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

85147 total results

The Effects of Postpartum Depression in the Poem The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1090 words, 4 pages)

A Look at The Yellow WallpaperThe Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman tells the story of a young woman who was taken by her husband to a new home because he had diagnosed her with being just a tad hysterical. Gilman wrote this poem shortly after a severe bout of ... Read More

The Concept of Home in Men We Reaped: A Memoir, a Book by Jesmyn Ward (1013 words, 3 pages)

Temporary HomeHome is a place most would feel safe. It is a place where one has grown up and where they know others from their town. Home is the place where most identify themselves with as being a part of and is proud to proclaim where they come from. In ... Read More

The Attainability of the American Dream in Jesamyn Ward’s Memoir Men We Reaped and Kent Haruf’s Novel Plainsong (990 words, 4 pages)

Does the American Dream Exist? Is it Attainable?To a majority of readers, the American Dream is achieving professional success and living a comfortable life in a nice neighborhood with a spouse and two-point-three children. The American Dream is a set of ideals, which includes freedom and the opportunity for prosperity ... Read More

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird: Prejudice Is Caused by Fear (660 words, 2 pages)

Without even the slightest hint of realization, how many times to people turn up their noses at people who are different than them? How often do people criticize others, before understanding their situations? Or perhaps, the correct question is, why do people discriminate others unlike them? To Kill a Mockingbird ... Read More

Feminism and Psychoanalysis in The Yellow Wallpaper, a Novel by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1206 words, 4 pages)

Feminism and Psychoanalysis in The Yellow WallpaperCharlotte Perkins Gillmans 1892 short story The Yellow Wallpaper lends itself to both feminist and psychoanalytic literary criticism. It tells the story of a woman who has recently given birth and is prescribed the rest cure for her depression and nervousness. The short story ... Read More

An Analysis of Inspirations given by Edgar Allan Poe in The Tell-Tale Heart (1476 words, 4 pages)

Whats Pulled from the Floorboards Analysis of the Inspirations Given for and By Edgar Allan Poes The Tell-Tale HeartAs mysterious as Edgar Allan Poe may seem, one thing is for certain he was not the first person in the world, nor was he the last. This, of course, is obvious, ... Read More

An Analysis of the Essay The Inheritance of Tools by Sanders (396 words, 2 pages)

Personal essays have the power to evoke strong feelings in their readers. They bring to the surface emotions like fear, hope, or anger. The Inheritance of Tools appeals to the readers sense of nostalgia, the idea that the past was somehow more idyllic and beautiful than the present day. It ... Read More

The Influence of Jim Crow Laws in the Books by H.L. Mencken (366 words, 2 pages)

Growing up With Jim CrowAs I read it, The Power of Books is first and foremost a coming of age story. I do not and could never fully understand how it feels to be a young black sharecropper struggling to obtain reading materials. I have been blessed with intelligent parents ... Read More

An Analysis of Richard Wright’s The Man Who Was Almost a Man (947 words, 2 pages)

The Essay That Was Almost an EssayAn Analysis of Richard Wrights The Man Who Was Almost a ManThe Man Who Was Almost a Man is a short story that chronicles the misfortunes of a teenage boy named Dave, and, unlike some of Wrights darker stories, this text is a humorous ... Read More

The Symbolic Fall of Patriarchy in The Yellow Wallpaper, a Short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (785 words, 2 pages)

The Patriarchy Diminished to Paper A Critical Analysis of Charlotte Perkins Gilmans The Yellow WallpaperThe battle against sexism is a great and daunting one. Women such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the author of the Yellow Wallpaper, know this all too well. But how does one begin to understand and recognize ... Read More

Kenneth’s Regret in The Intruder by Andre Dubus (832 words, 3 pages)

Kenneths Biggest RegretAndre Dubus introduces Kenneth Girard in The Intruder as a thirteen year old boy who struggles to find his identity. This is Kenneths story because he is the main person that the narrator speaks about. Kenneth shot who he thought was a prowler because he was influenced by ... Read More

A Summary and Analysis of The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin (540 words, 3 pages)

The Story of An HourThe Story of An Hour is a short story written in 1894 by Kate Chopin. This story is about a woman, Louise Mallard, whose husband was tragically killed in a railroad accident. Because she is afflicted with a heart disease her sister, Josephine, tries to break ... Read More

The Negative Effects of Incarceration in Jealous Husband Returns in Form of Parrot, a Short Story by Robert Olen Butler (955 words, 3 pages)

Incarceration in Forms of Human and ParrotIn the short story, Jealous Husband Returns in Form of Parrot, Robert Olen Butler tells the story of a man reincarnated as the pet parrot of his previous wife. The mans strange predicament, which well portrays a life of a prisoner, demonstrates the negative ... Read More

An Analysis of the Story Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (598 words, 3 pages)

Harrison Bergeron Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.s Harrison Bergeron is a short story set in the year 2081. At this time, it is believed by the government that there should be no competition between the people. Everyone should be equal in intelligence, appearance, strength and ability, etc. The main character of the ... Read More

The Author’s Beliefs of Self-Trust in Self-Reliance, an Essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson (747 words, 2 pages)

In Class Write PuritanismTranscendentalismRalph Waldo Emerson wrote Self Reliance to point out how the people in this world have let themselves deteriorate into society. Emerson considers that man is timid and apologetic he is no longer upright he dares not say, I think, I am, but quotes some saint or ... Read More

