8th Grade

The Golden Compass

Dust is a vital element that supports the overall themes of innocence and sin in The Golden Compass, connecting to the religious and moral philosophy in the world and how it may be more harmful than beneficial to humanity. Throughout the story, it...

College

The Bible

Wisdom as defined in Ecclesiastes is somewhat of a paradox: the pursuit of Wisdom is a vain “pursuit of wind” (Ecclesiastes 2.11). The repeated mantra that Ecclesiastes offers is “All is futile!” (Ecclesiastes 1.2) and thus “there is nothing...

8th Grade

The Glass Castle

“I wondered if the fire had been out to get me. I wondered if all fire was related… I didn't have the answers to those questions, but what I did know was that I lived in a world that at any moment could erupt into fire” (34).

Throughout the story,...

11th Grade

The Sound of Waves

In the novel The Sound of Waves, author Yukio Mishima tells the story of Shinji, and his love for a girl by the name of Hatsue. The novel expounds upon a myriad of themes relevant to the lives of many across the world, adolescents especially....

College

To the Lighthouse

Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse achieves an accurate and effective portrayal of psychological realism, which is understood for the duration of this essay as a strong emphasis on deep interior characterisation and an understanding of how these...

College

Annie John

Colonialism pervades Annie John (1985) by Jamaica Kincaid as a theme underlying the action in the eventful life of a little girl and her coming of age into adolescence. Colonialism is defined as that “governing system by which an imperial nation...