Literary Analysis Essays (Examples) Essays (Examples)

acism and Society -- Literary Analysis

Zora Neal Hurston's heartfelt essay How It Feels to Be Colored Me (1928) presents the experiences of a young girl as remembered by an adult black woman in the early 20th century. Her narrative is simultaneously disarming and sad, because the good cheer and humor seems to belie justified resentment toward white American society. She presents an image of cheerful acceptance of racial inequality and the persistent social exclusion and discrimination more than half a century since slavery was abolished. Her tone when relating heartbreaking memories is reminiscent of the "everything happens for a reason" mentality and it seems to be concealing repressed resentment.

A more self-perceptive example from the same genre is Just Walk on By, by Brent Staples (1986). The author obviously encountered many of the same types of social experiences as Hurston, and, like her, he used metaphorical humor very effectively…

Catch Me if You Can

Literary Analysis: Catch Me if You Can

Itroduction

Catch Me If You Can is a 1980 book written by Frank Abagnale as well as a 2002 film directed by Steven Spielberg which depicts the story of Frank Abagnale, a notorious con artist who cashed $2.5 million worth of bad checks and assumed various jobs and identities until being caught by the FBI. Both the book and the movie detail many different instances within Abagnale's life including his time as a doctor, lawyer, and Pan Am pilot as well as the ease and comfort with which Abangnale slipped into each respective role. In viewing the history, culture and overall tone of the book and its following movie adaptation, as well as viewing relevant reader response factors, one can better understand why Abagnale's story has successfully made its way into the realm of American notoriety and interest.…

The angel's position as a symbol of faith is revealed not only through his wings, but also through his first appearance drenched in mud. In Christian theology, the relationship between God and man began with God's creation of Adam through a mixture of earthly clay and divine spirit (Genesis 2:7). The angel's appearance in the mud highlights the duality of this relationship -- that it is at the same time spiritually mystical and mundanely physical.

The religious symbolism of the text is continued in the reaction of the citizens. The community's skepticism, callousness, and demand for "miracles" from the angel (222) calls to mind the treatment of Christ when he appeared to the Jewish community. hile some recognized him as an embodiment of God, the Bible contains many accounts of his being ridiculed, doubted, and ultimately dismissed as a fraud by all but a few.

hat is Marquez saying about…

In her brief sexual encounter with Nick, Martha is the embodiment of this predicament. By seducing him, she is clearly trying to have an impact on George's emotions and establish her voluptuous femininity in the face of Honey's thin-hipped but younger presence. But George refuses to provide Martha with the rage she desires, and the revelation of her non-existent son erases any superior femininity that she was trying to establish.

In the end, Martha's confused gender identity can be best understood through the play's title. Virginia oolf was an icon for the feminist movement, though she died 20 years before its inception. She was a writer whose female characters challenged the feminine norm, and whose own sense of womanhood refused to conform to societal standards. Though she was married, she too was childless and she famously explored her sexuality with other women. Mental instability and deep depression caused her to…

Dean Bakopoulos' "some memories of my father" uses the rhetorical device of anaphora -- or deliberate repetition of words, phrases, and verbal constructions -- in order to provide an emotional and intellectual structure to the proagonist's experience of the loss of his father. Bakopoulos' "some memories of my father" is primarily a mood piece, a kind of prose-poem which gets its restrained emotional force from poetic devices (chiefly anaphora): it stands as the second chapter to his short and casually surreal 2005 Detroit-set novel Please Don't Come Back From The Moon: "some memories of my father" does not invoke the overall surrealism of Bakopoulos' central narrative thread until the final sentence. Otherwise, the prose here is intended to be evocative word-painting, and it gets its power from its rhetorical structure.

The first segment of "some memories of my father" begins with a wealth of concrete details: in a sense, this…

Tolstoy and Kafka

Analyzing the Psyche of the Novella: Leo Tolstoy and Franz Kafka

Stories of the absurd are often overlooked for their ability to tell the truth about human nature. We find them comical and strange, but they are so much more than that. Short stories with an edge can carry a lot of meaning, but also a lot of the author's philosophies as well. Both Leo Tolstoy in his work Death of Ivan Ilyich and Franz Kafka in his Metamorphosis reveal a wealth about their own personal philosophies and psyches through the medium of the novella. Each unique story seems quite absurd, but is in many ways analogies to the real lives and experiences of the authors themselves. Examining the psychological issues in the characters does show a quite strikingly similar subtext in each; both Tolstoy and Kafka felt unsatisfied in their lives and a burden to those…

illa Cather

About the Author

The author illa Cather Sibert born on 1873 is an American writer, and one of the country's leading novelists. Here vigilantly skilled prose express dramatic pictures of the American landscape along with those people who were molded.

