Literary Criticism essays

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2 Pages 1003 Words
In the science fiction book, The Giver by Lois Lowry, the protagonist, Jonas, lives in a community that is excruciatingly controlled. The members of the community could not even make most of their own choices. Almost everyone who lived within the confines of the community never had to experience anything gruesome like pain or hunger, nor did they understand the...
Critical ReflectionLiterary CriticismThe Giver
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3 Pages 1178 Words
The concept of “a new beginning” is a recurrent theme that prevails in African American literature, predominantly, in the geographical form of The South. Used as a literary terrain, The South is more than a characterization of the savagery that African Americans endured during the period of slavery. It is within this landscape that African Americans advanced society and culture...
3 Pages 1499 Words
Antigone as a character within Jean Anouilh’s modern re-creation of Sophocles’s Greek classic, ‘Antigone’, is surrounded by ambiguity. Within Sophocles’s version, Antigone is presented with clear, rational, and understandable motives for defying Creon and the oppressive state in which he struggles to uphold. However, unlike Sophocles, Anouilh teaches us nothing of Antigone’s motivations and instead creates a depiction of an...
AntigoneCharacterLiterary Criticism
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3 Pages 1626 Words
In Sophocles’ Antigone, the two characters of Creon and Antigone represent unreflective and polarising moments of Greek life, highlighting the conflict and divide between male and female, and “polis” and “Oikos”. Throughout the drama, Creon displays a near-existential fear of female transgression. He first introduces the theme of a male-female conflict when he says. Indeed, now I am no man,...
AntigoneCharacterLiterary Criticism
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5 Pages 2347 Words
The idea of conflict between the state and individuals and the theme of civil disobedience remains prevalent throughout society today. Despite 'Antigone' and 'Fahrenheit 451' being written nearly two thousand years apart, both texts share the same societal issues of conflict between the state and the individual but in different contexts. Both Sophocles and Bradbury are influenced by the political...
AntigoneConflictLiterary Criticism
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2 Pages 772 Words
Have you ever wondered why people have a Loss of Individualism within themselves? Life in all three of these stories is government-controlled by how social ratings control the Loss of Individualism. By the society that everyone lives in, a society where lives are forever lived within Government Control since there is a Loss of Individualism. There are lives where everyone...
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2 Pages 1106 Words
The upper class is responsible for creating friendships, initiating invitations, and more importantly, being charitable to those in a lesser position. When someone violates these social norms, they are met with indignation as evidence of Mrs. Elton not understanding entirely her social position in society. Mrs. Elton is insufferably conceited about new money and only has money because of her...
EmmaJane AustenLiterary Criticism
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3 Pages 1501 Words
Pride and Prejudice is a novel on manners, social customs, and etiquette based in early 19th century England. One of the most notable themes in this novel is, of course, reputation and impressions. Austen originally titled this novel as First Impressions. While Austen does make numerous references to the importance of first impressions, this essay will primarily focus on the...
Jane AustenLegacyLiterary Criticism
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6 Pages 2882 Words
President Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States of America, once said, “Freedom is a fragile thing and it's never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. And those in world...
Critical ThinkingLiterary CriticismThe Giver
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1 Page 438 Words
The true meaning of being heroic is having the qualities of a hero, such as bravery and courage, and using those qualities to save or help others. As seen through both epic poems we encounter ways that both of the main characters acted heroic and analyze in what way each character had portrayed their acts of bravery and courage. Throughout...
Critical ReflectionLiterary CriticismThe Odyssey
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2 Pages 749 Words
Freedom and Choice A utopian society has been created for people in the book so that they have no rights and no individual thoughts. Every individual is much the same. Daily, everybody takes a pill that erases all memories, pain, and tension. Jonas, the protagonist, is selected to inherit all the world's memories and discovers that anyone he cares for...
Critical ThinkingLiterary CriticismThe Giver
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1 Page 492 Words
Sirens, synonymous with their seductive and tempting voices in Greek mythology, which bewitch men causing their deaths, is one archetype intertextually present in both O Brother Where Art Thou and Homer’s Odyssey which the film is loosely based on. Through strategic employment of diegetic sound, the careful and thought-provoking composition of the mise-e-scene, and numerous camera shots, the archetype is...
ArchetypeLiterary CriticismThe Odyssey
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3 Pages 1160 Words
The Odyssey is a classic ancient Greek poem credited to Homer, following the Greek hero Odysseus and his extensive journey home after the fall of Troy. In his absence, his wife Penelope “is sieged by suitors who want her hand in marriage and with it her kingdom” (Morford, Lenardon, & Sham, 2019, p. 520). Despite having over one hundred wilful...
Literary CriticismLiterary DevicesThe Odyssey
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2 Pages 713 Words
Summary Because they kill Hyperion the Sun-god's bull/oxen/thing, his companions are dead, (great leadership right here) and Odysseus is stuck on the island of Ogygia with Calypso, a weird goddess-lady-nymph, Odysseus still longs for his better half and home. Back in Ithaca, Odysseus' home, Penelope sits trusting that Odysseus will return, while she is fighting off a castle loaded with...
CharacterLiterary CriticismThe Odyssey
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1 Page 648 Words
At first, Bob and Ponyboy seem opposed, with huge gender, socio-economic status, and temperament variations. However, as the story progresses, Hinton underlines the surprising similarities between such antagonists: the reserves of color and passion that they often lack, their differences between their peers and vices, and their deception in the family. More than double the other Soc/grazer pairs, like Bob...
