Abstract
This paper charts the growth of individualism through literature. It puts individualism forward as the characteristic trait of Western civilization, and then discovers its origins in the humanism of the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation and stresses that literature played an active role in this regard. The paper looks at how Ben Jonson created individuated spaces of expression while composing praise poems to the new aristocracy and how John Donne and George Herbert composed religious poems that are informed by metaphysical speculation. The paper also examines how the emancipation of women is a crucial factor, because it is through female sensibility that the novel develops its full potential, and eventually becomes the ideal medium of individual expression. The paper analyzes the key writers and their innovations, and carefully puts them into the context of political history.

From the Paper
"Ben Jonson, for example, composed poems of praise to aristocratic patrons. These are not meant for wider publication and only circulate within the aristocratic community, thus creating a space for secular expression. The ideals promulgated through this literature follow those of the classical world of Rome and Athens - urbanity, civility, order, temperance, clarity etc. "To Penshurst" is a paean to the ancestral home of Sir Robert Sidney. Jonson uses Latin descriptive names profusely, apportions classic virtues to the inhabitants, and overall gives the impression of "Rome transplanted". It is not the gaudy ostentation of the homes of the uncultured nobles, but rather reflects rationality and moderation: "their lords have built, but thy lord dwells" (264)."

Tags:Renaissance, Enlightenment, aristocracy, neoclassicism

Abstract
This paper examines utopias in children's literature in the stories "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift, "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, and the cartoon "The Smurfs". It explains how utopias have been created by the authors, in these stories, in order to explore the benefits and negative aspects of utopian life. The writer describes each of these three utopias in the stories. The writer further suggests that what may appear to be a utopia on the surface can be quite ugly when all of the implications are pondered, and when it is realized what has to be given up in terms of individuality and freedom in order to establish a rigidly controlled society. The writer concludes that all of these fictional utopias present moral themes important for children to learn, but also present deeper implications for adults to reflect upon.

From the Paper
"Reading and analyzing Gulliver's Travels, The Giver, and The Smurfs indicates that the basic purpose of these children's story utopias is the same, for they are meant to provide an easy, trouble-free existence for the inhabitants. The basic needs of daily life are well taken care of by established authorities, everything is meticulously planned, and dangers never arise. For children, these utopian environments are emotionally comforting, while providing a way of teaching morality and the importance of cooperating with others."

Tags:fiction, individuality, freedom, environment, daily, life

Abstract
This paper argues that certain themes conspire to create a uniquely American literary voice. It contends that specifically these motifs are a very staunch Christian ethos, a sense of American exceptionalism most vividly captured in the work of James Winthrop. Also a firm if not vehement commitment to individuality, personal industry and liberty are mentioned.

From the Paper
"There can be little question that a nation's spirit is found in its national canon. The reason for this is that people rarely set pen (or quill) to paper to write something when they could far more easily just say it. The act of writing, the labor involved, presupposes that - in most instances - what a writer has to say is important to him or her. As it pertains to America, it is clear that certain things are especially important to Americans and those "things" or concepts animate American literature in a very special way. This paper will argue that certain themes conspire to create a uniquely American literary voice. Specifically, these themes (they may also be called motifs) are a very staunch Christian ethos, a sense of American exceptionalism (most vividly captured in the work of James Winthrop) and a firm if not vehement commitment to individuality, personal ..."

Tags:american, literature, uniqueness

Abstract
This paper basically argues that we all have evil in us and we all have the potential of being evil. In other words, we all have the capability of being the next Hitler, but due to our restraints and good will, we will not. This paper also analyzes through literature and artwork, what happens when those restraints fail and evil is unleashed.

From the Paper
"If I were to say that you could be the next Hitler, you would probably think I was crazy and didn t know what I was talking about. Unfortunately this statement cannot be impossible, for everybody has the possibility of being the next Hitler. We all have that possibility because we all have our human nature and this nature covers a vast spectrum. There are people who strive to emerge on the loving side of the spectrum, like Mother Theresa, who gave the world an idea of the infinite beauty and love of the human spirit. She showed everyone how just one woman with love in her heart could affect the world in such a monumental way. Unfortunately the world was also affected in monumental ways by those who represent the other end of the spectrum, people like Pol Pot, who gave the world a grim awakening of just how low the human spirit could fall and how a human spirit absent of love can result in the deaths of millions. Though atrocities such as this may have occurred in the past, the capabilities of human nature have not changed. We are still able to act in same ways as Pol Pot, just as we are able to act in the same was of Mother Theresa. What seems to confuse us all is that even though we are all capable love, some still choose to hate. It is this breach in reason that intrigues a number of authors, poets, and artists and results in their exploration of human nature in such stories as A Modest Proposal and Ladies and Gentlemen, to the gas chambers and pieces of art like Third of May and Massacre of Chois. "

Tags:art, brutality, chois, literature, massacre, may, modest, proposal, swift, third

Abstract
This paper discusses two literary works that specifically exhibit the theme of the individual versus society. It analyzes Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man." Specifically, the paper discusses the plot and the characters of the two works and compares their portrayal of the political issue of individuality and also the ever-present relationship between art and politics.

From the Paper
"Both The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Invisible Man demonstrate vibrant and interesting tensions between the individual and society. The main characters in both these books choose to disregard societal norms and embrace individual ideals, and are contrasted to lesser characters that choose not to do so--illustrating the principle that what is popular may not be right and what is right is not always popular. The theoretical ideas from Thoreau's Civil Disobedience and Mill's On Liberty are clearly seen throughout these novels. All four works bring to life the ideas of these thinkers and how they viewed the individual in comparison with society. The author artistic visions demonstrate how the political issue of individuality and show the ever-present relationship between art and politics."

