Characterization Essays (Examples)

Characterization and Doubling in Wuthering

. . I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!' (139). Perhaps the scene of Heathcliff digging up her grave eighteen years after her death is the most compelling because it represents the force of their love and how time or distance could not separate them. Cathy serves as a constant reminder with her eyes and Nelly even notices this similarity and how it upset Heathcliff. e read he "walked to the hearth in evident agitation" (254). Heathcliff is stricken with her loss noting even the floor captures her features. He says,, "In every cloud, in every tree -- filling the air at night, and caught by glimpses in every object by day, I am surrounded with her image!" (255). The two are clearly obsessed with each other but their obsession is unhealthy. e often want to think of the star-crossed lovers that have the happy…… [Read More]

Characterization in Hamlet if Shakespeare's

This contrasts the identification process of medieval works, in which the reader was encouraged to identify with a hero's inhuman qualities -- inhuman virtue in the case of books of chivalry. In those works the reader was called to identify himself with a god -- or even God proper -- but in Hamlet the reader is called only to identify himself with another, equally flawed man.

Finally, in the question of denouement the treatment is also renaissance; the answer, ambiguous at best. Whether Hamlet leaves Denmark improved is anyone's guess; whether anyone in this story was able to make a difference is tangential to the question. The question, it seems, is not whether Hamlet will be able to overcome his uncle, but whether he will be able to overcome himself. The treatment implies that even if a man is able to overcome himself, it may still be impossible to change…… [Read More]

Characterization in Renior's Rules of

The characters in the film are multi-layered. hen we get below the surface we find that these members of the aristocracy do not present a favorable appearance at all. Their hidden world is one of scandal. Renoir's characters go beyond a love triangle. They come to represent many complex relationships and interactions. There are love triangles within love triangles and many innuendos throughout the film. The revelation of these many layers makes it much more like the world with which the audience is familiar.

The four main characters are in a tangled web of love and adultery. Andre is in love with wife of the owner of the estate, Robert. Robert has a mistress named Genevieve. hen Marceau is caught poaching on the estate, he quickly falls in love with the maid, Lisette. Lisette does not spurn his advances, but she is married to Schumacher. These characters appear to be…… [Read More]

Characterization in Revelation and A

Her insistence of turning down the dirt road is what gets the family into trouble. She expects the family to do things her way and she expects everyone to live by her standards. She thinks much of herself and her heritage and tells John, "I wouldn't talk about my native state that way" (O'Connor 1938). hen his comment to her is "Tennessee is just a hillbilly dumping ground" (1938), she states, "Children were more respectful of their native states and their parents and everything else. People did right then" (1938). Here we see evidence of how the grandmother believes she is better than the younger, disrespectful generation. Hers is a generation that did the right thing and this frame of mind helps us understand her naivety and gullibility when it comes to the Misfit. She attempts to reason with the Misfit and then has the audacity to ask him to…… [Read More]

Characterization in Miller's Death of

The drama is tragic but what makes it more tragic is how the father passes down the doomed dreaming legacy to his sons. Robert Spiller observes that illy Loman is Miller's "most beautifully conceived character" (Spiller 1450), who dies at the end of the play, "still believing in the American success myth that killed him and infected his sons" (1450). The man is to be admired because of his humanity but reviled because of his irresponsibility. illy once tells Biff that one summer, he will take him and his brother on the road with him and together they will look at all of the towns across America. He claims that the country is "full of beautiful towns and fine, upstanding people. And they know me, boys, they know me up and down New England... I have friends." (Miller 1044). This is an outright lie and while we know that part…… [Read More]

Characterization of Shimamura in Kawabata's Snow Country

Characterization of Shimamura in Kawabata's Snow Country

Shimamura reads a great deal about the Occidental ballet without ever having attended a performance; his passion for things beyond his ken is a strong characterization for the safe distance and detachment in his life and soul. Wealthy, bored, dissatisfied, and detached from life and love, he travels to Japan's snow country and meets the aging geisha, Komako. Distracted from his writing about a subject he has never personally experienced, he states:

"After all, these fingers keep a vivid memory of the woman I am going to see."

As Shimamura travels to his clandestine liaison with the geisha, his view of life and the temporary escape to the mountains is reflected in Koko's image in the coach's window.

"In the depths of the mirror the evening landscape moved by, the mirror and the reflected figures like motion pictures superimposed one on the other.…… [Read More]

Characterization of Hamlet May Be

hen we consider the character of Hamlet, it is easy to assume we are in for serious contemplation. Hamlet is not one of the easiest characters to figure out. However, we do know that he is a broken man. Some of the ideals and impressions he once held dear have surely been shattered upon returning to Elsinore. Some of his first thoughts include what it might be like for his "sullied flesh would melt/Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew" (Shakespeare I.ii.133-4). Hamlet questions God and his purpose, too, saying, "Or that the Everlasting had not fixed/His canon 'gainst self-slaughter!" (I.ii.135-6). Life "weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable (I.ii.137) for Hamlet and "things rank and gross in nature/Possess it merely" (I.ii.140-1). This is the character Zeffirelli portrays in the film. This is the Hamlet we expect to see on the stage. He is not over the top; he is buried in…… [Read More]

Characterization of Women in 19th Century Literature

Characterization of Women in 19th Century Literature

The short stories "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Gilman, "The Storm by Kate Chopin, and "Eveline" by James Joyce uses women characters as protagonists in their stories and depict their life in the 19th century society. The time period wherein these stories took place is important and vital to the essence and message that these writers want to extend to their readers. One important message that these writers want to extend to us readers is that in these three stories, women empowerment is apparent, and that women are gradually asserting their freedom of choice in a repressive society that they live in, which is actually male-dominated (patriarchal society). The thesis that this paper will discuss is that through the stories "The Yellow Wallpaper," "The Storm," and 'Eveline," women are portrayed to 'break free,' to empower themselves against a repressive and patriarchal 19th century…… [Read More]

Characterization The Making of a

Jonathon Haidt agrees with this notion, suggesting that one of the most important realizations individuals can make is that people matter more than money. He states that Dickens captures this sentiment perfectly in that it "captures a deep truth about the effects of facing mortality" (Haidt 140). Scrooge moves from being the "ultimate miser" (141) to a "generous man who takes delight in his family, his employees, and the strangers he passes on the street" (141). His transformation is significant because it demonstrates that there is hope even for those that seem to be the most lost.