CharacterLiterary CriticismThe Outsiders
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2 Pages 995 Words
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, a novel that tells the story of the conflict between two rival gangs, Greasers and Socs, captures the voice of Ponyboy and his friends to talk about stereotype threats. In Ponyboy’s role as the narrator and main character in the story, he talks about the expectations of Greasers being violent delinquents, which sways his internal...
CharacterLiterary CriticismThe Outsiders
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1 Page 498 Words
S.E. Hinton wrote the novel The Outsiders, which is realistic fiction. It shows key events demonstrating the respect Dally deserves. Some might think that Dally doesn’t deserve respect for the way he treats people, but he acts this way because he came from a neglectful family and wasn’t shown love. One place this is seen is when Johnny and Ponyboy...
CharacterLiterary CriticismThe Outsiders
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2 Pages 819 Words
When the odds are stacked against you, find a way to preserve and fight as your life depends on it. Emmellie Lyon discovers how a young boy did just that. Imagine this, your parents both are killed in a tragic car accident, leaving you to be raised by your inexperienced, bitter 20-year-old older brother, Darry Curtis. Darry doesn’t care for...
CharacterLiterary CriticismThe Outsiders
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2 Pages 1057 Words
In Book XI of The Odyssey, in the underworld, Tiresias describes to Odysseus a final journey he must take to 'have a gentle, painless death... with all [his] people there in blessed peace around [him]” (Homer, XI. 155,157). Tiresias says that Odysseus must walk inland with an oar until he gets to a place where people mistake it for a...
Critical ThinkingLiterary CriticismThe Odyssey
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1 Page 426 Words
The Mississippi River is the longest river in North America. It stretches from Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota all the way down through New Orleans and into the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River covers half of the United States and connects to 33 states. It is also known because many explorers used the river to navigate the United States...
Book ReviewLiterary CriticismMark Twain
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1 Page 608 Words
Bob begins the novel as the emblem of all things “Soc”—that is, all things rich, smug, entitled, and different from Ponyboy and his friends. The ominous blue Mustang that appears and reappears throughout the novel highlights the economic difference between Bob and Ponyboy; it’s as if Ponyboy cannot see past the beautiful car to the frightened boy behind the wheel....
Literary CriticismNovelThe Outsiders
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4 Pages 1778 Words
In Iran, there are different regulations and laws for women living in the country. Iran has different policies that men and women have to follow. The rules for women can restrict their freedom. In the book Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi shows an upper-middle-class woman growing up in Iran and the different restrictions that even women of her class have to endure....
Literary CriticismPersepolisSocial Class
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5 Pages 2261 Words
While the theme of the quest for identity is woven into the heart of both George Eliot’s Silas Marner (1861) and Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), it is also clear that loss and destruction have significant roles to play in the texts. The characters are hit with the loss of their homes, their identities, their relationships, and their wealth,...
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4 Pages 1695 Words
Reflective statement: While reading Persepolis, I was quick to learn that the Sharia laws put in place to enforce the codes of Islam were taken far more extremely in 1980s Iran than what most Muslim countries experience today, and the interactive orals helped broaden contextual considerations as to why that is the case. Concluding in-class discussions and further research, one...
Critical ThinkingLiterary CriticismPersepolis
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4 Pages 1792 Words
'We are at a point in our work when we can no longer ignore empires and the imperial context in our studies.' Edward W. Said The themes of empire and imperial exploitation are scarcely touched upon in Pride and Prejudice; they are ignored to create an idyllic painting of rural in the Georgian era. These great paintings of a hearty...
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2 Pages 1075 Words
Symbolism- Can you spot any of these common symbols in your novel? What might they symbolize? In The Alchemist, sheep are one of the main symbols throughout the book. Santiago’s sheep symbolize the characters in the novel who are blind to their legends. Santiago loves and cares for his sheep, but sometimes he gets frustrated because of their basic desire...
Critical ThinkingLiterary CriticismThe Alchemist
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2 Pages 833 Words
“The Alchemist” follows the adventures of an Andalusian shepherd named Santiago. Santiago is a young teen who has a recurring dream about a treasure in the pyramids of Egypt. Santiago decides to embark on this journey after being reassured by a gypsy who tells him to go to Egypt. Then, Santiago meets this mysterious man named Melchizedek who presents Santiago...
Critical ThinkingLiterary CriticismThe Alchemist
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5 Pages 2192 Words
The two books under comparison are Th1rteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. These two books might not seem like they would have a lot in common but there are a few similarities to compare between them. The title Th1rteen R3asons Why is given because Hannah Baker makes 13 tapes for her listeners...
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3 Pages 1589 Words
What are the Odds? What happens when coincidences occur that seem too incredible to be true? Coincidences are defined as, “a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection.” These coincidences are considered to be random and meaningless events that happen in our lives; they don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Paulo Coelho, however, shows in...
FateLiterary CriticismThe Alchemist
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2 Pages 1070 Words
For centuries, environmental terminology and themes have circulated through works of literature (Christensen, 2018, p. 1). The topic has often occupied significant space in narratives due to its ability to engage readers. Literary writers, through their works, have the ability to explore the impact of the environment on society, how society consequentially develops, and how society engages with the idea...
Into The WildLiterary CriticismMeaning
like 343
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