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

85147 total results

An Examination of the Narrator, Montresor in the Short Story, The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe (3007 words, 10 pages)

The Cask of Amontillado is a short story written by Edgar Allen Poe, and unlike most stories, the narrator may or may not be reliable with the facts that he presents. The story is about the narrator, Montresor, who vengefully deceives his poor friend (Poe 109) Fortunato into following him ... Read More

Paul D’s Creation of His Own Identity in the Novel Beloved by Toni Morrison (1078 words, 4 pages)

The Man Who Created His Identity When not being treated as a human makes people see one as not human, which makes people not have true freedom until they finally realizes that there is humanity within. In the novel Beloved, Morrison argues that Paul D can only find freedom when ... Read More

The Issue of Alienation, Lost Wealth and Social Status in William Faulkner’s Story, A Rose for Emily (756 words, 3 pages)

A Rose for EmilyA Rose for Emily is seen as a story of lost Southern aristocracy that is written in the early 1930s. This short story is written by William Faulkner and is considered a southern gothic story. The story takes place in the late 1800s to 1920s. This story ... Read More

The Thesis on the Women in Battered Love by Renita Weems (1002 words, 4 pages)

Renita Weems opens her book, Battered Love, with a discussion of the layout of the rest of the book. The first aim of the book is to examine how popular norms and attitudes about women, their bodies and sexuality, lent themselves to manipulation and exploitation by the prophets as they ... Read More

The American Dream as Conveyed by Langston Hughes and Toni Morrison (913 words, 3 pages)

Writers NameDateWhat happens to a dream deferred? Does it deteriorate or does it flourish? Well, if ones dream defer, it can either have a negative or positive consequence on the person. In comparison with The Bluest Eye, Pecolas dream defer due to how society view beauty. Langston Hughes and Toni ... Read More

The Traditional Use of the Doppelganger in Truman Capote’s Mirriam (623 words, 2 pages)

Truman Capotes Miriam represents a take on the traditional use of the doppelganger in a piece of fantastic fiction. Capote uses simile, irony and imagery of darkness and whiteness to convey the motiff that young Miriam is the shadow of Mrs. Miller. Young Miriam is given human-like qualities to distract ... Read More

The Lost of Innocence in to Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (941 words, 5 pages)

Mockingbirds of Maycomb"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy...That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird"(Lee 90). In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird is written by Harper Lee who wrote about the 1930s in the perspective of a young girl named Scout, who ... Read More

An Analysis of Ralph Ellison’s Works and Its Impact to Its Readers (1151 words, 4 pages)

Conformity and Racism An Analysis of how Ellisons Work Impacts the ReaderRalph Ellison is an African-American author who composed many powerful works during the Jim Crow era, when severe racial inequality was a prominent and pressing issue in the United States. Due to various factors, including Ellisons racial background and ... Read More

Ignorance is Bliss in the Short Story Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (1037 words, 3 pages)

When people say Ignorance is bliss, they mean that not knowing something altogether is much better in that situation compared to telling them and having them deal with the problem. In the short story Flowers for Algernon, Charlie undergoes a surgical operation in his brain that makes his IQ triple. ... Read More

The Different Components That Make America Great (649 words, 2 pages)

The United States of America is known as the land of the free and the home of the brave for good reason. It is one of the most highly desired countries to be in to live your dreams and pursue your passions. From educational opportunities to the organized government and ... Read More

An Examination of the Epic Fantasy A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin (1674 words, 6 pages)

George R. R. Martins A Song of Ice and Fire is an epic fantasy comprised of five books, with seven ultimately planned for the complete series. The first volume, titled A Game of Thrones (Martin, 1996), is followed by A Clash of Kings (Martin,1999), A Storm of Swords (2000), A ... Read More

The Distinction Between Eastern and Western Viewpoints Regarding Justice and Law in Owen Wister’s The VIrginian (1055 words, 2 pages)

In The Virginian, Owen Wister draws the distinction between Eastern and Western viewpoints concerning justice and law. The Virginian, who represents the West, shows admirable traits such as honesty and bravery. In addition to this, the Virginian also possesses concrete ideas of justice in the absence of an established court ... Read More

A Discussion of Themes in Gender and Jim Crow a Short Narrative by Glenda Gilmore (2197 words, 8 pages)

Glenda Gilmores Gender and Jim Crow Women and the Politics of White Supremacy in North Carolina, 1896 1920 presented a narrative of North Carolinas politics during the turn of the century. Gilmore told the story of how, after Reconstruction, blacks began to become part of North Carolinas society through their ... Read More

An Examination of the Complexities and Development of Mexico in Judas at the Jockey Club by William H. Beezley (2194 words, 8 pages)

In this telling novel about the tradition of the burning of effigies in Mexico, beginning as a Catholic tradition of the burning of the trader of Jesus, Judas, one learns, through the text of William H. Beezley about the strife and the problems that have confronted the development of modern ... Read More

The Negative Impact of a Bureaucratic Society through Captain Yossarian in Joseph Heller’s Novel, Catch-22 (1951 words, 6 pages)

