Abstract
This paper explores the writing of Franz Kafka as it relates to the literature of La Belle Epoque as well as how it resonates with our own contemporary period. Major focus is aimed at the short story "The Metamorphosis" and the novel "The Trial" with brief mention of other works. Emphasis is also placed on Kafka's life circumstances as they affected his writing.

From the Paper
"The sociologist Georg Simmel describes the thematic concerns that Kafka shared with other modernist writers: "The deepest problems of modern life derive from the claim of the individual to preserve the autonomy and individuality of his existence in the face of overwhelming social forces, of historical heritage, of external culture, and of the technique of life" (http://www.artandpopularculture.com/Modernist literature). Rudorff, in his book La Belle Epoque, adds to this description: "many of the more extreme attitudes assumed and assertions of the individual against society sprang from deep fears that humanity and the individual personality would be crushed or made anonymous by the mass structures of society and scientific development" (Rudorff 15). Kafka exemplifies in his life and through his writing the "alienated individual--a dysfunctional individual trying in vain to make sense of a predominantly urban and fragmented society" (http://www.artandpopularculture.com/Modernist_literature)."

Tags:Metamorphosis, Trial, Gregor, Samsa

Abstract
This paper discusses how in his poem "La Belle Dame sans Merci", poet John Keats uses a variety of imagery and literary devices to describe the sorrowful tale of a young knight and his loss of love. In particular, it looks at how Keats uses the element of nature to describe the consequences of love in his poem and how, by using colorful imagery and vibrant "nature" metaphors, Keats describes the loss of a relationship that this man has had (or perhaps a nonexistent relationship and a desire to have) with a mystically fair, young lady.

From the Paper
"The seasons of spring and summer are also discussed. However, in contrast spring and summer are mentioned during the parts of the poem in which the knight was in love with the maiden. Early on, when he meets the maiden, and the infatuation begins, it is spring. We know this because of the imagery that Keats uses, for example: the knight met the maiden in the "meads" (13), which is a grassy field. In the spring season, grass is at its finest: green, soft and lush. It is fresh and new and unadulterated just as the maiden is. Also, Keats notes "faeries" which are usually associated with spring and summer because they fly around in the warm weather when there are flowers and lots of greenery. Here, there is also lots of greenery, as the "fairy-like" maiden brings "relish sweet and honey wild" for the knight as a symbol of her love. "

Tags:metaphor, knight, seasons

Abstract
This paper uses the budget of the city of Belle Isle to examine some of the important issues concerned in the budgeting process as well as to look the particular choices that this city has made in allocating its resources. Included are figures and graphs depicting the city's financial movements and current economic status.

From the Paper
"What is a budget for? To prevent one from spending more money than one has is the obvious answer, but such an obvious and simple answer hides a plenitude of very large and yawning holes. For while a budget is intended in the most general sense to prevent financial shortfalls, the way it does this is a complex process, for a budget is never a neutral document. It is never simply about the math involved; rather it is always about what people, projects and goals are deemed more worthy than others."

Tags:city, budget, deficit, public

Abstract
This paper performs an in-depth examination of the career of the artist Paul Gauguin. The paper discusses his position both inside and outside of the the Paris art world and the La Belle Epoque movement beginning just prior to the 1890's. The paper continues on to examine Gauguin's period in Arles with Van Gogh and his development. The essay also takes a close look at his fascination with Tahiti, his stays there, his return to Paris, and the development of his artistic and philosophical vision up to the time of his death.

From the Paper
"It was gay Paree just prior to the 1890's. In the heart of the developing Belle Ypoque Paul Gauguin was evolving as an artist, well known to other avant garde artists and writers. He spent an intense nine weeks philosophizing on and creating art with his disturbed friend Vincent Van Gogh in The Yellow House in Arles. Indeed, his planned departure may have inspired the infamous severing of Van Gogh's ear (Gayford 276-277). Theo Van Gogh was marketing Gauguin's paintings. Gertrude Stein was buying them (Hobson, 39, 47, 83). In 1888 Gauguin was not nearly as well known as the pointillist Seurat, but he was gathering a following of young painters who ``were all searching for a new art that did not yet have a name'' (Gayford 11). Gauguin, like these other youthful Belle Ypoque painters went far beyond the Impressionists in their rejection of the academic conventions of painting. Their works did not get exhibited in the Salon of the official art world, but rather in alternative galleries and spaces."

Tags:tahiti, revolutionary, impressionist, sythesism, modern, polynesian

Abstract
The paper discusses how the psychoanalytic criticism about the desires, needs and aspirations of a human being come to the surface when authors are creating a work of art. The paper explains that one can see this and the reflections of the subconscious through "The Secret of Sigmund Freud", an Abraham Polonsky teleplay, and the film "Belle Toujours".