A Christmas Carol is a story of hope more than anything. It delves into the darkest of hearts and attempts to discover that the world has not yet hardened it for good. Eliot Gilbert notes that hope abounds if Scrooge can be converted from a miser to a giving soul. He states, Dickens…… [Read More]

Cather's Characterization of Paul His Imagination Is

Cather's characterization of Paul, his imagination is theater. His imagined life is the theater that he has built with glitter and effects in a dream world that not only gave him comfort, but and also sustained him. The author uses Romance, alluding to Paul's idealized view of reality. He got a feeling of excitement from his escapades influenced by his deep desire to be at the Carnegie Hall where he revealed a "vivacious and animated" persona liberated by his environment and music. Theater at Carnegie Hall was true representation of the theater in his mind, the dream, the theater where music and art were the entrance to this portal of Romance. He lives for his weekends at Carnegie Hall and the theater, and school to him is trivial. Cather perfectly paints the picture of Paul's dream by writing; "the stage entrance of that theatre was for Paul the actual portal…… [Read More]

Dickens the Characterization of Thomas

Bounderby is a totally negative character, who, unlike Gradgrind is inherently corrupt and unfeeling. ith him it is not a matter of imposed principle, as with Gradgrind, but of inherent character. He is actually materialistic, the image of the corrupted banker who complains that the workers want more than the satisfaction of the primitive needs. He thus adopts the philosophy to serve his own interests as a merchant, whereas Gradgrind actually believes that to reduced everything to facts is the right life philosophy.

Thus, Dickens completely demolishes the materialist and reductionist philosophy of his age, showing the absurdity of cultivating nothing but the totally inhuman ideas connected with fact and palpable reality. He argues in favor of love, virtue, and fancy as a true humanist. His characters are built so as to emphasize the effects of these dangerous ways of thinking on humanity. Gradgrind and Bounderby seem like two ogres…… [Read More]

Joseph Conrad Master of Characterization

It reveals the truth about mankind and while this may be an ugly truth, it is one of which we need to be reminded.

My research in Joseph Conrad has allowed me to appreciate him more as an author. I have always been interested in this period of history. I can appreciate Conrad for more than simply someone who wrote books. Before reading the articles, I knew I liked the stories but I did not realize the popularity of Conrad's work. These opinions are different from one another but they still reveal that Conrad should be respected for his contributions. Heart of Darkness and Nostromo gives us characters sketches that are almost too similar to the people we encounter every day. Both critics admit that these characters are morally corrupt and have no one to blame but themselves. I also learned that not all critics agree. I would have guessed…… [Read More]

What Is William James Characterization and Defense of Religious Faith

William James' defense of belief and faith marked the main points of his lecture entitled The Will to Believe. This philosophical treatise is introduced then followed by ten major sections in order to explain his position. Ultimately James' case for belief defends religion and faith as necessary, even though irrational, modes of understanding. The purpose of this essay is to explore James' work to explain his concept of the relationships between such subjective ideas as faith, belief, rationality and reality. I will conduct this exploration by examining each section of James' work and highlighting the arguments that relate to the themes of James' characterization and eventual defense of religion and faithful attitudes.

Introduction

In the introduction, James relates the importance of his work as it relates to the subjective nature of its audience. The audience is composed of ivy league university students who are members of a philosophy club. The…… [Read More]

Irony and Characterization in O'Connor's

" The primary characters in this story are the grandmother and the Misfit and the fact that they encounter one another is another blend of the comical and the ironic. However, the dramatic contrast between the two characters is the center of attention. Both characters are grotesque. The grandmother is grotesque because she is a good person only on the surface. e know that she is annoying and overbearing. Because she had to have her way, bring the cat, and show the children the house with the secret panel, the family pays the ultimate price. e can see the grotesque nature of the Misfit because he is a cold-blooded criminal, but it is important to recognize how his character acts as a foil to the grandmother. It is interesting that these two seemingly different individuals almost make a connection by the end of the story. However, it is because of…… [Read More]

Defendant Entitled to Dispute the Courts Characterization

defendant entitled to dispute the courts characterization of him or her being a danger to society?

A defendant is certainly entitled to dispute the courts characterization of him or her as being dangerous to society. This is so because everyone has the right to a fair trial. This is one of the essentials of the American Constitution.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), in fact, insists that all are presumed innocent until proven guilty and that extensive care should be taken to ensure that the court has arrived at the correct decision. In that case, it only makes sense that the defendant -- who is, after all the focus of the case - should dispute the court's characterization of her if she thinks it necessary to do so.

Articles 6, 7, 8 and 11 all tell her to do so, but the key injunction lies in Article 10 which…… [Read More]

Monkey Bridge Foreshadowing and Characterization

The role reversal can also be seen in more subtle details and subtextual clues in the novel, however. Much of Mai's narration of events in Vietnam takes place almost through her own mother's perspective, but as told by Mai, such as, "Baba Quan had told my mother once," and "she and my mother had lived" (6). From the very outset of the story, it is made clear that Mai is now responsible for speaking her mother's voice and telling her mother's story. In practical and symbolic ways, the younger immigrant generation is now in charge of Vietnam's history.