She was influenced by the writing style of the American regional writer Sarah Orne Jewett. However, she set many of her works in Nebraska and the American Southwest areas with which she was known from her childhood.

Comparison & Contrast of O, Pioneers with My Antonia

The analysis is done by covering briefly Cather's career prior to O Pioneer's and then My Antonia, comparison and contrast of the beginning and work of the novels, the details of the novels along weak points and strengths, about her characters in novels, her relation with the novels in terms of her life as how its related and parallel to her real…

Walden an Eden?

Analysis of Thoreau's Walden

Thoreau will be forever associated with the notion that a greatly simplified life that does not emphasize material possessions can be a source of spirituality and peace. In fact, this is a common view put forth by aesthetics and religions throughout the world. It is difficult to argue with Thoreau's perceptions: he did find a more peaceful life (for the time that he was living at Walden) and certainly his spiritual views were strengthened by the time he was able to devote to his thoughts and to his observations about nature.

A simple life brings peace. Thoreau's Walden stands as testimony to the value of a simplified life. It is bolstered by Western thought that individualism, self-determinism, and critical thought enable people to take the high road. The Western notion of rugged individualism was underscored by this experiment in living that Thoreau set…

Scott Fitzgerald's novels depict women as the survivors of the post Great ar world. Essentially women, to Fitzgerald, seem to be the ones emerging from the moral emptiness of the First orld ar into positions of increasing power; however, it does not seem that Fitzgerald, in general, approves of this trend. Largely this is because he believes that the growing levels of power and autonomy that women are being afforded are being accompanied with decadence and moral depravity. So overall, women seem to be able to fit themselves back into society following the war, while men have more difficulty both because of their new perspectives and because women are usurping their roles. Accordingly, "hether his materials demanded male or female characters, Fitzgerald felt that the postwar world he was writing about was really a woman's world." (Stern, 41). The result of this point-of-view is that within Tender is the Night…

Courtly Love in Contrast to Romantic Love

There is much controversy with regard to the idea of love and perhaps one of the best ways to address the concept would be to consider the wide range of romance texts written throughout the years. hile generally used in similar contexts, the idea of love can be seen differently by individuals depending on their perspectives and the environments they are present in. Courtly love, for example, can be very different from romantic love when considering the elements present in each of the two genres. The former concentrates on the idea of a beloved woman being carefully addressed by her male suitor who will stop at nothing from impressing her with his love. In contrast, romantic love involves much more logic and both the suitor and the woman he is attempting to court have a complex understanding of their position and their limitations.…

Rose for Emily

Emily as a Symbol of the South in Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily"

William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" is a complex short story that investigates the conflicted nature of the post-War South. Emily Grierson represents the Old World aristocracy, refined in its manners and in its dignity. She represents the glory of the South. And yet the South is fallen; defeated by the Union, it has lost is glory. Its sense of order has been overturned and its hope for the future looks dim. So, too, with Emily, whose reclusion mirrors the South's withdrawal from the pursuit of the rights it fought for. This paper will analyze the way Faulkner uses Emily to convey the desperate and sad plight of South in the years following the Civil War.

Emily's supposed marriage to Homer, the Yankee laborer from the North, represents the return of the South to…

Purple Hibiscus

Abuse can manifest in many different ways. For some, it comes in the form of physical violence. For others, it comes daily in the form of verbal abuse, where a person is degraded and cursed consistently. A third group experiences abuse as a removal of freedom, where the individual is oppressed to the point where he or she is obliged to "obey" the will of the abuser without being allowed to do anything beyond what the abuser wants. This is the case for Kambili and Jaja, two children in Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The children grow up in Nigeria, under the oppressive and restrictive hand of their father, Eugene, who was a businessman and very wealthy. However, once they come of age and are exposed to an unfamiliar lifestyle, this provides the catalyst they need to fulfill the purpose of the novel, which is to suggest…

Business Communications

It's immediately obvious that one of the purposes of Thomas' Hardy's "Channel Firing" is to speak out against the atrocities of war. This is apparent in the very beginning of the poem when a raging battle wakes the dead, "That night your great guns, unawares, / Shook all our coffins as we lay" (1-2). More subtly, however, Hardy's intent is to lash out against God for doing nothing to stop war or to punish those who are responsible for causing it.

