Essays on Literature

Free essays on literature refer to the writing pieces that are available to everyone online without any charges. These essays can cover a wide range of literary topics, such as the analysis of a character or a theme in a novel, a review of a poem or a play, or an interpretation of a literary movement. They can be written by students, scholars, or literary enthusiasts, and can offer diverse perspectives and insights into the world of literature. Free essays on literature can be useful for those interested in learning more about a specific literary work or genre or for those seeking inspiration for their own writing.
Context in The Catcher and Pleasantville
Words • 916
Pages • 4
The impact of context on the novel "The catcher in the Rye" by JD. Salinger and film “Pleasantville by Gary Ross is very significant and influences the ideas presented in the texts. Though from different eras, human nature’s tendency to lie and deceive is present in both texts. As well as this, the disconnection from society emotionally and our desire for freedom and independence is explored by both composers. The conservative values and ideals of the 1950s are explored through…...
Catcher In The RyeDeceptionPsychology
Moron Use in The Catcher in the Rye
Words • 417
Pages • 2
The motif of a “moron“ is a noun used often by Holden in dialogue. He constantly reminds the audience that he is physically weak which makes it easier to see how he uses words as a form of power. JD. Salinger emphasizes the concept of Morons through Holden’s monotonous defense mechanism. In chapter 6 when Holden is frustrated with Stradlater he yells “You're a dirty stupid sonuvabitch of a moron”. While they are fighting, Stradlater has an upper hand in…...
Catcher In The RyePsychologySocial Psychology
Symbolisms in The Catcher in the Rye, a Novel by J. D. Salinger
Words • 1558
Pages • 7
The symbolism used throughout ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, is arguably one of the most indispensable techniques used by Salinger in order to seize and retain the reader’s infallible attention. The ample selection of symbols that are incorporated and ‘characterized by a shimmering surface of suggested meanings without a denotative core‘ throughout this novel- about a troubled, adolescent male who is at the crucial stage between childhood and adulthood- serve to highlight the struggle in this arduous transition that the…...
Catcher In The RyeChildCultureLiterature
Save time and effort. Get incredible results with the help of our writers.
Hire a Pro to Write You a 100% Plagiarism-Free Paper.
Get My Paper
An Overview of Dee Brown’s Book Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee
Words • 609
Pages • 3
Dee Brown's book, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. This non»fiction story takes place in the West of America in the late lBOD's, from the point of View of an American Indian. This story explains in a straightforward way that the white men of our own country were murderers, It's about over the course of thirty years what happens to the culture of native American Indians and what causes it to fade. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is from…...
Bury My Heart At Wounded KneeCultureViolence
Destruction of American Indians in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Words • 4587
Pages • 19
Dee Brown s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is a documented account of the destruction of the American Indian in the late 18005 ending at the Battle of Wounded Knee The author asks us to confront our past, which may make us uncomfortable But there are two sides to every story, and Brown shows us the side that we rarely see. By forcing us to think about these issues, Dee Brown accomplished the goal he set out to achieve…...
Bury My Heart At Wounded KneeCultureMilitary
Powder River Invasion in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Words • 542
Pages • 3
Chapter Five is mainly about the Powder River Invasion. The Powder River Invasion took place on July 1 to October 4, 1865. It stretched across the Powder River Country, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Nebraska. The Cheyenne‘s found out about the United States soldiers building a fort in the Powder River Country, They try to warn some Arapaho‘s of the soldiers coming, but they did not believe them leaving their village destroyed. The Sioux chased these hungry and cold soldiers…...
Bury My Heart At Wounded KneeImperialism
Chapter Eleven of the Book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
Words • 1149
Pages • 5
Chapter Eleven is about the war to save Buffalo. The chapter begins with a quote by Satanta the Chief of the Kiowas, He said, “I have heard that you intended to settle us on a reservation near the mountains. I don‘t want to settle I love to roam over the prairies. There I feel free and happy, but when we settle down we grow pale and die. A long time ago this land belonged to our fathers; but when I…...
