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

85147 total results

The Two Dimensions of Life in Ray Bradbury’s Sun and Shadow (1026 words, 5 pages)

Superficiality and Depth Two Different Dimensions of LifeSometimes, the most valuable things, like dignity and respect, are often independent of the physical world. In Ray Bradburys Sun and Shadow, a proud homeowner named Ricardo Reyes loudly protests the presence of a photographer and a model on his property who take ... Read More

The Dangerous Yet Rewarding Road to Success as a Fisherman in The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (710 words, 3 pages)

The Qualities of a True FighterThe road to success as a fisherman, though it can be dangerous, is immensely rewarding, especially after coming through victorious despite much difficulty along the way. Often, it is a tragic mistake for parents to shield their children from the reality of the natural world, ... Read More

Billy and the Symbolic of Man’s Struggle to Understand Nature in The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy (652 words, 3 pages)

For all the instances in which the verb look or watch is used in The Crossing, the author, Cormac McCarthy, although he has this strange fixation on the watching of things, horses, people, the expansive frontier of Mexico, still respects the limits of sensory perception of the world. During the ... Read More

Grotesquery in the Tales The Book of the Grotesque and Hands From Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson (871 words, 4 pages)

Grotesquery in Winesburg, OhioWhat leads people away from a healthy maintenance of truth in their lives, to submersion in their own inflation of these truths? In Sherwood Andersons collection of short stories, Winesburg, Ohio, one of these tales, The Book of the Grotesque, answers this question with the notion that ... Read More

A Comparison of the Differences in the Styles of Leadership of General Robert E. Lee and James Longstreet in The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara (624 words, 2 pages)

In The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, the styles of leadership of confederate Generals Robert Edward Lee and James Longstreet differ greatly, and it is this that ultimately determines the outcome of The Battle of Gettysburg. While Lee is more of an offensive general, always looking to strike his enemy ... Read More

The Free-Spirited Huck in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a Novel by Mark Twain (727 words, 3 pages)

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck, the maincharacter, gains a better, wider perspective of the world around him byventuring out of his little town of St. Petersburg. He learns to judgepeople, not by their appearance or race, but by their personality andcharacter. Through his many adventures, ... Read More

The Change from Friendship to Rivalry between Finny and Gene in John Knowles’s Novel A Separate Peace (956 words, 3 pages)

Finny and Gene First Friends, Then RivalsGood friends trust in and live close to one another, but when one begins to compete fiercely to be better than the other, then the resulting conflict is often monumentally harmful to the state of their friendship. Rather than directing their powers of disagreement ... Read More

Edna and the Feminist Nature of The Awakening by Kate Chopin (826 words, 3 pages)

In The Awakening, Kate Chopin brings one of the very first progressive feminist novels to exist, and examines the cultural norms in which she was raised. She leads her lead character Edna into an enlightenment and discovery of art, emotion, and desire.On her vacation to Grand Isle (a popular vacation ... Read More

A Comparison of the Stories The Cask of Amontillado and The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe (606 words, 2 pages)

The works of Edgar Allan Poe have always been a textbook example of the romantic era of literature, and more specifically, dark romanticism. He is able to use themes and symbolism of darkness, death, and mystery in such a way that defines this period in its entirety. His short stories ... Read More

Racism in the Story of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (890 words, 3 pages)

To Kill A Mockingbird Essay "There's something in our world that makes men lose their headsthey couldnt be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life (Lee ... Read More

The Example of How Food Brings People Together in the Book Fresh of the Boat by Eddie Huang (2748 words, 11 pages)

Final PaperHolidays have always been a time that brings my family together. My extended family is quite small compared to most, but it is still a rare occurrence that we are all in the same place at the same time. The reason we accompany each other for Easter, Thanksgiving, and ... Read More

The Internal Conflict of Colonel Sartoris in the Story Barn Burning by William Faulkner (654 words, 2 pages)

A young boy torn between obeying his father and doing what he knows tobe right presents the internal conflict of the story "Barn Burning" byWilliam Faulkner. In the story, Abner Snopes, a violent and wayward manwith an affinity for burning down buildings, repeatedly commits crimes andevades conviction in court. In ... Read More

Losing Reality in the Novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (357 words, 1 pages)

Reality in Fahrenheit 451At times technology can can seem better then looking at the real world. The novel Fahrenheit 451 is a great example of this. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury uses symbolism to show when one relies on technology they loose touch with reality. In this novel ... Read More

An Analysis of Different Aspects of the Play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller (997 words, 2 pages)

Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller, 1948When Arthur Miller wrote Death of a Salesman in 1948 he had just moved into a studio he had constructed in Roxbury, Connecticut. The play, written in just 6 weeks, instantly became a piece of classic literature when it was first performed on February ... Read More

The Deeper Meaning in the Short Story Gravity by David Leavitt (3466 words, 11 pages)

The Bigger Picture When reading a story, there is usually more hidden within the storythan what is said on the surface. David Leavitt's story 'Gravity' on thesurface is a story about an ill man and how he struggles to get throughdaily life with the help of his mother. There's is ... Read More

Horrible Marriages in Sweat by Zora Neale Hurston and Woman Hollering Creek by Sandra Cisneros (1032 words, 5 pages)

