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

85147 total results

An Analysis of Racial Struggles and Prejudices in Native Son by Richard Wright (2503 words, 8 pages)

Native Son by Richard Wright offers a window into the racial struggles and prejudices that have haunted members of the African American community during 1940s America. Critics of the novel, ranging from David L. Cohn to James Baldwin, have described this work of literature as an emotionally charged attack which ... Read More

The Influence of Hector St. John de Crevecoeur on Middlesex, a Novel by Jeffrey Eugenides (805 words, 3 pages)

Jeffrey Eugenides wroteMiddlesex, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that includes themes of American assimilation, attaining individualism, and a break from traditional gender stereotypes. Eugenides was influenced by several classic authors, such as Melville and his theme of fate, and Whitmans themes of self-reliance and individuality. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur wrote ... Read More

The Reasons Why I Persist in Having a Demanding Full Time Job While Going to College (713 words, 2 pages)

Working 45 hours a week, and going to college full time is the hardest thing Ive ever done, but managing to make all As and Bs makes me feel as if Ive really accomplished something. Ive never been the naturally gifted student who never cracks a book and aces the ... Read More

The Elaborate Story of the Novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1352 words, 5 pages)

Mark Twains classic novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is known for its elaborate stories and backwater dialogue. However, Twain did not create such a novel for simple entertainment. Twain utilized the novel to give an insight into early 19th century Missouri culture. Through the stories and experiences of a rebellious ... Read More

The Struggle for the Social Justice in the Novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1506 words, 5 pages)

Throughout history, the struggle for social justice has been a long and hard battle. In fact, social injustice manages to strike half of the Earths population in just one subject women. Women today are still battling for equal rights to men equal pay, equal treatment in the work force, and ... Read More

A Reflection on the Career path of a Sports Agent (1136 words, 5 pages)

High school may be considered the time of your life and the time many memories are made, however, contrary to the popular belief, senior year is not as much of a breeze as many people say it is. Senior year is the year that teenagers and young adults are expected ... Read More

An Analysis of the Poem Garden of Love by William Blake (384 words, 2 pages)

In his poem Garden of Love, William Blake captivates and engages his readers through a vivid recollection of an unforgettable memory. This poem revolves around the theme of intrusive Christianity. William Blake uses imagery, allusion, and an awkward form to emphasize the death and decay that has taken over a ... Read More

An Analysis of the Modern Native American Identity in Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie (966 words, 4 pages)

In Reservation Blues, Sherman Alexie conveys an understanding of modern Native American identity that reflects the struggles, frustrations, and epidemics many indigenous people currently endure. He brings the reader into a new understanding of the authentic Indian that emphasizes the complexities of native people as well as the historical events ... Read More

An Analysis of the Concept of Curiosity in the Book A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life by Grazer (871 words, 3 pages)

In Grazers book A Curious Mind The Secret to a Bigger Life, the concept of curiosity is not only discussed, but expanded upon to an extreme degree as a way of life. The book brings up many different scenarios of Grazers life, and how curiosity, in one form or another, ... Read More

The Cultural Impact of Storytelling in Literature (2042 words, 6 pages)

At some point in each and every one of our lives, we all have been told a story. This story could have been told to us from our parents or our grandparents, or we could have heard it from our friends or our families. The story could have been passed ... Read More

A Personal Recount of the Death of the Grandfather (782 words, 5 pages)

There is that moment in everyones life when one realizes that life is fragile that someone you know or even love can be gone in the blink of an eye. Many would call this coming of age, but I would consider it simply an entirely necessary happening in any young ... Read More

A Personal Story on Studying and Living in China (649 words, 2 pages)

I was in my first year of college. I had moved from Mongolia to China to study in the College of Agriculture. During the first semester it was decided that my class would be going to visit the Great Wall of China. Before this happened, people knew that I was ... Read More

A Discussion on the Authors of the Pre-Colonial Times (1092 words, 4 pages)

There were multiple authors during Pre-Colonial times however, not all of them had their works published. Some of the most well known Pre- Colonial authors include, Christopher Columbus (Journal of the First Voyage to America), John Smith (The General History of Virginia) and William Bradford (Of Plymouth Plantation). These men ... Read More

The book, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, exhibits many similarities regarding theme when compared to the Cold War. During the McCarthy Era, the time period in which Arthur Miller wrote this book, many individuals were blacklisted with or without sufficient evidence due to belief that he or she was ... Read More

A Personal Narrative About Being a New York Mets Fan (582 words, 2 pages)

Growing up as a New York Mets fan, I can confidently say that I know what the word disappointment truly means. Many say baseball is a metaphor for life, and if this metaphor is really true, then the lives of Mets fans must be far from perfect. In fact, they ... Read More

The Influence of Political Movements on Literary Techniques (2414 words, 8 pages)

