The Last Lecture

◦James Joyce has a bitter and angry tone towards the unknown. As young boy, he was oblivious about many things happening around him and he developed a bitterness for things that he could not control or things he did not know about. Joyce is very direct to the readers about how he felt about being young and a prey to others; he repeats the word “angry” three times and the word “embittered” two times within five sentences. He was able to include at least one of those words in each of the five…

The Ocean at The End of the Lane is a novel which was written by Neil Gaiman, and it was originally published by William Morrow and Company in 2013. It is a novel of fantasy, in that a seven-year-old boy experienced something horrifying and peculiar. The theme of this novel is the childhood memory which has been lost when you get older. Although it was a fantasy story, this is the book more for adults than children. This book starts with a scene of a middle-aged man returning to his hometown…

Eric L. Tribunella’s 2011 essay, “Boyhood” traces the development of children’s, in particular boy literature, from the inception of the word “boy” to the boy-books of the 2000s. Tribunella calls attention to the word “boy” as being originally a derogatory term for males of a lower social status (22), and how the concept of boy as subordinate to man has maintained in some capacity even as the term has shifted to describe a male child (22). He writes “to be a boy means to be a flawed, inchoate,…

The title of the novel The Catcher in the Rye is based upon Holden’s mishearing of the poem Comin’ thro’ the Rye by Robert Burns. Holden’s misconception leads him to believe that the line “If a body meet a body comin’ thro’ the rye” is really “If a body catch a body comin’ thro’ the rye” which changes how he perceives its meaning. With his improper understanding of the poem, Holden believes it is about trying to stop children from growing older, which is quite different from its actual theme.…

The Dark Side of Hollywood Usually Hollywood is made out to be all about glitz and glamour. In Nathanael West’s book entitled The Day of the Locust, West explores the dark side of Hollywood we normally do not see. He goes about this exploration in a dystopian and grotesque manner. The very first reference to this grotesque and dystopian society occurs within the first chapter of the book. Nothing seems to be as it appears at first. “The fat lady in the yachting cap was going shopping, not…

The Catcher in the Rye banned for “good”: Reasons why it was banned, but still is an excellent book The book The Catcher in the Rye was written by J.D. Salinger and published in 1951. This book contains several themes that include the use of profanity and the use of examples that are not that appropriate for teenagers, even though it is a teenager narrating the story. This suggests that it is a real teenager’s life with similar thoughts, and experiences, which makes it a good book to read for…

As humans we all share a certain experience during life. This experience might not be enjoyable, but it is inevitable for everyone. We refer to this experience as the transition from innocent childhood and adolescence to adulthood. The Catcher in the Rye outlines a troubled adolescent named Holden Caulfield as he makes this painful transition. The Catcher in the Rye is considered J. D. Salinger’s most successful novel. In the novel, the main character Holden Caulfield takes a two and a half day…

The Worldly Philosophers Paper on Thorstein Veblen Linqin Mei Ap Economics Thorstein Bunde Veblen, an American economist, sociologist and social critic, was born on July 30th, 1857 in Cato, Wisconsin. Since Veblen grew up in a Norwegian immigrant farming community in Wisconsin, Norwegian is his first language and the only language he spoke at home, and Veblen learned English as his second language. When he is seventeen years old, he was sent to Carleton College and studied economics under John…

The author J.D Salinger published his book “Catcher in the Rye” in 1951. The story mostly takes place in New York city over a short period of time. The main character of the novel is Holden. At the beginning of the book, we see Holden get emotionally unstable that he gets kick out from prep school.From that moment on he decided to go on an adventure to clear his head and find out what he's going to do with his life.Most of the time he’s depressed and has a hard time connecting with others except…

J.D. Salinger’s classic novel The Catcher in the Rye seeks to explore the concepts of innocence and naivete, and portray how these concepts relate to the perception of growing up. Published in the early 1950s, the book marks a surprisingly interesting take on the concept of human growth and adaptability even after the wake of a second world war. Rather than focusing on the theme of death, like most other books written during this time, Salinger’s novel focuses on life itself and on the theme of…