Courage Nelson Mandela once stated that, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it”. In Ernst Gaines’ novel, “A Lesson Before Dying”, the most important lesson to learn before dying is courage. The novel shows this through the characters Tante Lou, Miss. Emma, and Jefferson. First of all, Tante Lou shows courage by being with Miss. Emma, working hard to get Grant through university, and she believes God will help everything.…
kay, so now we know about timshel, but it's also Adam's last word before he dies (at least it wasn't something totally random like rosebud). He says it right after Lee gets him to give Cal his blessing, i.e. show that he loves him as a son and free him from the guilt of "killing" his brother. It's a moment where things are at a crossroads for Cal: he could go on hating himself for what he has done and thinking that his dad died hating his guts, or he can be free and go on to break the Cain-Abel curse that seems to follow the Trask family around. As Lee says to Adam, "Give him his chance"…
The two stories “Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka and “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez had undertones and themes which related to humanity and philosophical viewpoints on human nature. In the story Metamorphosis the theme of adaptation when a constant is changed are presented through a newly changed family. Compared to this the short story A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, expresses the themes of greed, and how when the opportunity arises people will turn to exploiting things and people despite how immoral it may seem. Although these two stories vary, the prominent theme of childhood ignorance and maturity is executed between these two literary pieces. The story Metamorphosis portrays a theme that parallels the…
Neal Shusterman has written many heart-touching and award-winning books, and over time, has become one of the most influential authors of our generation. Two of his books were Full Tilt and Unwind. To describe Full Tilt quite briefly, the story was about a teen boy named Blake, who traveled to a carnival in another dimension to save his younger brother, Quinn. To save him, Blake had to get through seven twisted rides, each of which dealt with one of his many fears. On the other hand, Unwind is about three teenagers, Connor, Risa, and Lev, who all manage to cross paths on their ways to get Unwound.…
Would you change your whole life plan to save a family member or someone very important to you? That’s what Francisco did to help save his father in “An uninterrupted View of the Sky” by Melanie Crowder. When Francisco’s father was thrown in prison for being somewhere at the wrong place and time, his family is forced to live with him in prison when their mom abandons them there. Franciso, his little sister Pilar, and his father are faced with many challenges to keep each other safe. After reading Melanie Crowder’s book, it’s clear that the literary elements of conflict, point-of-view, and theme.…
In today's society people are always striving to reach perfection. It isn't surprising to see a “perfectionist”, in fact it is completely normal. These perfectionists try their hardest to obtain what their idea of perfection is, but what they don't realize is that it is impossible. Everyone’s idea of perfection is different and if we lived in a utopian society we would come across problems like manipulation and individualism. This can be seen in the texts “Harrison Bergeron” and 1984.…
Widely regarded as a timeless and classic masterpiece, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey delivers an exciting story that follows the insane stories recounted by Chief Bromden in a mental facility. One must wonder, what factors make Kesey’s work a masterpiece? Thomas Foster’s book How to Read Literature Like a Professor gives readers insight about the qualities that make the novel a masterpiece: such as the progressions by characters, the allusions to the Bible, and the deeper political issues hidden in the book. In Chapter 10 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster makes the point that “...the fictive world is divided up into round and flat characters” (Foster 84).…
“High expectations are the key to everything.” This quote by Sam Walton, who claims how these expectations tend to inspire and courage us to achieve higher in life and nobody else can prevent from doing it if we have desire to do it. Every parent has had expectations and goals for their children’s that play a huge role in their life in shaping a better opportunities and future. In the novel, Hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet by Jamie Ford, he describes how Henry’s father have a lot of expectations for his son, how he wants him to go to all-white school as a scholar student, become like an American person. These expectations created a lot of conflicts with their relationship with each other, sometimes high expectations from parents can…
Throughout its 239 years of independence, the United States of America has experienced peace, war, and just about everything in between. American culture has evolved significantly since the 18th century, and nothing more effectively represents its centuries of triumphs and tragedies than the literature of American authors. Specifically through short stories, these authors discuss both personal and societal concerns of their times, and simultaneously interweave themes of life, love, and happiness in their works. Three specific authors in American history – Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Sarah Orne Jewett, and Theodore Dreiser ¬– act as “moral purifiers” presenting their case through their creative works that, left up to the reader, may have a positive…
One Flew Over the Cuckoo ’s Nest: A Literary Analysis In Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, readers are thrust into the unknown and sometimes terrifying world of mental patients at a psych ward. In the novel, narrator Chief Bromden describes the events that happen in his day to day life after a new ward patient, Randle McMurphy, is admitted.…
To Kill a Mockingbird is a great book showing how people can grow together. We have Scout and Jem growing up together in an innocent childhood growing into adulthood. We have Tom Robinson, an African American man who, is going to court with Atticus Finch (scouts father) and is trying to defend Tom against the harming white community. Tom Robinson was accused of rape of a white female Mayella. The raping of a white woman by a black man is similar to The Scottsboro Trial in 1933, where 9 black men were falsely accused of raping two white women.…
The genius within a man, Edgar Allan Poe, uses the following literary elements to enhance his incredibly odd stories: personification, repetition and grim humor and these contribute to the thrilling and intense mood of his story; which adds to the style of the story. Edgar included many more literary elements, but these stood out far more than others. Below are examples from “The Black Cat” which represent these elements and show why Poe is known as a unique and original writer. Firstly, Poe uses very deep personification to express the horror of his story.…
Rhythm Hasija Ms. Kanika Dang ENGLISH, Midterm Literary Analysis Paper 3rd October'2015 RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN THE KITE RUNNER Khaled Hosseini explores the theme of racial and religious discrimination in ‘The Kite Runner'. "Racism is the result of human ignorance, social injustice, class differences, love and tensions and lack of self-education." These famous words of Mark Twain perfectly encapsulate the situation in Afghanistan as depicted in Khaled Hosseini’s widely acclaimed first novel, ‘The Kite Runner’. Society in Afghanistan was and continues to be divided on the basis of religion into Sunni Muslims and Shi'a Muslims.…