English Essays

Herman Melville
Herman Melville I. Biographical Insights A. The culture this great author was a part of was the time in American history where inspiring works of literature began to emerge. It was also a time when American writers had not completely separated its literary heritage from Europe, partly because there were successful literary genius� flourishing there. B. Herman Melville was born on August 1, 1819, he was the son of Allan and Maria Melville. During Herman�s childhood he li...

Stephen King's The Stand
Stephen King's The Stand Stephen King's The Stand is a thrilling novel that portrays the forces of good against evil. In the year 1991, a plague strikes America, leaving only a few thousand people alive who are "immune" to the epidemic. Of the survivors, those who serve G-d instinctively join in Boulder, Colorado, while those who worship the "Dark Man" are drawn to Las Vegas, Nevada. The two groups separately re-build society, until one must destroy the other. Franni...

The Sun Also Rises
The Sun Also Rises The remarkable thing about the book was its liberal use of dialogue and how Hemingway used it to carry the reader through the book. There was no plot in the book in the sense that there was no twists, intrigue, or goals for any of the characters and the dialogue was the only thing that moved the reader through the book. Hemingway used so much dialogue that it was difficult at times to follow who was saying what, but I believe this didn't matter because any of t...

Red Badge of Courage
Red Badge of Courage Physical and emotional pain is what the tattered solider illustrates in the book. The tattered solider pain comes from all of the horrible things associated with war. Him going crazy brings emotional pain and the physical pain is brought on by the endurances of war. "There was a tattered man, fouled with dust, blood and powder stain from hair to shoes, who trudged quietly at the youths side". The tattered solider also characterizes the toughness peo...

Hemmingway-The Sun Also Rises
Hemmingway-The Sun Also Rises In the novel The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway describes a couple who share a very strange and distant kind of love for each other. This story takes place immediately after World War I, a time of great hardship. This hardship results in a digression of values both morally and socially. The love that Brett and Jake share is symbolic of the general decline in values in that they tolerate behaviors in one another that would have been previously co...

The Crucible
The Crucible The witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts in the early sixteen hundreds was a time of uneasiness and suspicion. Anyone could easily turn in his or her neighbor on the ground of witchcraft. Someone could merely say their neighbor's spirit had attacked them during the night, which no man can prove. Nevertheless, as a God-fearing community, they could not think of denying the evidence, because to deny the existence of Evil is to deny the existence of Goodness, wh...

The Tragedy of Hamlet
The Tragedy of Hamlet Arguably the best piece of writing ever done by William Shakespeare, Hamlet the is the classic example of a tragedy. In all tragedies the hero suffers, and usually dies at the end. Othello stabs himself, Romeo and Juliet commit suicide, Brutis falls on his sword, and like them Hamlet dies by getting cut with a poison tipped sword. But that is not all that is needed to consider a play a tragedy, and sometimes a hero doesn't even need to die. Makin...

Lost Moments
Lost Moments Deep inside I was glad I was the chosen, Outwardly cool, yet within I was frozen, I cut to the corner so the play could unfold, But a teammate did not do as he was told, The point-guard was stuck, he was forced to shoot, I watched the ball go right through the hoop, The ...

Analysis of Similes in the Illiad
Analysis of Similes in the Illiad In the Iliad, Homer finds a great tool in the simile. Just by opening the book in a random place the reader is undoubtedly faced with one, or within a few pages. Homer seems to use everyday activities, at least for the audience, his fellow Greeks, in these similes nearly exclusively. When one is confronted with a situation that is familiar, one is more likely to put aside contemplating the topic and simply inject those known feelings. This wou...

Big Green Trees
Big Green Trees Big green trees Is what I see, Looking at me happily Bright green grass As thick as can be, Feels so very soft to me Birds and squirrels are playing around With some sunlight shining down, ...

Biography & Work Analysis of Edgar Poe
Biography & Work Analysis of Edgar Poe Many authors have made great contributions to the world of literature. Mark Twain introduced Americans to life on the Mississippi. Thomas Hardy wrote on his pessimistic views of the Victorian Age. Another author that influenced literature is Edgar Allan Poe. Poe is known as the father of the American short story and father of the detective story. To understand the literary contributions of Edgar Allan Poe, one must look at his early life,...

Biography of Emily Dickinson
Biography of Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson was raised in a traditional New England home in the mid 1800's. Her father along with the rest of the family had become Christians and she alone decided to rebel against that and reject the Church. She like many of her contemporaries had rejected the traditional views in life and adopted the new transcendental outlook. Massachusetts, the state where Emily was born and raised in, before the transcendental period was the epicenter of ...

Biography of Ernest Hemingway
Biography of Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899, in Oak Park, Illinois. His father was the owner of a prosperous real estate business. His father, Dr. Hemingway, imparted to Ernest the importance of appearances, especially in public. Dr. Hemingway invented surgical forceps for which he would not accept money. He believed that one should not profit from something important for the good of mankind. Ernest's father, a man of high ideals, was very stri...