Bury My Heart At Wounded KneeMilitaryTexas
Black Like Me by Howard Griffin
Words • 714
Pages • 3
The title of the book I chose to read was Black Like Me. The author of this book is Howard Griffin. The main character of the book is John Howard Griffin, The book takes place in 1950 and 1960. It is about a iounalist who has picked the topic of racism for his next article. He dies his skin the color black to see how life is from a negroes perspective. John becomes horrified seeing all the pain and struggles…...
Black Like MeFictionRacism
Black Privilege Inequality
Words • 528
Pages • 3
In life, we see many things which are not fair and when people do it more often it becomes a common thing and then it's considered to be fair. “I swear to the Lord, I still can’t see why democracy means everybody but me.” This was said by Langston Hughes at the 1920s and at this time many Black poets, musicians, and writers were being recognized by their talents but yet they could not be able to go into best…...
Black Like MeMalcolm XMoneyPolitics
Black Like Me Confronting Southern Racism
Words • 1040
Pages • 5
The novel Black Like Me is a fantastic book that tells how racism was in the South; and how a young man, named John Howard Griffin, had the bravery to change who he was to become a negro and experience how Negros live the South. John Howard Griffin, the author and main character of Black Like Me; is a middle-aged white man living in Mansfield, Texas in 1959. He was journalist and wanted to write about the racism between whites…...
Black Like MeCultureOppressionRacism
Challenges of a Black Man in Racist South in Black Like Me
Words • 768
Pages • 4
John Howard Griffin is the author and main character of the Anisfield-Wolf Award win- ning book, Black Like Me. In the autobiography of his experience, Griffin, a middle-aged white man, details the deliberate transition and his challenges as a black man during a time of racial in- justice in the South. Obviously expecting to find bigotry, persecution, and destitution, Griffin is further shocked by the actual depth of racism upon experiencing the abysmal conditions and devastated communities of the black…...
Black Like MeOppressionPoliticsRacism
Experiencing Prejudice In Black Like Me
Words • 414
Pages • 2
Libba Bray once said, “And that is how change happens. One gesture. One person. One moment.” In the novel Black Like Me, set in the deep south in 1959, John Howard Griffin shares his true accounts of extreme prejudice, severe segregation, and small acts of kindness through the eyes of a black man who was once white. John Griffin, a white racial equality journalist in Texas, decided to darken his pigment and record his experiences as a Negro in the…...
Black Like MeCultureRacism
The Issue of Racism in the Books Black Like Me and The New Jim Crow
Words • 1481
Pages • 6
Black Like Me and The Newjim Crow are two incredible but deeply disturbing books about the culture that I am from. America’s history in dealing with race is very poor, filled with slavery and discrimination of many forms. These books explore that history and the present state of the country without holding back. Black Like Me is the story of a reporter in late 1959 who decides to change the color of his skin to see if people treat him…...
Black Like MeCivil Rights MovementRacismSocial Inequality
Griffin’s Personality Traits in Black Like Me
Words • 892
Pages • 4
Certain experiences can bring about a significant impact to an individual's life this was especially true for John Howard Griffin. As 1 reflects on Griffin's earlier life before Black Like Me was published, there had definitely been some painful and learning experiences. When he was called to war against Japan, he spent time and lived with African Americans. There, he got to understand the difficulties they had endured within racism, and he came to feel guilty about his own racist…...
Black Like MeCivil Rights MovementPoliticsRacism
A Critique of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin by William Gilmore Simms
Words • 285
Pages • 2
William Gilmore Simms did a review of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in the Southern Literary Messenger of October 1852 in which he made three main attacks on Stowe’s novel. One, that the novel contained many literary faultst First he denoted that she used her great skill on an unworthy topic, then, he pointed out the fact that the stories of Uncle Tom and the Harris family are completely unrelated and the characters never meet or interact at all. Also, he believed…...
Human RightsSlaveryUncle Tom'S Cabin
Faith and Christianity in Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Words • 2137
Pages • 9
The epitome of the 19'” century; Uncle Tom‘s Cabin illuminated the inhumanity of slavery to the American public, leading it to eventually become the bestselling novel of that century. Stowe’s abolitionist ideals expressed through the novel stirred and boiled up emotions for people of the North, compelling them to support to the abolitionist cause. in fact, the novel brought such controversy and tension between the North and South, it eventually was poised as one of the sparks that ignited the…...
