Irony

Humor is the epitome of everything that has meaning. The great thing about humor, is that it can be displayed in many ways and have lots of different interpretations. For example, in Mark Twain’s “Advice to Youth,” we get to experience his use of satire and sarcasm throughout his entire essay. He uses real world examples and morphs them into his version of humor. But aside from essays and readings, specific theories of laughter are used to connect the audience to both what they read and how…

In the novel Brave New Wolrd Aldus Huxley talks about many social and political issues in his time. Alsud Huxley uses many literary elements to talk about these political and social issues and masterfully crafts them to take part in the meaning of the book as a whole.The main literary devices the author uses are satire, repetition, and imagery. The main focus of the novel Brave New World is satire to the most extreme.The entire novel, except the end, can be summed up as satire. The book begins…

The Strength of Deception: How Appearance Can Mask Reality The true nature of an individual can be concealed by their appearances, as looks often serve to obscure a darker truth. Within Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the stark contrast between appearance and reality is constantly reiterated through multiple characters, and the power of looks to seemingly alter the real world is a prevalent theme. Fitzgerald produces a work of literature that truly challenges the reader to differentiate…

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and The Death of the Moth by Virginia Woolf can be compared and contrasted in only a few ways, I believe. Although short stories, both dive deep into the big questions of life. More importantly, they both question the significance of life itself. While The Death of the Moth is showing, at first, the playful and less significant side of life, being swept away by forces much greater than the moth which comes off almost as pathetic. The Story of an Hour starts…

Edgar Allan Poe is known for his mysterious and suspenseful short stories. His stories have an air of madness and his character development is impeccable. In the story A Tell-Tale Heart, Poe proves himself even more with his excellent character development to the unnamed narrator. He writes about the narrator who believes himself not to be mad, but is motivated to kill a man because the man's eye scares him. This essay will discuss the character development of the narrator, and how he copes with…

Sense of humor is defined as the ability to perceive humor or appreciate a joke, in contrast styles of humor are defined as the style in which one chooses to tell a joke. Humor is a concept with various dimensions, which can portray different types of psychological traits. The Humor Styles Questionnaire is a self-report measure that assesses four dimensions relating to individual differences in uses of humor. These are: affiliate, self enhancing, aggressive, and self defeating humor. The humor…

Winning the Ultimate Prize, Death THESIS: “The Rocking Horse Winner” by D. H. Lawrence and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson are quite different by quite similar as well. Both authors use Gambling, love and having no love as themes. Gambling in the “Lottery” is right there upfront and in your face straight from reading the title to the announcement of the winner. Lotteries are a form of gambling. In the “Rocking Horse Winner” it’s not so in your face but comes about half way when Paul the son…

Can Revenge Distort a Characters True Identity? “The Cask of Amontillado” is an interesting story of revenge. Montresor is the character that brings justice to himself and his family's name by killing Fortunato in the name of revenge. In the beginning Montresor shows to be a simple man with a bottle of rare Amontillado wine. Although reading throughout the story the perception of Montresor changes from a simple man to a non sympathetic murderer. Can a man so set on revenge change himself in the…

Sometimes what an individual perceives something as can be the complete opposite of what it truly is. People create illusions or almost fantasy perceptions on what they believe something to be. False perception verses reality is seen in Joyce Carol Oates’ short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” The major theme in the story is the conflict between fantasy and reality. The main character Connie tries hard to create an adult persona using her attitude and appearance to attract…

Revenge is a dominate theme throughout Edgar Allan Poe’s, “The Cask of Amontillado”. Poe uses symbolism and characterization to develop the theme of revenge that Montresor seeks on Fontunado. This use of symbolism and characterization illuminates the achievement of Montresor’s revenge with the ultimate sacrifice of Fortunado’s death. This revenge reveals a darker side of the human psyche. To reveal this darker side, Poe’s vivid descriptions of his characters allow for understanding of their…