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

85147 total results

Class Conflict, Economic Power, and Different Paths in The Great Gatsby, a Novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald (866 words, 3 pages)

The Great Gatsby ICEThere are many different perspectives that readers have when reading and analyzing a novel, but there is one perspective that focuses on the struggle of society that conflicts with us even today. The Marxist Theorys perspective is solely based on the problems of society including economy and ... Read More

An Analysis of Edna’s Suicide in The Awakening, a Novel by Kate Chopin (2075 words, 7 pages)

The Awakening is a brilliant novella by Kate Chopin written in the 1890s. It deals with the themes of womans sexuality, roles of wife and mother, identity, etc. The protagonist of the novel is Edna Pontellier, a married woman with three children. She struggles with her newly awakened sexuality, the ... Read More

The Questioning of Identity and Ethnicity in Lucy, a Novella by Jamaica Kincaid (3394 words, 10 pages)

In society, people want a sense of belonging, whether it is emotionally, mentally or physically where they can live their life without being judged. However, one is questioned about their ethnicity and builds certain categories for each different race. This builds a binary, that of White and Black. White is ... Read More

The Use of Nature to Symbolize the Journeys and Adventures in Walden by Henry David Thoreau and A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (3476 words, 11 pages)

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary nature is define as, The physical world and everything such as plants, animals, mountains, oceans, stars, etc., that is not made by people. Many people in our society today would say nature is just animals, trees and rocks. Not many people deeply think about what is ... Read More

An Examination of the Conventional Ideas of Love and Unconventional Approach to Love in the Literary Works of Anne Bradstreet and John Frederick Nims (1102 words, 2 pages)

Anne Bradstreet uses traditional ideas of love where as John Frederick Nims takes an unconventional approach to loveHow far and in what ways do you agree with this view?Both A Letter to Her Husband, Absent Upon Public Employment and Love Poem present conventional ideas about the love of another person. ... Read More

The Proper Way for Women to Act in Society in Girl, a Short Story by Jamaica Kincaid (808 words, 3 pages)

The story of Girl by Jamaica Kincaid is a short story about a mother telling her adolescent daughter about the proper way to act and behave as a grown up to that will impress and please society which at that time, a masculine dominated world. The mother is listing off ... Read More

An Analysis of Irony in The Story of an Hour, a Short Story by Kate Chopin (317 words, 2 pages)

Irony is a literary device that authors use to create events that are the opposite of what we expect to happen. In The Story of an Hour written by Katie Choppin, the author uses irony. Mrs. Mallard, the protagonist, reacts ironically to the news of her husband's death the plot ... Read More

The Ideas of Satire in Uglies, a Novel by Scott Westerfeld (1966 words, 7 pages)

Uglies A Satire to Our WorldSatire is a literary comedy that criticizes the society and its institutions. Many famous philosophers such as Voltaire and Jonathan Swift used the genre of satire to criticize the society that they live in, in order to talk about the problems that they have against ... Read More

The Social Problem of Materialism and Naivety in A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1082 words, 4 pages)

The Downfalls of Materialism and Naivety Henrik Ibsen in A Doll's House" and F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby explore social problems with a focus on materialism. Through the women in their respective books, the authors, demonstrate that the womens naivety led to various conflicts. While Henrik Ibsen attacks ... Read More

The Idea of Good Life from Wealth in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort (1060 words, 3 pages)

From celebrity lives to multi-billion dollar companies, todays society stresses the idea that having wealth is the essential to living a good life. Although this can be true to an extent, living a wealthy lifestyle can act as a facade for an unhappy life. This idea is suggested throughout the ... Read More

Oppression and Misunderstanding Towards Women and the Mentally Ill in the 19th Century in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (848 words, 3 pages)

Held DownTrapped in a room for months with bars on the windows, furniture nailed down, and maddeningly disgusting wallpaper. Who would do that to someone? Especially when the only explanation that can be provided is because I love you. Jane the protagonist in The Yellow Wallpaper exemplifies the oppression and ... Read More

A Brief Summary of To Kill a Mockingbird, a Novel by Harper Lee (761 words, 3 pages)

To Kill a Mocking Bird is a novel about growing up. It was written by Harper Lee and published in 1960. It won the pulitzer prize for fiction in 1961 and was made into a film the year after.The main character and narrator of the story is Scout Finch. Scout ... Read More

A Psychoanalytic and Deconstructionist Point of View of Beloved, a Novel by Toni Morrison (2324 words, 8 pages)

Tony Morrisons Beloved is a Pulitzer Prize winning work that deals with the American Civil War. It chronicles the fictional story of an escaped African American slaveSethe who is forced to kill her daughter in order to prevent her daughter from ending like her, chained forever to a life of ... Read More

A Literary Review of The Yellow Wallpaper, a Short Story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (954 words, 4 pages)

IntroductionThe yellow wallpaper is a 6000 word short story written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1892. Gilman was inspired to write the story while under treatment for depression by Dr. Weir Mitchell, a famous psychologist. To treat the creeping depression, Dr. Mitchell prescribed a rest cure in which the patient ... Read More

Comparing the Differences in the Relationship of Donna and Steve in the Book Cujo by Stephen King and in the Movie Adaptation (488 words, 2 pages)

A dogs bark is bigger than his bite most of the time. Cujo, Stephen King is a pulse-pounding thriller about a rabid dog and two local families. Movies and Books arent always similar, like Cujo. Donna and Steve still had an affair, but not all of the relationship details were ... Read More

