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

85147 total results

An Analysis of Characters in Catch 22 by Joseph Heller (1271 words, 2 pages)

Captain John Yossarian is a 28 year old bombardier in the U.S.A Air Force with the 265th squad. Yossarian flies a B-25, he is given many nicknames like yo-yo Assarian. Yossarian is a funny young man whos personality starts to show in the first chapter when he sends out letters ... Read More

Resenting the World of Materialism in Into the Wild by Chris McCandless (781 words, 1 pages)

Into the wild is a book about an extremely ideological person. Chris McCandless resents the world of materialism from which he was born into and in an effort to separate himself from this life he walks away from it. The mystery is why McCandless did what he did. He had ... Read More

A Personal Narrative About a Harsh Experience in Jail (723 words, 1 pages)

It was easy to empathize with Andy Dufresne and the other prisoners in The Shawshank Redemption as they suffered in their prison cells, I suffered while watching the movie. It was not because I disliked the film far from it. But while the prisoners in the movie were serving their ... Read More

Setting the Less Fortunate Apart in The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (495 words, 1 pages)

UNCONTROLLABLE POVERTY Throughout history, less fortunate people have been set apart or shunned from the general public. In the Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, this statement holds true. Throughout the whole book, all of the less fortunate people are treated like they arent even human. This is not much ... Read More

An Analysis of Crime and Street Culture in Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio by Philippe Bourgois (1403 words, 2 pages)

Search for Respect In Search of Respect Selling Crack in El Barrio was published in 1995. It is a straight forward, insiders look at life in the East Harlem neighborhood known as, El Barrio. Philippe Bourgois moved his family into El Barrio in 1985 to study the impact of imposed ... Read More

An Analysis of the Confusion Between Reality and Illusion in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (581 words, 1 pages)

In The Great Gatsby, the confusion between reality and illusion is prominent within the key characters Fitzgerald portrays this confusion though Gatsby's obsession with Daisy, Nick's idealism, and Myrtle's dreams of success. Each of these characters possesses a flaw that causes their disillusion and their inevitable downfall. Gatsby's downfall begins ... Read More

How to Make a Pizza (307 words, 1 pages)

How To Make A Pizza I understand that you are one of our new employees and I am suppose to teach you how we make our pizza. The first thing that you do is take one of our screens from the shelf and a dough ball from the freg. and ... Read More

An Analysis of Values of Huck and Jim Traveling Down the Mississippi River in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (680 words, 1 pages)

Epiphany In Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, the values of Huck and Jim traveling down the Mississippi River are contrasted against those of the people residing in the southern United States. Twain satirically portrays organized religion and society's morals throughout the novel. The freedom and tranquillity of the river gives way ... Read More

A Discussion on Honor (338 words, 1 pages)

Honor Is Truth Honor determines the hierarchy of an individual while revealing his loyalty and true intentions. Reward comes for those at the top of the hierarchy whose honor does not diminish, while a false or fleeting honor of a lesser mortal causes destruction. Such a contrast of honor can ... Read More

The Life and Struggles of Freda Friedman (1473 words, 2 pages)

Freda Friedman was born November 8, 1928 in Poland in the little town of Gdansk. She was one of 8 kids, only six were present at the time the Holocaust was happening. Her maiden name was Eleberger. Her father was a hard working man, since he had to support a ... Read More

A Creative Story About Hector the Barbarian (1413 words, 2 pages)

Hector Hector thrust his obsidian battle sword into a repulsive barbarian from the north running clean through the beast. Upon removing his sword the beast fell and hector continued to hack his way through the recklessly charging gnomes and demons. Many fell by his sword and the town militia fought ... Read More

An Analysis of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1301 words, 4 pages)

Huckleberry Finn - A Racist Novel? There is a major argument among literary critics whether Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, is or is not a racist novel. The question boils down to the depiction of Jim, the black slave, and to the way he is treated by Huck and other ... Read More

Heart of the Wood (969 words, 2 pages)

Heart Of The Wood The mole reached his porch by late afternoon. The door was neatly built into the hollow of an old tree, with double steps fitted into the thick roots, upon which new fallen leaves lay in all shades of green. He swept them away with his foot ... Read More

The Influences in the Writing Style of Edgar Allan Poe (912 words, 2 pages)

Edgar Allen Poe Who is Edgar Allen Poe? He was a 19th century American writer born to Elizabeth (betty) Arnold Hopkins and David Poe. (Internet source) Poe was an well-educated individual. He would attend a private school in London and then an academy in Richmond. Later being accepted to the ... Read More

An Analysis of the Essay Unfair Game by Susan Jacoby (493 words, 1 pages)

The essay Unfair Game by Susan Jacoby presents first hand examples of sexual harassment. Susan Jacoby and a woman friend were talking in a hotel restaurant. The two of them were interrupted by a male caller. The man persistently flirted eventually Susan snapped at the man and roughly asked him ... Read More

The Lies and Truths in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (836 words, 1 pages)

