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

85147 total results

A Comparison of Hester Prynne’s Situation in the Novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1265 words, 4 pages)

Raphaels Scarlet BandanaTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a childrens cartoon centered around a gang of turtles who fight crime. While seemingly a trivial television show regarding nothing more than superheroes in the guise of costumed turtles, the chronicles of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Donatello illustrate a story of triumph. Cast ... Read More

The Pursuit of the American Dream as Portrayed by George and Lennie in John Steinbeck’s Book “Of Mice and Men” (1130 words, 4 pages)

Of Mice and Men The Power and Futility of the American DreamTell me like you done before, Lennie often insists (14). George then proceeds to tell Lennie about what their future will be like. Lennies dreams are simple but they take control of his whole being. Lennies dream is to ... Read More

The Idea of Personal Views of Love in the Short Story What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver (612 words, 2 pages)

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love The dinner check comes and the man reaches for it, as he does athought runs through his head. He is distracted so he only catches the lastword, Love. He thinks about everyone he has loved and considers how lovecan be different. ... Read More

An Examination of the Murder Mystery in the Short Story Trifles by Susan Glaspell (404 words, 2 pages)

Question 7Trifles by Susan Glaspell is a murder mystery short story. While the attorney, the sheriff, and the neighbor, Mr. Hale, search the house to learn what exactly happened and whether or not someone broke in, the sheriff and neighbor leave their wives to discover other possible clues. While typically ... Read More

The Different Beliefs of the Men in the Cafe in the Novel, A Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway (361 words, 2 pages)

Question 4In Ernest Hemingways A Clean, Well-Lighted Place, one man working the caf holds the belief that the old, deaf man that they always serve basically has nothing to live for. The other man, however, challenges him throughout the evening about his feelings towards the old man. The hurried waiter ... Read More

The Story of Bitterness in the Short Story Roman Fever by Edith Wharton (354 words, 2 pages)

Question 6Roman Fever by Edith Wharton is a true tale of bitterness leading to ironic karma. Jenny Slade and Grace Ansley met for lunch after Mrs. Slade becomes a widow to Delphin Slade. They chat and chat about their younger days as girls, but there is one memory that still ... Read More

The Irony in the Short Story, Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin (337 words, 2 pages)

Question 9The essence of irony is strong in Desirees Baby, but its arguable that karma is just as strong, if not stronger. Armands disdain for anyone who is not white backfires in an unexpected way. With his slave dealings, as well as his attitude towards his wife and baby boy, ... Read More

Jay Gatsby’s Desire for Daisy in the Novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (822 words, 3 pages)

Beneath the wealth, parties, and egregious lifestyle of Jay Gatsby lies a small and yet significant object that upholds the premise of his true desire. Paradoxically, this material finitude transcends the seemingly invisible representation of Gatsbys journey as it appears at first transparent then suddenly unpremeditated. This illusion enters the ... Read More

The Personal Experiences of Stephen Crane in the Book, The Open Boat (360 words, 2 pages)

Question 7The Open Boat is a very raw and vivid story based on Stephen Cranes personal experience of which is believed to be very similar. Perhaps this is why it is written so well, because this is something from his heart, something that he knows first-hand. One of the labels ... Read More

Miss Emily Erierson as the Talk of Town in the Novel A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner (524 words, 2 pages)

Question 3In William Faulkners A Rose for Emily, Miss Emily Grierson was the hot gossip topic throughout town during the bulk of her adult life. Her demeanor and her eerie personality made her a unique figure around town. Her progressive reclusiveness became more and more talked about as her condition ... Read More

The Purpose in Life in the Novel Bartleby: The Scrivener by Herman Melville (1471 words, 4 pages)

A Life Lesson Among his assistants the narrator chose Bartleby as a main character of his story. Although Bartlebys story was not too replete with events this strange man left in his memory unsolved mystery. Bartleby, the Scrivener was narrated in first-person mode therefore readers have great opportunity to observe ... Read More

The Married Life in the Play, Mutual Consent (632 words, 2 pages)

Prompt 1The human experience is defined by the long, twisted path that ones emotional consciousness travels through the years. Everyone has scars of some sort, collected from all manner of different joys and hardships and unexpected turns of fate no major event in their lives, whether it be negative or ... Read More

An Analysis of the Novel, Quaker City by George Lippard (933 words, 4 pages)

Quaker City Consideration George Lippard was a man of many dreams. These dreams involved literature as essential to the development of the United States national identity after its independence from Europe. Lippard translated his thoughts and ideas about the corrupt government, religious perversion, and institutionalization of America into his novel ... Read More

The Repetition of the Images of Blue and Dark in the Poem Bavarian Gentians by D.H. Lawrence (1215 words, 4 pages)

And it is time to go, to bid farewell to ones own self, and find an exitfrom the fallen self.It is time to go one day for all of us to the old door in the quiet wall that is death, and descend to the voyage of oblivion. The poet ... Read More

An Analysis of the Social and Economic Inequality Representations in Caching Fire, a Novel by Suzanne Collins (2077 words, 8 pages)

Social Economic Inequality Representations in Catching FireThe United States of America is considered to be one of the greatest countries in the world and is regarded as the Land of the Free. Economic and social inequality seems to be getting worse with every passing year and shows absolutely no sign ... Read More

The Symbol of the Pearl in the Novel, The Pearl by John Steinbeck (574 words, 2 pages)

