Literary Criticism essays

1412 samples in this category

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2 Pages 899 Words
Having just read Fahrenheit 451 in my Language and Literature class, there is quite a lot on my mind regarding the novel. There are many concepts and ideas that Bradbury mentions and references throughout the three different sections, such as the main message, which is to value the power of thought and knowledge. Bradbury also places quite a lot of...
1 Page 611 Words
J.D. Salinger’s fictional novel, The Catcher in the Rye, illustrates sixteen year-old Holden Caulfield’s coming-of-age and the difficulties that accompany him through it. Salinger expresses the alienation adolescents face when assuming adult responsibilities, challenging their capacity on recognizing their own role. Throughout the novel, Holden's constant motif is finding opportunities to rescue others, when failing to rescue himself. Common themes...
3 Pages 1588 Words
In her eponymous play, Medea, in the name of revenge for Jason’s betrayal, kills her own children. I will argue that Medea’s actions are, in fact, logically justified because they are rational when viewed on a cosmic scale. First, Jason’s severest and highest offense is his violation of his oath to the gods, and therefore the best form of justice...
2 Pages 1013 Words
Think about the last time you were angry and someone told you to calm down. Did it work? Did you go from angry to complete calmness? Of course not. Human brains have developed over time. We have one brain that can be essentially divided into two sections. The modern brain and the primal brain. The modern brain, the front cortex,...
1 Page 481 Words
Teenagers deal with lots of emotional issues. In The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and in Rebel Without a Cause by Nicholas Ray, both main characters Jim Stark and Holden Caulfield deal with so many emotional issues. Both characters deal with emotional issues as teenagers; Holden distances himself from his relationships while Jim tries to build relationships. Jim...
2 Pages 846 Words
Some adolescents have trouble coping with struggles they have faced because they are more vulnerable to being traumatized than adults. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D Salinger, at just eleven years old, Holden Caulfield endured the loss of his brother. This devastating event unknowingly sent him down a path of turmoil. Holden struggled to connect...
2 Pages 817 Words
Never affirm. Always Allude. Allusions are made to test the spirit and probe the heart” (Umberto Eco). Allusions are necessary because it allows for authors to include a deeper meaning to their message indirectly, allowing the reader to interpret the message for themselves. Allusions are used on the assumption that the reader and author have shared knowledge about a certain...
3 Pages 1462 Words
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William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet is a world-renowned piece of literature about a tale of two star-crossed lovers. The characters in Romeo and Juliet are frequent victims to their own impulsivity. Impulsivity leads to rash decisions and ultimately negative consequences, even one's death. The play’s characters Romeo, Juliet, and Tybalt all make impulsive decisions based on emotions and suffer...
2 Pages 1003 Words
Many people in the world are forced into unpleasant situations due to circumstances outside of their control. As Halsey said: “There are great… challenges that ordinary people are forced by circumstance to meet”. Circumstance is where factors out of one’s control affect the way someone’s life begins to shape. Both chance and circumstance are uncontrollable factors. However, William Shakespeare’s Romeo...
2 Pages 706 Words
During the Elizabethan era, men and women had distinct and varying roles that disempowered the female gender. This is challenged in William Shakespeare’s Elizabethan theatrical performance ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’. During this context, a woman was required to be obedient to the male figures in her life, specifically her husband and father. Contrastingly, men were expected to be strong-willed and...
2 Pages 1028 Words
The novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky was known as an advocate for the impoverished in Russian society, however he had strong criticisms to socialism and its implications. Socialism is defined as a “political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole” (Oxford Dictionary)....
2 Pages 963 Words
Fyodor Dostoevsky was well informed about the newest ideas and the most recent philosophical concepts of his time. Dostoevsky focuses on the human ethics which are much essential for mankind to survive on the planet with peace of mind. Ethics refers to the moral values that preside over a person’s actions. In his novel, Crime and Punishment, his characters are...
3 Pages 1199 Words
Authority and chaos seem like polar opposites. When people think of absolute authority, they often picture Stalin’s firm grip, or big brothers' ever-watching eye, keeping people in lockstep, people checking their own language in order to stay safe. Chaos seems incompatible with this extreme conformity; it doesn’t seem possible to “keep people in lockstep” without hindering the unpredictable and apparently...
4 Pages 1648 Words
CHARACTERS: ESTHER – PROTAGONIST JOHN AND KATE – PARENTS DANIEL AND MAX – SIBLINGS Creative artists, familiar with the formal prerequisites of their art, have welcomed the opportunity of extending or violating those prerequisites. They have seemed most anxious to adopt the scientific and clinical descriptions of the unconscious to their own needs and tastes. (Page 144, Hoffman Fredrick, psychoanalysis...
3 Pages 1439 Words
The novel, Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, takes place in a post-apocalyptic society where there is little to no hope left for the remaining survivors on Earth. Many people have given up on saving the world and now result to taking what’s left of it. However, the few people who do believe in a better life, including protagonist...
5 Pages 2415 Words
When the subject of Hamlet is broached in conversation (assumedly by tweed-wearing types), often does the topic sway towards humor, as humor is used very often yet always very strategically in this play about the Dane and the fall of his house. The comedy found in Hamlet varies from the chuckles garnered by the long-winded Polonius droning on and on...
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