John Cage

Irony in poetry is an essential tool wielded by the author. “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson, “Not Waving but Drowning” by Stevie Smith, and “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, use situational, dramatic, and verbal irony, respectively, to show hidden layers of the poem beneath the literal surface. In “Richard Cory”, the narrator tells the tale of Richard Cory, a man of great wealth and social status. The narrator explains the façade of the wealthy man, who appears cheerful and content…

17th century, Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were philosophers who developed beliefs about the nature of man, which influenced their political philosophies and ideas about the social contract between the people and their government. Thomas Hobbes believed that all humans were naturally wicked and selfish. He stated that without a government there would be war with every man against each other and life would be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. Meanwhile, John Locke believed that all…

Romeo + Juliet is a movie about two star-crossed lovers who journey with a relationship between the toils of two families feud, adapted from Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet and produced into a film by Baz Luhrmann. The movie details the lives of Romeo and Juliet, who are in love, though caught in the confusion of their families feud. The lovers conceal their relationship, but that doesn’t keep either families from concealing their ‘swords’. Several die in the conquest of…

The Great Gatsby is one of the few books from when the idea of the American dream was at its peak that tells the true story of how the dream is really nothing but a nightmare. So, what exactly is the American dream? It is the idea that no matter who one is, where one came from or who one’s parents are one can become successful with hard work. F. Scott Fitzgerald the author of The Great Gatsby knew the truth. He knew that this dream was just a hoax that caused many to struggle their entire lives…

Finding love in sad times is not impossible; it is just hard to believe it is there. Yanek Gruener very much feels that way during World War 2 in “Prisoner B-3087” by Alan Gratz. While suffering from overwork and harassment, Yanek slowly begins to find his belief for love in small pieces. As he finds the pieces of love one at a time, they add up together to show Yanek that he can find love in the hardest time of his life. He realizes that in the darkest and saddest time of his life, he can find…

According to Aristotle, “Man is by nature a social animal” (Aristotle 5). We all need people around us to overcome our problems with their help and support. Holden Caulfield, from The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger and Angela Chase, from TV series called My So-Called Life, both are teenagers in high school. Holden and Angela both have family relationship problems, how they try to overcome their problems is what differs Angela from Holden. Angela has problems with her parents about how…

People should have the choice of whether to live or die. In Of Mice And Men, by John Steinbeck, the two main characters Lennie and George are hanging out by a pond making plans for the rest of their life. Then they go to a farm in Soledad. They acquire the job they wanted and became friends with a few of the people there. The farm’s most respected authority figure gives Lennie a puppy which he kills just a few days later along with the boss's son’s wife. Lennie runs away to the river by which…

American Romanticism is a literary and philosophical movement that was primarily in the 1800’s and was a response to the enlightenment. Some key things American Romanticism focuses on is nature, individual, imagination, insight, and intuition. Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson are two famous American Romanticism poets from the 1800’s that were very influential. While Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman are different in the ways they view society, they are similar in how they value the individual…

We all need friends. They care for us, even love us, and life without them would be very lonesome- just like the Creature’s, Robert Walton’s and Victor Frankenstein’s in Merry Shelley’s Frankenstein. Aristotle believes that there are three reasons why people become friends. Those are that the other person is good, useful, or pleasant (Aristotle 262). Furthermore, he distinguishes between a friendship where “two individuals recognize that the other person is someone of good character, and they…

Throughout history there remains universal themes explored in life and fiction that are not dependent on time or place. In Franz Kafka's novella The Metamorphosis it follows Gregor Samsa, a travelling businessman who transforms into a bug. As a bug, Gregor lives an unfortunate life full of loneliness, which is barely different than his life as a human. In Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron we follow the rise and fall of Harrison himself in a society where everyone is completely equal. Harrison,…