Hardy believes that there should be a judgment day for those causing war, but indicates that God hasn't done anything; the judgment day never comes. This is apparent in "We though it was the Judgment-day" (4) and "That this is not the judgement-hour / For some of them's a blessed thing / For if it were they'd have to scour / Hell's floor for so much threatening"…

Option 1: Analyzing Edwin Arlington Robinson’s “Richard Cory”

Edwin Arlington Robinson’s “Richard Cory” is a poem largely structured around the poetic device of irony. The poem begins by presenting the title character as a handsome, wealthy figure who “glittered” when he walked, according to the poet. The inhabitants of Cory’s town are eaten up by jealousy. However, the final line of the poem notes that Cory one day came home and put a bullet in his own brain and presumably at the same time put an end to the admiration of the townspeople. The poem suggests that even people with apparently happy lives may lead unhappy existences in private. The psychological study of the poem is less Cory, who is not really profiled throughout much of the text, than it is the people who watch and observe him from afar. The poem suggests that Cory was a profoundly lonely man,…

Literary Analysis: Sue Monk Kidd’s The Invention of Wings
Sue Monk Kidd uses symbol and theme in The Invention of Wings to tell the story of Sarah Grimke, her sister Nina and Sarah’s slave Handful, whom Sarah vows to help to freedom over the course of her life. The novel is based on the historical character of Sarah Grimke, an abolitionist and activist. To tell the story, Kidd uses the black triangles that Handful’s mother stitches into her quilts to symbolize flight and freedom; likewise, the feathers that Handful and her mother collect to stuff the quilt symbolize the spiritual wings with which one can fly to freedom. Kidd also applies the theme of power in both positive and negative terms: Sarah’s trauma at witnessing the brutality of slavery causes her to develop a stutter, which gives her a degree of powerlessness in terms of speaking her mind; likewise, her…

Essay Prompt
A literary critical analysis is not merely a summary of a literary work. Instead, it is an argument that expresses an interpretation, judgment, or critical evaluation of the work. This is accomplished by examining specific literary devices (symbols, themes, metaphors, tone, point of view, diction, structure, etc.), within the work. The purpose of a critical analysis is to demonstrate how these elements convey meaning. In your analysis, you will most likely discuss how certain literary techniques are used to convey specific ideas. You will discuss what a literary piece means and how it achieves its effect. To write critically, you must provide analysis of specific evidence from the text (words and phrases; avoid long quotes). The goal of this assignment is to give the audience an interpretation of the literature.

Organization?:
1. Introduction (explore the subject? of your analysis and end with a thesis statement).
2. Body Paragraphs…

Not of the Same Feather: Cultural Appropriation in The Invention of Wings
As problematic as it may be for a white Southern author to presume understanding of the psyche of a slave, Sue Monk Kidd embeds enough nuances in The Invention of Wings to make the fictionalized account of the Grimke sisters compelling and enlightening. Alternating between the voices of Hetty (Handful) and Sarah is the literary device Kidd relies on to demonstrate different perspectives and points of view, while also showing what Hetty and Sarah have in common too. In fact, Kidd shows how Sarah and Hetty develop the courage to rebel against social norms and even the law in order to make the world a better place. Symbolism also helps tie together the disparate worlds in which Hetty and Sarah live. Thick with symbolism related to the theme of flying and the freedom flight implies, The Invention of…

.....space below to complete this section. Include the number and first sentence of the prompt you chose from the list of prompts.)

Prompt 2: 'In some stories, characters come into conflict with the culture in which they live.'

For this literary assignment, I have chosen Prompt 2, which explains that the characters of some tales enter into discord with their surrounding culture. Usually, a character may feel estranged and different from the society on account of his/her ethnic/racial group, sex, or social class.

What interests you most about this prompt and why?

The above prompt interests me as it addresses the subject of heritage and culture. Modern-day individuals depict greater cultural sensitivity and awareness and are more mindful of the distinctions between themselves and others, compared to their forebears. Humanity has now permitted its cultural disparities and backgrounds to guide its social interactions with individuals belonging to other backgrounds. Some,…

Racine's Phaedra -- Compared to Blake's "Lamb" and Melville's Billy Budd

As Bernard Grebanier states, Racine's Phaedra speaks "with the violence of life itself" (xiv). If one were to compare the French playwright's most famous female lead to the English-speaking world's most famous male lead (as Grebanier does), it would have to be to Hamlet, whose passionate assessment of life is likewise problematic. Indeed, Phaedra raises many themes, including the importance of origin, innocence, and sin -- themes that may be found in as seemingly disparate works as illiam Blake's "The Lamb" and Herman Melville's Billy Budd. hile Racine's Phaedra is the tale of a woman, torn by a passion that possesses her so cruelly that it destroys not only her life but the lives of others around her -- including the innocent man who is her obsession, Hyppolytus; Blake's poem deals with the triple theme of origin, innocence, and…

