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

85147 total results

The Struggles of Sammy in Facing the Truth About Human Behavior in A & P, a Book by John Updike (1559 words, 6 pages)

There is a long history in Western Civilization which entails coming of age story that concerns the spiritual, moral, psychological, or social development and growth of formative years of the main character. This is an amazing archetype of John Updike's short story, "A P" the protagonist, Sammy, is faced with ... Read More

The Three Key Techniques for Meaningful Literary Analysis: Memory, Symbol, and Pattern (480 words, 2 pages)

Literature is a creative art of writing and classified according to a variety of systems including language, national origin and historical period. Reading literature is a highly intellectual activity, but it also involves affect and instinct to a large degree. Affect in reading literature emphasizes on producing joy or revulsion, ... Read More

An Analysis of Daisy Buchanan a Character in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1312 words, 4 pages)

The character Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby is the kind of woman that every man wants by their side. She is charming, beautiful, yet behind her expensive clothes and sunny personality is a woman with a shallow purpose. She desperately seeks power and luxury, while taking care of her ... Read More

The Negative Effects of Drugs in the Troubled Life of Alice’s in Go Ask Alice, a Book by Beatrice Sparks (336 words, 1 pages)

The book that I read during the summer was Go Ask Alice by ananonymous writer. In this novel, the main character is an unnamed fifteenyear old that the title refers to as Alice. Alice is a typical teenagerthat is insecure about her appearance, her social life and her parents. Shekeeps ... Read More

The Role of Irony in The Crucible, a Play by Arthur Miller (715 words, 2 pages)

The Crucible EssayEveryone has their own unique routine, but its a difficult concept trying to imagine the scheme of someone elses life. In The Crucible, Miller reveals that the way one thinks society views them-self dictates almost every single action they undertake through his use of dramatic and situational irony.Situational ... Read More

A Comparison of Living Like Weasels and Transfiguration, Two Essays by Annie Dillard (610 words, 3 pages)

In Annie Dillards essay, Living Like Weasels, she explains her first encounter with a weasel and what she gained from that experience. She begins with a story of how a man shot an eagle out of the sky and once he examined the eagle, he found the dry skull of ... Read More

The Characters as Metaphors of Division in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (1030 words, 4 pages)

The Hidden TruthThe characters in John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men are metaphors for the division in that time periods society. This compelling story follows two wanderers George and Lennie who are looking for work as laborers on a farm. This book starts off after the pair are fired from ... Read More

The Turtle in Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (549 words, 2 pages)

Grapes of Wrath Turtle Comparison Chapter 3 of Grapes of Wrath describes the small land turtle slowly crawling along the land and up a massive hill to reach the road. It evades death from machines by mere inches at a time only to end up stopped and pocketed by Tom ... Read More

The Theme of Suspense in The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe (344 words, 2 pages)

Pit and the PendulumThe Pit and the Pendulum creates a theme of suspense.Throughout the story, Poe develops an everlasting suspense until the execution. The story builds on the human mind's craving for information. It does this by giving the reader the perspective of the prisoner, who doesn't have any useful ... Read More

The Struggles in the Life of Edith Wharton (1979 words, 5 pages)

Live With An Author PaperStruggling and barely getting through the days of her childhood which were accompanied by a callous and snobbish mother and two brothers who made fun of her appearance, Edith Wharton would consistently seek security from the outside world in her fathers library, where she had to ... Read More

The Illusion of the American Dream in Of Mice and Men, a Novel by John Steinbeck (833 words, 3 pages)

Of Mice and Men EssayEvery individual has a natural desire to succeed in life. As Rush Limbaugh once said, The American dream has now morphed into an expectation. And if it isnt provided, or if it doesnt happen, then people feel cheated. In the novel Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck ... Read More

The Unreasonable Discrimination in the Novel The Crucible by Arthur Miller (613 words, 3 pages)

Author Arthur Miller was in search of a strong reaction when he wrote The Crucible. The Crucibles themes strongly resemble the things that took place during the time of McCarthyism, a hunt revolving around paranoia caused by a US senator around the time of the Red Scare. His goal was ... Read More

The Social Decay of the American Dream (1764 words, 5 pages)

The Social Decay of the American DreamAmericans live their life in pursuit of a dream, however face the harsh reality that most people can never live to accomplish their much wanted desires. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald illustrates the false ideals of the American ... Read More

The Details of Birth in The Art of Being Born by Marcia Aldrich (1055 words, 3 pages)

Have you ever wondered about the details of your birth? What if you were never told any information because your mother kept no baby book and didn't remember your birth. Growing up virtually clueless about where you came from would foster questions of how you fit in your family, and ... Read More

The Meaning and Purpose of Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants (677 words, 2 pages)

Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway successfully communicated its purpose through the use of round characters, symbols, and a theme. The purpose of this story was to show the struggle between the girl and her boyfriend. These two characters struggled throughout the story to communicate with each other. They ... Read More

A Humanistic View of Life’s Purpose in Kurt Vonnegut’s The Sirens of Titan (351 words, 2 pages)