The Struggles in an Individual’s Life Journey in The Road, a Novel by Cormac McCarthy (1397 words, 4 pages)

Throughout time a road has symbolized an individuals development and journey through their lifetime. The Road by Cormac McCarthy is about a boy and his father who have set out on a trek in their post-apocalyptic world to survive the oncoming winter. This novel displays the different types struggles that ... Read More

A Review of the Empowering Message in The Gift of Fear, a Book by Gavin De Becker (1552 words, 5 pages)

The Gift of Fear When thinking of the word fear, words are not the first thing that come to my mind. I think about the feelings that I get when I start to experience true fear. The sinking of my heart into my chest as the beating of my heart ... Read More

The Four Types of Englishes Amy and Her Mother Use in Mother Tongue, a Short Story by Amy Tan (326 words, 1 pages)

The Struggles of Being an ImmigrantIn Mother Tongue, Amy Tan goes in depth about how difficult it was for her mother to be a recent Chinese immigrant. She had a very heavy Chinese accent and most of the time people would say that they could not understand her. Tan talks ... Read More

An Examination of the Historical Inaccuracies in the Movie The Crucible by Nicholas Hytner (974 words, 4 pages)

In the late 1600s hysteria and panic took over the New England settlements. The fear of a potential attack from the Indians was still looming over the settlers thoughts, the fear did nothing but add fuel to the fire of an unsettling situation. During this time, many of the settlers ... Read More

The Significance of the Motif of Denial in The Masque of the Red Death, a Short Story by Edgar Allan Poe (403 words, 3 pages)

Denial in The Masque of the Red DeathThe motif of denial in The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe is important because it helps the reader understand how the prince and his guests can party while the rest of the world is dying. Their denial also makes ... Read More

The Literary Approach to Women’s Rights in the Short Stories The Yellow Wallpaper and The Story of an Hour (794 words, 3 pages)

Defining Literature in the Womens Rights MovementIn the United States, young women are consistently being taught that they are incapable of performing basic tasks and should instead leave it to the men. They are limited to what society has deemed acceptable for women to accomplish in comparison to the male ... Read More

The Transformation of John Proctor in The Crucible, a Play by Arthur Miller (1198 words, 4 pages)

John Proctors TransformationIn The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor shifts from a prideful person to an determined man, then transforms to a courageous person. John Proctor is a farmer that lives in Salem. He has an affair with Abigail, the niece of the minister Reverend Parris. Although Abigail wants ... Read More

Sibling Rivalry in To Kill a Mockingbird, a Novel by Harper Lee (523 words, 2 pages)

With that I was gone. You damn morphodite. Ill kill you! He was sitting on a bed, and it was easy to grab his front hair and land one on his mouth. He slapped me and I tried another left, but a punch in the stomach sent me sprawling on ... Read More

Bullying and Being Bullied in Chrysanthemum, a Book by Kevin Henkes (881 words, 3 pages)

The book Chrysanthemum has a linear plot. It is set up in a series of small events that tie together to make the story. The story wouldnt make sense to take the events of context and place them in any other order than what they currently are. The characters are ... Read More

The Significance of Pseudo-Utopian Societies in Popular Culture in the Works of Dorothy Bryant and Kurt Vonnegut (1782 words, 6 pages)

The Role of Pseudo-Utopian Societies in Popular CultureThe concepts of utopia and dystopia have integrated their way into popular culture for multiple decades in the forms of books, movies, television shows, and even songs. However, while the consensus is that our culture should get as close as possible to utopian ... Read More

The Selfish, Deceitful, and Manipulative Traits of Abigail Williams in The Crucible, a Play by Arthur Miller (1057 words, 3 pages)

Throughout everyones lives, people will make mistakes, but they will use them as a tool in their future to correct and move beyond their past, yet in some cases people chose to continue down a path, and resume to their unchanged habits. In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, ... Read More

The Effects of Bronfenbrenners Ecological Systems, Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development, and Kohlbergs Theory of Moral Development in A Child Called “It”, a Book by Dave Pelzer (1691 words, 5 pages)

In the book A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer, the reader learns how differently Pelzer developed compared to most children. Because of the situation that he was raised in, he goes through many stages of human development in a different way and at different points of his life when ... Read More

The Oppressive Nature of Marriage in The Story of an Hour, a Short Story by Kate Chopin (804 words, 3 pages)

"The Story of an Hour" is a short story in which Kate Chopin, theauthor, presents an often unheard of view of marriage. Mrs. Louise Mallard,Chopin's main character, experiences the exhilaration of freedom ratherthan the desolation of loneliness after she learns of her husband's death.Later, when Mrs. Mallard learns that her ... Read More

The Use of Literary Elements to Enhance the Theme of the Stories in The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway (1052 words, 3 pages)

How Motivation Drives a StoryThe Story of an Hour is a story that was set in the late 19th century. Kate Chopin, the author, uses literary elements imagery, irony, and, metaphors to present an often unheard view of marriage. Mrs mallard is the main protagonist of the story. Mainly because ... Read More

Unfairness in Social Standards in Daisy Miller, a Book by Henry James (522 words, 2 pages)

After reading the complete story of Daisy Miller, and after several discussions on the double standards that occur, I found that a quote spoken by Mrs. Costello on page 1575 added emphasis on the unfairnessIf after what happensat Vevey and everywhereyou desire to keep up the acquaintance, youre very welcome. ... Read More

American Literature Essay Examples