The End

Given the level of significance and intrigue that are attached to the story of Thanh's escape and her abandonment of her supposed father Baba Quan in Vietnam throughout the novel, both by Thanh and by Mai, it is definitely with great satisfaction and anticipation that the reader finally encounters the…… [Read More]

Shakespeare's Hamlet

Characterization of Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet

In illiam Shakespeare's play Hamlet, the character of Ophelia is perhaps the most tragic, as her wishes and desires are constantly sublimated in favor of the scheming characters around her. Essentially she is used as bait for Hamlet, and when her father dies, she is left to her own madness and death (a death whose circumstances leave open the possibilities of accident or suicide). By examining the characterization of Ophelia in Shakespeare's Hamlet, it will be possible to see how the play uses her conversations to heighten the tragedy of her death and subsequently implicate the other characters, and especially Polonius and Gertrude, more fully in her breakdown and death, thus revealing the destructive nature of gender stereotypes and the social roles they reinforce.

Before examining the character of Ophelia in more detail, it will be useful to briefly examine previous critical work on…… [Read More]

Milton Paradise Lost Books

Characterizations of Satan in Paradise Lost

The character of Satan is a prominent figure in "Paradise Lost." In fact, it is arguable that without this character, there would be no poem and there would be no myth of the fall of humanity and the war in heaven. The paper will focus upon this character's significance and role in the overall narrative. The paper will reference Books 1, 2, and 4 as part of this discussion. As most people are aware and certainly readers of "Paradise Lost" are aware, Satan was an angel in heaven, a servant of God. When he rose against God and the kingdom of heaven, a great and epic struggle ensued, which is the primary narrative thrust of the poem. Examination of this character can provide insight into other characters, themes of the poem, and other literary structures that are present within Milton's great opus.

Milton's initial…… [Read More]

Short Stories Comparison

Timothy Findley's "Stones" and Alice Munroe's "Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You." The former is a memoir, a most painful recounting of a young boy's life with his father who was indelibly altered during the course of events of orld ar II. The latter is a work of fiction detailing the relationship between a pair of sisters and their lovers. However, a more thorough analysis of these works reveals that there are commonalities in characterization and the point-of-view of the narration between these tales that is undeniable. Moreover, each details the maturation of the characters from a period which spans from early life to adulthood. As such, the similarities in the point-of-view of the narrators and the characterization of the principle people in each tale reveal that both of these coming of age stories are ultimately tragedies.

One of the primary similarities between both of these stories revolves about…… [Read More]

Adonais and Don Juan Explored

hile most of the poem centers around this face, there are a few stanzas where the poet breaks away and discovers what he knows to be himself after this tragedy. The dreadful aspect of life and even his own early demise surface in the emotions revealed in this poem. It is deeply personal and intense. On the other hand, "Don Juan" is less personal. hile the poem may feel less personal, it cannot be denied that we see a little of Byron in this character. However, this is more than a character sketch. Each poem successfully utilizes the literary techniques of voice, mood, and tone to explore meaning. Shelley is remarkably successful in capturing moments of grief. The mood and tone of the poem are nothing to question. The stanzas examine focus primarily on sorrow and how this sorrow affects the poet. There is nothing else to know about this…… [Read More]

Being Earnest a Critique of Wilde's the

Being Earnest

A Critique of Wilde's the Importance of Being Earnest

First performed in 1895, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest satirized manners and social customs of late Victorian England. Focusing on a pair of young men who live "double lives," the comedy brings to light an element of English society that was ripe for exposure. Wilde was a master satirist. With this play, he shows how cynical attitudes creep into one and before long lead to all sorts of problems. For Jack and Algernon, maintaining a phony second identity is the only way to lead a satisfying life. However, as the story unfolds, the two realize that true fulfillment can only be obtained through honest living. This paper will critique Wilde's Importance of Being Earnest and show the plot, themes, characters and title all work to give an "important" message to the audience.

Critical Summary

Otto einert (1956)…… [Read More]

Raymond Carver's Cathedral Which Is

"

This essay is well-written and well-constructed. The writer refers to the primary source material liberally and provides in-text citations as well as a bibliography. However, the writer could use active voice more often. For example, the sentence "The use of different point-of-view for the narration of the story has great influence on how the elements of characterization and setting are presented" could be rewritten and presented in active voice: "...great influence on how the authors present elements of characterization and setting." The sentence that follows is also slightly clumsy and would be improved through using more parallel verb forms. It reads: "The first person narrative can use more direct characterization to establish the people in the story while the objective point-of-view relies on indirect interpretation." It could be changed to read: "The first person narrative uses direct characterization to establish the people in the story, while the objective point-of-view…… [Read More]

Interpretation and Analysis

Discrimination and Madness: Examining Motifs in the Short Stories of Faulkner and Gillman

"The Yellow Wallpaper," by Charlotte Perkins Gillman and "A ose for Emily," by William Faulkner, though remarkably different in style and voice, feature stories where women are the main characters. Both of these stories take the reader through a raucous trip through time and sanity leaving the reader constantly guessing. In the midst of these vivid journeys through the narrative, both short stories showcase their female protagonists in fictional worlds where various pertinent social issues fester in the background.

