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

85147 total results

The Abstract of the American Dream in the Great Gatsby, a Novel by Novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1604 words, 5 pages)

For the past century, the United States has thrived as a nation, attracting people from all around the globe towards one single goal the American dream. This American dream gave hope to many that they could achieve their materialistic goal of money, no matter their beginnings. Although many peoples idea ... Read More

An Analysis of Ostracism in the Great Gatsby, a Novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald (369 words, 1 pages)

The Great Gatsby Contrasting Views of OstracismOstracism, ironically, is a big issue in the modern society and affects people in many ways. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald discusses and offers insight on peoples experiences with being ostracized. In the beginning of the book, Carraway spots Gatsby stretching out ... Read More

The Funeral and Personality of Jay Gatsby in the Novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (660 words, 2 pages)

The idea that nobody came to Gatsbys funeral is really interesting, because Gatsby threw huge parties and tons of people came to them. Although he did this for tons of people, nobody came to his funeral. That shows a lot about Gatsbys personality. He was someone who was both reserved ... Read More

A Comparison of Chickamauga by Bierce and Walden by Henry David Thoreau (1871 words, 6 pages)

Although it is clear the human nature is filled with flaws, the cause for these deformities is quite unclear. Two contrasting pieces of literature, Chickamauga by Bierce and Walden by Henry David Thoreau both attempt to understand the fundamental defects in humans. The underlying problem with the human race is ... Read More

An Analysis of the Theme of Justice in to Kill a Mockingbird, in the Time of the Butterflies and the Tale of Two Cities (1136 words, 3 pages)

Throughout the three books, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, and The Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, the authors use the theme of justice and the idea of trials to express how powerful people always triumph and can ... Read More

The Terrifying Aspects of War in Chickamauga, a Story by Ambrose Bierce (415 words, 1 pages)

In the modern day, war is often perceived as a bad aspect in life. In Chickamauga, Bierce portrays war as a gruesome aspect of life. The story follows a young boy, he finds himself in the middle of an ongoing battlefield. Turned upon him with a face that lacked a ... Read More

American Themes in James Fenimore Cooper’s Pioneers and Its Connection to the Works of Other Writers (490 words, 2 pages)

James Fenimore CooperThe American themes in Coopers writing have both to do with the country itself, and some core ideas established by writers such as Benjamin Franklin. I believe the main theme of Pioneers to be that America arose quickly because of hard work. Cooper writes mostly about how America ... Read More

Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the Usher House: The Power of Nature to Influence Mind (561 words, 2 pages)

Edgar Allen PoeThe theme of The Fall of the House of Usher is that the mind can destroy the body out of fear and illness. This is obvious in the actual house, a metaphor for the mind of Roderick Usher and his family, is literally destroyed as the two Usher ... Read More

The Importance of Relationships in Kinder Than Solitude by Yiyun Li (1563 words, 5 pages)

According to Kinder Than Solitude by Yiyun Li, the relationships we build, whether they are with loved ones or those not in high regard, can be the pillars that hold us up through moments of hardship, yet the sledgehammer that destroys our strength. Relationships built between friends are explored through ... Read More

The Struggles of the Innocent Citizens with Communism in The Vagrants by Yiyun Li (1490 words, 5 pages)

During the 1970s throughout China, the Cultural Revolution strived to restore pure communism to refine the social class structure and worked to create a firm government, but did so through brutal violence and oppressing the freedom of every individual. Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, soldiers were pushed to persecute ... Read More

Desperation and Insanity: John’s Wife in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Tessie Hutchinson in the Lottery by Shirley Jackson (517 words, 2 pages)

Desperation and InsanityDesperate circumstances call for desperate measures Author unknown. This popular American idiom means many things depending on the circumstances (no pun intended). For the characters in literature written by certain women it means being driven to a breaking point beyond logical thought. Societal pressures weigh heavily on characters ... Read More

The Effect of Time and Dreams on Reality: An Analysis of Bierce’s Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown (1494 words, 6 pages)

The Effect of Time and Dreams on RealityAn Analysis of Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and Young Goodman BrownFor an author, time is a tool manipulated for specific purposes. In the story Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce, time is condensed and shifted in accordance with the changes ... Read More

Tenderness or Desperation: Father and Son Relationships in The Gift by Li-Young Lee and Powder by Tobias Wolff (1713 words, 6 pages)

Tenderness or DesperationFather and Son Relationships in The Gift and PowderGrown men are stereotyped as unfeeling emotionless machines who care about sex, food, money and sex. Hopefully these men change their stoic, marble-hearted ways when they become fathers. Sadly, some fathers never change. Those who do change are often warm ... Read More

A Critique of Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo (1757 words, 7 pages)

The Accident of BirthOnes birthplace can disproportionately influence ones quality of life. Where per capita income is low and public education not as ubiquitous as in most of the first world, people often experience oppressive limits in terms of their economic opportunities. In India, the cultural remnants of their caste ... Read More

The Narrator’s Characterization of Emily in a Rose for Emily, a Short story by William Faulkner (472 words, 2 pages)

A Rose for Emily The narrator in William Faulkner, A Rose for Emily tells the story of Emily, an eccentric and mysterious woman of deep, southern heritage. Through the narrators eyes we see an outsiders perspective of her tumultuous life. Faulkner uses plural first person point of view that embodies ... Read More