Shakespeare

Macbeth and the Struggle between Good and Evil

Like all of Shakespeare's tragedies, the action of Macbeth is based around the fatal flaw of the man who would otherwise be a hero. For Macbeth, his flaw is his ambition. He allows his ambition to drive him and this overcomes his reason. In doing so, he chooses the path of evil over the path of good. In the end though, he cannot live with his own choice and his good side becomes his underdoing. In this way, Macbeth is not only the story of a man choosing evil, but also the story of a man who cannot be driven to ignore his good side. This makes Macbeth a unique play because it shows both sides of the struggle between good and evil and makes it a human struggle. This major theme in the play is expressed in several ways. This…

ole of Women in Othello

The Conflicting Female ole in Shakespeare's Othello

In Shakespeare's Othello, women are in a state of turmoil. On the one hand, the women in the play have to remain obedient to the subservient standards of life as a female in the 15th and 16th centuries in Europe. Yet, on the other hand, there are signs of a new, strong and independent female emerging within Shakespeare's characters. In Othello, Shakespeare juxtaposes the characteristics of the traditional, obedient woman with a new, more independent one. Desdemona's willing death at the hand of her husband illustrates Shakespeare's suggestion that strictly following these outdated gender norms will only lead to individual destruction; while Emilia, and her more independent ways stands up against her husband's ill will.

To understand the role of women in the play, it is first important to see how they are viewed by the men in…

inclusion" is not part of the law; instead, it states that each student must be educated in the least restrictive educational environment (LRE). Analyze all sides of "inclusion," (1. full inclusion; 2. inclusion in special classes like physical education, art, or lunch; and 3. inclusion in all classes except for reading or math).

Inclusion

The term 'inclusion' means complete acceptance of every student which leads towards sense of acceptance and belonging in the classroom. Over the years, there has not been any fixed definition of inclusion, but different groups and organizations have provided their own definitions. The most basic definition of 'inclusion' states that every student with special needs are supported in 'chronologically age appropriate general education classes' in schools and get the instructions specialized for them by the Individual Education Programs (IEPs) within the general activities of the class and the main curriculum. The idea of 'inclusion' is to…

Okonkwo, the protagonist of Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, exemplifies the traits of a classic tragic hero. Determined to cling to the past and its out-dated traditions and social norms, Okonkwo uses violence to maintain his power and prestige in the community. As a result, he is a feared leader even more than an effective one. Through the character of Okonkwo and the setting of the Nigerian village, author Chinua Achebe shows how things fall apart when leaders resist change.
Things Fall Apart has several interrelated themes, the most notable of which is linked to the title. Okonkwo believes that in order to be an effective leader, he must use violence and aggression instead of methods that promote peace and collaboration. He understandably resists the colonial influences on his village, but fails to provide his fellow people with a viable alternative they can embrace. As a result of his…

Upstairs analysis

"to the One Upstairs:" God as Boss

In "To the One Upstairs," Charles Simic personifies God by comparing the deity to a boss at an office or workplace. While Simic's references and analogy may be considered to be somewhat unorthodox, and possibly heretical and blasphemous. There are several aspects of the poem that help to make it unique and discriminate it from other literary works. Some elements that allow "To the One Upstairs" to be engaging and draw the reader in include the poem's theme, the personification of God, and the analogy that Simic is able to draw between a boss and God.

"To the One Upstairs" draws upon Simic's personal background and his beliefs on religion, and God, are reflected in this highly religious poem. Though the poem does not name God as its subject, it is highly religious, a theme that carries through the entire poem.…

Carver's "Cathedral"

An Analysis of Theme and Plot in Carver's "Cathedral"

Raymond Carver states that by the mid-1960s he had tired of reading and writing "long narrative fiction" ("On riting" 46). Shorter fiction, he found, was more immediate. Flannery O'Connor states a similar idea in The Habit of Being: for her, the novel was a literary medium that could bog down all of one's creative powers. Turning to a short story was a way of escape: "My novel is at an impasse. In fact it has been at one for as long as I can remember. Before Christmas I couldn't stand it any longer so I began a short story. It's like escaping from the penitentiary" (O'Connor 127). This mode of thought may help us to understand why Carver turned to composing shorter works of fiction like "Cathedral," a work that acts as a brief glimpse into how one man's…

He has to object to it to keep from confronting it in himself. The Oklahoman is not so cynical, however, for he immediately grasps hold of Parr's contradiction and cries out, "Yeah, and how about hanging the bastard? That's pretty goddam cold-blooded too" (Capote 306). The Oklahoman objects to the murder, which he views as a product of that coldness which he hears in Parr's words. The Oklahoman may represent a kind of outsider, not yet tainted by the American thirst for blood and sentimentality. To save the killer, he is willing to grant mercy, if only it will help put an end to the coldness.

