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

27201 total results

A Modern Day Adaptation of Frankenstein, a Novel by Mary Shelley (1087 words, 3 pages)

In our English 242 course, we were tasked with adapting a novel for a wider, contemporary audience. A team of my classmates and I decided to adapt Mary Shelleys Frankenstein (1818) to a radio interview, that takes place in the year of 2016. In our adaptation, a scientist develops a ... Read More

An Analysis of a Scene in the Novel Blazing World by Cavendish (455 words, 2 pages)

The scene in Cavendishs novel Blazing World that I will be analyzing is that where a discussion takes place with the spirits on what they think of our worlds writers. In this scene, the Duchess discusses the most famous modern Writers, as either of Galileo, Gassendus, Des Cartes, Helmont, Hobbes, ... Read More

Education in the Head and in the Heart in the Case of Gradgrinds in Hard Times by Charles Dickens (1834 words, 6 pages)

A Wisdom of the Head and HeartThroughout life we face constant inner struggles between the informing oppositions within ourselves and the judgments we make based on these factors. One of the greatest conflicts we are faced with, however, lies in the disparity between nurturing of the head and nurturing of ... Read More

The Idea of the Smallest Deed Creating a Domino Effect in Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (1671 words, 5 pages)

Extrinsic ForcesSometimes the smallest actions can lead to the most significant outcomes. For example, one who does a good deed may inspire another person to pay it forward until there is a chain of positive reaction. The smallest deed can serve as a catalyst and create a domino effect, impacting ... Read More

A Comparison and Contrast of Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1594 words, 5 pages)

Never Let Me Go and Frankenstein both belong to the science fiction genre, but are nearly completely different. Never Let Me Go, written by Kazuo Ishiguro in 2004, is set in the past, in post World War II Great Britain. Kathy, the narrator of the novel, is a clone, who ... Read More

The Emotions of Pity and Fear in the Plays Macbeth and Hamlet by William Shakespeare (2873 words, 8 pages)

Yin and YangIt is very easy to view things in terms of two extremes, particularly in the realm of good versus evil. However, nothing can ever be completely good, just as nothing can ever be completely evil either. The purpose of tragedy is to evoke pity and fear for the ... Read More

The Portrayal and Ideologies of Women in the 19th Century in Northanger Abbey, a Novel by Jane Austen (886 words, 3 pages)

Jane Austins Northanger Abbey, allows us to see the portrayal and ideologies of women in the 19th century and pushes one to the idea that men are better than women thus exposing the male dominated society. Northanger Abbey as we know focuses on Catherine, a sheltered young girl who is ... Read More

The Influence of Marxism in the Character of Pip in Great Expectations, a Novel by Charles Dickens (682 words, 3 pages)

The characters in Great Expectations are influenced greatly by Marxism. In Charles Dickens novel, Great Expectations, Marxism is shown through Pips character. Pip has many Marxist values including classism, rugged individualism, and capitalism. Pips expectations of being a gentleman, marrying Estella, and living a noble life are all caused by ... Read More

The Changes in the Social View of Women and the Depiction of Love from the 14th to Late 16th Century Due to the Literary Works of Francis Petrarch and William Shakespeare (1421 words, 5 pages)

The social view of women and the way in which love was depicted changed greatly from the 14th century to late 16th century, thanks to the influential writers of Francis Petrarch and William Shakespeare. Petrarchs Italian works were an inspiration for other European writers such as Shakespeare to express views ... Read More

The Government’s Purpose as Explained in the Novel 1984 by George Orwell (787 words, 3 pages)

Although the original functions of government was to serve the people, the word "government" has taken on a more negative connotation. Even though, often times, the government is made up of hundreds of people, many see it as a single unit of power that is set on serving no one ... Read More

Colonization and Slavery in The Tempest, a Play by William Shakespeare (1553 words, 6 pages)

Shakespeares play, The Tempest, has subtle hints at colonization and attempts to tackle the theme of enslavement. However, the former was likely unintentional as despite the discovery of new land being common, the idea of colonization had yet to be widely known during Shakespeares time. As such, it is astonishing ... Read More

An Analysis of an Excerpt in Macbeth, a Play by William Shakespeare (754 words, 2 pages)

This is an excerpt from the Play of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, set in the 11th century, but written under Elizabethan and Jacobean rule(17th century) . The tale of a tragic hero, Macbeth that is drawn astray by 3 witches with promises of power and wealth(to be king of scotland) ... Read More

An Analysis of Macbeth’s Development in Macbeth, a Play by William Shakespeare (893 words, 3 pages)

In the following scene from Macbeth the playwright William Shakespeare develops the already intricate character of Macbeth through the use of metaphors, tone and using his interaction with minor characters. The following is taken from act 5 - scene 3 where the English army under the command of Malcom is ... Read More

The Use of Language to Illustrate the Various State of Mind of Macbeth in Act 5 Scene 3 of Macbeth, a Play by William Shakespeare (740 words, 2 pages)

CommentaryIn this extract, taken from Act 5 scene 3 of Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses language to show the various states of mind of Macbeth. This extract takes place when Macbeth finds out that the rumors of the English army coming to declare war on him are true. His interactions with ... Read More

A Study of the Concept of Cause and Effect in Romeo and Juliet, a Play by William Shakespeare (458 words, 2 pages)

