American Literature Essays Examples For College & High School Students in PDF

85147 total results

A Discussion on the Electronic vs. Printed Systems of Reading (1273 words, 5 pages)

Digital vs. Paper The Debate for Modern ReadersThe world of literature is enjoyed by a variety of people, ranging from the elderly who skim through daily newspapers to toddlers that mull over giant picture books. Although the diversity in compositions offers the world a wide array of knowledge to leap ... Read More

The Theme of Innocence in Nagib Mahfouz’s The Conjurer Made Off With the Dish and Carlos Fuentes’ The Doll Queen (2440 words, 8 pages)

Innocence The Emblem of YouthInnocence primarily calls upon the recollections made during the age of childhood, where youths are free to wander about with open minds and endless imaginations. Naguib Mahfouzs piece, The Conjurer Made Off with the Dish, evokes this sentiment, as the main character of the piece fumbles ... Read More

The Author’s Bias for Female Characters in The Scarlet Letter, a Novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne (2715 words, 10 pages)

Female Bias in The Scarlet LetterThe Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, displays an internal battle for a better life between the four central characters of the novel. Whereas Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth, the males of the novel, suffer through troubled lives and die unpleasant deaths, Hester Prynne and ... Read More

The Different Struggles of Atticus in to Kill a Mockingbird, a Novel by Harper Lee (1015 words, 3 pages)

Atticus's DeterminationIn Harper Lee's novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, nearly all of Atticus's actions are fueled by his desire to raise his children, Scout and Jem, correctly. Throughout the book, Atticus takes on Tom Robinson's case, constantly tries to teach his children important lessons, and fights for the positive influences ... Read More

The Exuberance of Grace Under Pressure in the Life and Work of Ernest Hemingway (1215 words, 5 pages)

Grace Under Pressure in Hemingways Life and LiteratureErnest Hemingway has an abundance of experience with the idea of courage. As a Red Cross ambulance driver and reporter, Hemingway saw five battlefronts. Returning home after wars, he fought nada his own nothingness. Hemingway defined courage as grace under pressure. Grace in ... Read More

An Analysis of the Impact of Context in The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger and Pleasantville by Gary Ross (944 words, 2 pages)

In what ways is J.D. Salingers Catcher in the Rye and Gary Ross Pleasantville influenced by their own contexts?The impact of context on the novel The catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger and film Pleasantvilleby Gary Ross is very significant and influences the ideas presented in the texts. Though ... Read More

A Personal Belief on the Importance of Preserving Linguistic Diversity (568 words, 2 pages)

Preserving Linguistic DiversityThere are thousands of languages in the world today, with the most prevalent (Chinese) being spoken by more than one billion people. With these high numbers, there comes a large debate on whether or not preserving linguistic diversity is essential within societies. On one side of the argument, ... Read More

The Theme of Rape in the Poem Rape Joke by Patricia Lockwood (2266 words, 8 pages)

DefenselessThe concepts of rape and joke appear to belong on opposite sides of the spectrum. Whereas rape is a sickening issue in society today, jokes are mentioned to humor people and keep them amused the former is rarely spoken about and the latter is told daily to result in laughter. ... Read More

The Submission and Incapability of Females in Margaret Atwood’s Wilderness Tips and Ian McEwan’s Pornography (2757 words, 9 pages)

Femininity Outside the BoxSocietal norms have been carried out in civilization for centuries, creating a series of stereotypes that genders have been molded into. One infamous construct from the current day includes the role of dominance, where males are often relied upon to assert their masculinity, leaving females in a ... Read More

The Elements of the Supernatural in Charles Chesnutt’s The Goophered Grapevine (671 words, 2 pages)

Response Paper 5Charles Chesnutt uses elements of the supernatural in his short story, The Goophered Grapevine, in order to induce feelings of mysticality within his readers. This contrasts with the mentions of religion used in most depictions of slave life, as Chesnutt focused on more of a magical take on ... Read More

A Literary Analysis of Fun Home, a Novel by Alison Bechdel (1639 words, 7 pages)

When Daedalus is Icarus and Icarus is DaedalusAlison Bechdel structures her graphic novel Fun Home with dense layers of literary and cultural allusions in an effort to understand and contextualize her relationships with members of her family and with the world in which she was raised. She sees her world ... Read More

The Decline of Sanity in The Tell-Tale Heart, a Story by Edgar Allan Poe (1149 words, 5 pages)

Poe and Disintegrating Sanity in The Tell-Tale HeartEdgar Allan Poe is commonly regarded as a master of horror short stories, wherein many of his narrators experience signs of insanity. His story The Tell-Tale Heart, which conveys a man committing a foul murder, exemplifies Poes ability. In this story, Poe uses ... Read More

A Literary Review of The Male as God and The Devil in Daddy, a Poem by Sylvia Plath (808 words, 4 pages)

The Male as God and the Devil in Sylvia Plaths DaddyMany who study literature through a feminist perspective analyze the poetry of Sylvia Plath due to the powerful feminist ideas and messages conveyed in her works. Her poem Daddy can easily be viewed through a feminist lens by applying the ... Read More

An Overview of the Power of Protest Poetry to Appeal and Influence Human Emotions (1238 words, 2 pages)

Protest Poetry EssayThe power of protest poetry is its ability to appeal to, and even influence the emotions of humans through the narration of peoples experiences. It is able to bring the attention of an audience to the faults of humanity and crimes it has committed. It also allows the ... Read More

The Concept of Adulthood in Jane Eyre, a Novel by Charlotte Bronte (3611 words, 11 pages)