"The Yellow Wallpaper" tells a story written in the first person of a vivacious, imaginative woman who explains that she suffers from a temporary nervous depression colored by a bit of hysteria. Her husband, a doctor, who the narrator tells us is extremely practical, believes she is not sick and rents a colonial mansion for the summer so…… [Read More]

Setting and Plot in Puig's

(They must pass time through story telling and caring for each other). In "If This is a Man," Primo has to bury his dignity and identity. (Ch. 1 p. 19 before he is arrested he is rebellious. Chapter 2 p. 33 a hollow man reduced to suffering and needs, he is at the bottom. P. 34 name is replaced by a prison number with which one can get food. Chapter 13 the selection to gas chamber, cold, hunger and work leaves little margin for though, even this though, resignation or despair, p. 131).

Contrasting

While similar in many ways the works are also very different. In Levi's work plot is not as important an issue as is Primo's concern with telling his tale through the day-to-day experiences he encounters. Yet these very details including the various settings in which he lives and the tales shared by his character help the…… [Read More]

Alex Cross Evinces the Fact

This part of the movie has little intrinsic value for the movie as a whole, yet is responsible for setting the events in motion that result in Cross's character's subversion. In fact, Cross's jailhouse visits actually aid him in his subversive attempts to destroy Picasso by illicit means when the former breaks into his own police department and steals the one piece of evidence that can free the imprisoned girl and dispel any criminal wrongdoing on the part of her uncle in exchange for her uncle's help in locating Picasso. The fact that the girl's uncle is a criminal, and that Cross is working to both help free him from any wrongdoing as well as to illicitly kill Picasso, demonstrates just how profound his subversion is.

Virtually all of Hitchcock's masterful thriller's end fairly abruptly with a degree of ambiguity that leaves audiences unsure how to feel about the character…… [Read More]

American Novel

Uncle Daniel and Lester Ballard

Proper characterization is one of the greatest skills that a writer possesses because often times poor development of characters or their inapt portrayal can completely destroy even the most perfect of stories. It has been noticed that while most writers pay close attention to evolution of their characters, they do tend to go overboard with negative or positive characterization on some occasions. Despite their good intentions, they get carried away with a desire to create unusual characters that cannot be related to easily. A writer's ability to develop realistic characters tend to add to the overall impact and popularity of their works and similarly a poorly developed or unrealistic character can destroy an otherwise good plot. However in some rare cases, even a seemingly unreal character manages to leave a lasting impact because of the sheer creative genius of the authors. This is exactly what…… [Read More]

Nathaniel Hawthorne's Beliefs Concerning Ethics Morality and

Nathaniel Hawthorne's beliefs concerning ethics, morality, and guilt as made evident in one of these stories. Consider how beliefs affect characterization, setting, plotting, and theme.

In the story of Rappaccini's daughter, the narrator becomes infatuated with a young woman whose life literally has become poisoned, because of her father's influence. Unlike a conventional Christian system of morality, as is typical of most of the author's other tales, the girl is being 'punished' for no real crime, other than being born the daughter of a mad scientist. The European setting is also atypical of the author. It takes place in exotic Italy, where the fantastical narrative seems more appropriate than Puritan New England.

The title character's father is a botanist who has created a beautiful garden, but because of his extensive scientific knowledge, he has hubristically attempted to transcend the laws of nature. He has created a girl whom literally has…… [Read More]

Caesar Cesar's Work The Gallic

One aspect at which Cesar's work excels in the interrelation between the descriptive geography and the characterization of the Germans is the political geography approach. In fact, much of Cesar's work is relevant exactly because it is a very scientific description of the way the tribes lived together in tribal formations during that time and how they came in contact with one another. Cesar is always very descriptive in his approach and clearly marks the areas in which these tribes lived, including the Germans, but also many of the neighboring tribes (his focus is certainly on the Gauls).

The Rhine is obviously central to the existence of the Germans and Cesar mentions it several times in his work, although most of the time only so as to limit the theatre if his own operations in Gaul. As such, his approach is that the Rhine marks the delimitation and border between…… [Read More]

Film in Bedroom Story Killings Andre Dobus

film "In Bedroom" story "Killings Andre Dobus.

Too Hollywood: "Killings" vs. In The Bed

In all actuality, it would be exceedingly difficult for any feature film to match the emotional depth and breadth of a (good) work of literature. Although Hollywood will claim otherwise, a true story cannot be told with images but with the connotations, the complexities, and the nuances of words, and with words alone. Subsequently, as can be expected anytime anyone attempts to stretch out a 15-page short story (approximately) into a two hours plus (130 minutes) film, there are several inconsistencies between Andre Dubus' short story entitled "Killings" and its feature film adaptation, In The Bedroom. But that's not the primary problem with the latter which, even more so than the short story itself, is a bloated, exceedingly lengthy production high on theatrics and drama and relatively low on emotion and characterization. The primary problem with…… [Read More]

Hard Times in His Novel Hard Times

Hard Times

In his novel Hard Times, Charles Dickens is not shy in confronting what he sees as the paramount social evils of his day, particularly when those evils come in the form of ostensibly beneficent social movements themselves. In particular, Dickens satirizes Jeremy Bentham's Utilitarianism through the characterization of Thomas Gradgrind and Josiah Bounderby as men of cold reason and hard facts, and uses the fates of the various characters to demonstrate the destructive potential of Utilitarian ethics when applied without a comprehensive, objective standard for determining good and bad. The city of Coketown represents the physical embodiment of the cruel, alien world produced by the enactment of Utilitarian policy, and contrasts with its creators expressed dedication to facts and reason. By considering the characterization of Gradgrind and Bounderby, the setting of Coketown, and the narrator's particular use of language throughout the novel alongside the philosophy of Utilitarianism as…… [Read More]

