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

1605 total results

A Comparison Between the Story of Hercules and Oedipus (710 words, 2 pages)

Who could forget the story of Hercules? This famous story is about a son of the gods who resides on Earth as a normal human with abnormal strength. In the story, Hercules fights various monsters and is saving his city constantly. However Hercules makes a deal with Hades, god of ... Read More

The Transcendentalist Struggle in Thoreau’s Walden Pond and Sean Penn’s Biographical Drama Survival Film Into the Wild (639 words, 2 pages)

In Walden Pond, Thoreau offers many of his self-realized maxims to guide the reader to live a life better than they currently are. Thoreau enjoys providing direction so much that, even as a novice farmer, he declares though the farmers warned me against it, - I would advise you to ... Read More

An Analysis of Sammy’s Big Decision to Quit His Job in the Fiction “A&P” by John Updike (1711 words, 6 pages)

In the short fiction, AP by John Updike, Sammy is a 19-year-old boy who works at a convenient store called AP. One day while Sammy was working, a group of girls that just came from the beach walked in. Sammy could not help but notice that they were all only ... Read More

Duels Settle Conflicts in the Books, Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin and A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov (1560 words, 5 pages)

In Russian history , settling disputes among men often involved engaging in a duel where each man had one bullet shot. In Alexander Pushkin's, Eugene Onegin and Mikhail Lermontovs, A Hero of our Time, reveals each authors interpretation of how pride, social conventions and honor through the conflicts each protagonist ... Read More

The Pursuit of an Image in Richard Rodriguez’s The Achievement of Desire, Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild and Its Movie Adaptation, and Milan Kundera’s Lost Letters (2837 words, 8 pages)

Selfish ActsHave you ever tried to assimilate to a different group, culture, ethnicity, custom, etc? Those who have tried to do this may know that in order to do so you have to chase the ideal image of what youre acclimating to. Some motivations in chasing images may be to ... Read More

A Review of the Story of the Cowherd and Weaving Girl (Zhinu and Niuland) (586 words, 3 pages)

The Story of the Cowherd and Weaving Girl (ZhiNu and Niulang)Once upon a time, there was a very clever and diligent boy. He was orphaned at a very early age and was very poor. One day, he adopted an abandoned old buffalo, who was very loyal and helped him with ... Read More

A Character Analysis of the Story of La Dolce Vita and La Notte (1621 words, 6 pages)

Fellinis statement Solitude will be the greatest pain of modern man exemplifies the final feelings of the characters in La Dolce Vita and La Notte. Blessed by the economic boom in Italy, characters led seemingly carefree lives, filled with parties with plentiful amounts of champagne and scantily clad women. These ... Read More

A Review of the 1973 Story “The Eternal Return” (2401 words, 7 pages)

Present day ideologies and the heavy hand of Hollywood have led to the elimination of both the presence of God and the use of love potions in the more modern versions of Tristan and Isolde. The classic versions by Broul and Thomas of Britain use God and or the binding ... Read More

The Common Characteristics Between the Stories “Wieland” and “The High Window” (604 words, 2 pages)

In both Wieland and The High Window, characteristics typical of mysteries have been shown. In Wieland, the narrator, Clara acts like a detective, and attempts to determine who is the killer of several members of her family, while in The High Window, Philip Marlowe is hired to find a treasured ... Read More

The Challenges and Incentives Non-Jews Faced when Helping Jews during the Holocaust (801 words, 4 pages)

During the German invasion in 1939, millions of Jews in the Eastern European were tracked and killed by German SS soldiers. Non-Jews suffered from poverty and had to witness the deportation of their Jewish neighbors and friends they were left with the difficult choice to help the Jews or refrain ... Read More

The Story of Lord of the Rings (587 words, 2 pages)

Lord of the Rings is an example of a modern day story that displays all the traits of an epic. Its characters show the inner and outer traits of an epic hero. Both the character and situational archetypes are displayed in this story. The story also has some similarities and ... Read More

The Common Issues Discussed in the Stories “The Lottery” and “The One Who Walks Way from Omelas” (546 words, 1 pages)

In both of the short stories, the lottery by Shirley Jackson and the one who walks away from Omelas by Ursula K LeGuin, the writers purpose is to challenge the reader to reflect on whether we accept the wrong in society or whether we challenge the wrong in society. The ... Read More

The Messed up Nomadic Lifestyle of a Family in The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (539 words, 2 pages)

Glass ShattersIn the book The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls the setting changes several times but the book starts off in New York City. The book is about a family and their very messed up nomadic lifestyle, the main character Jeannette goes on to tell about her past experiences and ... Read More

A Comparison Between Miriam Toews’ “A Complicated Kindness” and Khaled Hosseini’s “Kite Runner” (1631 words, 6 pages)

A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews and Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini revealed that when faced with inevitable challenges, our identity is revealed. These 2 novels illustrate that identity comes from amalgamation of factors namely being culture, time and place. Personal identity is formed from before our birth and remains ... Read More

The Role of France in Indochina in the Movie “Indochine” and the Book “The Lover” (1792 words, 6 pages)

A country of love and conflictToday Vietnam is free. But it wasnt always the case, in the early nineteen-hundreds the French owned Indochina where Vietnam is presently located. With them the French brought their own culture, laws, and a new system that oppressed the native people. Two pieces of work, ... Read More

An Assessment of the Relationship of Marie and Frank in Willa Cather’s O Pioneers (1792 words, 5 pages)

