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

85147 total results

The Unique Character of Daniels in The Pleasure of My Company, a Novel by Steve Martin (648 words, 2 pages)

The Pleasure of My Company Entry 3I think that Daniels schema is so unique it does more than just tell the story differently his schema is what makes the story. Without Daniels schema, the story would change completely. Hes such a unique character that it really just effects the story ... Read More

The Nursery in The Veldt, a Short Story by Ray Bradbury (2430 words, 2 pages)

In Ray Bradburys The Veldt, Lydia Hadley tells George that she's worried about the nursery, which is this awesome virtual reality room where kids and adults can go off on any adventure they want. The Hadley family live in this awesome automated house that does all the work for them. ... Read More

War Experiences and Observations in The Things They Carried, a Book by Tim O’Brien (823 words, 3 pages)

The book The Things They Carried is about OBriens experience in war and his observations of the other soldiers. Why this book is so critically acclaimed is because ithas a very good representation of the soldiers feelings and thoughts. It tellsus the true feelings of all the soldiers who cannot ... Read More

The Significance and Relevance of Production in All My Sons, a Play by Arthur Miller (397 words, 2 pages)

The Relevance Importance of Producing All My SonsArthur Millers 1947 drama All My Sons is rife with themes of regret, contempt, and moral ambiguity. Its characters are complex, dynamic, and full of nuance, which explains why the play has been and continues to be such a societal and commercial success. ... Read More

A Response to Illustrations in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Written by Sherman Alexie and Illustrated by Ellen Forney (295 words, 1 pages)

Response to Illustrations in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time IndianThis book is reminiscent of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, albeit on a much more sophisticated level. Both books attempt to tell a story with the aid of visual images, mostly for a humorous effect. They both ... Read More

The Different Literary Devices in the Grapes of Wrath, a Novel by John Steinbeck (830 words, 3 pages)

The Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is a timeless American classic literary novel that achieves the effect of creating amazing vibrant images of what families had to go endure during the Dust Bowl migration during the 1930s. Steinbeck uses a great sense realism that emphasizes ... Read More

A Review of Wildwood, a Book by Colin Meloy (542 words, 1 pages)

The book Wildwood By Colin Meloy, is about young girl living in Portland, Oregon whose baby brother Mac gets abducted by a murder of crows and taken into the impassable wilderness. The next day she manages to slip out before her parents notice she rides into the impassable wilderness she ... Read More

The Five Stages of Grief in Fahrenheit 451, a Novel by Ray Bradbury (1334 words, 4 pages)

The 5 Stages of Grief in Fahrenheit 451In 1969, Elisabeth Kbler-Ross used observations from her work with terminally ill patients to create a system that would later be known as the Kbler-Ross model (or, more commonly, the five stages of grief). This psychological system postulates a series of emotions that ... Read More

The Line in Hole in My Life, a Memoir by Jack Gantos (296 words, 1 pages)

Hole in My Life The Line Between Memoir and FictionGo for the emotional truth, Mimi Schwartz advises in her article Memoir? Fiction? Wheres the Line? upon being asked how one should tread the line between fiction and memoir. Because it is impossible to perfectly remember every minute detail of ones ... Read More

A Criticism of the American Dream in All My Sons, a Play by Arthur Miller (327 words, 2 pages)

Authorial Intent in All My SonsAny form of art is always a reflection of the artist, whether intentionally or unintentionallythe mind, when creating art, is focused through the perspective of the creator, thus leading to artwork which mirrors the artists beliefs. Therefore, it stands to reason that the values of ... Read More

A Biographical Appreciation of Arthur Miller, an American Writer (295 words, 1 pages)

Arthur Miller Biographical AppreciationArthur Asher Miller was born in New York, NY on October 17th, 1915 to Augusta Barnett and Isidore Miller. Much of his writing was inspired by and shaped by the Great Depression, which was financially difficult for his father, a small manufacturer, growing up. It was his ... Read More

Morals and Ethics in All My Sons by Arthur Miller (338 words, 2 pages)

Critique of All My SonsArthur Miller always has something to say in his plays, whether they be a social commentary of the American Dream (Death of a Salesman) or a satirical allegory for McCarthyism of the 1950s (The Crucible). Morals and ethics are particularly present in All My Sons, and ... Read More

An Analysis of Misogyny in Of Mice and Men, a Novel by John Steinbeck (500 words, 2 pages)

Misogyny in Of Mice and MenIn Misogyny in Of mice and Men the author Emery talks about how women are portrayed in the book. The roles she talks about are that of homogeneous male fraternity not just to repress, but to eliminate women and femininity as stated on page 70. ... Read More

The Consumption of the Mind in the Lives of Serena Pemerton and Rachel Harmon (779 words, 3 pages)

Consumption of the Mind The aspirations of people consume their minds and drive their actions. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a great composer from the Classical era. Throughout his thirty five years of life, he wrote over six hundred works. His last work was a Requiem, which is a Mass that ... Read More

The Transformation of the Speaker into a Phoenix in Sylvia Plath’s Poem Lady Lazarus (983 words, 4 pages)

The Female PhoenixDuring her last days, Sylvia Plath wrote in a non-stop frenzy. Her late poems often dealt with her personal issues concerning the men in her life. According to Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar in No Mans Land The Place of the Woman Writer in the Twentieth Century, Plath ... Read More

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan: An-mei Hsu’s Attempts to Find Her Self-Identity as a Hero’s Journey (2090 words, 6 pages)

