Essays on Writer

Life and death, the two great forces of nature, regulate and are essential to the very concept of existence. Yet, is there significance to life if it will end inevitably in death? In her autobiographical essay "The Death of the Moth,” Woolf utilizes pathos, personification, and symbolism to frame her argument that life is undeniably weak in the face of death yet struggle against death is necessary in order to accept life's termination. However, analysis of Woolf's argument reveals minimal…...

Most fictional literature draws from the real life experiences of the author. Therefore, in order to attempt to understand the intricacies of the text we must look at context. George Orwell’s 1984 exemplifies the importance of context when analyzing a text. Orwell introduced the concept of dystopia in a way that was relative to the fear people felt about the state of the world, during the time of World War II. His surroundings, political and societal, influenced his fear and,…...

Warren Ealy, Steven P. “Corruption and Innocence in Robert Penn Warren's Fiction". Modern Age. Intercollegiate Studies Institute, 2005. Wilmington, DE. April 6, 2016. <https://home.isi.org/corruption-and-innocence-robert penn-warrens-fiction> This website has an article which argues about Warren's cynical view of the word by using evidence from his writing. The paper states, quite plainly, “There are no innocent men in the sense of "guiltless" in Robert Penn Warren's world. There may be innocent men in the sense of 'ignorant' or "naïve', but generally this…...

Virginia Woolf's “The Death of the Moth” and Scott Momaday's “The Way to Rainy Mountain" seem to have very little in common contextually. Woolf describes the fleeting moments of life of a moth as it attempts to escape from a window. Momaday, however, describes the life of his Grandmother as he treks to see her grave at her home. Despite the differences in their stories, both authors seem to share a similar problem: a lack of identity. Woolf and Momaday…...

Nearly every character and event in Charles Johnson's short story Menagerie, a Child's Fable can and should be interpreted to signify the social and political ways in which American lives operated in the 1980's. Much like George Orwell's Animal Farm, the allegorical fable uses animal characters to convey very human themes, especially those pertaining to religion and politics. Johnson's application of a captivating literary style to a simple history lesson brings to life ordinarily dull themes like fascism, social darwinism,…...

Carl Jung, psychologist, once said, "Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes" (1). Throughout this semester, we have studied authors who do a bit of both in constructing their identities through their works, specifically, Benjamin Franklin in his autobiography, Ralph Waldo Emerson in "Self-Reliance," and Walt Whitman in Song of Myself. The cultural and social factors are seen within all three works. In The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin he goes through his early life, not only telling us of…...

T. S. Eliot, a father of modern poetry, is an American-Born English poet. Although Eliot has a very modern style, it also identifies with traditional poetry. Many of Eliot's devices are similar to those of Ezra Pound, provided that, he still sets himself apart through his low and conversational tone and subtle movement (Riley, "Eliot has Created" 135). Featuring many different themes throughout his works, Eliot establishes himself as untouchable. The reader can argue his work, but cannot prove him…...

Imagination is nothing to the common eye. It’s only what one perceives it to be. Throughout centuries, many authors have used imagination as an affluent part of their writing as well as believing in the creative power behind the imagination. “…The mightiest lever/ Known to the moral world/ Imagination” (William Wordsworth). This quote represents what imagination means to true “artists”. Without it the world would be dull and meaningless. That point is proven in both Mary Shelley’s, “Frankenstein” and Charles…...

People sometimes undergo difficult situations when they are forced to carry out orders by authority. George Orwell's "A Hanging" is a descriptive essay about capital punishment. The setting of this essay is placed in an early twentieth-century prison in Burma, a country ruled by the British Empire. Considering that George Orwell was an imperial police officer in Burma, it is highly probable that this essay is related to his own experience. The essay, presented through the eyes of the narrator,…...

The story “Where You Going, Where have You Been”, written by Joyce Carol Oates is a very interesting story. It’s well detailed and descriptive, and it also keeps you wondering about what’s going to happen next. We learn, feel, and get confused about things at the same time Connie does. First off, Connie is an ordinary fifteen year old girl who lives in an American Suburb. She’s one who is described to be very “full of herself” and usually dress…...

The short story ‘Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates describes the female stereotypes of the era through the struggles of the central character Connie. The story is set in the 1960s, when topics like feminism, civil rights, sexual freedom, etc. were only just starting to gain momentum in what was still a conservative society. Connie was a naïve teenager trying to navigate her way to adulthood in a time when women were still expected…...

Bram Stoker’s: Dracula Dracula, written by Bram Stoker, portrays many of the expectations and realities of victorian women. Set in the eighteenth century the book provides In eighteenth century victorian england, a woman’s place was to be at home. They did not have the same privileges as men. They were not allowed to go to school or hold a job. They were seen as inferior to men. “A woman was inferior to a man in all ways except the unique…...

