Abstract
John Updike's "A&P" and James Joyce's "Araby" reflect many of the same literary traits. This paper explains that the plot, theme and point of view are three of the most resembling aspects of the two stories. It shows, however, that they diverge several times on certain other important literary qualities - setting, characterization and diction. It concludes that although each story conveys the author's purpose, together they leave the reader with an even greater understanding.

From the Paper
"The main plot of the two stories relates in many ways. On the first glance a reader might believe the stories focus is primarily on a young man, whose life is monotonous, and lives instead in a fantasy romance state through his interest in a girl. Joyce's character "wished to annihilate the tedious intervening days" because they were boring compared to Mangan's sister (Joyce 83). In the end "I look around for my girls, but they're gone, of course" both characters are left alone without the girls (Updike 30). At a closer look the reader realizes the two stories describe a young man who, through an attraction to a girl, learns the difference between youthful idealism in romance and reality. Sammy and the boy in "Araby" take the reader through their myopic thoughts of the girls they desire which eventually leaves them with their painful realizations of how hard life can be."

Tags:analysis, araby, characterization, compare, contrast, diction, james, john, joyce, literary, p, plot, poit, setting, theme, updike, view

Abstract
In this article, the writer introduces and analyzes the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Specifically, the writer critically analyzes the literary elements of the story along with women's concerns specific to the period when the story was written in 1891. The writer notes that Gilman's story is the tragic tale of a woman's descent into madness at the hands of the men in her life, specifically her doctor and her husband, who control her every movement until she goes mad. The writer points out that women at the turn of the 20th century had very little say in their own lives, and were usually at the mercy of their husbands for their living conditions, relationships, and even taking care of their own family, just as the woman in the story is. The writer discusses that women were beginning to stand up for themselves and demand better treatment, and many critics feel Gilman's work is one of the classic feminist works of all time, and especially of the period.

From the Paper
"Finally, the symbolism of the wallpaper in the story adds to the tense atmosphere that clearly exists between the narrator and her husband. The wallpaper is a very real symbol of the societal issues that keep them apart. The narrator begins to fear her husband, and even hate him a little, and she begins to hide things from him that she knows he would not approve of or condone. The wallpaper is the visual symbol of the barrier that exists between them because of the mores and beliefs of a society that devalues women instead of empowering them, and that is another reason this is such a disturbing story.
"Interestingly, the wallpaper itself, which becomes almost a character in itself in the story, was beginning to go out of fashion at the time Gilman wrote this story."

Tags:treatment, conditions, female, symbolism

Abstract
This article discusses two works containing either African or African-American themes, Aphra Behn's novel 'Oroonoko: or The Royal Slave' (1633) and Zora Neale Hurston's essay "How It Feels to be Colored Me" (1928). The writer notes that when compared against one another, they reveal considerable differences in the perspectives of their authors: In the first case, a 17th century white Englishwoman; and in the second, a late 19th and early 20th century African-American woman folklorist descended from slaves. In this essay, using African American and ethnic literary analysis of both works, the writer explores and analyzes similarities and distinctions in the ways that both authors deal with the subjects of American or African-American identity and black-white relationships, within their respective literary works.

From the Paper
"Other key characters in the novel, again drawn from an obviously white European narrative perspective, include Oroonoko's treacherous grandfather the King of the tribe, who also lusts after his grandson's love interest Imoinda, thereby reinforcing two familiar African stereotypes: overweening lust and inter-tribal rivalry and treachery, even against one's own flesh and blood. Within Aphra Behn's portrait of the African environment inhabited at first by Oroonoko and Imoinda, then, family ties are brittle, and being sold into slavery is, by implication, less heart-rending than it might be for those with stronger family ties."

Tags:black-white, relationships, perspective, slavery

Abstract
A literary analysis of Euripides' "Medea" as a drama that has a double narrative action: a domestic drama on one level but a drama that illustrates the patterns of universal law on a second, higher level.

From the Paper
"At one level, the action of Medea is a domestic drama with Jason's betrayal motivating Medea's extreme revenge. A second narrative action is enriched by the high emotion of the first but it unfolds in a different context of reality. The second narrative is not secondary in the sense of inferiority but of a higher order unfolding in the eternal cosmos. At the cosmic level, Medea becomes mainly a symbolic narrative with the characters' actions representing behavior important well beyond the circumstance of naturalistic..."

Tags:cosmic justice, domestic drama, universal laws

Abstract
The paper goes into Bram Stoker's "Dracula" as a gothic, epistolary tale that reinvented the Dracula archetype, and to this day, embodies the fascinations humans have with horror, myth and melodrama. The paper discusses how Bram Stoker himself was made famous by "Dracula", and has a rich history that involves theatre and high society, as well as writing.

