Abstract William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily" reveals the life of Emily Grierson who lives a secluded life, not leaving her home for over ten years, while also living in a state of madness. The extent of Emily's madness is finally revealed at the end, where it is found that she has been living with the body of her dead boyfriend for years, sleeping next to him. The paper shows that this illustrates the main theme of the story, the problem of being unable to accept change and move forward in life. Emily is the character who descends into madness because she is unable to accept change and live a normal life. The paper describes how William Faulkner makes this theme clear by a combination of effective structure, symbolism and characterization. Each of these elements are discussed to show how they contribute to the theme.
From the Paper "Faulkner also makes effective use of symbolism to express the theme, with two of the important symbols being death and taxes. It is no coincidence that these important symbols are both associated with items that are unavoidable. Death features as a symbol in the form of Emily's own death, the death of her father and the death of Homer. However, each of these deaths are ones that Emily is not able to accept. Another scene that illustrates Emily's inability to accept death is where she purchases the poison. When the druggist asks her what she wants it for, "Miss Emily just stared at him, her head tilted back in order to look him eye for eye, until he looked away and went and got the arsenic and wrapped it up" (40). This same inability to accept the realities of the world is symbolized by her refusal to pay taxes. In the meeting where the mayor tries to convince her to, Emily keeps repeating "I have no taxes in Jefferson" (10)."
Abstract Langston Hughes was one of the world's most important interpreters of the African-American experience in the United States during the decade prior to World War II and the subsequent Civil Rights Movement. Hughes published a variety of famous works, including the thought-provoking poem, "Let America Be America Again". The paper shows that in this poem, Hughes presents a strong awareness of the American dream, yet talks about it as if it were a thing of the past, even to those who had once believed in it and even profited from it. The paper shows how Hughes cleverly uses a method of physical disconnection to demonstrate how Negroes, at the time, never experienced the American Dream. The paper also shows how Hughes' writing style is influenced by his race and culture, showing hints of jazz and blues in the poem.
From the Paper "Many critics say that Hughes? poem is written in the tone of a black sermon, as if he were preaching to his audience (Wagner, p. 311). Others say that the poem is written in a conversational style, in which Hughes enables the speaker and audience to interact with one another. Still, the rhythm and rhymes contribute to the overall effectiveness of the poem, in which Hughes conveys his thoughts, emotions and beliefs about America in the 1930?s."
Abstract This paper examines how W.E.B. Dubois? great work "The Souls of Black Folk", weaves together a group of writing that manifests itself in a series of different literary forms, including such forms as the essay, history, sermon, anthropological record, short story, memoir, elegy and political tract. It looks at how in his work, DuBois was attempting to speak for his entire race in some fashion and thus it seems fitting that he should have applied so many genres to a narrative that sought to explicate such a multiplicity of viewpoints. It shows how by ranging across so many topics and so many genres and forms, DuBois is able to render a more effective portrait of the problems, struggles and victories that moved his contemporary black Americans.
From the Paper "Chapter 3 is a political tract of a revolutionary nature. In this essay, DuBois tackles Booker T. Washington's social and educational program. Dubois, while he admires Washington's achievements as a leader in an oppressive society, he ultimately is forced to reject his teachings because "on the whole the distinct impression left by Mr. Washington's propaganda is, first, that the South is justified in its present attitude toward the Negro because of the Negro's degradation" (DuBois, Chapter 3). He ends by quoting the Declaration of Independence, which shows the political nature of the tract."
Tags: african, americans, washington, south, society
Abstract For the Victorians, poetry was a vibrant expression of the era's values and its fears. The paper analyzes two poems from the Victorian period which reflect these values. The first shows the era's intense occupation with status and social hierarchy in Robert Browning's "The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed's Church". The poem demonstrates how this obsession with people's position in the world merged into an obsession with death and the dead, with death as a force that erased the status that people strove so hard to create and uphold in life. The second paper analyzed in this paper is Dante Gabriel Rossetti's "Jenny", in which we see how the notions of status and propriety that governed Victorian life and death created such a terrible psychological pressure on the Victorians that they had at times to escape into lascivious fantasy.
From the Paper "The contrast is not simply that, however, of the upright and virtuous life against the scandalous and criminal one (for Rossetti makes it clear in the opening lines that Jenny is a prostitute) but that between male and female worlds. Life for the Victorians was divided into strictly separated spheres: The worlds of men and women touching upon each other barely more than the worlds of life and death. This poem is in part an expression of regret at this latter divide."
Abstract This paper presents a review of "Honor and Violence is the Old South", which is actually an abridged version of Bertram Wyatt-Brown's "Southern Honor: Ethics and Behavior in the Old South". The book presents an objective and highly well-researched account of life for women and slaves in the South who were considered devices with which to maintain family honor. The subject of honor is studied from a historical and anthropological perspective. The author seeks to explain why white masters treated slaves in an inhumane manner and similarly how women were expected to behave in patriarchal societies of the South.