The short story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?' is about a young girl, at the beginning of adulthood. She is controlling and disrespectful and has a bad relationship with her mother, she's annoyed by her sister, she likes listening to music and watching movies, and she spends a lot of time going out with her friends and meeting boys.In this story Connie represents women and where they stand in our society. She tries to be older than…...

This story, Where are you going? Where have you been? By Joyce Carol Oates is a mysterious thriller that tells a story about a young outgoing girl name Connie. I think this story were written to convince other young ladies to think twice about their actions as well to inform them the world is not safe. It is vital to inform other women like me that it is dangerous to flaunt our bodies. When our older role models say “it…...

In the short story, 'Where are you going, Where have you been,' Connie and Arnold Friend are the main characters who portray the struggles of differentiating fantasy and reality. Connie is a typical fifteen-year-old teenage girl that is rebellious towards her family and mainly cares about her appearance. Along with her appearance, she listens to a lot of pop music that talks about love and romance which gives her a skewed idea of what love is supposed to be. When…...

We can see that Connie knows she is pretty, and to her looks are everything. Connie’s Vanity affect her interactions because she is not able to move away from it. Connie knows she look good. Because of this confidence she is more inclined to the boys that are willing to pay attention to her. . For example, After Arnold Friend said Connie was cute, she was flattered and she changed because of the compliment. It’s like that just made her…...

In her short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Joyce Carol Oates tells a rather disturbing tale of a vain teenaged girl and a mysterious man. This narrative truly showcases Oates’s brilliant writing style and the characters in this work are deeply fascinating. All the main characters in this short story represent something more than they appear at surface level and the interpretations of these characters by literary scholars vary greatly. The characters and what they mean…...

With good looks and sweet charm, men are able to win women over in a heartbeat. Why are men able to do this? Because women believe that they need basic human needs such as love and companionship to live. As you read through the short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, you notice Connie has issues of building a stable relationship with her family, which is shown through her personality. She seeks out…...

In the story “Cathedral,” the author shares his experience with a blind man, a friend of his wife, who comes to visit their home. The author is troubled by the blind man’s visit for unclear reasons, but he attributes it to Robert’s (the blind man) disability. The narrator dislikes the blind and often refers to Robert as “the blind man” and was bothered by Robert’s visit to their home. The narrators experience with the blind man is an eye opener…...

The authors of "Raymond's Run" and "Cathedral", both use a first person point of view in their short stories. In "Raymond's Run", by Toni Cade Bambara, the first person point of view shows how the narrator is dealing with the situations around her and maturing in the process. In "Cathedral", by Raymond Carver, the reader can see the change in the narrator's understanding of the blind man through different situations that happens throughout the story. Both authors have similar purposes…...

The movie "The Dead Poets Society" is about a group of private school boys in the North East. They encounter a teacher, Mr. Keating, whom is a little different than most teachers. He wanted to instill the motivation to look past what society was telling them to do rather than teach the normal curriculum. He used Thoreau's ideas on transcendentalism by showing them to transcend or go beyond the rules that society poses and create their own independence. Mr. Keating…...

In the world of Ralph Waldo Emerson, "nothing is more simple than greatness, to be simple is to be great". Emerson believed in simplifying life, he believed that the less possessions a person had the less they had to worry about. He developed a new and creative way of philosophy titled transcendentalism. Transcendentalism dealt with finding joy in nature, simplicity, and individualism. Simplicity is the state of being simple, uncomplicated, or uncompounded. Simplifying life cuts back on stress and worries.…...

VEDANTA philosophy was one of several thought currents from abroad that reached New England in the early decades of the 19th century and contributed to the thinking of Emerson and Thoreau. Emerson’s interest in the sacred writings of the East probably began: . ring his Harvard days and continued throughout his life. He knew Laws of Manu, Vishnupurana, the Bhagvad- Gita, and Katha Upanishad: There are numerous references to these scriptures in his Journals and Essays. Thoreau, too, was introduced…...

Many individuals in our world are frequently attempting to be self-reliant; trying to make it on their own and be original in idea and true to themselves. Much of those people end up conforming and doing what has actually been done in the past. They end up walking down the worn path that many have actually strolled before. However, a popular author called Ralph Waldo Emerson believed that you require to venture off the main course and explore brand-new concepts…...

The Romantic Era followed the Age of Reason. While the Age of Reason involved emphasis on science and rational thinking, Romanticism was the exact opposite. Romantics valued feeling and intuition over reason. They recognized the worth of the individual, and praised beauty, imagination, and innocence. Some of these writers were Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau. Through this paper the writer intends to present the reasons that these three authors are considered Romantic writers. Margaret Fuller demonstrated…...

Abstract In this paper, I will be discussing about the strategies to tackle and overcome writer's block. Writer's block is a condition or the situation where there is a difficulty for a writer to write down the things he/she wants to share or express. If the cure is not found to tackle the writer’s block then there is a possibility of giving up as a writer and the story will never reach the mass like the writer had hoped for.…...