Tags:politics, civil disobedience, liberty

Abstract
This paper discusses how people for all time have struggled to find their voice and their own individuality and how this is a theme prevalent in antebellum American literature. Through a review of different works, it shows how many times people cannot speak out because they are being denied the opportunity by superior powers, which is the case in "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" by Frederick Douglass and "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" by Harriet Jacobs and ?Rip van Winkle? by Washington Irving. Other times it is the person?s own views of the world that prevent them from finding their own individual voice, as is the case in ?My Kinsman, Major Molineux? by Nathaniel Hawthorne and ?Bartleby, the Scrivener? by Herman Melville. It analyzes how these works prove to show that once boundaries have been overcome and the struggle of perfecting the use of one?s voice is complete, a person is much better off and a more whole human, if they speak out with their own opinions and accept the consequences, be they good or bad.

From the Paper
"Much like Douglass, Harriet Jacobs wrote as the voice of the slaves in her work, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, but she speaks mainly for the female slave's plight by directing her work at a Northern female reader, who is most likely to sympathize. She uses another female in her story, Linda Brent, as herself which says something even more about how her voice had been denied to her for very long. Men had traditionally been in power over women and as a result when speaking were more free to express themselves fully, but women were more protective of their own experiences after having long been denied the ability to speak their mind."

Tags:bartleby, douglass, frederick, hawthorne, jacobs

Abstract
This paper discusses how people for all time have struggled to find their voice and their own individuality. It looks at how, many times, it is foreign to people because they are being denied it by superior powers. This is the case in "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" by Frederick Douglass, "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" by Harriet Jacobs, and "Rip van Winkle" by Washington Irving. It also examines how, other times, it is individuals' own views of the world that prevent them from finding their own individual voice, as is the case in "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" by Nathaniel Hawthorne and "Bartleby, the Scrivener" by Herman Melville. It shows how, in either instance, these works prove that once these boundaries have been overcome and the struggle of perfecting the use of one's voice is complete, a person is much better off and more whole if they speak out with their own voices, their own opinions and accept the consequences, good or bad.

From the Paper
"The story of "Bartleby the Scrivener" shares a common theme with "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" because Bartleby eventually comes to the realization that he must stand up for himself, use his voice, and take the consequences that result, that speaking up and paying for it is better than having no voice at all. Bartleby's voice is denied to him not by any individual, but by the type of work he has chosen for himself and his own views of the world. He is a scrivener for a lawyer. His days entail nothing more than copying the boring words of others several times, and then re-reading the same words to make sure they are correct. He cannot use his imagination; his job does not call for it. He cannot even look out the window for stimulation, for it is a brick wall outside the window."

Tags:bartleby, douglass, frederick, girl, incidents, kinsman, life, major, molineux, rip, scrivener, slave, van, winkle

Abstract
This paper discusses the protrayal of technology and individuality in Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World", George Orwell's "1984", Kurt Vonnegut's "Player Piano" and Any Rand's "Anthem."

From the Paper
"The most interesting aspect of the portrayal of technology in art-particularly literature-is a perpetual sense of fear over its expansion. This is expressed most often in modern dystopian novels. To be sure we can see it ..."

Tags:technology, dystopia, novels

Abstract
This paper explains that scientists are skeptical about spiritual metaphysics because it defies a scientific explanation for the phenomenal experiences reported by individuals; thereby, the body of literature supporting spiritual metaphysics is most often discounted by scientific community. However, the author underscores, today it is possible to find more literature in support of spiritual metaphysics, noting writings by James H. Snowden, Dr. Brian Weiss and others. The paper stresses that the writings of practitioners of Reiki and prana as a self-healing process tools and associated case studies must be documented meticulously so as to satisfy the medical and scientific arenas. Quotations are included in the paper.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Literature Against
Literature Pro
Findings through Literary Analysis
Summary and Conclusions

From the Paper
"Edgar Cayce, a modern day prophet and healer, who himself was perhaps not completely aware of his own abilities in that he diagnosed, but did not lay hands upon the patients in the prana way. Nonetheless, Cayce, in the book relied upon for support in this dissertation, did, while in a meditative trance, as was his own process for connecting the physical, emotional, and spiritual; recites the story of Jesus, taking Jesus as an entity back to the Beginning, as the Beginning is told not just in the Old Testament, but in the earliest form in Zoroaster. This is in keeping with Reiki, and as we can see by Cayce's example, by his self as a prophet, God has in fact revealed his self to humanity time and again. That God is the light. Here, Cayce reveals the parallel that exists between Reiki and religion, because Reiki uses the light force, the God force, in the healing of the physical, emotional, and spiritual.
"It remains unknown, because of Cayce's death, as to whether or not Cayce could have achieved the same results by laying on of hands as he did with using his meditative trance to direct medical physicians to the specific patient ailments as he did."

Tags:oneness, regression hypnosis, prana self-awareness, scientific format

Abstract
The paper relates that the literature it discusses depicts a variety of individuals, whose work and life experiences vary, depending upon their race, origin, social class and sex. The paper shows how like many of their choices, the work that these individuals do defines them as characters. The paper discusses how looking at them in terms of their employment presents the reader with a sense of the inner workings of Los Angeles as a city. The paper is of the opinion that these passages offer a varied but intimate view of what it takes to survive in Los Angeles.

From the Paper
"Many people are drawn to Los Angeles to work. Many people dream of becoming famous as an actor or writer in Hollywood. Others find themselves in Los Angeles because of the many opportunities a large city has, though many of these are fleeting or not available to them. Still others more simply wish to establish themselves as Americans and work in any job that they can to support their families. All of these kinds of people exist in Los Angeles at any time. Some are working, while others are looking for work."

Tags:survival, employment, characters, opportunities