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

85147 total results

A Review of Dave’s Neckliss, a Story by Charles Chesnutt (547 words, 2 pages)

"Dave'sNeckliss" by CharlesChesnuttis the story a former slave named Julius tells about a slave named Dave who was wrongly accused of the crime of stealing a ham. As punishment for his crime, he is forced to wear a ham around his neck while he lives out his life, a type ... Read More

Kate Chopin’s The Awakening: Similarities Between Edna Pontellier and Desdemona from Othello (517 words, 2 pages)

Awakening A Personal StoryI have never read The Awakening nor have I ever heard of the author Kate Chopin before, so I did a bit of research on her. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that she was one of the early feminist authors of the twentieth century of Southern ... Read More

The Story of the Reillys in Nory Ryan’s Song, a Novel by Patricia Reilly Giff (819 words, 2 pages)

Nory Ryans SongAn Gorta Mor, The Great Hunger, struck Ireland with a sickening bite of fury in the 19th century by poisoning the plentiful potato crops that many families relied on for not only food, but a means of making a profit. What spare food and money the Irish had ... Read More

The Relation Between Materialism and Love in The Great Gatsby, a Novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald (2380 words, 7 pages)

Richard M. DeVos once said that "money cannot heal rupturedrelationships", and to that should be added regardless of eternal love.Everyone has experienced love at least once in their life a love they willnot soon forget. A novel which demonstrates such an unfading love would be"The Great Gatsby", written by F. ... Read More

A Reflection on Kate Chopin’s Novel The Awakening: The Parallels between the Life and Awakening of Edna Pontellier and Me (1254 words, 4 pages)

My Personal AwakeningI was able to connect a lot of Edna's life and awakening to my own life and awakening. I really was able to understand the major themes of identity and individuality in Chopin'sThe Awakeningthrough analyzing the parallels between Edna Pontellier's and my life and awakening.I used to question ... Read More

Feminism and Waiting for Action in the Novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin (526 words, 2 pages)

Feminism in The AwakeningWhile reading through the first half of this novel, I found myself wondering when some action would occur. While I appreciated Chopin's gorgeous imagery and descriptions, I couldn't help but wonder when the exposition would finally lead to the some type of event or change. It was ... Read More

American Family at a Christmas Eve Dinner in Amy Tan’s Fish Cheeks (844 words, 3 pages)

Amys Fish Cheek A young teenage girl goes through a rough Christmas Eve dinner with her Chinese family and an American family as their guests in Fish Cheeks by Amy Tan. The main character, Amy, has fallen in love with the son in the American family. The point of view ... Read More

The Life of Henry James and His Works as a Reflection of the Old and New World (1654 words, 7 pages)

The nineteenth century was a time of major growth and change in all areas of the world. While the revolutions of the European countries were going on in the east, the colonies sat back and reaped the major influx of new thoughts and ideas. Some European thinkers even came to ... Read More

The Theme of Loyalty in Doubt and Salvation, Two Works by Langston Hughes (721 words, 2 pages)

Everyone is loyal towards to their close friends, teacher and family numbers. I think loyal to someone means listening and believing what friends and family say. At a same time, we do the things that they want us to do in order to make them happy. However, because of the ... Read More

An Analysis of Dave’s Neckliss by Charless Chessnut (464 words, 2 pages)

When I finished reading "Dave's Neckliss",I was unsure exactly how to interpret the ending. Did Julius fabricate the entire story to trick Annie and John into giving him the ham? Or was the story about Dave and his "neckliss" entirely true and Julius was merely sharing a tale and the ... Read More

The Experience of Reading Kate Chopin’s The Awakening and Identifying with Edna Pontellier (585 words, 2 pages)

Reading The AwakeningI started readingThe Awakeningright after Thanksgiving, so I was in quite an introspective mood when I first started reading. At Thanksgiving, I had been asked all the typical family questions like, What do you want to be when you grow up?, What are you studying?, Whats your favorite ... Read More

The Effect of Fear on the Decisions of Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and George Zimmerman in The Crucible, a Play by Arthur Miller (493 words, 2 pages)

The Effect of FearThe deafening crunch of a neck breaking echoes through the air. Life visibly fades from the supposed witchs eyes. This spectacle instills a massive feeling of fear this scare tactic was intended to prevent people from practicing witchcraft. So, the question rises is fear a good motivator? ... Read More

The Characterization of Edna Pontellier in The Awakening, a Novel by Kate Chopin (868 words, 3 pages)

The AwakeningMost novels paint women as one who listens to her husband, enjoys being a mother and just goes with the flow in society, especially during this era. That was what was expected. But it is not the life Edna desires any more.Readers first get a glimpse of this when, ... Read More

Anti-Transcendentalist Point of View in The Minister’s Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne (610 words, 2 pages)

In The Ministers Black Veil, Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts the world in the view shared by other Anti-Transcendentalists. This literary movement focused mainly on the darker side of humans society and saw human life in grim terms, unlike their Transcendentalist brethren. In The Ministers Black Veil, Hawthorne communicates that there is ... Read More

An Analysis of the Theme in The Ballad of Birmingham (463 words, 2 pages)

As the common folk of old began to learn how to read and write, they took advantage of this new knowledge and began to express themselves. One way they did this is through ballads, which are defined as narrative poetry of the common people, or folk poetry. Ballads were originally ... Read More

The Resistance of Fate in My Name, No Speak English, and Marin, the texts in the Novel The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (670 words, 3 pages)