In Willa Cathers O Pioneers, Marie and Franks relationship started out as mutual love but ended with Suddenly the woman stirred and uttered a cry, then another, and another (Cather 95). As the novel progresses, Marie and Frank get further and further apart, until Marie just becomes another woman, and ... Read More

An Analysis of a Folk Tale and Star Wars: A New Hope (1224 words, 5 pages)

Star Wars Follows a Propper Folk TaleStar Wars A New Hope was released in 1977 and won a plethora of awards due in part to its cutting edge use of practical effects and phenomenal soundtrack, including but not limited to Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and a Grammy. Roger Ebert, in ... Read More

The History and Evolution of Briar Rose (2416 words, 6 pages)

From Grimm Brothers Tale to Disney Animation The Evolution of Briar RoseChildrens Stories and Household Tales better known as Grimms Fairy Tales was originally published in 1812 as a compilation of stories collected by two German brothers. Included in these tales was the story of Briar Rose known more commonly ... Read More

A Comparison of Coincidence Through the Characters of Donnie Darko from the Movie, Donnie Darko and Holden Caulfield from the Novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (1013 words, 3 pages)

One of the most endlessly interesting events in human life is that of a coincidence. When two entities represent a coincidence, the intrigue that ensues can be boundless. The comparisons that can be made between Donnie Darko from the movie Donnie Darko and Holden Caulfield from The Catcher and the ... Read More

The Use of Indirect Characterization in Order to Help Advance the Plot and Reveal Information About Characters in Shakespearian Tragedies (750 words, 4 pages)

Shakespearian tragedies often use indirect characterization to help advance the plot and reveal information about characters. Within each tragedy, Shakespeare implements a tragic arc that helps convey the main characters journey as he changes from a high and mighty position to an eventual downfall in which the character recognizes his ... Read More

Work is Applied Effort to the End in the Books Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain and Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington (426 words, 2 pages)

Virtues Essay WorkWork is a type of applied effort meaning our energy is used in order to accomplish or to achieve something. It is not what we do for a living it is what we do with a living. Real work is when there is neither revenue nor payoff in ... Read More

Society Is a Song and Each Member is Having His Own Verse in the Books The Catcher in the Rye and My Name is Asher Lev (660 words, 2 pages)

The Life SongTheCatcher in the RyeandMy Name is Asher Levvoice how society is asong, each member having his own verse. However,Holden Caulfield and Asher Lev demonstrate different and unique interpretations of their lines. Both books by J.D. Salinger and Chaim Potok use mediums, specifically Salingers profanity and lies and Potoks ... Read More

A Comparison of People, Lifestyles and Events in the Book, Our Town by Thornton Wilder with Our Modern Day World (737 words, 4 pages)

Our TownThe book Our Town by Thornton Wilder takes place in the small town Grovers Corner in Massachusetts. Even though the play took place over 100 years ago and it seems old fashioned, in reality the play is as relevant today as it was when it was written. The people, ... Read More

A Comparison of the Strenuous Life by Theodore Roosevelt and to Build a Fire by Jack London (1480 words, 6 pages)

Our America The Abiding Question of Nation and National Identity in American Literature American character is heavily based upon the persona of theadventurer, someone who fearlessly explores the wilderness, the unknown.Theodore Roosevelt says in his 1899 speech, "The Strenuous Life", that,"The men who founded these communities showed practically by their ... Read More

An Analysis of Good vs Evil in Sarah’s Key and The Pianist (645 words, 2 pages)

Throughout history, there have been many instances where evil has triumphed over good. In most of these occurrences, such as the Holocaust, evil was able to prevail due to good people choosing to be ignorant while evil was happening before their eyes. When good people do this, they are allowing ... Read More

A Comparison of Diane Ackerman’s The Great Affair and The Zookeeper’s Wife (306 words, 2 pages)

Connecting The Great Affair and The Zookeepers WifeIt is clear that Diane Ackermans poem, The Great Affair, closely relates to her novel, The Zookeepers Wife. In her poem, Ackerman endorses a life of risk-taking and adventure, which leads to a true appreciation of the world. This endorsement is evident in ... Read More

A Comparison of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and Hamlet in Style and Content (418 words, 2 pages)

William Shakespeare and T.S. Eliot are two of the most celebrated authors in the history of English literature, and their possibly most famous works, Hamlet and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, respectively,are similar in style and content. In Hamlet, the titular character ponders the value of humanity, amongst ... Read More

The Nature and Function of Disguise in the Twelfth Night and the Country Wife (2183 words, 8 pages)

Explore the nature and functions of disguise in at least two of the playtexts discussed.Shakespeares Twelfth Night and William Wycherleys The Country Wife both explore the vast theme of disguise, which is fundamental to the narrative arc and the appearance of the characters within both the playtexts. Predominantly, this essay ... Read More

A Comparison of Characters in the Awakening and Tess of the D’Urbervilles (385 words, 2 pages)

AP English LiteratureTess of the DUrbervillesThe AwakeningTess Durbeyfield from Tess of the DUrbervilles by Thomas Hardy and Edna Pontellier from The Awakening by Kate Chopin are similar protagonists because they both are regarded as outcasts from society and find empowerment from it. Tess is an outcast because she had a ... Read More

The Demonstration of Friction Between Parents in the Plays, Oedipus, Hamlet and The Glass Menagerie (479 words, 2 pages)

Friction between child and parent is absolutely timeless. Whether it be a disagreement or a complete mystery, the heat is ever present. Some of these battles leave martyrs as other might leave absolutely nothing at all. Literature has countless examples of this never ending conflict. In the art of plays ... Read More

Comparative Literature Essay Examples