Understanding Textual Interpretation, Authority and Classification in How to Recognize a Poem When You See One, an Essay by Stanley Fish (1728 words, 7 pages)

Textual Interpretation A Job for Writers ReadersAfter reading Stanley Fishs How to Recognize a Poem When You See One, I was able to finally come up with answers to big questions that have stood in my mind throughout this course. Before reading this text, I wasnt clear of my position ... Read More

The Emotional Effects of the Vietnam War on Soldiers in The Things They Carried, a Novel by Tim O’Brien (1081 words, 4 pages)

The Weight of Emotional Burdens The Things They Carried, the deep, raw, and emotion-filled meta-fiction novel written by Tim OBrien displays the true hardships himself and his fellow soldiers experienced within the Vietnam War. OBrien discusses many different topics and themes throughout the many stories shared, but one tends to ... Read More

The Use of Illusions as a Defense Mechanism Against the Real World and Inner Demons in A Streetcar Named Desire, a Play by Tennessee Williams (1536 words, 5 pages)

Fantasy vs. RealityIn A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Blanche DuBois is a very dynamic character. She is, in fact, one of the main two protagonists in the play, and she is the one who develops most throughout it. In the beginning, Blanche is portrayed to be an innocent ... Read More

The Setting and Atmosphere in A Rose for Emily, a Short Story by William Faulkner (1172 words, 3 pages)

In William Faulkners short story, A Rose for Emily, the author emphasizes on the details about setting and atmosphere. This gives the reader a general background as to the values and beliefs of the characters, helping the reader to understand the motivations, actions and reactions of Miss Emily as well ... Read More

The Vulnerability of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby, a Novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald (512 words, 1 pages)

Fitzgerald was trying to get across the idea that the American dreamis vulnerable to becoming backfired if taken advantaged of. Gatsby reliedon the possibility to get rich by illegal means in order to win his girlback, resulting in a tragedy. In the beginning, he succeeded in displayingthe image of a ... Read More

The Major Themes in The Great Gatsby, a Novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1029 words, 2 pages)

The Great Gatsby Ch. 7 Writing AssessmentIn Chapter 7 of The Great Gatsby, many different themes are depicted. Some major themes which are to be focused on are the attitudes of the Roaring Twenties, the demise or rise of the American Dream, class stratification, and that which concerns the past ... Read More

The Motifs of Blindness and Invisibility in Invisible Man, a Novel by Ralph Ellison (1274 words, 4 pages)

Invisible Man EssayInvisibility and BlindnessIn Ralph Ellisons Invisible Man, he shores the chronicles of a character through his moral and psychological growth as a man discovers who he is during this challenging and controversial time period. As we learn more about this character and his overall development, Ellison introduces the ... Read More

The Unified Community on the Pequod in Moby Dick, a Novel by Herman Melville (1745 words, 7 pages)

Essay Question Why does Melville give readers such a broad range of races, creeds, and personalities on the Pequod? Discuss the imaginative constitution of "community" in an essay.The Unified Community on the PequodOn the Pequod, Captain Ahab created a unified community among the men of various races and religions. The ... Read More

The Elusive American Dream in Invisible Man, a Novel by Ralph Ellison (1681 words, 6 pages)

The American Dream has been the guiding belief of the United States since the 18th century. It is the belief that hard work leads to opportunities for success and upward social mobility. It also includes the ideas that all men are equal and have the right to life, liberty and ... Read More

The Development of Jem Finch’s Maturity in To Kill a Mockingbird, a Novel by Harper Lee (850 words, 2 pages)

To Kill a Mockingbird The Evolution of JemThroughout the historical fiction novel titled To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the character Jem Finch matures greatly. The story takes place in the old town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. Atticus is a well-known lawyer who took on the ... Read More

A Grandmother’s Perspective in Half Broke Horses, a Novel by Jeannette Walls (707 words, 3 pages)

Jeannette Walls wrote Half Broke Horses to tell the story of her grandmothers exciting yet arduous life. In this novel, Walls writes in the perspective of her grandmother, and tells her story. This novel shows how Walls found her grandmothers self-fulfilling ideals to be impactful in her life. Walls is ... Read More

Tone and Mood in The Raven, a Poem by Edgar Allan Poe (753 words, 2 pages)

The Raven Tone v.s. Mood EssayThe tone and mood of a poem or piece of literature has a very great impact on the elements of a story. The tone is the authors attitude toward the subject, while the mood is the emotion aroused in the reader which the author creates. ... Read More

A Short Review of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, a Book by Annie Dillard (355 words, 1 pages)

In chapter one of Pilgrim at Timber Creek, Dillard suggests that nature can be a cruel and fearsome yet beautiful and mysterious. Dillard uses theoretical strategies such as exaggeration to help form accurate questions and she comes up with her own interpretation about cruelty to show her point of view. ... Read More

The Use of Characters and Symbolism to Show That the American Dream is Unattainable in The Great Gatsby, a Novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1395 words, 4 pages)

The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is one of the most popular classic novels in American fiction. Fitzgerald published the novel in 1925, but to his dismay it was not as popular as he had hoped. The extravagant tales of life and changing society only became appealing to ... Read More

The Threat of Zika Virus and the Precautions in Preventing Mosquito Bites (377 words, 2 pages)

Zika virus has been lately declared a threat on the ongoing malariaepidemic that is transmitted by mosquito bites and sex thus causing birthdefects. The effect of this virus includes abnormal small head and brainsize of the infants (Benelli, Giovanni, and Heinz Mehlhorn, 1750). Toprevent the risk of Zika, expectant women ... Read More

American Literature Essay Examples