Abstract
This paper deals with death in literature of three periods. Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", Robert Browning's "Porphyria's Lover", and Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" are the works discussed. Each attempts to cover different facets into the mystery of death and are unified by the concept of murder in some way. The writer maintains that each is reflective of the period in which it was written.

From the Paper
"Through history, death has been an outstanding theme in prominent literature. This concept seems to both intrigue and concern many excellent authors. Through time, watching writing styles and cultural themes evolve leaves death nearly unchanged but not the way characters deal with it. We cannot change the fact we will all die so our morbid fascinations are addressed in lively stories. In the Romantic era of literature, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein portrayed life and death as one of the central themes in a quite unrealistic way. The Victorian literary works were all quite morbid and gothic, but Robert Browning's Porphyria's Lover was ..."

Tags:death, literature

Abstract
This paper discusses four books about literature today. The author of the paper's ideas are the following: Richard Keller Simon's book 'Trash Culture' encourages studying classic literature and both its classical and contemporary interpretations. Leslie Fiedler's book 'What Was Literature?' states that the examination of the art novel is a pass? exercise; that our approach is flawed if we cannot cater to the detective novel, the pornographic fancy, or the comic strip. Marshall McLuhan's book 'The Medium is the Massage' discusses messages as well as the importance of themes in novels. Alvin Kernan's book' The Death of Literature' advocates negative views against television. The paper also includes examples of modern movies and television shows and compares them to certain books.

From the Paper
"Richard Keller Simon, in his book 'Trash Culture' advocates the simultaneous study of classic literature through its traditional forms and contemporary interpretation, highlighting the importance of promoting popular culture in conjunction with classic literature in order to comprehend the crucial perspective in which the books materialize. (R. K. Simon, California, 3-5) In rejecting Stallone's interpretation and condensation of the Iliad as not having the ability to convey any of the inherent messages of its classic counterpart, we deny popular culture as a possibly influential schooling device. (Spectrum, Australia, 1) "

Tags:Rambo, Iliad, Godfather, culture, literature, trash, contemporary, classic, art, Richard, Keller, Simon, Leslie, Fiedler, Marshall, McLuhan, Alvin, Kernan

Abstract
This paper discusses Poe's extensive use of symbolism to describe the setting, the characters and the elements of his story in "The Masque of the Red Death" while focusing on death as the the main theme. As this story relates, time marches on and there is no escaping the inevitable death.

From the Paper
"During this time of isolation, as the fatal disease is at its worst on the outside, the prince entertains his friends with a magnificent masked ball. Poe describes the costumes worn at the masquerade as beautiful, yet as delirious madman fashions, bizarre, terrible and disgusting. This would point to the symptoms of the disease, yet the prince's guests masquerade thus, perhaps alluding to the fact that the party is not protected from the plague at all. The dancers are described as a "multitude of dreams", nightmarish characters."

Tags:symoblism, death, literature, mortality

Abstract
This paper analyzes the primary elements representing literal and metaphorical death as invoked by the characters in Ibsen's "A Doll's House" and Joyce's "The Dead." The writer of this paper examines the metaphorical embodiments of death that are heavily present in Ibsen's novel while evaluating the symbolism in regards to death in Joyce's work which is related to primary and secondary characters.

From the Paper
"Perhaps the effect that the uncovered secrets and glorified memories have upon the characters in both works is each author's way of expressing their beliefs that death, in an emotional sense, is based on choice. This of course is the polar opposite of physical death, which is the one thing human beings have no real control over."

Tags:literature, death, comparative, symbolism, world, drama

Abstract
Summary: Children's literature can be useful in aiding children in this aspect of their growth. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the representation of death, and the fear of death, plays a prominent role in terms of character, plot and setting. The character of Harry Potter is defined, from the outset of the book, by the death of his parents.

Tags:mature, children's literature

Abstract
The following paper is a brief review of the available literature on the death penalty. The paper notes that all of the studies dismiss the death penalty and its adherents as anachronistic and the paper also notes that a keen awareness of the racial dimensions of the practice is evident in two of the three works. The paper finishes by noting the contentious nature of the issue.

From the Paper
"Few if any topics have engendered the heated debate that the death penalty has. Proponents view it as the ultimate denunciation of evil-doing; critics dismiss it as a machine of vengeance and blood-lust with little benefit accruing to society. Not surprisingly, the furor surrounding the continued practice of the death penalty has sparked a great deal of research in the matter as academics attempt to assess the social benefits and social costs of the most severe weapon any society can use against its citizens. The following paper will examine three sociological studies that address the fundamental question that always arises when this debate is revisited: what is the cost/benefit of the death penalty to American society? "

Tags:death, penalty, america

Abstract
The subject of this paper is how race impacts capital punishment verdicts issued by US courts. The author believes that capital punishment is powered by a system of justice that is heavily stacked against people of color. The writer cites several cases that show race as an issue in a death penalty verdicts. Additional statistics are presented that show African-Americans are executed more frequently than whites. The paper includes an extensive literature review. The author concludes that the public should be aware of the facts involved in this issue.

