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

85147 total results

The Significance of the Character’s Real Names in The Great Gatsby, a Novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1512 words, 5 pages)

The names of the main characters in The Great Gatsby play a significant role in bringing out their personalities as the events in the novel unfold.As we all know The Great Gatsby is an important novel in American literature because it deals with themes of greed, the American Dream and ... Read More

The Themes of Female Independence and Marriage in The Storm and The Story of an Hour, Two Short Stories by Kate Chopin (1380 words, 4 pages)

Susan B Anthony once said Independence is Happiness, but independence has not always been easily accessible to all genders. Chopin's stories with strong female roles,The Storm and The Story of an Hour, express themes of female independence and marriage they are used to convey that despite that strengths of relationships ... Read More

A Comparison of Araby by James Joyce and The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe (832 words, 3 pages)

What is Great Literature? Araby vs. The Tell Tale HeartGreat literature is a heavily debated term. For an eight year old boy, Im sure Captain Underpants is considered one of the best books in the world. When I was in middle school paranormal romance books seemed to be all that ... Read More

The Issues of Culture Shock and Cultural Relativism Portrayed in Guest of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village, a Book by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea (1234 words, 4 pages)

Elizabeth Warnock Ferneas quest to a remote village, El Nahra, in Iraq gave us readers an insight of issues of culture shock and cultural relativism many people do not get to experience. As the women of the village called her, BJ was urged to adjust her way of life in ... Read More

An Analysis of the Author’s Point of View in Girl, a Biography by Jamaica Kincaid (290 words, 1 pages)

Kincaids Girl and Point of ViewPoint of view is an essential element of a story. Point of view changes the way readers understand the story. Based on different points of view, readers are able to better understand characters and the ways in which they interact with one another. Second point ... Read More

The Issue of Body Shaming and Its Consequences Portrayed in The Birth-Mark, a Short Story by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1022 words, 3 pages)

The novel Birth-mark is plagued with multiple forms of body shaming. Aylmer is unaware of Georgianas birthmark for a short period of time after they were married. Before this discovery was made, Aylmer was an ideal spouse to her, but upon discovery everything changed. Aylmer was unable to erase this ... Read More

The Fear in Dealing Problems in A Temporary Matter, a Short Story by Jhumpa Lahiri (297 words, 1 pages)

In the short story A Temporary Matter Jhumpa Lahiri reveals how Shukamar is afraid of confronting is problems and Shoba does not like to talk about the baby. Shukamar cannot really relate to Shoba. He cannot because he never really went to India and Shoba did. They both try to ... Read More

The Nature of Evil in The Scarlet Letter, a Novel by John Steinbeck (654 words, 2 pages)

In the novel the Scarlet Letter there are many themes that, although old, are still relevant today. One of these themes is the nature of evil, and how the evil within one person can bring out the evil within others around them. A common cause of evil within a person ... Read More

The Theme of Jealousy in A Thousand Acres, a Novel by Jane Smiley (1428 words, 4 pages)

Well this book is dull at the best of moments. Quite dry and uninteresting, I could barely stumble my way through it. Kite runner was a much better novel in my opinion as entertainment goes. The book starts off with adolescent Ginny cook describing the land which encompassed her who ... Read More

The Important Role of the Narrator in the Story of The Black Cat and The Fall of the House of Usher, Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe (530 words, 2 pages)

The narrator plays a very important role in any story. The author uses the narrator, not only to tell the story, but also to give the story a certain tone. The narrator can change the readers view on the story, and can completely affect the way the story is interpreted. ... Read More

An Analysis of the Sounds, Costumes, and Blocking Throughout the Story of The Madman’s Tale in Arabian Nights by Mary Zimmerman (1204 words, 4 pages)

The play opens with floating candles incased in colorful glass lamps,plush satin pillows, a beautiful purple backdrop with a moon and stars, andtrickling fountains on both sides of a regal doorway. This is the settingof the multiple stories of the play called Arabian Nights by MaryZimmerman. Men and Women enter ... Read More

The Loss of Innocence in Young Goodman Brown, a Short Story by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1186 words, 4 pages)

What defines one as innocent? Innocence is often supplementary to youth, ignorance, and naivety and the loss of innocence occurs when exposed to the evils of the world. Corruption can happen in any culture or race, and eventually does happen at some point in life. Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story, "Young ... Read More

The Girl Protagonist in the Hills Like White Elephants, a Novel by Ernest Hemingway (1298 words, 5 pages)

The Girl in Hills Like White Elephants - Not the WomanIts very telling that the female protagonist in Ernest Hemingways Hills Like White Elephants is referred to as the girl instead of the woman. While the central conflict of the story is her pregnancy, she has allowed herself to be ... Read More

An Analysis of the Character of John Proctor, a Tragic Hero in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible (1173 words, 4 pages)

A Tragic Hero When we are reading a story, most of us will predict that the heros fortune would surely change from misery to happiness somewhere in the story, but what if the exact opposite of what we expected would apply in the story? This means that the heros fortune ... Read More

A Comprehensive Review of a Streetcar Named Desire, a Play by Tennessee Williams (1981 words, 6 pages)

First Telephone CallThe first reference to a telephone call starts in Scene One, with Eunice accusing her husband Steve of negligence because he failed to call her to let her know that he would be playing poker. Steve did in fact inform her at breakfast and called her at lunch. ... Read More

