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

85147 total results

An Analysis of the Use of Grace in a Good Man Is Hard to Find, a Short Story by Flannery O’Connor (1345 words, 5 pages)

In Flannery OConnors, A Good Man is Hard to Find, the subject of grace and the grandmother arises. This story is about a family who travels Tennessee for a vacation, but they run into a man called the Misfit who ends up killing the whole family. OConnor uses a lot ... Read More

A Review of Infinite Jest, a Novel by David Foster Wallace (2630 words, 10 pages)

Despite being written in the early 1990s, Infinite Jest was decades beyond its time. It correctly predicted humanitys obsession with the internet and the subsequent addiction that came from it. The novel also predicted the ability to call one another while being able to see each others faces and with ... Read More

A Review of Technical Theater in the Dramatic Imagination, a Novel by Robert Edmond (2453 words, 8 pages)

The Dramatic ImaginationThe Dramatic Imagination is a short novel written by Robert Edmond Jones outlining how he thought technical theater should be created during the time he was alive. Jones presented many conflicting ideas about how he thought good scenery should be created and how the outside world was affecting ... Read More

The Sexualization of Young Girls in The House on Mango Street, a Novel by Sandra Cisneros (618 words, 3 pages)

In the story The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros gives various examples to prove that the main idea in the book is the sexualizing of young girls, and how sadly- beauty is dangerous. Cisneros envisions her main point by using euphemism, sentence fragments, and amplification on the small details ... Read More

A Comprehensive Analysis of Nineteen Minutes, a Novel by Jodi Picoult (1505 words, 5 pages)

Nineteen Minutes, a novel by Jodi Picoult, does an outstanding job at displaying basic human personalities, thoughts, and consequent actions, before, during, and after a tragic circumstance. The thoughts of the individual characters has increase my desire to learn more about psychology, not only because of the complexity of these ... Read More

A Comprehensive Analysis of on the Road, a Novel by Jack Kerouac (1029 words, 3 pages)

On my first day of sociology class the professor used an exercise to explain the large degree of inequality that exists among people from different backgrounds. Each student made a tally chart with a plus side and a minus side and as the professor read off certain aspects of life ... Read More

The Key to Unlocking Happiness by Following One’s Dreams in Death of a Salesman, a Play by Arthur Miller (1030 words, 3 pages)

The key to happiness is often unveiled by our dreams. To unlock one'shappiness, one must find the right key. However, a lock will only unlockwith one key. The wrong key will not open the lock no matter how hard onetries. So the dreams of someone else cannot bring one happiness. ... Read More

Loneliness in the Passage The Rewards of Living a Solitary Life by Mary Sarton (409 words, 1 pages)

Music I heard with you was more than music. Exactly. And therefore music itself can only be heard alone. Solitude is the salt of personhood. It brings out the authentic flavor of every experience (Sarton). In this passage of The Rewards of Living a Solitary life, May Sarton is explaining ... Read More

The Human Disfigurement of Love in the Poem Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe (1776 words, 7 pages)

Explication of "Annabel Lee"Love's Distortion from Pure to GrotesqueIn what is thought to be Edgar Allan Poe's final poem, "Annabel Lee", Poe accurately expresses a particularly tragic trait of human nature. While "Annabel Lee" is about love, throughout the poem the sacred value of this love becomes progressively degraded. Poe ... Read More

An Analysis of the Symbolisms of The Street, a Novel by Ann Petry (457 words, 2 pages)

AP Write 4 The StreetLife is not only what is scientifically defined as alive, it's every part of nature. Even inanimate objects that seem insignificant to existence is in reality some way affecting the nature of the world. It is the humble background that makes us human, from the very ... Read More

An Analysis of Anders, a Character In “Bullet in the Brain”, a Short Essay by Tobias Wolff (873 words, 4 pages)

Habitual Behavior in Tobias Wolffs Bullet in the BrainAnders is introduced as a ruthless yet famous book critic in Tobias Wolffs short essay Bullet in The Brain which gradually persuades us to misinterpret him as a cruel and foolish character as the story continues. His impulsive provoking sarcasm shapes his ... Read More

The Elegant Life in the Novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1353 words, 6 pages)

Great Gatsby EssayFitzgerald's Fingerprint on the Grandeur of Gatsby The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a dynamic book that is both enchanting and engaging to read. By creating a book of this nature, and author captures the essence of the era as well as the impulses of individuals ... Read More

The Moral Weakness of Human Nature in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (1608 words, 7 pages)

Because of its obvious relevance to the reader, the reality of human nature is most often described and portrayed in books through the flaws and mistakes of key characters. This motif definitely rings true Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Throughout the book, the sins of many are exposed including those of ... Read More

The Contrast of Lee and Longstreet in the Killer Angels, a Novel by Michael Shaara (308 words, 1 pages)

Lee and Longstreet contrasted each other in three major ways in thechapter. First we see that Longstreet is a realist and Lee an idealist.Second, we see that Lee's health is failing and Longstreet's is not, andthird, that Lee trusts in God's will whereas Longstreet does not. First ofall, Longstreet believes ... Read More

A Comprehensive Analysis of Einstein’s Dream, a Novel by Alan Lightman (619 words, 2 pages)