LoveReligionSlaveryUncle Tom'S Cabin
Strength and Faith of Uncle Tom in Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Words • 868
Pages • 4
Advocates of all kinds have popped up throughout history, completely embodying the characteristic that they’re trying to represent. Advocates and representatives of this kind have had their roots in foundations like religion, revolution, political parties, and a myriad of others. In Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Uncle Tom remains faithful and reverent throughout the hardships of being separated from his wife and children, suffering the death of a loved one, and having to live under Simon Legreet. As the…...
ChristianityReligionTheologyUncle Tom'S Cabin
Symbolic Right to Choose in Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Words • 610
Pages • 3
In history, America has traditionally been the country created of a mixture of different nationalities and fatherlands. In the early formation of the country, this sense of patria was distinctly different for most Americans, whose ancestors had understood that their fatherland was an inherited tradition. For the new Americans, they were given the freedom to choose their own homeland and individually decide whether or not they were American or the nationality that belonged to their parents. The idea of Patria…...
ChristianityCultureReligionUncle Tom'S Cabin
White Characters in Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Words • 1698
Pages • 7
Stowe focuses on developing genteel white characters in order to convey the actual types of people involved with slavery prior to the Civil War in America, Marie, Miss Ophelia, St.Clare and Shelby are examples of the different attitudes people held towards slavery. The characterizations advance the theme of good Christianity vs. bad Christianity because all of the characters are considered examples of bad Christianity; this is following the belief that slavery and Christianity are incompatible proper spheres of action for…...
CultureEthicsSlaveryUncle Tom'S Cabin
Responsibility in Fences and All My Sons
Words • 1008
Pages • 5
Responsibility is the key to success in ntany families all throughout the world. Within August Wilson’s Feltrex and Arthur Miller's All My Sons. Troy and Joe‘s commitment to responsibility inside of their family is demonstrated by their hard work in fulfilling necessary fatherhood duties as well as by their constant providing for their family: the strain for the perfection of these two goals has caused the fathers to each “crack" in their own ways. severely injuring the structure of their…...
All My SonsEthicsPhilosophyPsychology
Deceit in A Doll’s House & All My Sons
Words • 1969
Pages • 8
Consider and evaluate the different ways in which the writers of your chosen texts present different interactions within families. You should: “A Doll‘s House” was written by Henrik Ibsen in 1879, the play was set in the late 1800’s in Norway, and follows the marriage of Nora and Torvald Helmer “All My Sons” was written by Arthur Miller, and was completed and first performed in 1947. The play is set in the post-war USA, some years after the Wall Street…...
A Doll'S HouseAll My SonsCulturePsychology
The Two Books We Chose Were “The Notebook” and “A Walk to Remember”
Words • 3214
Pages • 13
This was my first book group. and I think it was a great experience for me I enjoyed every minute of this assignment. When Dr. McNeal was givtng out numbers for our class to decide what group we were going to be in l was hoping that I would like my group and I did I benefited from having a book group. In many different ways, I made new friends and I learned to like to read. Before I have…...
A Walk To RememberCultureLoveThe Notebook
The Narrator’s Loss of Identity in A Separate Peace, a Novel by John Knowles
Words • 557
Pages • 3
In the beginning of A Separate Peace the narrator Gene is introduced as an academic, rule-following boy, however, as the novel continues Gene starts to lose his identity and portrays acts of violence. Gene describes his experience at devon as his own war, and much of this is caused by the fact that other classmates, like Phineas, influence him more than he would like. Also, his jealousy towards others, even his best friend, caused problems for Gene resulting in violent…...
A Separate PeaceAngerPsychologyViolence
The Character of Phineas in A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Words • 571
Pages • 3
A Separate Peace by John Knowles follows the temporarily intertwined lives of several young men in boarding school during World War 11 over a linear plot line. An adolescent called Phineas exerts a physical ability unparalleled by his fellow student body and a “larger than life” personality and persona. The events in the novel and the short-lived life of (arguably the main character) Phineas are narrated by his (Phineas’) best friend and roommate Gene Forrester, similar to the way Arthur…...