At humanitys core is its prime distinguishment from all other beings, the ability to reason in sympathy with others. This talent has evolved over the course of thousands of years to become the basis for communication, the catalyst for mankinds success against all other natural competitors. More importantly, communication at ... Read More

An Analysis of On the Rainy River by Tim O’Brien (829 words, 3 pages)

In the story On the Rainy River, the author Tim OBrien portrays himself as a smart, promising young man, whose dreams are crushed by a draft letter into the Vietnam War. In this story, OBrien dreads, denies, and attempts to escape from his draft into the war. In the summer ... Read More

A Comparison of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossieni (2858 words, 9 pages)

Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird and Khaled Hossienis The Kite Runner share many similarities. Both corresponding novels show the discrimination people faced in the past due to their race and social class. Harper Lee explores the racism within the judicial system through the Robinson case. Khaled Hosseinis The Kite ... Read More

An Analysis of Incest in the Lone Star and the Bear (1741 words, 6 pages)

Whether as a perversion of the family unit or as the setting to an imperfect happy ending, the power of incest to heavily alter or expand the context of a story is undeniable. Father-daughter incest and brother-sister incest are not entirely equal in terms of moral instability the two imply ... Read More

Character Analysis of Max Prince in Laughter on the 23rd Floor by Neil Simon (1479 words, 6 pages)

The entirety of Neil Simons Laughter On the 23rd Floor is comprised of brilliant expressions of comedic anger that gradually sublime into the atmosphere of the play over the course of many contiguous, dialogue heavy scenes. Each character has their own brand of comedic humor, providing multi-dimensionality to the entire ... Read More

The Literary Symbol of Darkness in the Works of Joseph Conrad and Philip Dick (1762 words, 6 pages)

In Philip K. Dicks Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, descriptions using dark imagery, language of hollowness, loneliness, and cold, and a mingle of emotional and mechanical language create the stage for a conflict between humanism and the dissolution of the separation of self and world. All of these images ... Read More

The Symbolism of a House in There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradburry (875 words, 3 pages)

In Ray Bradburys There Will Come Soft Rains, the personification of the house, the uses of medical and psychoanalytic discourses, and ritualistic constructions in the text, revolving around religious discourse frame the house and nature as opposing forces. Through the language of the text, the house is diagnosed as a ... Read More

An Analysis of Urban Legends in the Boyfriend’s Death (1190 words, 4 pages)

An urban legend is a secondhand story that is supposedly true and just plausible enough to be believed. They are mostly always about some horrific, embarrassing, ironic series of events that allegedly happened to a real person. This article focuses on the legend about The Boyfriends Death. Usually there are ... Read More

A Comparison of the Ideologies in Ghandi’s Bhagavad Gita and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1696 words, 6 pages)

Mohandas Gandhi aimed to use the Bhagavad Gita as a means to form an ethical foundation for not only India during British rule in the mid-twentieth century, but the world. However, in my interpretation the western idea of upward mobility as seen in the book The Great Gatsby around that ... Read More

A Discussion on the Change in the Works of Literature in American History (2088 words, 7 pages)

Over the course of American history, the cultural component that has shown most change is the works of literature. With a history beginning with roots of war and rebellion, many literary works have mirrored that theme. However, as times have changed, so too have the novels, poems, and even films. ... Read More

The Themes of Money and Power in the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1580 words, 5 pages)

Going to school in the heart of the fasted paced and most financially driven city in the world, the piece of literature I could relate to became pretty clear. When I think of F. Scott Fitzgeralds novel, The Great Gatsby, the first two themes that pop up into my head ... Read More

The Life and Literary Techniques of Chuck Klosterman (2041 words, 7 pages)

Sometimes the truth is the exact opposite of what you expect. Chuck Klosterman tries to teach this to his readers in his essays. He delves into societal issues in order to find the root meaning or cause of it. Perhaps the author is really trying to learn something about himself. ... Read More

A Representation of Appetite and Lust Through Sexuality (1466 words, 4 pages)

In the context of the White Devil, appetite is the very thing which shapes the world in which the characters live, a hierarchal system built upon the organised pursuit of lust and appetite, be that for financial or sexual gain. Writers typically present appetite in the form of the malcontent, ... Read More

A Comparison Between the Literary Philosophies of Teju Cole and T. S. Eliot (5997 words, 18 pages)

At the heart of the human condition is the will, the want to communicate ideas and emotions, which are transcribed into signs. Literature, the most advanced study of the sign, calls into question its every flicker, every letter and some works of literature become outstanding markers of poetic legend, due ... Read More

Hanuman’s Story of Triumph and Redemption (2374 words, 7 pages)

My name is Hanuman, son of the Wind god and champion of the kingdom of Kishkindha. That is where our story begins, with the humble and dharmic capital to the monkey kingdom, at its heart was the throne of Valin, the most powerful of all apes and sovereign over all ... Read More

American Literature Essay Examples