Albert Einstein seemed to ponder about life just as everyone else did. People always question the larger meaning to life and how everything came to be. However, Einsteins elaborate thoughts are different than everyone elses. In his quote, he explains that people detach themselves from time and everyone in it. ... Read More

The Consequences of the Lack of Communication in the Novel As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (475 words, 3 pages)

Without communication it is impossible to reach your goal, because without it, it is impossible to portray to others what you need. In William Faulkners As I Lay Dying, we are shown that lack of communication leads to great consequence through the characters of Dewey Dell, Vardaman, and Darl.Foremost, we ... Read More

A Review of Mrs. Baroda in a Respectable Woman, a Book by Kate Chopin (428 words, 2 pages)

A Respectable WomanThe book A Respectable Woman by Kate Chopin is about this woman named Mrs. Baroda who is married to a man named Gaston. They live on a plantation in New Orleans. They seem as though they entertain a lot during the winter months, so she was looking forward ... Read More

The Use of the Gettysburg Battle in the Killer Angels, a Novel Bi Michael Sharra (820 words, 3 pages)

The novel The Killer Angels was written by Michael Sharra and is agood read to help one understand the reality of the battle of Gettysburgand the impact that it had on American history. One way in which thereality is that Sharra uses contrasts to develop his plot and characters.The second ... Read More

An Analysis of Symbols in Battle Royal, a Short Story by Ralph Ellison (1057 words, 3 pages)

Battle Royal by Ralph Ellison is about the passing of the narrators grandfather who leaves a piece of advice for the remaining members of the family. The son, then, goes through a battle where he struggles to find the true meaning of the advice given to him. The symbols in ... Read More

A Review of In Cold Blood, a Novel by Truman Capote (515 words, 1 pages)

In Cold Blood Pt. 2 Just like in Part 1, the same elements of voice are represented through Capotes unique style of writing. But in Part 2, it focuses more on the direct characterizations of the two murderers, Dick and Perry, through many aspects. As readers, we are provoked to ... Read More

The Different Perspectives of Annemarie in the Book Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (1159 words, 4 pages)

It is information or in other words, data, that enables the ability of a human being to make predictions amongst others as well as assumptions of what another being may appear to be in reality without social interaction, but no information has the same impact. Throughout Number the Stars by ... Read More

The True Value of Fahrenheit 451, a Novel by Ray Bradbury (586 words, 1 pages)

Learn from the AshesPopular still even after half a decade, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 continues to be a favorite novel. If the banishment of books like in Fahrenheit 451 actually happened in real life and each person could memorize only one book word for word, ironically I would memorize 451. ... Read More

A Review of the Book The Geography Club by Brent Hartinger (352 words, 1 pages)

The Geography ClubIn the Geography Club there is a gay boy, Russel Middlebrook, and he feels like he is the only gay person he out there. I feel like when people are first discovering that they are different from everyone else, they think that they are the only ones that ... Read More

The Controversial Topic of Race in the Book See No Color by Shannon Gibney (340 words, 1 pages)

See No Color The book See no Color by Shannon Gibney does a great job tackling a hard topic for some to talk about race. Before reading this book I have never really thought about how people in this situation have felt. I know a few people who are adopted ... Read More

Internal Conflicts in Society in The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton and The Awakening by Kate Chopin (844 words, 3 pages)

Internal Conflicts and Society When it comes to internal conflicts as a result of societalpressures, The Age of Innocence puts you in a different perspective of theprocess of social change, orbiting the theme of the hardships between thesocietal group and the individual. Similar to The Awakening, this noveltakes you into ... Read More

The Conflict between the Society and the Individual in The Awakening, a Novel by Kate Chopin (402 words, 2 pages)

In The Awakening, Edna's mind is pulled in conflicting directions bythe obligation to provide for the needs of society and the desire toprovide for the wants and needs of her own. The conflict between thesociety and the individual illuminates the theme of the novel. In the novel, Edna is a ... Read More

The Burning of Books in Fahrenheit 451, a Dystopian Novel by Ray Bradbury (594 words, 1 pages)

Burning AliveBooks and fire never go well together. Afterall, books are made of paper which is flammable as tinder for fire. But in Ray Bradburys Fahrenheit 451, books are the bane of their futuristic society. Firefighters are supposed to put out fires but in Fahrenheit 451, firefighters start fires, burning ... Read More

The Dangers of Having Physical Strength in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (316 words, 2 pages)

John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men is a powerful and thought-provoking story because it teaches an important life lesson. This lesson is that having physical strength can be dangerous you do not know how to use it correctly. In this story, Curley picks a fight with Lennie, who is as ... Read More

The Theme of Sacrificing Love in Twelfth Night by Henry David Thoreau (1160 words, 3 pages)

Sacrificing LoveOften times, the hardest choices we have to make are ones that force us to give up something dear to our hearts. Humans are innately selfish, so self sacrifice goes against our very nature. Why give up something you love when you dont have to? Well as Henry David ... Read More

A Comparison of Gothic Elements in The Masque of Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe and Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment by Nathaniel Hawthorne (448 words, 1 pages)

The Gothic style usually revolves around the darker elements of human nature. The two short stories, The Masque of the Red Death, by Edgar Allen Poe and Dr. Heideggers Experiment, by Nathaniel Hawthorne are both gothic. They have differences and similarities. The Masque of the Red Death is Gothic because ... Read More

American Literature Essay Examples