A Humanistic View of Lifes PurposeKurt Vonneguts The Sirens of Titan reveals loving whoever is around to be loved" is the meaning of life (220). This belief is deeply rooted in humanism love is a basic human need, love exhibits goodness, and loving encourages appreciation of potential value. His giving ... Read More

The Primary Themes of Lies and Deceit in The Crucible, a Play by Arthur Miller (2057 words, 6 pages)

According to the Oxford Dictionary, to lie is to give an intentionally false statement while to deceive is to deliberately cause (someone) to believe something that is not true, especially for personal gain (Oxford Dictionaries). As immoral as it may seem, everyone, at some point in their lives, tells at ... Read More

The Theme of Free Will in the Stories The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas and I Am the Messenger (2010 words, 6 pages)

Comparison PaperFree will is one of those concepts that is hard to wrap your mind around. Do living things have free will, or is our existence predetermined by some higher power. Because so little is known about free will, it is commonly used as a theme in literature. Authors are ... Read More

An Analysis of the Sensory Imagery in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson (607 words, 1 pages)

Sensory Imagery In The LotteryThe Lottery, a short story written by Shirley Jackson, tells of a town in which every year a lottery takes place. As you start the story it seems as though the lottery is exciting and the award is something good through sensory imagery creating the mood, ... Read More

Free Will’s Role and Its Relevance in E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey (2029 words, 7 pages)

Free Wills Role in Fifty Shades of Grey and its RelevanceMerriam Webster defines free will as the freedom of humans to make choices that are not determined by prior causes or by divine intervention the ability to choose how to act. No matter age, race, or gender, the theme of ... Read More

A Personal Review of the Film Version of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (717 words, 3 pages)

The Great GatsbyWhen I went to see The Great Gatsby in theaters, Ill admit I had high expectations nevertheless my expectations were met with little wiggle room. Through its cinematography, soundtrack and acting, the film version of The Great Gatsby, captured every fantastic quality of F.Scott Fitzgeralds classic novel.The Great ... Read More

Ethnic Conflicts in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (1083 words, 4 pages)

The Kite RunnerHosseini influences the readers view on the complicity of all ethnic conflicts both historical and present day by simplifying the Afghani racial controversy through Amir and Hassans relationship and emphasizing the factors that create them ancient hatreds, authoritative manipulation, and competition.Nationalities are made powerful through teaching and repetition ... Read More

The Enslavement of American Society in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a Novel by Mark Twain (1116 words, 4 pages)

The Enslavement of American SocietyDespite being a beloved classic, the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain has stirred controversy for years regarding its thematic purpose. Critics argue whether or not Twains conclusion stays true to the events following up to the contentious ending. Literary critic Jane Smiley ... Read More

Paranoia and Injustice of the Salem Witch Trials in the Play The Crucible by Arthur Miller (802 words, 3 pages)

Salem Witch TrialsIn Salem, Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693, 200 or more people were tried with performing witchcraft, and twenty of them were executed (Jacobs). These events are called the Salem Witch Trials. Since their conclusion, the trials have become a symbol of paranoia and injustice. It is this injustice ... Read More

Finding Solutions to Various Problems in The Boys in the Boat, a Book by Daniel James Brown (669 words, 2 pages)

I have just recently finished reading your book The Boys in the Boat. This book has showed me what it looks like to find solutions to various problems and what it looks like to defeat the odds. While reading your book I enjoyed how you made the book very interesting ... Read More

A Brief, Critical Review of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (269 words, 2 pages)

The Great Gatsby Critical ReviewThe Great Gatsby purpose is to show how shindig parties were thrown by the affluent and rich in the roaring 20s. The Author of the book, F. Scott Fitzgerald, was born into an upper middle class family. He was named partly after his famous cousin, Francis ... Read More

An Analysis of the Mother-Daughter Relationship in Annie John, a Novel by Jamaica Kincaid (1284 words, 4 pages)

The relationship between Annie and her mother is the most important theme of the novel. The anxiety and disputes provoked by their alienation is what drives the plot, what starts the novel and finishes it. It is crucial to understand Annie's claims that her mother is trying to exclude her, ... Read More

Justifying Lies in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (738 words, 2 pages)

Justifying lies in The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnThe act of lying is always associated with greed and selfishness. In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, Huck must lie, not out of greed and selfishness, but to protect his on identity, and others, like Jim. Some lies, ... Read More

An Example of the Tragedy of the Commons Concept in The Hunger Games Novel by Suzanne Collins (271 words, 2 pages)

The Tragedy of the Commons and The Hunger GamesThe Tragedy of the Commons is a concept within a shared-resource system in which some individual acts within his own self-interest instead of the common good. Garrett Harden constructs an example of this within a group of herdsmen occupying a pasture. Each ... Read More

If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home by Tim O’Brien: Fighting in an Unjust War as a Sign of Cowardice (1532 words, 5 pages)

Courage is the fear of being thought a coward. Is Tim OBrien a coward for going against what he believes in or is he courageous for simply fighting in the Vietnam War? Published in 1973, If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home, is ... Read More

American Literature Essay Examples