Jane Eyre The Magic That Makes You Grow UpTodays societal norms emphasize individualism and freedom by way of adulthood, an idea not uncommon in past eras. Artists of all ages use the motif of adulthood to demonstrate independence and strength while the idea of adolescence is used to illustrate the ... Read More

The Language Problem in the World in Nigel Vincent’s Why English is Not Enough (644 words, 2 pages)

Why English is Not EnoughNigel Vincent recently gave a talk at Stony Brook University regarding the topic of Why English is Not Enough. In this beginning of his speech, Vincent discussed that there is a large language problem in the world -- where one can struggle by not knowing English, ... Read More

The Failure of a Dream in Of Mice and Men, The Circuit and Hay for the Horses (574 words, 2 pages)

Migrant workers are those who travel around to different rancheslooking for work. Many migrant workers have dreams of someday settling downand owning land of their own once they save up enough money. However,these dreams are rarely fulfilled. These issues are present in the novel OfMice and Men by John Steinbeck, ... Read More

An Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe’s Intellectual Level (4250 words, 13 pages)

This essay is an attempt to discover whether or not the incredibly renowned American author Edgar Allan Poe truly believed that he had a heightened intellect. It is well known that, despite his tragic personal life, Poe was relentlessly harsh in writing literary commentaries. He is also the father of ... Read More

Imagination and Different Aspects of Life in A Small Boy Dreaming and The Egg (536 words, 1 pages)

Being able to imagine allows us to escape reality and find relief and freedom in different situations. We search for new ideas and thoughts that can influence reality. Through different concepts of imagine, Fletcher Kinnear with his artwork, Albert Herzing through A Small Boy, Dreaming and Andy Weir in The ... Read More

The Definition of Linguistic Landscape, Its Role on Society and the Concept of Language Policy (536 words, 2 pages)

Linguistic Landscape, Societies, and Language PolicyIn the lecture given by Elana Shohamy on April 21st, 2015, the topic of linguistic landscape is discussed. To give a general definition, linguistic landscapes are shown by signs, buildings, speeches, and images -- all types of portrayals in an area -- to tell a ... Read More

The Concept of Change Through Nature in The Story of an Hour and The Storm by Kate Chopin (2011 words, 7 pages)

Change has always been a revolutionary concept in our world, where the transformation of a familiar force into something entirely foreign is a perplexing idea. Kate Chopin evokes this feeling of mysticality through her pieces, The Story of an Hour and The Storm, by introducing her readers to the concept ... Read More

The Changing Stages of Grief in Missing Women, a Short Story by June Spence (1904 words, 5 pages)

Chapters of GriefThe feeling of grief overtakes people, changing their mindsets in a multitude of ways. Having the capability to transform even further into a subset of mental states, this emotion is truly difficult to capture in words. The short story Missing Women, written by June Spence, portrays the changing ... Read More

Shadows in The Handmaid’s Tale, a Novel by Margaret Atwood (1047 words, 3 pages)

ShadowsWorrying about a loved one often becomes second nature - the case with Offred in The Handmaids Tale. She often finds herself mulling over Lukes whereabouts, hoping he is still alive and protected. She is convinced that someone must be out there, taking care of things (105), with Luke nestled ... Read More

The Road to Maturity in The Catcher in the Rye, a Novel by J. D. Salinger (3258 words, 9 pages)

A Drive to MaturityThe Catcher in the Rye is a novel written by J.D. Salinger about a young boy named Holden Caulfield who is expelled from his boarding school, Pencey Prep. Instead of going directly back home over winters break, he decidedly takes a journey through the cold busy streets ... Read More

Douglass’ Struggles in His Life as a Slave in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (743 words, 3 pages)

Response Paper 2Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass emphasizes Douglasss personal struggles throughout his life as a slave, where he spent his waking moments longing for freedom. When Douglass finally escapes from slavery, however, he recalls a moment in time where he was unable to detect the cries of ... Read More

A Review of When the Negro Was in Vogue, a Story by Langston Hughes (1145 words, 5 pages)

When the Negro was in VogueThe 1920s in America were a time of change, and that change was shown socially, economically, and politically. This was the time when people in America began to be less concerned with their individuality and more concerned with what we call the mainstream. For the ... Read More

The Process of Knowledge and Perception in Chapters 4 and 5 in Thinking Critically (636 words, 2 pages)

RR 2In my reading reflection of chapter 4 and 5 from Thinking Critically, the process of knowledge and perception are explained in great detail with examples of them in action. It shows how different peoples perception of events can be, like if a news story on a controversial issue is ... Read More

A Short Review of John Steinbeck’s of Mice and Men (997 words, 2 pages)

John Steinbeck's 1937 novella 'Of Mice and Men' depicts itinerant workers in California during the Great Depression and how the dreams of the protagonists in the novella are both helpful and harmful during this time. Steinbeck demonstrates that having dreams can give you both hope and motivation, even if those ... Read More

A Literary Analysis of The Sea Is History, a Poem by Derek Walcott (1351 words, 4 pages)

The Sea is HistoryDerek Walcott creates a poem related to the bible and how history rests in archaeological evidence such as the ocean in his work entitled, The Sea is History. Walcott uses a crafty way of words to bring his writing to life for readers. He often uses motifs ... Read More

The Authors’ Portrayal of Dilemmas and How They Overcame Them in Looking Things Over by Zora Neale Hurston and Mother Tongue by Amy Tan (723 words, 3 pages)

Both Looking Things Over by Zora Neale Hurston and Mother Tongue by Amy Tan are autobiographical essays written from a first person point of view. Although both portray the authors struggles, I preferred Looking Things Over. In my opinion, Hurston did a better job of articulating her idea through her ... Read More

American Literature Essay Examples