English Essays

Billy Pilgrim
Billy Pilgrim Thesis: Because he was unable to find comfort from human cruelty in common human institutions, Billy Pilgrim turns to the Tralfalmadorian concept of time. Billy Pilgrim has been through many cruelties in his life. As a child his own father was cruel to him. They had gone to the Y.M.C.A. to teach Billy how to swim. A horrible, traumatic, event that would stay with Billy for the rest of his life. “Little Billy was terrified, because his father had said Billy ...

Birches by Robert Frost
Birches by Robert Frost Birches When I see birches bend to left and right Across the lines of straighter darker trees I like to think of some boy’s been swinging on them But swinging doesn’t bend them down to stay As ice storms do. Often you must have seen them Loaded with ice and a sunny winter morning After a rain. They click upon themselves As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel. Soon the sun’s warmth makes th...

Black Boy Analysis
Black Boy Analysis Black Boy is both an indictment of American racism and a narrative of the artist’s development. As a child growing up in the Jim Crow South, Richard faced constant pressure to submit to white authority. However, even from an early age, Richard had a fierce spirit of rebellion. Had he lacked the resilience to be different despite the pressure to conform to social expectations, he would probably never have become an internationally renowned writer. The en...

Black Boy By Richard Wright
Black Boy By Richard Wright At Richards’ grandmother’s house. He sets some curtains on fire, which leads to the house catching on fire. The family moves to Memphis. Richard hangs a cat after his father tells him to (sarcastically) Richard’s mother punishes him. At six while hanging out at a saloon he becomes a drunkard. At this age there are no racial differences to him. Richard and his brother are taken to an orphanage to live. His father has left the family f...

Blake Romanticism the poems Introduct and Earths Answer
Blake Romanticism - the poems Introduct and Earth’s Answer The poems “Introduction” from Songs of Experience and “Earth’s Answer” by Blake illustrate well the aspects of literary works of the Romantic Age. These poems are identifiable to this age because of the themes they contain and how Blake uses poetic diction. Using these tools of writing, Blake impresses upon the readers his thoughts and ideas. With these three elements, Blake presents these two poe...

Blue Velvet by David Lynch
Blue Velvet by David Lynch David Lynch’s Blue Velvet is an exploration of things above and below the surface. This surface is really a borderline between not only idyllic suburban America and the dark, perverted corruption that lies underneath but also between good and evil, conscious and subconscious, dream and reality. Although this division seems quite rigid and clean-cut some of the most important implications of the film stem from the transgressions of these borderlin...

Body image issues and eating disorders in women
Body image issues and eating disorders in women. Body image is how someone would perceive, think and feel about their body. A distorted body image can lead to self-destructive behavior such as developing anorexia or bulimia, which are two of the most serious eating disorders. More than fifty per cent of Australian women want to lose weight, although most are well within the acceptable weight range. 28.8 per cent of teenage girls admit to throwing up after a meal, while 15.2 per ...

Brave New World A Sterile Society
Brave New World - A Sterile Society “Cleanliness is next to Fordliness”, was an attitude impressed upon the people of Aldous Huxley’s, Brave New World. A society free of disease and suffering was achieved through a technique of conditioning called hynopaedia. “Civilization is sterilization”, was a hynopaedic slogan used to achieve the ideal society. This idea was manifested through the anesthetizing people’s emotions, the sterilization of humans and the cleanliness o...

Allegory of the Cave by Plato
Allegory of the Cave by Plato “The Allegory of the Cave” in Different Perspectives “The Allegory of the Cave,” written by Plato, is an interpretation of a conversation between Socrates, Plato’s mentor, and Glaucon, one of Socrates students. “The Allegory of the Cave” can be interpreted several different ways. Imagine men in a cave chained up by their necks and legs, forcing them to only look forward at a wall. An opening behind them lets the light in. Above the...

America and Immigration
America and Immigration History 53 Spring 2000 Immigration/Migration America and Immigration When reading two articles that are decades apart, one sees that the nation’s, as a whole, opinion has changed about immigrants. In an article from 1905 the South wanted immigrants because they were cheap labor. Almost 80 years later, in 1983, the South had a different opinion about immigrants. In his 1905 article, “Immigration and the South,” Robert DeCoury Ward just begins...

Amistad
Amistad AMISTAD Amistad is a recreation of the true story about a 1839 slave revolt on a small Spanish schooner, La Amistad, ironically the Spanish word for “friendship.” Spielberg does a great job in recreating the Amistad revolt that spurred a series of trials beginning in the lower courts of Connecticut and ultimately ending in the Supreme Court. Events following the revolt raise controversial questions about slavery and freedom. This case not only marks a mi...

Amy Foster by Joseph Conrad and The Mythology of Love by Joseph Campbell
Amy Foster by Joseph Conrad and The Mythology of Love by Joseph Campbell In “Amy Foster”, Joseph Conrad has written a great story that shows the different types of love felt between Amy and Yanko as described by Joseph Campbell in his essay on “The Mythology of Love”. The relationship of Yanko and Amy is dynamic and changes as the story progresses. At first, Amy feels compassion for Yanko; she does not see the differences between him and the English peopl...