Inorganic Chemistry Linear Sp Carbon Allotropes in

Inorganic Chemistry

Linear sp Carbon Allotropes in Question

While modern day discoveries and characterizations of allotropes are reported, the definition of allotropy remains ambiguous as the question of what constitutes an allotrope is under debate. Lagow et al. reported the synthesis of a terminally capped linear acetylenic carbon with alternating single and triple binds, claiming it to be a stable sp carbon allotrope (1994), a subject of debate as the classification of acetylenic carbon as an allotrope continues to be determined, and the stability of such a compound is in question. The proposed structure and stability of a linear sp carbon of such a proposed length and with alternating single and triple bonds is disputed by Hirsch et al. Thus, the stability of long-chain carbon allotropes and the characterization of the linear sp carbon synthesized by Lagow et al., given its terminal end design, remains in question as to the…… [Read More]

Rochester Through Different Eyes an

Wide Sargasso Sea is primarily narrated by Rochester's other wife, Antionette, who has not had the opportunity to develop the same ideas about marriage and love that Jane has. She does not mention Rochester -- indeed, is not aware of him, for the very simple reason that he has not entered her life -- until the third part of the novel, at which point she is already being held in the attic, seeing almost no one except for Grace Poole. Her sanity is also in some doubt for this section of the book, and Rochester is possibly at least partially to blame for the degradation of her mental state. All of this adds up to a confused and distant view of Rochester; Antoinette longs for him to rant her release, but he is not the focus of her anguish. The middle section of the novel is much more revelatory as…… [Read More]

Classical Greek Theater

omen in Ancient Tragedy and Comedy

Both the drama of Euripides' "Medea" and the comedy of Aristophanes' "Lysistrata" seem unique upon a level of even surface characterization, to even the most casual students of Classical Greek drama and culture. Both in are female-dominated plays that were produced by male-dominated societies and written by men. Both the drama and the comedy features strong women as their central protagonists, whom are depicted under extreme circumstances, in relatively positive lights. And both plays, despite their very different tones, also have an additional, unique feature in that they show 'the enemy' -- or the non-Greek or non-Athenian, in a fairly positive and humane fashion.

The sympathies of the viewer for female's plights are immediately arisen by Aristophanes from the first scene of "Lysistrata," as Cleonice, the friend of Lysistrata, and a common Athenian housewife states, regarding the lateness of the other women that frustrates…… [Read More]

Walter Huston's Adaptation of the Opening of

Walter Huston's Adaptation of the Opening of the Maltese Falcon (1941) Movie. What Does it Do Well? What Does it Lack?

The Maltese Falcon -- Book vs. film

Whenever a film is made of a beloved novel, people are often quick to point out the discrepancies between the original depiction and the cinematic version. Dashiell Hammett's classic novel The Maltese Falcon, the tale of how his detective hero Sam Spade became embroiled in an intrigue involving a famous gold statue of a bird, was made into a film directed by John Huston starring Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor. The movie was extremely faithful to the book and the first scene, textually, often transposes full pages of the novel's dialogue into the film. This is rather unusual in a cinematic adaptation, given that film is widely considered to be a visual medium vs. The verbal medium of the page. However, because…… [Read More]

Analyzing Contemporary Fiction Books

Deconstructing Characterization in Chosen

Ted Dekker's Chosen is a timeless tale of good versus evil in a fantasy story setting in which the heroes triumph despite the fact that all odds are against them. The book chronicles the lot of four teenage warriors who are attempting to protect their homeland from a force of evil known as the horde. Along the way, they learn much about themselves, the nature of the world, and about the interminable battle of good versus evil. A thorough analysis of Chosen reveals that the mind is more powerful than the body, the fight against evil is continual, and good has an everlasting need to prevail.

The characterization of Johnis, the central protagonist in this story, demonstrates that the mind is much more powerful than the body. Johnis is highly unlikely to lead a mission of forest dwellers on their quest to save their homeland, simply…… [Read More]

Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka Theme

Gradually, Gregor discovers how unimportant he really is to the family, and how little they really care about him. He has given them his love and devotion, and they repay him by locking him away when he needs them the most.

Kafka uses the plot to show the increasing disinterest of Gregor's family, and how they have used him for the last five years. His father has grown "fat and sluggish," his mother relied on the servants (that he paid for), and his sister did nothing much at all. He worked like a dog to keep the family together, and in thanks, they lock him away in his room when he becomes an embarrassment. Kafka uses this plot device to add information about the family, all the while showing Gregor's sweet disposition. Gregor's life is meaningless and empty, but he does not blame them for any of it. Instead, he…… [Read More]

Cult TV Series E G True Blood Watched

cult TV series (e.g. True Blood) watched, making

Television of Steel

There are several different definitions of, and criteria for, what constitutes a cult television series. Smallville, however, is one of the few television series that fulfills nearly all such requisites for the attaining of cult status. The show was broadcast before a national audience during prime time hours for 10 years, has won a host of awards, and generated a following that has spanned so many different genres, media, and spin-offs, that virtually the only word to describe it would be cult. However, one of the primary factors that readily afforded Smallville to be able to attain a cult like status was in place well before a single scene was shot or before a solitary actor had been cast. The fact that Smallville was based on the character of Superman, originally a DC Comics character and best selling title,…… [Read More]

David Copperfield and Joseph Andrews

Home: David Copperfield and Joseph Andrews

Consider the respective namesakes of Joseph Andrews and David Copperfield. Briefly, how much do we know about these two characters? Are they fully developed characters? Are they atypical in terms of their respective novels? What does that information suggest about the respective methods of characterization of Henry Fielding and Charles Dickens?

The naming of the protagonists of the novels David Copperfield and Joseph Andrews is important, as these two characters are, to use Dickens's phrase, the heroes of their own lives. David's birth is filled with portents, from the caul around his neck, to his weak mother whom is a foreshadowing in waxen doll like attitude and form to her son's eventual wedlock with the silly Dora. The younger David becomes a kind of replacement father to his mother, taking the name and place of his ghostly, elderly father whom barely functions as a…… [Read More]

Plot The Most Important Element

1272).