Refusal to AssimilateThroughout all the texts, womens destiny is a recurring theme. While some may argue that the women accept their fate, the opposite appears most evident. If they did accept the destiny given to them, they would most likely be seen as weak throughout their society. However, the women ... Read More

The Questioning of Morality in Two Short Stories: Night Woman by Edwidge Danticat and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson (991 words, 4 pages)

Morality vs. ImmoralityMorality is challenged in many ways throughout both texts. In Night Woman, the mothers morality is challenged because she is intimate with multiple people while her son is near she does not feel guilty about her choices and she is teaching her son to be something that she ... Read More

An Analysis of the Chapter in Which Edna Learns How to Swim in The Awakening by Kate Chopin (598 words, 2 pages)

RelationsAs I make my way through The Awakening, I amdrawn to a key moment in the tenth chapter in which EdnaPontellierlearns how to swim, and how this marks the beginning of a life of rebellion for her. The texts claims that she took an entire summer to try and master ... Read More

The Theme of Change and Its Impact on Holden’s Character in The Catcher in the Rye, a Novel by J. D. Salinger (1160 words, 4 pages)

Change is a Part of Life JD Salinger's, The Catcher in the Rye, exemplifies the hardships of Holden, a troubled adolescent dealing with the fear and dislike of change in his life. Change is a major theme that is portrayed throughout the book. Holden, like many teenagers, is afraid of ... Read More

The Flirtatious, Impatient, and Defensive Characteristics of John Proctor in The Crucible, a Play by Arthur Miller (422 words, 2 pages)

In The Crucible, author Arthur Miller depicts the character John Proctor as flirtatious, impatient, and defensive. John Proctor is a married local farmer outside the town of Salem, Massachusetts. Throughout the first Act of the story, he is shown to have had a secretive relationship with a young girl by ... Read More

The Symbolism of Driving, Traveling, and Escape in the Novel “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter” by Kim Edwards (1230 words, 4 pages)

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim EdwardsIt is 1964, a year where many institutions were flooded with feeble-minded unwanted children. David Henry, a 33-year-old doctor, is forced to deliver his 22-year-old wife's baby due to the raging snowstorm. He and his nurse Caroline Gill successfully deliver his perfect son Paul. ... Read More

Linda and Willy in Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller (605 words, 2 pages)

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller is a drama about a struggling family. Willy and Linda, the main characters, have lived a long life together. They had two children together Biff and Happy. Neither of their children are very successful, and one of their children holds a big secret ... Read More

A Recollection of Childhood Memories in The Chase, a Story by Annie Dillard (317 words, 1 pages)

Captivated ThrillIn the heartwarming and expressive excerpt from The Chase, by Annie Dillard, she retells the excitement and thrill of one of her fondest memories as a child. Dillard begins by explaining her wholeheartedly passion at playing the sport football and expresses this through vivid imagery in order to convey ... Read More

The Story of Two Fates in The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, a Book by Wes Moore (657 words, 2 pages)

The Other Wes Moore One Name, Two Fates The Other Wes Moore is a tale of two fates a felon and a Rhodes Scholar. According to Wes Moore, the Rhodes Scholar, he was reading the newspaper one day, when his name popped out at him. The story that spoke his ... Read More

The Themes of Fear, Faith, Humiliation, Guilt, and Storytelling in The Things They Carried, a Collection of Linked Stories by Tim O’Brien (1926 words, 5 pages)

The title of a novel may often be a symbolic representation of what the novel may be about. In Tim O'Brien's book The Things They Carried, the title simply represents what the soldiers had to deal with in the war. The soldiers carried many things, both physical and intangible. They ... Read More

A Personal Opinion on Homecoming, a Poem by W.S. Merwin, and Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac (329 words, 1 pages)

What is NPR? NPR stands for National Public Radio. It is a private and public nonprofit media organization with a total of 900 public radio stations across the United States. It was founded by Bill Siemering on February 26, 1970, in Washington, D.C. Going into the site, I did not ... Read More

An Analysis of Identity Crisis in Who Am I This Time, a Short Film by Kurt Vonnegut (869 words, 3 pages)

The in movie, Who Am I This Time, a short film by Kurt Vonnegut staring Academy Award-winners Susan Sarandon and Christopher Walken, who portrays Harry Nash. Harry is a great actor at the local theatre in town but is terribly shy and doesnt speak to anyone outside the theatre. The ... Read More

The Aspect of Time in A Rose for Emily, a Short Story by William Faulkner (699 words, 2 pages)

Leave the past in the past, my mother often told me. Whether I had just broken a vase, spilt some juice, or gotten a bad grade on a test, my mom never wanted me to dwell on my blunders. When it came to the mistakes I had made, her main ... Read More

The Tragedy of Cormac McCarthy’s Post-Apocalyptic Novel The Road (695 words, 2 pages)

The Tragedy of The RoadCormac McCarthys post-apocalyptic novel The Road certainly contains tragic events and situations that would lead the reader to believe that it is in fact a classic tragedy. Aristotle would agree with this statement. According to Aristotle, Poetry (tragedy) tends to express the universal.(Aristotle handout) The Road ... Read More

The Mocking of the Mankind’s Moral Code in A Good Man Is Hard to Find, a Short Story by Flannery O’Connor (678 words, 2 pages)

As children, many people are taught about a moral code of mankind. Treat others as you would want to be treated. Do not lust, kill, steal, or hurt others. The list goes on and on. Whether this code originates from religion, unique experiences, or personal judgement, it exists, and it ... Read More

American Literature Essay Examples