From the Paper
"According to Freud, much of what makes humans human lies in the subconscious mind. There are rich possibilities for exploration in terms of works of art, and how they relate to the subconscious mind of their authors. The desires, needs and aspirations of a human being come to the surface when they are creating a work of art, and one can see this and the reflections of the subconscious through "The Secret of Sigmund Freud", an Abraham Polonsky teleplay, and the film "Belle Toujours". The Abraham Polonsky teleplay "The Secret of Sigmund Freud", tries to make the teachings of Freud seem perfunctory. The program has a Verisimilitude..."

Tags:film, analysis, genre

Abstract
This paper discusses and analyzes the literary piece, "The Life and Times of Flora Belle Jan", written by Judy Yung. The paper examines its particular value in sociological perspectives. The paper presents the poignant and compelling story of a young Chinese-American girl who was first interviewed about her life in 1924 at the age of seventeen. The paper contends that her story has much implication for the Asian-American Pacific Islander today, as it shows the struggles immigrants have faced in their new homeland.

From the Paper
"The article calls Flora Belle a "flapper" of the 1920s, "a woman who defied social control and conventions, who was modern, independent, sophisticated, and frank in speech, dress, morals, and lifestyle" (Yung 11). Thus, Flora Belle was a unique woman, as most Chinese did not rebel as she did especially Chinese women. While in the U.S., she wrote on Chinese women's issues, but she married and went to China in 1932, where her health deteriorated, and her life was never the same. She died in 1950, a short time after she returned to the United States. This essay follows her life story, but more, it gives insight into how this remarkable woman lived and thought, and through her life, it gives insight into what it was like to be a Chinese-American in China, and in the United States at a crucial time in world history."

Tags:chinese, american, woman

Abstract
The paper presents the thesis that "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" and "Bonny Barbara Allan" are two poems which have the same underlying purpose. The paper explains that the objective is to provide information as well as to conceal certain vital information, and all elements of each poem serve that purpose.

From the Paper
"Thesis: "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" and "Bonny Barbara Allan" are two poems which have the same underlying purpose. The objective is to provide information as well as to conceal certain vital information, and all elements of each poem serve that purpose. (A) Each ballad is structured to provide tantalizing information as well as to fulfill the purpose of concealing necessary information. Whatever amount of analysis is done will not solve the riddles pertaining to..."

Tags:structure, scanning, relations

Abstract
This paper describes how Keats' poem illustrates the positive and negative aspects of love and almost everything in between.

From the Paper
"Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the poem is that Keats is willing to venture into the realm of the supernatural to express an "intense delight at the sheer existence if things outside himself" (Abrams 795). "La Belle Dame sans Merci" allows the poet to lose himself "in the fullness if identification with the object he contemplates" (795). The poet and the knight allow themselves to be completely taken in with the presence of this sweet lady. In addition, we can see another one of Keats' characteristics in this poem, which is his ability to present "all experience as a tangle of inseparable but irreconcilable opposites" (795). With the knight in this poem, he experiences the thrill and exuberance of love as well as the desolation it brings him. The mysterious quality of the poem and the knight's experience is also enhanced by the fusing of the natural and spiritual worlds. It is as if the poet must include elements of both worlds to fully express what the knight experiences with the lady."

Tags:noble, knight, mysterious, lady, supernatural, passionate, romance, romanticism

Abstract
This paper describes and analyzes the character of Emily Grierson from William Faulkner's novel, "A Rose for Emily." The paper explains that Emily's characters depicts the stereotype of the southern belle and the strict code of conduct expected by a woman of such status and position. The paper also explains that it is this very status as a southern belle that imprisons Emily and distances her from everyone, and which eventually leads to her insanity.

From the Paper
"A lady of such noble birth and standing was expected to be above the rest of the townspeople. She was even exempted from taxes, at one point, as a recognition of her family' importance and influence. This continued even after the legend of her family had been tarnished by her behavior, showing just how much everyone, including herself, believed in the power her legend and role commanded. This position, however, required sacrifices, and when it came time to marry, she went beyond picky, refusing all comers without exception."

Tags:father, society, enforce, desperate, emotionally, town, gilded, psychic, prison, murder, victim

Abstract
This paper looks at John Keats' poem "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" which was written in the Romantic era, analyzing the characteristics of romanticism it reflects, as well as how it differs from these notions.

From the Paper
"Keats "had a Renaissance responsiveness to the grandeur of man's intellectual exploration of the universe" (Abrams 309). He did not seek to resolve the great mysteries of the world in his poetry. He believed in the concept of 'art for the sake of art', not to come to some resolution of truth or moral end. He concurred with the opinions of Shelley and Wordsworth that poetry should have a "worthy purpose" with an ethical and social effect. In response to Wordsworth's decree that "every great Poet is a Teacher: I wish to be considered as a Teacher, or as nothing," Keats countered, "we hate poetry that has a palpable design upon us" (Abrams 328-329). Keats did not continuously ask 'why', as did his peers of the Romantic Period. In his own words, he ascertained that, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty--that is all/ Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know" (Untermeyer 150)."

Tags:poet, romanticism, Renaissance, fairy