A Separate PeaceAdolescenceCultureSense
Grief in A Separate Peace
Words • 2327
Pages • 10
The five stages of loss and grief, created by Elisabeth Kiibler-Ross, are part of a theory that describes how humans deal with death and dying. The protagonists in the novel A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, were affected by tragedies, Kiibler—Ross’s theory on grief is shown throughout the novel and how each person copes with this obstacle in different ways; some positively and some negatively. Dr. Elisabeth Kiibler-Ross is a well-known psychiatrist and professor of the University of Chicago She…...
A Separate PeaceAngerGriefPsychology
A Separate Peace by John Knowles: Gene’s War Against Finny
Words • 513
Pages • 3
In the novel A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, an adolescent named Gene faces internal conflicts in his life while World War Two is going on. He has a friend named Phineas whom Gene purposefully broke his legs. Throughout the book, Gene describes the events that occurred during their friendship until Phineas dies the constant ‘war’ Gene is in against himself and Phineas connects very well to the title of the novel, “A Separate Peace” in which by the end…...
A Separate PeaceMindPhilosophyWar
Phineas as a Victim of High School Changes in A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Words • 1224
Pages • 5
High School is a time for great physical, mental and emotional changes in youth. Some students experience a three-foot height change, and others, an epiphany. These changes happen over the course of high school but can be brought about quickly under the correct circumstances. In the novel "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles, Phineas is another victim of high school changes, catalyzed by injury His life begins normally, as a superb athlete A tragic "accident" wrecks his chance at a…...
A Separate PeaceExistencePhilosophyReality
A Look at Character Friction in A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving
Words • 464
Pages • 2
In the novel by John Living A Prayer for Owen Meany, there is a lot of friction between many characters, this novel was also written about a dark time in the history of the United States. As is told in the novel John F Kennedy is President of the United States and he influences a boy named Owen Meany. He is a small boy who receives many beatings from fellow peers, both physical and verbal. Even though the title may…...
A Prayer For Owen MeanyCultureLiteratureWar
Future Predicament in A Prayer for Owen Meany
Words • 886
Pages • 4
In most cases, it is impossible to know the future; however, the past can often be just as bewildering. John Irving conveys this to us through his character Owen in “A Prayer for Owen Meany.” In this novel, we hear the tale of Owen Meany’s life through the stories of his best friend John Wheelwright. John often questions the past and its meaning and has trouble making peace with events that occurred during his childhood. Because of this, he is…...
A Prayer For Owen MeanyCultureFictionFuture
Irving & Owen Meany: Similarities & Differences
Words • 1666
Pages • 7
John living, the author ofA Prayer for Owen Meany, uses his background and childhood to affect the plot of the novel. Although there are many things that make his life in the past different than the lives of the characters in the book, there are some similarities as well, which show where Irving may have gotten some of his ideas from. The life of Johnny, the main character in the novel, lives a life very similar to the life Irving…...
A Prayer For Owen MeanyChildCultureLiterature
Owen in A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Words • 856
Pages • 4
Owen Meany is by far the most complex character that John Irving characterizes in A Prayer For Owen Meany. From the exposition, Owen Meany is perplexed by society's standards and this conflict builds his entire character. Owen Meany's insight and contrasting points of View from the traditional society of rural New Hampshire sets a rebellious, but yet realistic, mood in the book. Meany's self-crafted belief system sets him apart from the rest of the society he lives in. Meany is…...
A Prayer For Owen MeanyCultureForgivenessSociety
Harriet Wheelwright in A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Words • 368
Pages • 2
Harriet Wheelwright, a direct descendant of the town's prominent founder, is not a typical sweet, old grandmother. He doesn‘t dance around the truth when recounting his story. Showing a complete lack of empathy, Johnny recounts “I remember that it was shortly after Lydia’s leg had been amputated because it was still a little strange to have her eating with us at the table (in her wheelchair), and to have the two new maids doing the serving and clearing that only…...