An Analysis of Grendel and Frankenstein
An Analysis of Grendel and Frankenstein I saw a creature, naked, bestial, Who, squatting upon the ground, Held his heart in his hands, And ate of it. I said, “Is it good friend?” “It is bitter-bitter,” he answered; “But I like it Because it is bitter And because it is my heart.” -Stephen Crane This reflects how both Grendel and Frankenstein must have felt durin...

An Inspector Calls
An Inspector Calls Introduction: The question asked was: Who, in your opinion, is most responsible for the death of Eva Smith. Use evidence from the text to justify your answer. The best way to answer this question is to firstly find out what each person did to contribute to the death of Eva Smith due to this play being very ironic. All the characters involved in this play are responsible, in some way, to the death of Eva Smith but the task is to find out who gave her the fina...

An Ounce of Cure by Alice Munro
An Ounce of Cure by Alice Munro “Kids will be kids.” (Unknown) That is the theme of the story “An Ounce of Cure,” by Alice Munro. This story starts out with the narrator and her boyfriend breaking-up. She is very sad. Soon after, she baby-sits for the Berrymans’. While there, she drinks some of their liquor. After a few drinks, she begins to throw-up. She calls Joyce, her best friend, to come over and help her. When Joyce arrives, she brought with her some othe...

An Unforgettable Night
An Unforgettable Night An Unforgettable Night After reading Joyce Carol Oates story, “ The Night Nurse,” revenge is what is found. This story starts off by a woman by the name of Grace Burkhardt, collapsing at a shopping mall because of a reason that was unknown at the time. She is taken in an ambulance to a hospital where she undergoes an emergency surgery for a blood clot that is in her leg that could have traveled to her heart. Grace’s stay in the hospital that nig...

An essay on Romance and Love
An essay on Romance and Love When I was assigned this topic to write about, I immediately thought of Eros. The ancient Greek word that describes the romantic side of love. Philos and Agape are really more spiritual in nature, but Eros, now that’s a physical love. I envision Eros as the sweaty fumbling in the back of old Chevrolets, and the firelit evenings where everything seems to go just right and the sex is perfect, And even in the dark, rent by the hour hotel rooms whe...

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie I recently read a mystery book by the name of “And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie. I read this book because I have read other books by Agatha Christie that were pretty well written. Ten people are invited to an island, called “Indian Island”,by letters that were signed by people they had met before. When they got to the island, they found out that their host, U.N.Owen, had not arrived yet. At dinner, t...

Animal Experimentation 1
Animal Experimentation Annually, millions of animals suffer and die in painful tests in order to determine the safety of cosmetics. Substances like eye shadow and soap are tested on rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, dogs, and many other animals, despite the fact that the test results do not help prevent or treat human illness or injury. Cosmetics are not required to be experimented on animals, and since non-animal alternatives exist, it’s difficult to understand why s...

Animal Farm Allegory to the Russian Revolution
Animal Farm - Allegory to the Russian Revolution The content of the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell is satirical to the Russian Revolution. The narrative is developed by means of an establishment of events that correlate directly to changes that occurred in Russia [mainly] in the early 1900’s. The events and characters in the book are comparative to important figures and affairs in the Russian Revolution. Although Orwell wrote the book to clearly reflect that distinct e...

Animal Farm Elements of Literature
Animal Farm - Elements of Literature I believe that George Orwell used direct characterization to introduce his characters. For example when he introduced Old Major he said, “he was twelve years old and had lately grown rather stout, but he was still a majestic looking pig, with a wise and benevolent appearance in spite of the fact that his tushes had never been cut”. Another example is when he introduced Snowball and Napoleon, there he said, “Pre-eminent among the pigs ...

Animal Farm Propaganda
Animal Farm - Propaganda George Orwell is warning his readers about the dangers of powerful governing bodies. He is illustrating the social destruction and corruption that is sure to occur when a ruling class is allowed to manipulate the large naïve majority. He warns readers to never be too trusting of authority figures and to always be questioning and on-guard to policies that seem to contradict the best interests of the populace. Orwell warns against giving too much powe...

Animal Farm Totalitarian Government
Animal Farm - Totalitarian Government The novel Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is an allegory portraying the dangers of a totalitarian government. It seeks to show how a society where all live completely equal has not been, and cannot be achieved. Orwell, through the use of the character Squealer, shows how propaganda can affect members of a communist society in a negative way. By drawing parallels to events in communist Russia, Orwell’s Animal Farm illustrates how propaga...

Animal Farm by George Orwell
Animal Farm by George Orwell Characters, items, and events found in George Orwells book, Animal Farm, can be compared to similar characters, items, and events found in Marxism and the 1917 Russian Revolution. This comparison will be shown by using the symbolism that is in the book with similarities found in the Russian Revolution. Old Major was a prized-boar that belonged to Farmer Jones. The fact that Old Major is himself a boar was to signify that radical change and revolution...

Anne Stevenson
Anne Stevenson Anne Stevenson- ” I thought you were my victory /though you cut me like a knife” (Stevenson 1-2) The opening lines of Anne Stevenson’s poem The Victory set a tone of conflict. This poem, at its surface, expresses a mother’s thoughts on giving birth to a son. Stevenson describes the mixed feelings many mothers have upon the delivery of their first born. The final release from pregnancy and birthing pains, coupled with the excitement of...