A Short Review of The Crucible, a Play by Arthur Miller (707 words, 2 pages)

The Crucible was written in 1953 by Arthur Miller and takes place in Salem, Massachusetts. Salem, Massachusetts 1692, where the book starts off, was a very religious place. Being a society so tightly interconnected with religion and the bible, when two girls make claims of witches the town goes into ... Read More

The Notion of Censorship in Fahrenheit 451, a Novel by Ray Bradbury (1246 words, 4 pages)

A world where free-thought, individuality, and education are rejected a world consumed by censorship, this was how Ray Bradbury saw the future of the world. When Bradbury wrote the novel Fahrenheit 451 he was living through the McCarthy Paranoia, a period of great paranoia induced by the idea that the ... Read More

The Conflict Between the Older and Younger Generations During a Time for Change in the South in A Rose for Emily, a Short Story by William Faulkner (679 words, 2 pages)

Before the Civil War, the South was noted for its prosperous farms, beautiful plantation homes, and class and charm of the people. However, after the Civil War, the prosperous south was broken. It was a time for change in a culture based on traditional values. Older southerners were still stuck ... Read More

A Book Analysis of Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (681 words, 2 pages)

For this assignment I chose to read two books that I had at my house. The first book I chose was Goodnight Moon the author is Margaret Wise Brown, the book was illustrated by Clement Hurd, and was published on September 3rd, 1947. Goodnight Moon is a childrens book that ... Read More

A Personal Review of the Moving and Touching Book of Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (852 words, 3 pages)

I have heard that Uncle Toms Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe was a horrible book, and a hard read. Well I can say that they were horribly mistake, the book extremely well written. The book not only expressed the horrible life of slaves and how horrible slavery truly is, but ... Read More

Understanding Holden Caulfield’s Character in The Catcher in the Rye, a Novel by J.D. Salinger (901 words, 3 pages)

J.D. Salinger wrote an almost timeless novel in 1951, when he published The Catcher in the Rye. It is the story of Holden Caulfields past year, starting at getting kicked out of school and ending with him telling you he was telling this story from a home of some sort. ... Read More

A Summary of Evacuation Order No. 19, a Short Story by Julie Otsuka (1177 words, 4 pages)

Evacuation Order No. 19 by Julie Otsuka is a short story about a Japanese-American during the World War Two era. Mrs. Hayashi, the mother of two children, sees a poster directed at people of her culture. It told all Japanese people living in America were to pack up and clear ... Read More

The Effects of Neglect and Mistreatment Illustrated in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates (952 words, 4 pages)

The Effects of Neglect and Mistreatment Illustrated in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates portrays the story of a fifteen-year-old girl named Connie who leads a rather miserable life. Between her nitpicky mother and passive father, Connie ... Read More

The Concept of the Signifying Monkey Represented through the Character of Dave in Charles W. Chesnutt’s Piece Dave’s Neckliss (585 words, 2 pages)

Chessnut's piece, "Dave'sNeckliss", tells the story of a slave named Dave within the narrative of a former slave, Julius. Julius recollects Dave's life and death and how it connects to his own life today. He remembers that they were once working under the same master, whom they call "Mars Walker". ... Read More

A Review of A Thousand Acres, a Novel by Jane Smiley (722 words, 2 pages)

My reaction to A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley was the opposite of my reaction to the Kite Runner. Instead of being held into the story and running through it very quickly out of interest and sympathy, I slowly stumbled through it, actually falling asleep while reading it (something which, ... Read More

A Review of the Tale of Don Quixote in the Cumberland County Playhouse’s Production of the Play Man of La Mancha (363 words, 2 pages)

Man of La ManchaMan of La Mancha, the tale of Don Quixote, had been playing at the Cumberland County Playhouse. I knew a few of the actors due to previously living in Cumberland County so I had also went to see this to support them. Anyway, the showing was a ... Read More

A Comparison of Dave Neckliss by Charles Chestnut and The Blackness of Blackness by Henry Louis Gates (583 words, 2 pages)

Before I say anything else, I must admit that getting through both these texts took me a very long time. They seemed very dense and long. I still don't completely understand the texts, but this is how I connectedDaveNecklissby CharlesChesnuttandThe Blackness of Blackness A Critique on the Sign and Signifying ... Read More

A Character Analysis of Granny Weatherall From The Jilting of Granny Weatherall by Katherine Ann Porter (1012 words, 3 pages)

Granny Weatherall is a very complex character. She is a very complex person because she has different layers of issues. There are surface level problems that everyone can see. Then there is the inner level and the core level. The inner level is the cause of the pain. The core ... Read More

Character Analysis of Bub in the Cathedral, a Story by Raymond Carver (996 words, 3 pages)

People can show the surrounding world who they are by what they say and what they do. The story Cathedral, by Raymond Carver,is a short story that talks about the time Robert, a blind man, went to visit his friend and her husband, Bub. In the story, the narrator expresses ... Read More

The Signifying Monkey in Henry Louis Gates’ The Blackness of Blackness (511 words, 2 pages)

Signifying MonkeyIn Henry Louis Gates The Blackness of Blackness, he describes the Signifying Monkey as a character that originated during the times of American slavery and whose main purpose is to play tricks. However, it is also generally serves as a messenger or an intermediary, and while delivering its message ... Read More

American Literature Essay Examples