The plot itself consists of a symbolic journey unto the Puritan heart of darkness, a place of communion with the devil himself, which, as it turns out, is only a dream. Nevertheless, the dream material clearly traumatizes Young Goodman Brown as much as if the evil trip into the forest, where in the dream, he even meets his wife Faith (" My Faith is gone!'" (p. 1269), he cries in despair, into the darkness, seizing one of his wife's symbolic pink ribbons from the branch of a tree) had happened to him in real life.

ithin his frightening dream, Young Goodman Brown, reluctant yet somehow determined, sets out, near sunset, on a journey into the forest, from which his new young wife with pretty pink ribbons in her hair, "My love and my Faith'" (p. 1264) tries in vain to keep him back. This is not just for purposes…… [Read More]

Setting of a Story Can Reveal Important

setting of a story can reveal important things about the narrative's larger meaning, because the setting implies certain things about the characters, context, and themes that would otherwise remain implicit or undiscussed. In their short stories "The Lottery" and "The Rocking-Horse inner," Shirley Jackson and DH Lawrence use particular settings in order to comment on the political and socio-economic status of their characters without inserting any explicitly political or socio-economic discussion into the narrative. In the case of "The Lottery," the setting transforms the story from a one of simple horror to a more nuanced critique of American society, and particularly its dedication to arbitrary, destructive beliefs. Lawrence's "The Rocking-Horse inner" makes a similar point, but in this case the setting serves to implicitly critique the consumerism encouraged by capitalist hegemony in England. Comparing and contrasting these two settings allows one to better understand how each story makes an identifiable…… [Read More]

Film Field of Dreams Executive Review The

film Field of Dreams

Executive review: The objective of this paper is to provide an in-depth analysis of the film 'Field of Dreams' [1989], taking into consideration such intrinsic aspects of the film as the plot; characterizations; contextualization and storyline; moods and particularly evident ideological perspectives.

The plot within Field of Dreams begins to take shape when, due to instruction given unto him by a mysterious, heavenly voice one day, Ray Kinsella [Costner], a struggling owa farmer, begins to turn one of his cornfields [virtually the exclusive source of his income] into a baseball diamond. The characters he meets and the experiences he subsequently has, the eventual result of his accomplishment (s) and the ultimately reconciling and redeeming conclusion collectively converge to make for a movie that, in spite of having various fictional and illogical inclinations, depicts a pot that is fundamentally logical moralistic.

The film, directed by Phil Alden…… [Read More]

English Protestant Clergy in Literature

Adams, Primrose and Yorick: A Comparison of 18th Century Church of England Clergymen

One of the clearest features shared by Fielding's Adams in Joseph Andrews, Goldsmith's Primrose in The Vicar of Wakefield, and Sterne's Yorick in A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy is relentlessness that the characters demonstrate, as though by sheer force of will they may manage affairs to a happy conclusion. In spite of their sometimes obtuse qualities, their evident pride in themselves, their naivete, their innocence, their ability to bungle their way into all manner of episodic conundrums, their resolute good humor through it all ensures the reader that whatever grace they do possess will be sufficient to make all well by the end of the narrative. Such is true of all three clergymen, and to the extent that all three clergymen represent the pastors of the Church of England in the 18th century, one could…… [Read More]

Black Tulip the Novel the

At times these endings are mesmeric, while at others they increase the pace to integrate smoothly with the subsequent chapter.

Dumas also uses characterization to create suspense. One good example of this is William of Orange, who makes his initially anonymous appearance in Chapter 3 of the novel. He is described as a pale, thin, and almost creepy person. he reader learns only later that this is William of Orange. After the murders, the reader also learns that William's inner being is quite as uncomely as his physical appearance, when it is revealed that he is behind the murders of the De Witt brothers.

Dumas' addressing the reader directly gives the impression of being taken into the author's confidence, as if secret information is to be revealed. his contributes to the suspense of the overall plot by creating parallel between the reader-author relationship and the lives of the characters.

Romance…… [Read More]

Hemingway Fitzgerald the Great

Unable to serve in the army, he too, like Jake is haunted by a feeling of vulnerability. His mother financially supports his career as a novelist, and he is highly dependant upon Frances, the woman with whom he is involved, even while he is lusting after Lady Brett. Likewise, Jake's feelings for Brett are characterized by male vulnerability: "I was thinking about Brett and my mind stopped jumping around and started to go in sort of smooth waves. Then all of a sudden I started to cry. Then after a while it was better and I lay in bed and listened to the heavy trams go by and way down the street, and then I went to sleep" (39).

In love, Jake is frustrated. However, Jake is far from impotent in other manly pursuits. Especially when he is away from Paris, the city of romance and love, he finds a…… [Read More]

Rise and Fall of the

The myth destroys the dream because they are so closely connected and when one fails, the other is doomed. Gatsby cannot have not can he enjoy his lavish lifestyle without Daisy.

hile Gatsby makes his mistakes, there is something about him that draws us near. Harold Bloom maintains, "Fitzgerald's oddest triumphs that we accept his vision of Gatsby's permanent innocence . . .e come to understand that Gatsby is in love neither with Daisy nor with love itself, but rather with a moment out of time that he persuades himself he shared with Daisy" (Bloom). His love is pure and we can even go as far to say that his intentions are pure as well and this is why he emerges as the victim in this novel. John Fraser agrees, adding that why we come to appreciate the man is a "tribute to the further aspect of the illusion of…… [Read More]