Othello - A Racist Play?
Othello - A Racist Play? Although there are lots of things to suggest this is a racist play I don't think that racism actually dominates the play, even though it has a racist theme. There is a romantic union between black and white which gets destroyed because most people think the relationship is wrong. At the time the play was written, 1604, even the Queen of England was racist so there must have been a strong hatred of blacks around that time. Most racist comments...

Richard III - Tragedy in Isolation
Richard III - Tragedy in Isolation "The tragedy of Richard III lies in the progressive isolation of its protagonist". Discuss. From the very opening of the play when Richard III enters "solus", the protagonist's isolation is made clear. Richard's isolation progresses as he separates himself from the other characters and breaks the natural bonds between Man and nature through his efforts to gain power. The first scene of the play begins with a soliloquy, which empha...

The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew In Shakespeare's comedy, "The Taming of the Shrew," one of the main ways that the theme is shown is by mistaken identity. The main theme of this play is that what a person is really like is more important than how they appear to be. This is shown by Petruchio's relationship with Katherine; the changing roles of Tranio, Lucentio, and Hortensio; and the true characters of Bianca and Katherine. All three of these situations help to enrich the theme....

A Farewell to Arms
A Farewell to Arms Critics usually describe Hemingway's style as simple, spare, and journalistic. These are all good words; they all apply. Perhaps because of his training as a newspaperman, Hemingway is a master of the declarative, subject-verb-object sentence. His writing has been likened to a boxer's punches--combinations of lefts and rights coming at us without pause. Take the following passage: We were all cooked. The thing was not to recognize it. The last country to re...

The Great Gatsby - Daisy's Role
The Great Gatsby - Daisy's Role In one of the greatest works of the Twentieth Century, "The Great Gatsby" by F.Scott Fitzgerald, there are many dynamic and round characters which greatly add to the story's theme. One character, Daisy Fay Buchannon, is made essential by way of her relation to the theme. With her multi-dimensional personality and relation to the conflicts, she becomes needed in order to convey the meaning. Not only this, but she is also an important part of the p...

Dulce et Decorum Est
Dulce et Decorum Est Based on the Poem "Dulce et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owens The poem is one of the most powerful ways to convey an idea or opinion. Through vivid imagery and compelling metaphors, the poem gives the reader the exact feeling the author wanted. The poem "Dulce et Decorum Est," an anti-war poem by Wilfred Owen, makes great use of these devices. This poem is very effective because of its excellent manipulation of the mechanical and emotional parts of poet...

Oedipus Rex - Bliss in Ignorance
Oedipus Rex - Bliss in Ignorance One of the most memorable and meaningful Socratic quotes applies well when in context of Sophocles' Theban Trilogy. "The unexamined life is not worth living," proclaims Socrates. He could have meant many things by this statement, and in relation to the play, the meaning is found to be even more complex. Indeed, the situation of Oedipus, king of Thebes, the truth of this statement is in question. Would Oedipus have been better off if he w...

Ceremonies in "The Waste Land"
Ceremonies in "The Waste Land" Ceremonies are prevalent throughout T.S. Eliot�s poem "The Waste Land". Eliot relies on literary contrasts to illustrate the specific values of meaningful, effectual rituals of primitive society in contrast to the meaningless, broken, sham rituals of the modern day. These contrasts serve to show how ceremonies can become broken when they are missing vital components, or they are overloaded with too many. Even the way language is used in the ...

Gender in "As You Like It"
Gender in "As You Like It" Many characters undergo a change in William Shakespeare�s play, As You Like It. Duke Senior goes from being a member of a court to being a member of a forest. Orlando changes from a bitter younger brother to a love-sick young man. But the most obvious transformation undergone, is done by Rosalind. Her change from woman to man, not only alters her mood, candor, and gender, but allows her to be the master of ceremonies. Celia and Rosalin...

A Farewell to Arms Analysis
A Farewell to Arms Analysis John Stubbs' "Love and Role Playing in A Farewell to Arms" John Stubbs' essay is an examination of the defense which he believes Henry and Catherine use to protect themselves from the discovery of their insignificance and "powerlessness...in a world indifferent to their well being..." He asserts that "role-playing" by the two main characters, and several others in the book, is a way to escape the realization of human mortality which is unveile...

Maya Angelou - The Person and Poet
Maya Angelou - The Person and Poet Maya Angelou is a very triumphant woman. She has written many books and poems that have given her great success. If one would talk to her, he or she would think she has lead a normal, happy life. Her life is blissful now, but it wasn�t always perfect. Maya Angelou�s sorrowful life experiences inspired her to write autobiographical works of poetry. Maya Angelou was born April 4, 1928 as Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis. She was rais...

12 Angry Men - Movie and Play
12 Angry Men - Movie and Play This essay will compare & contrast the protagonist / antagonist's relationship with each other and the other jurors in the play and in the movie versions of Reginald Rose's 12 Angry Men. There aren't any changes made to the key part of the story but yet the minor changes made in making the movie adaptation produce a different picture than what one imagines when reading the drama in the form of a play. First off, the settings in the movie...