Altered Causes and the Effects of Romeo and Juliet In the words of the famous Ralph W Emerson, "life is a perpetualinstruction in cause and effect." Throughout the story of Shakespeare'stragedy of Romeo and Juliet, the concept of cause and effect, or outcome,is strongly illustrated by the plotline. However, if ... Read More

Is the Outcome of Macbeth Due to Fate or Free Will? (720 words, 1 pages)

Macbeths outcome is due to fate but free will decided how quickly he would gain his power and lose his power. Macbeths story is all free will when you first look at it, but there was a underlining fate that Macbeth could not escape no matter what he would do. ... Read More

An Analysis of the Character of Mephistopheles in The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, a Play by Christopher Marlowe (1433 words, 5 pages)

While Mephistopheles adds all of the possibilities for Faustus to carry out necromancy by being Faustus link to Great Lucifer, we cannot discount Faustus as being an interesting character. The implications of Mephistopheles connections allow for Faustus to exploit his intelligence and his qualities that make him the master he ... Read More

The Effects of Group Influence in Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Call of the Wild by Jack London (715 words, 2 pages)

Group InfluenceHistory has shown, that the right influence can make anyone do anything. Hitler was a powerful man, who was able to influence the citizens of a whole nation to turn against a single group. Before this movement, jews were a very large and successful group in Germany, and its ... Read More

Othello and His Various Depictions Throughout the Years (409 words, 2 pages)

Othello and His Various Depictions Throughout The YearsOthello has been depicted throughout the years in highly variable forms. Because Shakespeare leaves the finer details of description up to the theater producing them, the facial characteristics and even the garb Othello is clothed in is left up to the digression of ... Read More

A Comparison of St. John’s Marriage Proposals in Jane Eyre, a Novel by Charlotte Bronte (548 words, 2 pages)

St Johns first marriage proposal interested me in that it was the inciting incident for the rift between St John and Jane during the Moorhouse section. For my presentation, I closely analyzed St Johns second proposal, so while I analyzed St Johns initial proposal I also searched for parallels between ... Read More

Rebellion Against Authority in 1984, a Novel by George Orwell (651 words, 2 pages)

Disobeying Authority The human race has an undeviating need to have power over others. In todays society, the United States holds a representative democracy type control. All three branches of government have members that are elected for the people, by the people, so that these members are who represent the ... Read More

The Creation of Society in Lord of the Flies, a Novel by William Golding (574 words, 2 pages)

Civilizations have been created and destroyed since the Neolithic Revolution. In successful civilizations, people are controlled by society and maintain order. In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies, the school boys newly created society is controlled by the boys but it is anything but civilized. When the schoolboys crash land ... Read More

A Critique of Saturday, a Novel by Ian McEwan (549 words, 2 pages)

Saturday Criticism Response In Saturday, author Ian McEwan discusses the theme of literature'sredemptive power. Despite traditionally being very well received by Britishliterature critics, McEwan received some criticism that the theme inSaturday was stated too blatantly, which detracted from the novel. AlthoughMcEwan did overstate the theme in Saturday, critics Cynthia Ozick ... Read More

The Role of Love, Jealousy and Betrayal in Othello, a Play by William Shakespeare (1524 words, 6 pages)

The role of love, jealousy, and betrayal in Othello serves to show the stages of a characters development. These stages show who they were and who they have become by the end. Othello, is a play written by William Shakespeare and takes place in Venice, Italy. It is about a ... Read More

Through reading the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, one can see how similar the topics of the monster and cloning are. Cloning is a controversial topic and can be seen wrong in society, like Victor saw his creation as a devastating plague on the people of his time .It can ... Read More

A Critique of Camille Palgia’s Analysis of William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73 (528 words, 2 pages)

An Analysis of Camille Palgia's Analysis of Shakespeare's "Sonnet 73" Shakespeare's "Sonnet 73" depicts the lamentations of an aging manwho, looking back over his life, realizes that much of the things he hadare fading away. Through analysis of the sonnet's formalistic content,historical context, archetypal references, and psychological implications,literary critic Camille ... Read More

The Philosophy of Mrs. Sparsit in Hard Times, a Novel by Charles Dickens (599 words, 2 pages)

Mrs. Sparsit embodies what happens when one wonders, or assumes, too much, an interesting point Dickens crafts to qualify his argument that wondering is necessary to balance out a utilitarian approach to life and education. Her ultimate dismissal from her relatively high-paying job as Bounderbys housekeeper is because of her ... Read More

The Misogynistic Character of Iago in Othello by William Shakespeare (785 words, 3 pages)

Iago A Crucial Character to Othello, Even Though I Despise HimWhen we need advice, we turn to various people who we believe will play the part of sympathetic listeners. What we do not want is for these individuals to betray our trust and take advantage of us in our time ... Read More

The Role of Technology in 1984, a Novel by George Orwell (1068 words, 3 pages)

Technology Will it Pave or Prevent a Society like 1984? Part of our basic human rights is the right to privacy. Theres no reason that anyone besides ourselves should know of everything we do, see, and speak. For years, the society of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, has ... Read More

An Exploration of the Religious Aspect of Jane Eyre, a Novel by Charlotte Bronte (483 words, 2 pages)

Madwoman or Not?Gilbert and Gubars main argument in The Madwoman in the Attic is that Jane Eyre unsettled its Victorian readers not for its sexual vibrations, but because its portrayal of rebellious, non-religious feminism. Jane refuses to accept the destiny that God seemingly sets her for, and fueled by stubbornness, ... Read More

English Literature Essay Examples