A Prayer For Owen MeanyEthicsPhilosophyPsychology
Use of Grace in a Good Man Is Hard to Find, a Short Story by Flannery O’Connor
Words • 1226
Pages • 5
In Flannery O’Connor‘s, A Good Man is Hard to Find, the subject of grace and the grandmother arises. This story is about a family who travels to Tennessee for a vacation, but they run into a man called the Misfit who ends up killing the whole family, O’Connor uses a lot of foreshadowing of the family's death in the story. At the end of the story, the grandmother is left with the Misfit, who is prepared to kill her. She…...
A Good Man Is Hard To FindCulturePhilosophyReligion
Appreciating Life in A Good Man
Words • 378
Pages • 2
In the beginning of the quote it states that, “The Misfit's eyes were red-rimmed and pale and defenseless-looking”. This can suggest that the grandmother‘s words beforehand may have triggered a small change towards the Misfit. He had previously stated that he enjoyed being mean because that was who he was and he embraced it. In his life he decided what was right or wrong. After encountering the grandma and hearing the words she pleaded to him, he noticed that she…...
A Good Man Is Hard To FindCulturePhilosophyReligion
Mankind’s Mocking Moral Code in A Good Man Is Hard to Find
Words • 642
Pages • 3
As children, many people are taught about the moral code of mankind. Treat others as you would want to be treated. Do not lust, kill, steal, or hurt others the list goes on and on. Whether this code originates from religion, unique experiences, or personal judgment, it exists, and it affects the way many people live. The story, A Good Man is Hard to Find, although it represents many different things, is designed to make people rethink their own personal…...
A Good Man Is Hard To FindChildEthicsThought
Themes in O’Connor’s Stories
Words • 506
Pages • 3
After indulging in a bit of light research on Flannery O'Connor, I learned that to understand O'Connor's short stories is to understand the rural South that she was familiar with before 1970. She inserts her readers into the settings by capturing thought processes. O'Connor likes to write her stories to set opposing forces against one another, though, as demonstrated in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and "Parker’s Back,” they routinely incorporate a severe lack of hope in humanity.…...
A Good Man Is Hard To FindCultureReligionRevelation
Grandmother in the Short Story A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor
Words • 316
Pages • 2
In the short story, A Good Man is Hard to Find, by Flannery O'Connor, the grandmother is very interesting. She is a true Southern belle! She is always dressed to impress and thinks that she is superior to everyone else in her family, She is clearly the protagonist in the story, because she is always in the midst of family drama. Although she is loved and looked up to by her family, the grandmother is often the cause of much…...
A Good Man Is Hard To FindBooksFictionProtagonist
The Persona in the Novel Fifth Business by Robertson Davies
Words • 2295
Pages • 10
Obsession with the Persona The persona is one's character that is perceived by others. In the novel Fifth Business by Robertson Davies, between the marriages of the Dempster's and the Staunton's, Amasa and Boy, both desire acceptance from society. Continuing, to achieve acceptance, Amasa and Boy not only create an image for themselves but for their wives, who need to live up to the societies and their husband's beliefs of the perfect wife and for their children, who must follow…...
Fifth Business
The Character of Boy Staunton in Fifth Business, a Novel by Robertson Davies
Words • 1474
Pages • 6
He was killed by the usual cabal: by himself, first of all; by the woman he knew, by the woman he did not know; by the man who granted his inmost wish; and by the inevitable fifth, who was keeper of his conscience and keeper of the stone" (Davies 252). Boy Staunton is dead, found in his car with a rock in his mouth in Toronto Harbor. Boy may be the villain in the story of the Dempsters, but is…...
Fifth Business
A Literary Analysis of the Diana Marfleet in the Novel Fifth Business
Words • 570
Pages • 3
In the novel Fifth Business, the theme of rebirth is apparent. Diana Martieet, a volunteer nurse, is responsible for tending to the injured. One of the injured she aids is Dunstable Ramsay, the narrator of the novel. Dunstables involvements in World War l, causes him severe physical damage. Diana plays an integral part in the rebirth of Dunstable, by taking the role of a friend, mother and lover in his life. A person with whom one enjoys mutual affection and…...
Fifth Business
We've found 5907 essay examples on Literature
Prev10 of 148Next
Let’s chat?  We're online 24/7