Abstract
In this article, the writer analyzes two works for what they show about Chicana and Chicano literature. The writer discusses that while historical discourse is often inaccessible to marginalized communities, authors Julia Alvarez and Edwidge Danticat create narrative space that includes the experiences of women and reveals their role in the preservation of national identity in their respective books "In the Time of the Butterflies" and "The Farming of Bones".

From the Paper
"These works carry a sense of history to the reader and incorporate the experiences of the characters and the experiences of the reader into that history. This effort relates to the idea of collective memory and how that idea is used in these works and in furthering the expression of Latino and Latina writers and characters."

Tags:chicana, chicano, literature

Abstract
The paper discusses how the primary transformations made by Shelley and Joyce's main characters reflect a change from youth into adulthood. The paper explains that although the circumstances vary in the boy of Araby and Victor Frankenstein, they both emulate the naive identity of youth, which will invariably transform through the realities of adulthood through their experiences. The paper describes how when the boy cannot consummate his love for the woman at the Araby, so must Victor learn the harsh reality of his overzealous science when creating the monster.

Tags:shelley, joyce, literature

Abstract
This essay looks at the issues of gender and ethnic identity in two films and one novel, Double Happiness, The Wedding Banquet, and Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts. These works provide the framework from which a reconsideration of ethnic and gender identity can take place. In these works, this reconsideration of identity centers on balancing old structures of identity with new experience and searching for a potential empowerment and confluence in the balancing the formation of a new identity.

Abstract
This paper discusses the ways in which the authors Sandra Cisneros and Jamaica Kincaid both use a first person narrative that is constructed to define a feminist point of view within a racially charged patriarchal society. Although Miss Annie and Esperanza reflect different cultural views of both Caribbean and Latino perspectives, the paper describes how both women reflect an inward and intelligent first person view of a developing feminist identity within the novels.

From the Paper
"Feminist Identity in the First Person Narrative Styles of Sandra Cisneros and Jamaica Kincaid This literary study will examine the use of the first person narrative to bring forth a feminist identity in the works of Sandra Cisneros and Jamaica Kincaid. By analyzing The House on Mango Street by Cisneros and Annie John by Kincaid, one can utilize the problems of race and the feminist search for identity within a male dominated society. In essence, the first person narrative of these novels reflect a struggle for a racially motivated feminist identity, which is reflected through the idiom of race, family and "coming of age" issues. The quest for female identity in the character Esperanza in The House on Mango Street is the main source of first person narrative that defines a woman's point of view."

Tags:kincaid, cisneros, feminism

Abstract
This paper explains that works of literature often focus on the nature of what people strive for, questioning what society suggests people should try to attain, such as the ambition for American identity as seen in the standards set by society on what is ideal and the impact this has on people. The author points out that, in "The Bluest Eye", Toni Morrison shows the tragedy of what happens when an individual cannot achieve the standard and, in "The Great Gatsby", F. Scott Fitzgerald shows the tragedy inherent in achieving the dream. The paper relates that, while the characters and situations are quite different in the two novels, they do have the same basic reasons at their base; they are both novels about the tragedy of accepting the American dream and striving to become the American ideal.

From the Paper
"It is also important to note that the life that Gatsby and Daisy have is what the American dream is about. They have becomes what the standards of society say makes them the highest class and the happiest people. However, they have not truly achieved happiness. Certainly, they have achieved riches. But rather than enjoy them, Daisy spends her time worrying about losing them. It is also seen that Daisy's wealthy upbringing has made her a shallow person who only cares about wealth. The greatest sign of this is that she seems to be incapable of love."

Tags:striving, standards, daisy, society, tragedy

Abstract
The paper discusses how culture is constituted by a shared tradition of beliefs and values, by legends and folklore passed down from one generation to the next, by stories both told orally and written down as literature. The paper explains that these webs of history foster a sense of group identity and help members of a given community address their individual and shared concerns. The paper explains that as African Americans struggle to attain human dignity and social development, they look to African culture and literature to express their hopes and frustrations and to find a way to gain pride and purpose.

From the Paper
"Culture is constituted by a shared tradition of beliefs and values, by legends and folklore passed down from one generation to the next, by stories both told orally and written down as literature. These webs of history foster a sense of group identity and help members of a given community address their individual and shared concerns. As African Americans struggle to attain human dignity and social development, they look to African culture and literature to express their hopes and frustrations and to find a way to gain pride and purpose. In his essay "To be African," Wade W. Nobles states: "I believe the task of the next...""

Tags:african, slavery, culture

Abstract
An analysis of culture / race crashes, clashes and mergers in the film and literature of Los Angeles, with emphasis on the recent film "Crash" (2005) and the books "Half and Half" and "Tropic of Orange." The writer discusses how diverse cultures meet, merge and collaborate with good or bad results including germination of new ideas, but also loss of self-identity and potential for violence.

From the Paper
"A crash implies an accident - something spontaneous, not planned, with violent repercussions. In addition to the danger, there is the uncertainty of the outcome: no one knows how it will turn out. One letter removed from crash is clash, which is only marginally less risky than a crash, and it implies that both clashing parties may or may not come out of the meeting whole; perhaps with new knowledge and understanding, perhaps with only more uncertainty and confusion. On the other hand, a merger implies something planned, deliberate, and generally of a nonviolent nature. A merger is a well-considered ..."

Tags:culture

Abstract
This paper deals with the social vices of Ireland and how colonization affected Irish people at this time. This paper deals with James Joyce's "Counterparts" as found in his book, "Dubliners," along with other sources of criticism.

From the Paper
"Modern Irish literature has provided critics with a vast array of themes which, for the most part, have been linked to the suffrage of the Irish people. Pertaining to James Joyce's "Counterparts," scholars have identified and delved into three major themes which include: The effects of colonization on Ireland, the loss of identity of the Irish people and the modernization/mechanization of Ireland."

Tags:british, counterparts, dubliners, james, joyce, literature, theme, themes

Abstract
Toni Morrison's "Song of Solomon" and Martha Cooley's "The Archivist" explore the importance of connectedness, both to the individual and the larger culture. The paper shows how the main characters of each book struggle with the individual damage done by a failure to connect with others in their lives. It shows that, on a broader level, Morrison's Milkman struggles to find his place in a larger black culture and can only find connection and happiness once he discovers his connection to his familial and cultural roots. Similarly, Cooley's Judith is haunted by her family history, but without the help of family or her husband, Matthias, she can never find connection to her roots or reconcile her past. It is this failure to connect that ultimately leads to Judith's madness and destruction.

From the Paper
"It is in the woods that Milkman finally finds an understanding of brotherhood, and finds a place for himself in the larger black community. As he leaves the woods he is "exhilarated by simply walking the earth. Walking like he belonged on it . . ." (Morrison, 281). His new connection is seen in his caring, mutually fulfilling interaction with a local woman named Sweet, and his understanding that his relationship with her is profoundly different than his earlier superficial relationships with the other women in his life. As he makes the bed and washes the breakfast dishes, Macon reflects on his relationship with his mother and Pilate, and that "he had never so much as made either of them a cup of tea" (Morrison, 331). As Milkman discovers his family's past, he discovers a connection to his peers and his larger community as a whole."

Tags:holocaust, judith, roberta

Abstract
In the two classic works "The Odyssey" by Homer and "Palace of Desire" by Naguid Mahfouz, the development of the main protagonists is accomplished predominantly through the constant nature of conflict. This paper identifies how these various challenges affected both Ulysses and Kamal in terms of promoting the clarity of their respective identities, rather than destroying them.