The Heros Journey An-mei HsuHeroes can be found in almost every genre of literature from every time period. What makes heroes entertaining is that each hero finds a different way to complete daring, superhuman feats to reach his or her end goal. Joseph Campbell, a prominent writer, describes heroes as ... Read More

The Unreliable Narrator in The Great Gatsby, a Novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald (808 words, 2 pages)

Nick Carraway is not a trusted narratorThe narrator of Fitzgeralds literary triumph, The Great Gatsby of 1926, is a seemingly reserved character called Nick Carraway, a mystery of a man who despite being exposed to him throughout the course of the novel, we as the reader are never entirely clear ... Read More

The Different Ways of Knowing in Auggie Wren’s Christmas Story, a Short Story by Paul Auster (356 words, 1 pages)

The changes that happen in Paul Austers Auggie Wrens Christmas Story with the different ways it is presented are a perfect example of different ways of knowing. In my first reading of the story I noticed how it stars with Pauls narration, meanwhile in the movie version, Auggies interaction with ... Read More

Loneliness in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men (1004 words, 3 pages)

Of Mice and Men Essay- Loneliness John Steinbecks novel, Of Mice and Men, portrays the struggles with loneliness that a multitude of people face, especially during the time period of the Great Depression. Set on a California ranch during the Great Depression, the novel depicts characters who are desolate and ... Read More

Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan: Ying-Ying’s Self-Identity (1005 words, 3 pages)

In the book Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, there are many characters that faced obstacles in finding themselves. One of these characters is Ying-Ying St. Clair. Throughout the various stages of life, as a child, adult, and a mother, Ying-Ying St. Clair has struggled with Chinese and American culture ... Read More

An Analysis of the Father-Son Relationship in Powder, a Short Story by Tobias Wolff (320 words, 1 pages)

In Tobias Wolffs short story, Powder, he explores the relationship between father and son as they are driving through the snow on Christmas Eve to get home. The story itself is told through the point of view of the son. Wolff reveals snippets of the sons identity through both the ... Read More

Lucille Clifton, Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath: Challenging Sexist Stereotypes Through Poetry (973 words, 4 pages)

Subverting Sexist Stereotypes Through out history, men dominated the literary world. Born during times of overwhelming patriarchal oppression, past female poets had very little opportunity to break into the canon, which is the circle of established poets who are acknowledged as the literary elite. Within recent times, women have begun ... Read More

The Notion of a Great Journey in The Awakening by Kate Chopin and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (860 words, 3 pages)

The Long Road to FreedomKate Chopins The Awakening and Mark Twains Adventures of Huckleberry Finn share a number of parallels in terms of character and setting, namely between Edna Pontellier and Huck and Jim, and the significance of the sea and river to the aforementioned characters. Thematically, the two novels ... Read More

The Past and the Present, Dreams and Reality, and Optimism and Pessimism in The Glass Menagerie, a Play by Tennessee Williams (1305 words, 5 pages)

Through the (Cracked) Looking-GlassIn Tennessee Williamss The Glass Menagerie, the characters of mother Amanda Wingfield, her children Laura and Tom Wingfield, as well as Lauras gentleman caller Jim OConnor, exemplify three different themes found in the play The past and the present, dreams and reality, and optimism and pessimism. Through ... Read More

The Psychological Concepts in Ordinary People, a Novel by Judith Guest (1211 words, 4 pages)

Psychological concepts in Ordinary PeopleIn Ordinary People, a family consisting of a mother, father, and son, must come to terms with and attempt to normalize their lives after the death of the family's older son and consequent attempted suicide of the other son, Conrad. The story begins after Conrad comes ... Read More

The Personification of America in The Great Gatsby, a Book by F. Scott Fitzgerald (470 words, 2 pages)

What Goes Around Comes AroundIn F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby, the character of Jay Gatsby personifies the nation of America on a whole. His actions represent and resonate with occurrences within American society in 1920s and are still applicable even now. In the novel, Gatsby lives in an environment ... Read More

The Pursuit of Individual and Social Freedom in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a Novel by Mark Twain (902 words, 3 pages)

In Pursuit of FreedomIn Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain discusses and illustrates the pursuit of individual and social freedom through Huck and Jims respective struggles. Huck, as an individual, yearns to break free from a sivilized life. As a young boy full of curiosity and daring, he feels restricted by ... Read More

Christian Symbolism in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a Novel by Ken Kesey (1383 words, 5 pages)

Christianity is the world's most followed religion, pursued by as much as 32 of the population. Followers of Christianity often turn to this religion to follow an individual whom they feel liberated them. This liberation led to new life and immense respect for the being that emancipated them. In society, ... Read More

The Intense Relationship with the Farmlands in O Pioneers!, a Novel by Willa Cather (844 words, 3 pages)

The Land of the FreeIn Willa Cathers novel O Pioneers!, the character Alexandra Bergson shares a profound connection with the farmlands she inherited from her father, as well as nature in general. This is depicted through Alexandras deep understanding of Crazy Ivar and his eccentricities, a character who can serve ... Read More

The Negative Impacts of Obsessive Beliefs on Mutual Relationship in Anna in the Tropics, a Play by Nilo Cruz (1505 words, 6 pages)

The Threat of Obsessive BeliefsNilo Cruzs Anna in the Tropics is a play that provides a compelling, implicit narrative of a familys struggles within their business of cigar production. Set in a factory in the midst of mechanization during the late 1920s, Cruz uses the stories of a lector and ... Read More

American Literature Essay Examples