The Pearl, written by John Steinbeck, is known as one of his greatestworks. The novella has been both enjoyed and analyzed ever since it firstappeared in a magazine called the Woman's Home Companion in 1945. The Pearlcontains many themes and symbols. One of the most prominent symbols is thepearl found ... Read More

An Analysis of the Morals of Hulga in Good Country People by Flannery O’Connor (528 words, 2 pages)

Good Country People Good Country people was written by Flannery O'Connor. In the story,we have a girl named Hulga. The girl is an acclaimed atheist and doesn'twant anything to do with Christianity. One day a Bible salesman namedManley Pointer appears at her home. She starts to fall in love with ... Read More

The Theme of Hatred in The Cask of Amontillado, a Short Story by Edgar Allan Poe (480 words, 2 pages)

The Cask of Amontillado Rough Draft Has someone ever done something to you that offended you much morethan it was brushed off by the offender. In this short story, Edgar AllenPoe portrays his dark themes like most of his stories. The story takesplace in a gloomy town during a party. ... Read More

The Concept of Realizing the Protagonist’s Identity in Yellow Face by David Henry Hwang, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams and The Tallest Tree in the Forest b (459 words, 2 pages)

Persons Identity Every person is able to discover his or her own identity. Their identity may include knowing who they are andor what they stand for. In the following plays Yellow Face by David Henry Hwang, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, and The Tallest Tree In The Forest, all ... Read More

The Themes of Desire and Insanity in The Crucible, a Play by Arthur Miller (613 words, 2 pages)

Desire Brings Insanity You are 5 years old. Standing tip-toe on a chair, you're stretchingas far to the top of the shelves as your small body will allow. You hearthe footsteps of your mother padding past the kitchen. Your breaths beginto grow short, and your heart starts beating a mile ... Read More

The Tragic Flaw of Biff in Death of a Salesman, a Play by Arthur Miller (674 words, 2 pages)

The Broken Stairway to HeavenIn Death of a Salesman, Biff has one main dream to live a life doing what he enjoys rather than just work for money. Willy as well as the American values, ideals, and dream force him to try to build a future and settle down but ... Read More

An Analysis of Holden Caulfield’s Transition into Adulthood in J. D. Salinger’s Novel The Catcher in the Rye (1006 words, 3 pages)

Holden Versus AdulthoodTransitioning from childhood to adulthood is not always an easy step and for some people it can never be accomplished. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of the novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, is on the verge of reaching adulthood, so he starts to think about ... Read More

An Analysis of Biff’s Tragic Flaw in Arthur Miller’s Play Death of a Salesman (675 words, 2 pages)

In Death of a Salesman, Biffs tragic flaw is his inability to develop a traditional career for himself. Biff cannot create a life for himself in methods that are common, or normal. Thats not the kind of person he is and thats perfectly acceptable. His tragic flaw can be inspirational ... Read More

An Analysis of Huck’s Conflict with Society’s Values in Mark Twain’s Novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (933 words, 2 pages)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn tell us many things about how to handle a conflict between societys values and our own. It teaches us that we have to look at all of our pre-determined assumptions about life and human nature and instead of just accepting them as fact we have ... Read More

An Analysis of the Influence of the 19th Century Bestsellers on the American Culture (1665 words, 6 pages)

What Made 19th Century Bestsellers the Best?There are many reasons why Ragged Dick and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn were bestselling novels throughout the 19th century and why they remain extremely popular today. Bestsellers should not only cater to the events going on in real life during the time they ... Read More

Discussing the Authors’ Opinions on How Americans Should Be in the Novels Ragged Dick by Horatio Alger and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1349 words, 5 pages)

The Undeniable Popularity of Ragged Dick and The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnThere are many psychological and cultural reasons behind the popularity of novels during certain times throughout history, and one may wonder how certain novels become timeless or bestsellers. Throughout my AML class this year, I have read quite a ... Read More

The Usefulness and Futility of War in The Shield of Achilles, a Poem by W.H. Auden (1091 words, 4 pages)

Many writers of the twentieth century have been directly or indirectly influenced by the war-ridden times they lived in, and Wystan Hugh Auden is no exception. Known for his socialist and left-wing writings in the 1930s, and later his questioning of Christianity and his own sexuality, Auden wrote on a ... Read More

The Accomplishments of Arnie Larson, an American Hero (637 words, 2 pages)

Arnie Larson- Hero to AmericaArnie was born on June 11, 1924 in North Dakota. He was an only child, andhis family moved when he was 12 years old, in 1936, to Canby, Oregon. Hegraduated from Union High School, and decided to join the Navy one monthafter he turned 18, because ... Read More

A Personal Account of School Life as a Teenager (630 words, 2 pages)

My life.When I was 12 years old, I was the epitome of that overly enthusiastic kidthat tries too hard in class. I raised my hand too high. I wrote really badstories and told really bad jokes and ate grilled cheese on the daily. Ispent every moment that it was bright ... Read More

A Letter of Suggestions to Walter Mitty (496 words, 2 pages)

Letter To Walter Mitty Dear Mr. Walter Mitty, I want to help you. You may be wondering whyyou have received this letter from someone you don't know, but thing isthat I feel like I know you. Last weekend I saw you with your wife in yourcar. I happened to be ... Read More

American Literature Essay Examples