Life is a journey that is full of obstacles. However, in many films or even on Television life is oftentimes depicted without real-world struggles. Most people would detest having to go through struggles because it is not enjoyable. However, those struggles build one's character and fortify a society to strive towards a better future. In today's society, the different struggles have united those oppressed individuals to strive to change the status quo. For example, a recent turning point in society…...

Chapter 1 1. The Greasers are people with long greasy hair who live on the east side. They’re almost like hoods, stealing things, have gang fights, drive old souped-up cars. Socs are the boys who are the west rich kids. They jump greasers, wreck houses, throw beer blasts and drive tuff mustangs. Chapter 2 2. Before the story began, Johnny was child abused a lot at home. He also got jumped and beaten up very badly by the socs. The…...

The theme of the play centers around the ideas of Respect & Reputation. Specifically, the message the author is trying to get across to the audience is that the importance placed on Respect & Reputation within a society can sometimes be over the top and unreasonable to the well-being of an individual. Rather than focusing on other aspects of life such as family and friends, the characters in the play take an extreme approach toward gaining power through the Respect…...

A common topic among numerous schools of thought is notion of hope. Because of this, hope can be defined in several ways, including psychologically, philosophically, and religiously. However, in his novel, Inferno, Dante almost exclusively takes a religious, namely Christian, standpoint on hope and despair. Dante’s work brings forth an important discussion on the subject of meaning and how it relates to hope. One way to define hope is psychologically. According to W.W. Meissner on page 17 of his 1973…...

In the book Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, each character feels isolated in their own unique way. Many of them are linked by culture, social class, history, love, or hardship which creates a feeling of loneliness in the world. The detachment and outsideness that characters feel throughout the novel brings deep feelings of fear that the entire world is against them. Woolf uses the structure of the Post World War I’s societal and political environment to create the problems, interactions,…...

The significance of the title being the name of the main character, Clarissa Dalloway is that it demonstrates the multitude of relations within the book. Throughout the first part of the book, Clarissa represents how society viewed women during the post World War I era, and denotes the changes in gender roles and perceptions through Clarissa’s identity and her party. The main reason for the title being stated as Clarissa’s married name rather than her maiden name is to emphasize…...

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. She was born December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts where she lived her entire life up until she died from Bright's disease on May 15, 1886. Amherst was a small farming village that was made up four to five hundred puritan families. Education was important to the Dickinsons. Her grandfather had founded Amherst College in 1821. Her father was successful attorney and, at thirty-two became the treasurer of Amherst College. Her other Emily…...

“We loved with a love that was more than love.” This quote was written by one of the most famous poets man has ever known. Edgar Allan Poe lived from 1809 to 1849. Within this time period there was love, pain, and unexpected events that affected his family, his career and even the cause of his death. Poe’s family history has a lot to do with his deranged way of writing. At a young age he already went through one…...

How wonderful would it be if the world was without conflict? George Orwell’s Animal Farm is an allegory dealing with the Soviet Union and Communism. There are twisted rules that change throughout the novel, creating the farm to be a place of paradise for the pigs, but a place of misery for the other animals. The overarching rule that is key at the end of the novel is, “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others,”(Orwell). By…...

Throughout literature tragic heroes are frequently portrayed by characters within the higher social class and maintain a high reputation, but the average human is overlooked and rarely the focus of a tragedy. If a character with high intelligence and wealth can have a flaw that leads them to their death, then is it possible for the common man to encounter this problem in his or her life? Arthur miller addresses this question in his work, where the focus of a…...

In the play, Death of a salesman, Arthur Miller shows that hard work does not always pay off in the working world. Set just after World War II, Willy Loman is working on the road to be able to provide for his family. Working long hours makes him go crazy and he struggles to realize how he really feels. When reading the play, one will begin to see a constant theme of struggling with acceptance and a tone of sympathy…...

When reading poetry or writing by Ralph Waldo Emerson, there is the need to understand the feeling behind the writing. Such is the meaning when reading Emerson’s Nature as the writer explores man, a relationship with God, and the solitude of man which is needed to enjoy nature. Reading the work allows the understanding of relationships fostering the understanding of solitude and man’s need to be in solitude to appreciate nature which can be seen as a thesis relative to…...

Hook? Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray was a revolutionary work during the time of its publication in the 1800s (1800’s?) for its progressive views while going against the social norms of the Victorian era as well as its support for the aestheticism movement. It made various statements that are prime for analysis and discussion while remaining an entertaining piece of literature showing extreme disregard for Victorian social code, morals, and trends. Transition? Victorian England in the 1800s was…...

The significance of the title being the name of the main character, Clarissa Dalloway is that it demonstrates the multitude of relations within the book. Throughout the first part of the book, Clarissa represents how society viewed women during the post World War I era, and denotes the changes in gender roles and perceptions through Clarissa’s identity and her party. The main reason for the title being stated as Clarissa’s married name rather than her maiden name is to emphasize…...