlighting the beauty of the characters, the...

Rudyard Kipling’s “If-” explores the themes of manhood, hard work, and discipline. The speaker feels that one should have humility, confidence, and several other virtues in order to be a man. Kipling uses literary techniques including anaphora,...

The concept of hunger can be used to represent many different things, whether it be in the physical, emotional, or conceptual sense. In Natalie Diaz’s poetry, hunger serves to represent ideas in both physical and psychological ways. She places the...

During the Middle Ages, the connection between animals—or “beasts,” as they were so often referred to—and humans were often blurred, confused, and complicated overall. This state of uncertainty creates much difficulty with finding the true meaning...

The 18th Century presented many challenges to African Americans, even those who were free from the horrors of slavery. Many African Americans struggled to find a public voice that the general (white) population would be willing to listen to....

Lu Xun and Kafka’s utilization of the physical body allows for the presentation of personal criticisms towards aspects of modernity and the social, political and economic changes of the movement. Modernity, due to its nature of bringing about...

The sociopolitical and cultural landscape of the present is undeniably shaped by that of the past. Past sociopolitical and cultural tensions serve as foundation for the contemporary psychology we experience. However, alongside this connection is a...

In Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, Larry is the youngest member of the Keller family who passed away in World War II. Although he does not appear on stage for the duration of the play, he is still considered to be one of the most important roles. His...

Originally used to signify a shield or a coat of arms, the term 'blazon' transformed it meaning through the description of virtues or positive attributes, usually of a woman, in late sixteenth century poetry. 'Blazon' can either denote a noun,...

The first chapter of Remembering Babylon contains the introduction young boy, Gemmy, and his first encounter with the white settlers of Australia. The exposition foreshadows characters' actions and potential conflicts, establishing later events in...

Mankind’s intense fear of evil is capable of provoking humans to commit grotesque acts of malice in order to get rid of “evil” in their daily life. John Wyndham's The Chrysalids effectively exposes the hypocrisy and the ludicrousness of a...

Through its unflattering characterization of those at the top of the economic heap and its appalling examination of the ways in which the American Dream not only fails to fulfill its promise but also contributes to the decay of moral values in a...

Many of George Saunders’ works are focused around capitalism, which is a recurrent concept in several short stories of Saunders’ Pastoralia. However, Pastoralia not only focuses on the general workings of capitalism, but also enumerates the...

In Tracy Letts’ play August: Osage County, each of the Weston daughters—Barb, Ivy, and Karen—shows evidence of deeply rooted emotional damage. A large amount of the emotional damage the girls have can be attributed to their upbringing, and being...