An Interpretation of Daddy, a Story by Sylvia Plath (1333 words, 6 pages)

The Plath to EnlightenmentIt is often said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The way we perceive something is most influential on our opinion of it, rather than the way others perceive it. Literature is a perfect example of how vastly perception can vary interpersonally. Perhaps it ... Read More

A Comprehensive Analysis of the Butter Battle, a Book by Dr. Seuss (1382 words, 6 pages)

Despite the ongoing growth of the internet and the constant integration of technology in both classrooms and home life, many children still marvel at the opportunity to read books. Whether physical copies are purchased or electronic versions are rented, there is much to be said about the fact that children ... Read More

The Life of Susan Cain and the Comprehensive Analysis of Quiet, a Book by Susan Cain (5980 words, 24 pages)

Susan Cain, the author of Quiet, uses the intro to give the reader agood taste of what he or she is in for. As Cain tells several anecdotes,beginning with a very famous moment in history, she explains the reasonsfor this book and her intentions for writing it. Example after example ... Read More

An Analysis of Gender Roles in Fences, a Play by August Wilson (2162 words, 7 pages)

Troy Fell, but Cory Rose to the OccasionFor a majority of humanitys history, things like race, class, and gender have played an excruciatingly large part in determining where we fit into a society. Within the past century, we have seen a paradigm shift occur society is more equal and accepting, ... Read More

Character Analysis of Holden Caulfield in the Catcher in the Rye, a Novel by J. D. Salinger (780 words, 3 pages)

In J.D. Salingers novel The Catcher in the Rye, the narrator Holden Caulfield is a non-conformist who dismisses the workings of an established system. Throughout the novel Salinger creates situations that support the fact that Holden is a lonely, misanthropic, and self- destructive teenager because of his sensitivity to rejection. ... Read More

An Analysis of Desai’s Poem: Arun’s Feelings in America (401 words, 2 pages)

Desais literary techniques mirror Aruns uncomfortable new setting. She uses syntax and imagery to emphasise the myriad of unsettling factors in the forest. The diction also mirrors the sense of foreignness Arun feels in America. The most obvious reflection of Aruns feelings in america is the juxtaposition between the relaxation ... Read More

Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe: The Difficulty of Accepting Death (672 words, 2 pages)

The Difficulty of Accepting DeathMany people have difficulty accepting the death of others some people are not even able to accept death, usually because they are close to the deceased. Edgar Allan Poe is an example of one of these people. He is a very well known poet, and one ... Read More

An Analysis of a Totalitarian Regime in Harrison Bergeron, a Short Story Written by Kurt Vonnegut (1361 words, 5 pages)

Unequal Equality Oppression and fear are essentially always present to some extent in a totalitarian regime as shown in the story, Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut. The peoples freedom is bound by the objects that they are obligated to wear under the rule of their government. Such objects are used ... Read More

Character Analysis of Connie in Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been, a Short story by Joyce Carol Oates (1771 words, 7 pages)

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Character Analysis of ConnieIn the short story Where are you going? Where have you been? written by Joyce Carol Oates, the main character and protagonist Connie is expressed throughout. In the highly sexualized society in which she is surrounded by, she follows ... Read More

The Use of Unicorn as a Symbol in Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie (646 words, 2 pages)

In the play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, the author creates several analogies by using various symbols throughout the play. One of the more prominent comparisons is that of Laura Wingfield to the unicorn in her glass menagerie. The unicorn is used as a symbol to represent Lauras beautiful ... Read More

The Conflicts in Sherman Alexie’s What You Pawn, I Will Reedem and Sergio Troncoso’s A Rock Trying to Be a Stone (2174 words, 8 pages)

A literary analysis examines the literal techniques of a story. The authenticated methods that will be a review in this research will be exposition the rising action of the problem or the conflict, as well as the climax, the falling action, and the resolution. With external conflict and internal conflict. ... Read More

An Analysis of a Father and Son Relationship in the Road by Cormac McCarthy (1460 words, 4 pages)

The Papas prisoner, the boyIn The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the son and father are each others source of aspiration. The fathers main purpose of living is to care for the boys well being, and he acknowledges that the boy was all that stood between him and death (29). At ... Read More

The Role of the Antagonists and Protagonists in to Kill a Mockingbird, a Novel by Harper Lee (720 words, 3 pages)

Characters throughout a story appear in both living and idea form. Protagonists, who appear as mostly good, and antagonists, appearing mostly bad, usually try to counteract each others ideas and actions throughout a story. Both protagonists and antagonists can help a reader understand a story better. They can even help ... Read More

The US Government Should Provide More Healthcare Options for the Mentally Disabled (1224 words, 5 pages)

The U.S. government and healthcare providers do not offer enough aid to those with debilitating mental disabilities such as schizophrenia, substance dependency, or post traumatic stress disorder, often leading to an increase in homelessness, worsening of conditions, or endangerment to others. Because mental illnesses are not as treatable as most ... Read More

A Contrast between the Characters of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn (2491 words, 9 pages)

In the novel Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain portrays the eponymous protagonist as a clever boy who can easily con people. By contrast, the eponymous hero of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an emotionally driven character who follows his inner sense of morality. Mark Twain reintroduces the character of ... Read More

American Literature Essay Examples