Danger of Authority Explored in

Lupack points out that conventional male and female roles are "comically reversed" (Lupack 96), emphasizing the "underlying principle of ironic contrast and the reason for the novel's universal appeal... madness is sanity and sanity is madness" (96). In addition, we come to grasp the notion that the patents are more "sane" (96) than their caretakers are but they only become aware of this after they check themselves into the asylum. Lupack observes, "The Combine's order is actually chaos, and the random natural elements of the world outside provide the only real meaning and order in life" (96). hile life appears to be orderly, it is actually empty. In Brave New orld, the irony exists in the premise of what defines happiness. The Savage touches on it briefly when he realizes that without pain, there can be no real, measurable pleasure. In a sense, everything is equal and while this may…… [Read More]

Odyssey Odysseus the Family Man

Even though Odysseus's family holds high opinions of his character as a family man, his actions with Calypso are the true measures of his character. In book five of the epic poem, Minerva, who goes to rescue Calypso, finds the father and husband "sitting upon the beach with his eyes ever filled with tears of sheer home sickness" (Book V). The poem goes on to explain that while Odysseus is forced to sleep in Calypso's cave each night, he does not do this of his own volition, and would much rather be home. Thus, while Calypso, a goddess, attempts to seduce Odysseus, he does not betray his home and his family, but rather remains homesick for them, while being tired of the goddess. Though Calypso is a goddess of extreme beauty, Odysseus is more enticed with his own wife and son. In fact, Odysseus loves his family enough to cry…… [Read More]

Risk Melathion I Have Been

Mosquitoes cause immediate hazards to human beings. For the pesticide, it is required only that human beings not be exposed to the application process. The substance degrades to harmless soon after application. It could furthermore reduce the mosquito population by 90%, which also means a like reduction in WNV hazards to local inhabitants and tourists.

c. Exposure

As mentioned above, the effects of exposure are immediate. Exposure to either mosquito carriers of WNV and the pesticide during and immediately after application should be entirely avoided. Education regarding pesticide exposure is easier to control than mosquito exposure.

d. Risk Characterization

Another concern voiced by opponents to the pesticide option is that an information program may not reach all inhabitants. Some of the poorer community may for example not have televisions, radios, or the Internet so that such vital information can reach them. This is however easily mitigated by door-to-door visits, as…… [Read More]

Self-Discovery in Their Eyes Were

Again, we see a strong, confident woman in Janie. She is also mature. Hattenhauer maintains that we can see this in they way Janie understands certain truths about life. She states that the "tragic truth, Janie has learned, is something no one could have told her, and something she cannot tell anyone" (Hattenhauer). hile Janie may be in denial of her immediate death, it is clear that she knows it will come to her sooner or later. hen she tells Phoeby that so many individuals never see the light at all, we know that "she sees the light at last: her fate is to wait and see if God's will is to take her life" (Hattenhauer). This is proof that Janie has emerged a strong, independent woman.

Their Eyes ere atching God is a glorious and painful story of one woman's discovery of her own voice. Janie evolves as a…… [Read More]

Walt Whitman and Herman Melville

Whitman uses simile effectively ("The glories strung like beads on my smallest sights and hearings") and uses metaphors effectively to link himself with others that have crossed the river in the past ("The dark threw its patches down upon me also…") because he certainly wasn't and isn't perfect at all so he had a metaphor for that ("I too knitted the old knot of contrariety…"). Melville's narrator, whose work is brilliant but a bit tedious, can slip personification, a metaphor and a simile into the same sentence for effect. For example, talking about Turkey, a previous employee ("a temperate young man") the narrator explains that "…nature herself seemed to have been his vintner, and at his birth charged him so thoroughly with an irritable, brandy-like disposition, that all subsequent potations were needless." Melville's narrator seems to have an obsession to either understand Bartleby, or at least be able to rationalize…… [Read More]

City as a Character in Film

imagery in the movies Chinatown and Blade unner and compare the film-noir type of imagery against the actual statistics available in the latest Census results from Los Angeles that characterize the complexion of Los Angeles in 2010. In all three arenas, we see a Los Angeles area that is multi-ethnic, grime and dirt included. In many ways, while the movie imagery is different, in many ways all three characterizations have more in common than have differences. In all three portraits, the dirty, gritty and repressive city scape has the potential to swallow up the inhabitants in the Los Angeles darkness that is almost as thick as palpable as the ninth Egyptian plague of darkness. The films accurately and effectively discuss the "feel" of the city and the city's neighborhoods. The author will provide examples from the films to illustrate this, as well as the similarities and differences.

Analysis

In all…… [Read More]

Akutagawa Uses Perspectivism in His Story in

Akutagawa uses perspectivism in his story In a Grove here the main focus is on the incident that is being investigated by the high police commissioner. Here Takehiko is found murdered and the police highly suspect Tajomaru "The man that I arrested? He is a notorious brigand called Tajomaru." Tajomaru, confesses to the murder and gives a detailed description of the occurrence of the incident he began with agreeing and the "…when I disposed of him, I went to his woman and asked her to come and see him… (6)" then "...I was about to run away from the grove, leaving the woman behind in tears, when she frantically clung to my arm…"(6) and finally "…Then a furious desire to kill him seized me.(6)" As much as this appears to be an easy case to solve, matters get complicated when the wife of the slain Samurai testifies. She confesses to…… [Read More]

Faulkner's Story Is Titled A Rose for

Faulkner's story is titled "A Rose for Emily," the text does not mention rose. It is ironic that Faulkner gives his story a title that seems to run counter to the characterization of Emily. Emily is portrayed as an object, at the same time the narrator pities her and describes her as an irritating person who would rather live life on her own terms, which eventually leads to her death. This appears to the reason for such a tittle. It seems to be an attribute to Emily, a way of expressing condolences to her death as well as sympathy to loneliness and her imagination about her status. He begins the story with a description of her funeral "When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument..." (Faulkner 484) he goes on to say that "…the…… [Read More]

Mark Twain Huck Finn

Huckleberry Finn

Suspense: Find examples of suspense in chapter 24-30. What do these events cause a reader to feel anxious for Huck? Is he ever in real danger?