Horrible Marriages in LiteratureMarriage is the bonding of two people, resulting in the formation of a family at home. According to Dr. Les Parrott and Dr. Leslie Parrott, there are five things in every good marriage that leads the relationship to work. They are, ownership, hope, empathy, forgiveness, and commitment ... Read More

The Choice of the Way One Views Everyday Life in This is Water by David F. Wallace (301 words, 2 pages)

This is Water, written by David F. Wallace explains we have a choice on how we want to view everyday life. Examples and short stories display that even if we do not believe that we have a problem, our thoughts can be wrong. Explaining that we run on a default ... Read More

An Example of Jazz Age Literature as Shown in The Great Gatsby, a Novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald (411 words, 2 pages)

The novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is an excellent example of Jazz Age literature, as well as a fantastic story. The author weaves the tale of Jay Gatsby, a mysterious millionaire who resides in West Egg, the less prosperous of 2 neighborhoods on Long Island. He throws ... Read More

An Evaluation of the Controversies Surrounding the Novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe According to David S. Reynolds (805 words, 3 pages)

In Mightier than the Sword Uncle Tom's Cabin and the Battle for America David S. Reynolds contends for the exceptional effect of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin upon American society and democracy. David S. Reynolds received his Ph.D. in English literature from the University of California, he is also ... Read More

The Role of the Coffin in Moby Dick, a Novel by Herman Melville (1596 words, 5 pages)

Life Contained in a Single Box The Role of the Coffin inMoby DickThe life of a whaleman is not for the weak coming face to face with death is a daily occurrence. Death is all too familiar for whalemen, especially those aboard the Pequod. Luckily, those aboard know that with ... Read More

The Relationship Between Unity and Identity in Son by Andrew Solomon (1910 words, 6 pages)

The Relationship between Unity and Identity in Son by Andrew SolomonFamily is often characterized as involving a strong sense of unity. Somewhat similarly, from the perspective of Andrew Solomon in his story, Son, he conveys that the unity of a family involves having differences and how being compassionate towards them ... Read More

Newspeak: An Epitome of the Flaws of American Culture (457 words, 2 pages)

The way Americans speak and behave is crucial to how competing nations view our culture. If we expect to be world leaders, whether economical or educational power, the American youth should reevaluate Newspeak habits. George Orwells description of Newspeak evolution in 1984 resembles how todays vernacular, especially excessive acronyms and ... Read More

The Contrasting Effects of Truth and Lies in the Novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (761 words, 3 pages)

In the novel The Scarlet Letter, author Nathaniel Hawthorne presents many different themes. One theme that is prominently expressed by Hawthorne is the contrasting effects of truth and of falseness. He presents the idea that the truth is healthy and it frees, while falseness is toxic and it imprisons. Hester, ... Read More

An Analysis of the Dysthymia of Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye (667 words, 3 pages)

Holden Caulfield was admitted into Long Island Jewish Hospital, MentalInstitution via. The Adolescent Pavilion on January 28th of 1972 at the ageof seventeen for approximately seventy six hours. Upon Mr. Caulfield'sstay at the Adolescent Pavilion, he was diagnosed with Dysthymia, otherwiseknown as Persistent Depressive Disorder. This stage of depression waslargely ... Read More

The Conflict and Lack of Love Between Troy and Cory in the Play Fences by August Wilson (1013 words, 3 pages)

Choose a novel or play that depicts a conflict between a parent (or aparental figure) and a son or daughter. Write an essay in which you analyzethe sources of the conflict and explain how the conflict contributes to themeaning of the work. Avoid plot summaryIn August Wilson's Fences, Troy, a ... Read More

A Review of The New Boyfriend, a Short Story by Kelly Link (1578 words, 6 pages)

Kelly Links The New Boyfriend is a short story from her collection, Get in Trouble, which traffics into a teenage territory. The story focuses on a teenage girl, Immy, who is jealous of her good friend, Ainslie. The setting of the story is Ainslies birthday party, which is dominated by ... Read More

The Transformation of Captain Keller in the Play The Miracle Worker by William Gibson (583 words, 2 pages)

Imagine being a little girl who could only touch. You couldnt hear, you couldnt see, only feel. You would only be frustrated. Near-constant anger with your inability to communicate. But now imagine taking care of a child that couldnt communicate with you. Picture handling all her tantrums, getting her to ... Read More

Self-Perception and Reputation in the Short Story The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (847 words, 3 pages)

A prevalent theme throughout Tim OBriens quintessential American short story collection The Things They Carried is self-perception and reputation. This theme in the novel is explored heavily in nearly every character featured in what many readers consider O'Brien's magnum opus. The men in Jimmy Cross' unit are constantly and unrelentingly ... Read More

Religious Symbolism in the Novel The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (1443 words, 5 pages)

Throughout the novel, many examples of religious symbolism can be seen. One prominent symbol is Jim Conklin. Aside from the fact that both Jim Conklin and Jesus Christ share the same initials, Conklin also bears other resemblances to Christ for other reasons. Jim, when dying, is described as waiting with ... Read More

A Review of the Short Story, Two Words by Isabel Allende (3116 words, 7 pages)

TWO WORDSShe went by the name of Belisa Crepusculario, not because she had beenbaptized with that name or given it by her mother, but because she herselfhad searched until she found the poetry of "beauty" and "twilight" andcloaked herself in it. She made her living selling words. She journeyedthrough the ... Read More

American Literature Essay Examples