Joseph Hellers Catch-22 is more than just a critique of World War II. This satirist novel attacks all institutions that refuse to treat people as individuals, not just the military. It is an attack on business, corporations, and governments. Hellers main character, Captain John Yossarian, is his weapon in the ... Read More

The Compromise and Harsh Punishments of the Puritans in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1641 words, 5 pages)

The Puritans, who had immigrated to North America, believed that they were doing the work of God. This left little room for compromise, and harsh punishment was inflicted upon those who were believed to be straying from the will of God. In Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter, the leaders of ... Read More

The Wallpaper, the Husband, the Mental Illness in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (428 words, 2 pages)

The Yellow Wallpaper Passage AnalysisThe Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a story about a woman who has been diagnosed with temporary nervous depression by her husband John and brother whom are physicians. Through the story we, the readers, are able to see that John believes that she suffers ... Read More

The Suffering of a Child for the Happiness of an Entire City in the Short Story The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula Le Guin (805 words, 3 pages)

Imagine a bizarre and rather twisted society where everyone was happy under the circumstance that one child must suffer. Is the destruction of that one persons life worth the happiness of an entire city? In the short story The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, author Ursula Le Guin depicts ... Read More

The Effects of Society’s Lack of Empathy for Someone Seeking Justice in the Short Story, Killings by Andre Dubus (812 words, 3 pages)

In any community, there must always exist a set of rules by which to manage interpersonal turmoil. In small communities, these rules will likely be simple demands for respect for ones peers and their personal property. However, as a community grows larger and relationships between an individual and society become ... Read More

An Analysis of the Book Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1891 words, 6 pages)

Little Women1. The book I read was "Little Women", by Louisa May Alcott. Louisa was anovelist in America. She was born on November 29, 1832 in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania and died on March 6, 1888 in Boston Massachusetts. Herparents were Amos Bronson Alcott and Abby May Alcott. She had threesisters named Abigail, ... Read More

A Discussion on the Federal Reserve and Where the Money Goes in G. Edward Griffin’s Novel “The Creature From Jekyll Island” (2738 words, 9 pages)

Money in itself is a mysterious object. People generally do not knowwhere it comes from or where it goes. Universally however, people desiremoney. They know that if they have money, they can use that money to buyproducts or services that will better their lives. Every day millions ofmen and women ... Read More

Existentialism in Ernest Hemingway’s A Clean, Well-lighted Place (930 words, 3 pages)

Nothing, and then Nothing, and then NothingIn A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, a short story written by Ernest Hemingway in nineteen thirty-three, an old man stays back late in a caf shop his chair is in the shadow of the leaves. He sits there alone and keeps asking for more wine. ... Read More

The Themes of Slavery and Gender in the Works of Mark Twain (2088 words, 7 pages)

Slaver and Gender on Human SufferingMark Twain Confronts These Two Issues in His Writing Slavery and gender are two of great issues throughout human history. In his stories, Mark Twain emphasizes these two issues. In the story A True Story Mark Twain exposes the cruelty of slavery and commends human ... Read More

An Analysis of Masculinity in for Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway (1572 words, 5 pages)

For Everyone the Bell TollsIn his novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway promotes his well-known philosophy about masculinity. He believes that humans should be brave and strong enough to cope with adversities, and that they should never allow weakness to reign their minds. To support his argument, he ... Read More

An Analysis of Each Character’s Individual State in the Play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (2042 words, 7 pages)

Suffering Is It There? Being written by Tennessee Williams in the 1940s in New Orleans, when the American society experienced the most glaring phase in their history, such as the post World War II, equality for women, the opening of gay rights movement, the play A Streetcar Named Desired, does ... Read More

An Analysis of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (967 words, 2 pages)

Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed. In this quote, Alexander Pope reflects on the negative aspect of having a dream What if we never achieve it? Dreams give us hope, motivation, a goal to work towards, yet they also allow you the chance of ... Read More

An Analysis of the Effects of the Involvement of Soldiers in Wars in The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (639 words, 2 pages)

As shown in multiple instances in the history of combat and war, the effects of the involvement of soldiers carry out long after the events have concluded. These results are presented in the story, The Things They Carried written by Tim OBrien as he highly exaggerates many of the anecdotes ... Read More

The Gothic Elements in The Fall of the House of Usher, Bartleby the Scrivener, and The Yellow Wallpaper (659 words, 4 pages)

Gothic literature has provided a mechanism for American writers to effectively determine the likes of the human mind. The original intention of this genre of literature was a type of feedback of the morality of the current times. Typically, these works are of horror, expressing the decline of power and ... Read More

An Analysis of To Reduce Your Likelihood of Murder by Ander Monson (1250 words, 4 pages)

To Reduce Your Likelihood of Murder is different than the literal sense of what the short story displays. What looks like a "how to" guide for avoiding a murderer, is actually a satire with a message that we all should heed. Ander Monson develops the metaphor of avoiding murder by ... Read More

The Struggle of Soldiers in The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (900 words, 3 pages)

OBriens The Things They Carried is about the physical and emotional weights carried by American soldiers fighting in Vietnam. It revolves around the temperament and fear of Lt. Jimmy Cross and the Alpha Company as they journey through Vietnam in a single unit. Lt. Cross is fixated on Martha, a ... Read More

American Literature Essay Examples