A Lie, a Truth Once a toddler realizes that heshe can escape punishment by lying to his parents, it becomes difficult not to resort to that course of action when a taxing situation arises. Thusly, an action and mode of behavior as ingrained as a lie becomes intuitive for appropriate ... Read More

The Ideology of the Great American Dream (1251 words, 2 pages)

The Great American Dream The Great American Dream has always been a dream of the average American, being able to grow to fullest development to be able to get married, own a house, earn a decent living, raise children succeed and maintain happiness. Playwright Arthur Millers Death of A Salesman ... Read More

An Analysis of Narrative Techniques in A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery OConnor (906 words, 2 pages)

In A Good Man Is Hard To Find, Flannery OConnor uses a variety of narrative techniques to create an intriguing story. OConnor writes from a third person narrator and tells the story from the perspective of the Grandmother. The point of view straddles the line between limited omniscience and total ... Read More

The Life and Struggles of Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1069 words, 2 pages)

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevskys life was dark and dramatic as his novels were. His fathers drunken brutality led to his murder by his own serfs. At the age of 28 he was imprisoned for alleged subversion against Tsar Nicholas. He was in prison for ten years. While in prison he made ... Read More

An Essay on the Issue of Convocation (960 words, 2 pages)

essay on convocation Problem fifteen b the function of the cost times the rate, as a decimal the professors voice trailed off in my mind. For the past forty-five minutes, I had been starring at my watch, silently praying for some catastrophe to liberate me from my current setting. Math ... Read More

Just Because It’s Your First Time It Doesn’t Mean It’s Going to be the Best Time (1275 words, 2 pages)

Suffocation can result to light headedness, emotional discomfort, and in extreme cases brain damage. None of which I would relate to a passionate kiss. The air was hot with static on a life changing night. With every step I took currents ran through my body. My elated best friend, Marissa, ... Read More

A Report on A Lesson Before Dying, the Eighth Novel by Ernest J. Gaines (567 words, 1 pages)

But let us say he was not. What justice would there be to take this life? Justice, gentlemen? Why I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this. All eyes were pointed to a poor black innocent boy who was accused killing three people. In ... Read More

An Analysis of the Book Female of the Species by Rudyard Kipling (694 words, 1 pages)

Female Of the Species Whilst reading through poetry books recently, I happened across Rudyard Kipling's "Female of the species". The title intrigued me enough to read on, and I followed this up with personal research into the writer. I was surprised by his attitudes towards women as he realised that ... Read More

A Essay About Pubilius Syrus A Syrian Slave (862 words, 1 pages)

The title of this essay is attributed to Pubilius Syrus (85-43 B.C), who was brought to Rome as a Syrian slave but later given his freedom. He then became, it is said, a playwright and moral teacher. Whether he is the author or not, the saying contains valuable insights. Mainly, ... Read More

An Analysis of Society in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (579 words, 1 pages)

Fahrenheit 451 Fahrenheit 451 is a science fiction book that still reflects to our current world. Bradbury does a nice job predicting what the world would be like in the future. The society he describes is, in many ways, like the one we are living in right now. We are ... Read More

The Symbols and Motifs in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1061 words, 2 pages)

Explore the symbols and motifs in the Great Gatsby. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are seen as the eyes of God in Wilson's mind. The billboard with the advertisement containing the eyes looks over a desolate wasteland and is created by an oculist who has a desire to ... Read More

The Ethos of Martin Luther King Junior’s Letter from Birmingham Jail: Wisdom, Argument, and Morality (672 words, 1 pages)

Ethos In The Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr., one can analysis this piece of work by dividing it into three different parts, one being Kings ethos. According to Aristotle an ethos should conclude to have virtue, good will, and practical wisdom. Martin Luther King Jr. in ... Read More

The Life of Ernest Hemingway and Its Impact on His Works (1823 words, 3 pages)

F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote in a letter to Maxwell Perkins, This is to tell you about a young man named Ernest Hemingway, who lives in Paris (an American)... Id look him up right away. Hes the real thing. This is perhaps the most prophetic statement Fitzgerald ever made in ... Read More

The Metaphors of Santiago’s Sail, Hands, Mast, the Great DiMaggio, Lions on the Beach, and the Boy in Ernest Hemingway’s Novel The Old Man and the Sea (574 words, 1 pages)

Metaphor Analysis Santiago's Sail The old man's sail was "patched with flour sacks and, furled, it looked like the flag of permanent defeat" (9). Other fishermen seem to believe that Santiago himself is a walking symbol of permanent defeat, as he does not catch a fish for eighty- four days. ... Read More

An Analysis of the Difference of Right and Wrong in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards (720 words, 1 pages)

Essay Exam It's easy to tell the difference from right and wrong. It's just like telling the difference between dark and light. But what if you grew up in the dark not knowing there was a light, then you'd only think in one direction. "A long habit of not thinking ... Read More

American Literature Essay Examples