Suspense is maintained throughout the Wilks scam by wondering whether the increasing inventions of the King and the Duke will still enable them to maintain their con game, and then whether the mounting threat of mob violence will claim their lives, or even possibly Huck's. If there is a moment when Huck may face real danger, it is when the mob forms to demand justice.

As a reader, do you feel anxious for the Duke or the king? Why or why not?

The Duke's and king's situation in these chapters is precarious. The Wilks scam seems unlikely to pan out and brings out the worst in them both -- Huck says their behavior makes him "ashamed of the human race." But the…… [Read More]

Paul and Trevor These Stories Tell Us

Paul and Trevor

These stories tell us that there are as many kinds of rebellions as there are rebels - in different strata of society and in different times. Some rebel against the external world, some, against the inner world, although all rebellion is inherently internal or inner.

Trevor seems to have become a rebel because of peer pressure, especially among the poor. Gangs form because there is nothing more gainful or meaningful to do, as in the case of Womrsley Common Gang of London. The young, especially, must acquire a sense of identity and belonging, no matter what identity or belonging it is. Trevor submits himself to the humiliation of initiation, especially because of his shy nature. He has relished the bright idea of burglarizing the rickety house of Old Misery and it becomes his passport to leadership in this thugs' association. Life is as simple but unsatisfying and…… [Read More]

Consequence of Strangers Explored in

There can be no surprise when the "shame and pride threw a double gloom over his countenance" (52). He is so taken aback by Catherine and what she says that he must be commanded to shake her hand. hen Earnshaw tells him to shake her hand in a way this is "permitted" (52), it becomes more than Heathcliff can bear. hile Catherine claims she did not mean to laugh at Heathcliff, the damage is done. She does not realize the extent of her damage and continues to do even more damage by telling Heathcliff he is "sulky" (52) and looks "odd" (52) and things would not be so bad for him if he would just brush his hair and wash his face. This scene only lasts a few moments but it is critical in that it drives much of the plot after this point. It drives Heathcliff to do what…… [Read More]

Burnout and Technical College Counselors

The assumption here is that ounselor burnout may be heightened as a result of the diversity of students who attend post seondary eduational institutions, and the variety of servies the 2-year postseondary ounselors must provide to these students. This assumption is ongruent with the findings of a study by Wilkerson and Bellini (2006) who advise, "Professional shool ounselors are asked to perform multiple duties as part of their daily work. Some of these duties math the desriptions set forth by national standards for shool ounseling programs, whereas others do not" (p. 440).

Consequently, shool ounselors are required to formulate deisions on a daily basis onerning the best way to perform their jobs (Wilkerson & Bellini). Not surprisingly, many shool ounselors are overwhelmed by these onstantly hanging working onditions and requirements, and a number of ounselors experiene high levels of stress as a result. Beause the onnetion between high levels of…… [Read More]

Disney's the Tortoise and the

Succinct structural form marks all Disney's pictures and makes other animated cartoons, no matter how ingenious they may be, look pallid."

The narrative source of the production is consistently the characters themselves, and the film's style is a mixture of realism in terms of the lush and colorful scenery and a caricature of the protagonist and antagonist, Toby and Max, as the bullied and bully, the show-off and the showed-off, respectively. As Nowell-Smith points out:

The technical advances explored in the Silly Symphonies partly arose from a rivalry with the Fleischers, who, among all the other animation studios that survived into the sound era, consistently produced excellent cartoons in the early 1930s. Unlike the Disney product, which tended increasingly to an 'illusion of life' live-action imitation, the earlier Fleischer cartoons reveled in stylization, caricature, unrealistic transformations, elaborate repetitive cycles, direct address to the audience, and illogical developments which seem inherent,…… [Read More]

Imagery & Symbolism in the

"She relaxed limply in the seat. "Oh, no. No. I don't want to go. I'm sure I don't." Her face was turned away from him. "It will be enough if we can have wine. It will be plenty." She turned up her coat collar so he could not see that she was crying weakly -- like an old woman" (Steinbeck).

There are a number of fairly eminent points to be made about this quotation -- the first of which is that Allen's husband has taken her away from her source of power -- her garden. Away from that source, she is described by imagery that is rather enervating and in opposition to the vivacity she previously personified. The imagery of her sitting "limply" and weeping "weakly" is strongly contrasted with the images of her cutting through plants and powerfully gripping handfuls of earth -- which symbolizes the source of her…… [Read More]

Unifies and Permeates an Entire

Short story -- A brief story where the plot drives the narrative, substantially shorter than a novel. Example: "Hills like White Elephants," by Ernest Hemingway.

Allusion -- A casual reference in one literary work to a person, place, event, or another piece of literature, often without explicit identification. It is used to establish a tone, create an indirect association, create contrast, make an unusual juxtaposition, or bring the reader into a world of references outside the limitations of the story itself. Example: "The Wasteland" by T.S. Eliot alludes to "Paradise Lost" by John Milton.

epetition -- The repeating of a word or phrase or rhythm within a piece of literature to add emphasis. Example: The story of Agamemnon in The Odyssey by Homer.

Blank verse -- Unrhymed lines of ten syllables each with the even-numbered syllables bearing the accents, most closing resembling the natural rhythms of English speech. Example: "The…… [Read More]