Yiddish literature

Known as the mother language, Yiddish was common and a symbol of traditional life in the household. Speakers considered it to be rather feminine due to its prevalence in usage of non-scholarly individuals. But because most people were not scholarly, the language connected most Jews together and kept them from assimilating to the new world. Language is a basis for culture and culture creates connections in societies. Yiddish helped Jews keep their traditional culture by giving them a way to communicate and spread traditions orally without having to be educated. It is not until Jewish citizens have been forced to listen and interact with non-Yiddish speakers do they lose a sense of community and culture. Paralleled in the stories of Sholem Aleichem,…

One of my favorite words is “shalom.” Shalom is a Hebrew word that has multiple meanings. It is commonly used as a greeting in Jewish culture, utilized similarly to the English “hello.” It literally translates as “well-being be upon you” or “may you be well.” Jesus even appropriated a similar phrase in John 20:2, “shalom Aleichem,” which in English is literally translated as “Peace be unto you.” It can also be used to refer to peace between entities or individuals. Jewish people may call for…

While nearly all aspects of Lear’s behavior in the initial scene of King Lear are far from respectable, it is his disregard for the two characters present who are arguably the most noble and well-intentioned that give him the honor of meeting his tragic fate. In short, the banishment of Cordelia and Kent act as the catalyst for Lear’s tragedy. In a way these two characters are vehicles for Lear’s mistakes; regardless of Cordelia’s actions, she live within Lear’s story, and while her father grows…

Every worldly culture has it’s own set of masterful artists, which always includes writers. Just because a piece of literature is written in another language, and from a land unlike our own, doesn’t mean its message won’t get through to readers of a different dialect. In order for others to understand the idea in that text, a translator must remove the barrier of language and localize the ideas for the common man. The History of Love, a novel predominantly written in English, contains many other…

Many times in our lives we make decisions that we think are “innocent” and will have no complications, but sometimes those decisions create many problems that led to massive consequences. In King Lear and Babel, the decisions that were considered to be “innocent” led to monumental mistakes and many consequences. There are many terrible decisions made in King Lear, but the ones made by King Lear himself, in regards of his kingdom and daughters take the prize for having the most complications…

through authority, it can also be as easily exploited by a unified discourse exactly because it is fragmentary, which made it more fragile to rewriting and reinterpretation. This paper—again—contrasts Said’s celebration of essay as a genre suitable for criticism, and Deleuze and Guattari’s ahistorical appropriation of Kafka’s letter to construct their own theory of “minor literature.” The paper ended with an example of the the Shanghai Jewish Museum, which by appropriating and reinterpreting…

“Tender Mercies,” written by Horton Foote, is a screenplay, which presents to the reader ordinary people, who are trying to live decently in an unpredictable and violent world. The reader comes to be aware of many dramatic scenes where the central characters have come to experience many complex but yet fascinating situations in their lives. Reading this screenplay the reader will come to acknowledge one of the centralized themes in “Tender Mercies,” which is the theme…

Ready Player One had swept the world by surprise and has all the gamers and non-gamers hooked with his unique writing style. The book was only released four years ago and has remained popular ever since. Ernest Cline, the author of “Ready Player One” has incorporated many unique aspects that separates a good book from a great book. The time and effort that he had put into creating the book was astonishing, since this was the only book that integrated many old references. Such as, “Star Trek”,…

Have you ever pondered your ability to read a book, maybe not, but Thomas Foster will make you wonder. In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster gives readers insight on how to recognize symbols, irony, biblical elements, and archetypes, as well as many other hidden details in works of literature. For instance, Foster explains in chapter twelve that everything is a symbol, being able to identify and interpret them is up to the reader. Foster proclaims, “Everything is a symbol…

It was nice seeing the author of the book we read over this summer and discussed a lot about in class. It was my first time meeting the author of a book that I had read, and it was a cool experience. I enjoyed it because we were able to ask Ruth questions that we had in our mind while reading the book, and we were able to understand the process it took Ruth to complete “A tale for the Time Being”. Some themes that Ruth discussed in the event had to do with the characters she chose, the reason it…