From the Paper "The author explains that there were two extremely important driving forces behind South's obsession with preservation of honor. For one, it was believed that since Northerners were the enemy, they must never be allowed to ridicule South's men of honor. It was essentially a defensive tactic that helped South keep its head high against a more sophisticated, civilized and successful enemy. In the antebellum period, South was mainly an agrarian society while North had become a major industrial force. It was clear that South's economy was waning with most immigrants settling in Northern region and contributing to the development of industries there. Cotton plantations were one of the main sources of income for the rich South and with decrease in its production, South was losing to North on the economic front."
Abstract In Bram Stoker's "Dracula", desire is represented as monstrous in its resistance to the limiting positions of gender: the fixed roles of male and female. This paper discusses the ways in which desire is configured in the text through the relations of Jonathan, Lucy and Mina to Dracula. It also explains how that desire is also ultimately re-contained.
From the Paper "By associating sexual awakening and nightly desire with physical degeneration, the novel again encodes the notion of sexuality with disgust and disease. Lucy becomes other than herself because of Dracula's awakening of the girl to the pleasures of physical desire. In fact, after she dies and becomes one of the undead, Professor Van Helsing urges Harker to kill Lucy by saying that the walking woman who bears the girl's face is no longer Lucy. Desire renders the girl unlike herself and the novel returns Lucy to a state of innocence again after a stake is drawn through her heart."
Tags: vampirism, Professor, Van, Helsing, Professor, Van, Helsing
Abstract This paper discusses how the experience of one's own death represents a major theme developed by Leo Tolstoy in "The Death of Ivan Ilych". It looks at how this theme begins its unfolding even in the opening to the story as Ivan's obituary in the local "Gazette" is shared amongst some of his old friend and colleagues. It examines how although the other characters are used throughout the story, "The Death of Ivan Ilych" is largely a tale of the individual's experience with his/her death.
From the Paper "Ultimately, Tolstoy's story is one that demonstrates to humans how each of us can gain some control over that which seems beyond our control. As suggested by Kamm (2003), from a philosophical perspective, the experiences of Ivan as he confronts his death teaches us that we can have some control over our deaths, including the process of dying and what death it self signifies (i.e., the end of our mortal selves and existence), by how we choose to live it. As Tolstoy unravels Ivan's ongoing groping with his own mortality, the reader is faced with the challenge of considering his/her own life and the manner in which he/she presently has lived and continues to live in order to avoid finding himself/herself in the same situation as Ivan ? dying with the knowledge that life has not been well lived."
Abstract This paper shows how the theme of many of Dickinson's poems is "the will to live in the face of death." This paper discusses the poems of "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," " My Life Had Stood-A Loaded Gun," and "There's a Certain Slant of Light". Death, immorality and despair are mentioned through out to reveal how Dickinson fells about death.
From the Paper "Emily Dickinson was recognized as one of the greatest American poets of the nineteenth century. Dickinson's life was relatively simple as she worked as a creative and talented poet. Many of Emily Dickinson's poems are written about nature and death. Emily Dickinson reflects how she felt about death in three of her poems because death was such an influence in her life."
Abstract In this brief paper, I will look at two poems by Robert Frost: "The Road Not Taken" and "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening." Both are illustrative of Frost's simple, yet meaningful themes and both convey a deeper meaning to the reader than is apparent at a first reading. 4
Abstract In this paper, I analyze the three main female characters of "The Great Gatsby": Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and Myrtle Wilson. I attempt to show how each represented the materialism and shallow nature of the upper classes during 1920s America. I point out how the characters are similar in that they are self-centered, careless and have little self-respect.
Abstract This essay reviews James Skolnick's and James Fyfe's "Above the Law: Police and the Excessive Use of Force". It discusses the authors' examination of police excessive force and police brutality. In their view, the answer to this problem lies in better accountability. The paper adds a sociological perspective, arguing that police excessive force is related to the phenomenon of social control. The existence of prisons, for instance, necessitate police excessive force, since social elites have a need to criminalize a certain portion of the population.
Abstract This paper discusses Carlo Levi's book, "Christ Stopped at Eboli" in terms of how the political, economic and social forces of world history have bypassed the lives of the Italian villagers of Eboli, and analyzes what effects social stratification, the actual and imagined role of the state; and brigandage and rebellion have had on Southern Italy.
Abstract This paper examines and analyzes the theme of Kurt Vonnegut's 1952 novel, "Player Piano". The author discusses what themes play out in the life of Paul Proteus, what elements of American politics might lead to the sort of society described in the novel, and what elements might prevent such a society.
Abstract This paper looks at the book, "The Cheese and the Worms " by Carlo Ginzburg. Discussing how the author has used his research to find and discuss the main character, Menocchio. The paper also gives a precise critique of the book and then systemic ways that Ginzburg has emitted or over looked facts by ways of his research.
Abstract This paper depicts the representation of race in the novel "Passing" by Nella Larsen and describes the role it plays in the lives of the characters involved.