From the Paper
"Bram Stoker's "Dracula" is a gothic, epistolary tale that reinvented the Dracula archetype and that, to this day, embodies the fascinations humans have with horror, myth and melodrama. Bram Stoker himself was made famous by "Dracula", and has a rich history that involves theatre and high society, as well as writing. In Dublin, 1847, Abraham Stoker was born to Irish feminist Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornely, and had six siblings. Until age seven, Stoker was a bedridden, sickly child but made a miraculous recovery and went on to become healthy, even athletic. He Graduated Trinity College with a degree..."

Tags:dracula, bram stoker, gothicism

Abstract
This paper analyzes the use of the veil by the minister to hide his own dark secrets and remind his parishioners of their own sins. The writer examines the various reactions of his congregation members as they attempt to make sense of the veil, the same reactions that humans generally have to all that they do not understand in life. It concludes that the veil represents death, mystery and evil that are present in all of our lives.

From the Paper
""The Ministers Black Veil? "by Nathaniel Hawthorne is written as a parable which is a short story intended to teach a lesson. The lesson of this story seems to be that everyone has dark secrets that may be so shameful that we don't want to admit them to ourselves or to others. The black veil in this story was Mr. Hooper's way of not dealing with his secret and also of teaching this lesson to his parishioners. It gave his congregation an eery feeling to view the veil upon his face and made them think of their own sins more carefully."

Tags:secret, parishioners, minister, Hooper, dark

Abstract
This essay analyzes the Old English poem "The Dream of the Rood" and examines the overshadowing of Christian elements by pagan elements. The author notes that this can be explained by the historical context of the poem, for the author felt compelled to include pagan elements as a co-opting tool in order to convert them to Christianity. Since the thematic focus of the poem is the victory won by Christ over sin, the tactical use of pagan elements that perhaps overshadow Christian elements is justified by the strategic goal of converting pagans to Christianity.

Tags:dream, rood

Abstract
This paper is a literary analysis of the setting of Hemingway's three works: "Soldier's Home," "The Old Man and the Sea," and "A Moveable Feast." It compares and contrasts the setting of the three different works using the question of "Does Hemingway use setting to help the reader understand the character's actions?" A short biographical sketch of Hemingway is given and then each work discussed separately with the settings compared and contrasted.

From the Paper
""Soldier's Home" is the story of Krebs, who has returned home to Oklahoma after World War I. By the time he returned though, "the greetings of heroes was over". The men from the town who had been drafted had all been welcomed elaborately".people seemed to think it was rather ridiculous for Krebs to be getting back so late, years after the war was over" (Soldier's 145). He sleeps late and hangs around the house all day. He's a hero to his sisters and mother. The town hasn't changed except that some of the girls have grown into women. He enjoys watching them but he doesn't want to get involved with any of them. To Krebs, being involved means consequences and he doesn't want consequences every again. He's allowed to take the car out at night, something he wasn't allowed to do before he left for the war. His mother tells him not to muss the paper, his father hasn't read it yet. His sister tells him she playing a baseball game that day, and might he come. His mother shoos her out the door."

Tags:Cuba, Manolin, Santiago, DiMaggio, Krebs, Caf?, de, Amateurs, Paris

Abstract
This is a literary but critical analysis of Shakespeare's "Hamlet". The author examines a variety of interpretations of the play and argues that majority of them are too basic and fail.

From the Paper
"Shakespeare's Hamlet is taken as a versatile text that can be approached in a number of ways and is open to any number of interpretations. These interpretations based on literary theories help the reader develop a constrained idea of the character of the protagonist who is otherwise elusive in personality. Hamlet can be seen as a victim of fate or a victim of his own character. Tragic though his life was the reader is unsure of the underlying dynamics that rule the actions of Shakespeare's hero. This in turn suggests that the story can be a series of dilemmas. Hamlet can be taken into a number of genres but is usually accepted as being tragic as it is analyzed on the basis of Aristotle's definition of tragedy in the Poetics and the notes from Samuel Johnson's interpretation of Shakespeare."

Tags:play, shakespeare, interpret, tragedy, hero, tragic

Abstract
This paper introduces the beginning of the Beat Generation and how it was influenced by the author Jack Kerouac as shown in his story: "The Good Blonde".

From the paper:

"Expression of this need for individualism despite a conformity in society, expressed itself in the Beats with free association and jazz inspired language and improvisational literary techniques, in experimentation in drugs, sex, anything that would break free of the good soldier mold."

Tags:Ginsburg, free-, style, norm, jazz, narcotics, hitchhiking, free, love