Outline:
Abstract
Introduction
Literature Review
Conceptualization
Methodology
Research Design
Study Group / Sample Population
Conclusion

From the Paper
"And, Adams continues, of the 221 people "executed for interracial murders, 189 - ninety-four percent - have been black." Is there a pattern of blatant racial bias reflected in these data? Adams insists that "racism...pervades America's criminal justice system," and she wonders, "How is it that racism, as one of the most deplorable features of contemporary society, is able to establish a position in the purported beacon of objectivity and neutrality that is the law?" In her research article, Adams argues that since the death penalty was "reinvented" (Furman v. Georgia in 1972), the "arbitrariness and caprice" of the "pre-Furman" era is back. "

Tags:capital, punishment, death, penalty, racism, bias, prejudice, African-Americans

Abstract
The paper posits that few poems in the canon of English literature are as polished and as powerful as Emily Dickinson's, "Because I Could Not Stop for Death". The paper asserts that while the reasons why this is so are plentiful, the most obvious are the content and form of the poem and Dickinson's clever use of poetic devices. Specifically, the paper argues that the content of the poem is meant to emphasize the inevitability of death and how it does not have to be feared by stalwart Christians; the poem's content also captures how the slumber of death will seem like a mere night's rest to the blessed when the day of Judgment arrives. With regards to its actual form, the circular nature of human existence and the circular nature of eternity - that is to say, the eternal linkage of life with death - is reflected in the poem's regular iambic pentameter and in its use of poems of alternating line lengths; these altering line lengths, incidentally, also seem to capture Dickinson's views on the relative significance of life on earth versus eternal life by subtly accentuating the relative duration of each. Finally, the paper shows how Dickinson's use of devices like internal rhyme, alliteration, and anaphora are meant to reinforce the circularity of the life/death relationship and the inevitable arrival of the former. The paper concludes that the poem is a treatise on how death awaits all of us - but this fact does not have to be met with dread by the pure of heart.

From the Paper
"It is arguable that few poems in the canon of English literature are as polished and as powerful as Emily Dickinson's, "Because I Could Not Stop for Death". The reasons why this is so are plentiful, but the most obvious are the content and form of the poem and Dickinson's clever use of poetic devices. Specifically, the next few pages will argue that the content of the poem is meant to emphasize the inevitability of death and how it does not have to be feared by stalwart Christians; the poem's content also captures how the slumber of death will seem like a mere night's rest to..."

Tags:dickinson, emily, death

Abstract
This paper discusses whether there is a "better death" when someone is ailing and expected to pass away versus the experience mourners engage in when one passes away in a tragic accident such as those who passed in the 9/11 attacks on America. The author postulates that there is, truly, no "better" death just differing ways of accepting it. The paper examines the culture of death in society through discussions of what, if anything, constitutes the "better" death as related in religion and literature.

From the Paper
"Death is a topic not often discussed and probably one of the most feared aspects of life, indeed, is the end of life. As Shakespeare wrote, "Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, It seems to me most strange that men should fear, Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come when it will come" (Julius Caesar). Death constitutes an end and, at that, one which is mysterious in that no one is precisely certain what happens after death; is there a heaven and hell as the Judeo Christian system relates; is reincarnation a possibility - what happens? But, beyond this fear of the unknown, is the unmatched loss that death leaves in its wake. Throughout the course of this paper examines the culture of death in society through discussion of what, if anything, constitutes the "better" death."

Tags:death, reactions, better

Abstract
The paper begins by defining the philosophical terms of existentialism and essentialism and how they are reflected in literature in general. It then moves on to explain the thesis of the paper - in Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Illyich" and Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler", the characteristics of the two philosophies are most noticeable in the characters Ivan and Gerasim (Tolstoy) and Hedda and George (Ibsen). The paper provides evidence from "Hedda Gabler" that the character George is an essentialist, whereas Hedda contrasts as an existentialist in an essentialist society, which leads her to commit suicide, a very existential action. The paper shows that in Tolstoy's work, the character Ivan Illyich is an existentialist in an existentialist society who at his end transforms into an essentialist.

From the Paper
"On the question of creating meaning in one's life, there are two keys that unlock this ageless mystery, long tackled by philosophers. The first, as developed by the classical philosopher Plato, is called essentialism, which holds that human beings must follow a pre-existing pattern, written in sacred religious documents such as the Ten Commandments or the Koran, to fulfill their purpose in life. Therefore, one is to measure the degree to which one is in the right based on these documents and by comparing themselves to those who have followed the documents before them. Yet, the other philosophy, existentialism, as developed by Sartre, rejects the existence of the correct pattern of action, and suggests that human beings solely hold the responsibility of creating meaning in a meaningless world. This opposite philosophy suggests a more atheistic approach to life, with people deciding what is right for them, rather than relying on God to tell them which is the right way of proceeding through life. Thus, existentialists blindly forge their way through a dark void, leaving their own, new path of meaning behind them, as opposed to following the well-trodden Twelve Fold Path of essentialism, which is studded with lampposts by which one can mark their progress."

Tags:analysis, death, Twelve, Fold, Path, Eilert, Seven, Deadly, of, Man