At this point another man, the Reverend Post, interjects his thoughts. He seems to understand something of mercy, but at the same time he despairs of ever seeing it: "ell,' he said, passing around a snapshot reproduction of Perry Smith's portrait of Jesus, 'any…

Also, the use of the French language by the characters in a different type shows how the English regard French and France as exotic, in contrast of course, to Flaubert's own provincial French characters. The culture clash between French and English language and culture is a running theme in the novel.

The use of different fonts also allows for far more text on the page than is typical of most graphic novels. This befits the subject, given that it is a literary satire, and a satire of how art affects life. For example, in one dinner party, Gemma is distracted, ignoring what other characters are saying, and thinking about her lover in a similarly distracted state thinking about Gemma. This is shown by depicting thought balloon within thought balloon ad infinitum.

orks Cited

Simmonds, Posy. Gemma Bovery. Pantheon,…

Creation Myth Analysis

Case Study of the History of iblical Creation Narratives

What Is Myth?

What Is History?

Manetho

Josephus

Jeroboam

Is Genesis 1:1-2:4 Myth?

Is Genesis 1:1-2:4 History?

Is Genesis 1:1-2:4 oth Myth and History?

An Analysis of the iblical Creation Narrative of Genesis 1:1-25 and Egypt's Possible Influence on the Historical Record

God created the world in just six days, and rested on the seventh, but scholars have not rested at all over the millennia in their investigation of its account in the historical record, particularly Genesis 1:1-25. Given its importance to humankind, it is little wonder that so much attention has been devoted to how the universe was created and what place humanity has in this immense cosmos. Indeed, the creation of the universe and the origin of mankind are the subject of numerous myths around the world, with many sharing some distinct commonalities. According to S.G.F.…

According to Hebraic tradition, the chronological period in the book consists of the second month of the second year (measured from Exodus) to the beginning of the eleventh month of the fortieth year -- in all, roughly 39 years 9 months of wandering, with, of course, fewer in number at the end of the journey than at the beginning. Again, according to tradition, Moses was the author of all five books of the Torah, but stylistically, at least in both Hebrew and then Aramaic, the prose in Numbers is far dryer and more scholarly, leading most to believe that this particular section was derived from several priestly sources tentatively dated at 4th-6th century BC (Harris, 1985).

Since Numbers is divided into three parts, it is useful to provide an overview of the literative focus and consequences of each section:

Number's the eople of the Lord -- God ordered Moses to…

Unfair

Robert Francis was an American poet whose work is reminiscent of Robert Francis, his mentor. Francis' writing has often compared to other writers such as Frost, Emily Dickinson, and Henry David Thoreau. Although Francis's work has frequently been neglected and is "often excluded from major anthologies of American poetry," those that have read his work have praised him and his writing. In "Fair and Unfair," Francis comments on balance in nature and in society. Like Frost, Francis contends nature has the ability to provide guidance if only man is smart enough to observe it. In "Fair and Unfair," Francis is able to find balance through what is written and how it is written.

The poem is told from a first person, omniscient perspective and the narrator appears to be addressing the general public; it appears as though the narrator seeks to bring attention to how nature has become disregarded…

In fact, one of the principle facets of Moominpappa's character is to introduce didactic messages to his family, particularly to his children. Doing so is part of his job as a father and as the head of a household. Unfortunately, not all of his methods of teaching his family are as entertaining as his memoirs, as the following quotation from Moominpappa at Sea, in which he warns his family of the dangers of forest fires, proves.

He had warned the family. Time and time again he had explained how necessary it was to be careful in August. He had described the burning valley, the roar of the flames, the white-hot tree trunks, and the fire creeping along the ground underneath the moss. Blinding columns of flame flung upward against the night sky! aves of fire, rushing down the sides of the valley and on toward the sea… (Jansson).

The hyperbolic…

"The rain, of course. It came midway though the third day, clouds the color of iron filings, the lake hammered to iron too, and the storm that crashed through the trees and beat at their tent with a thousand angry fists (p.4)." This quotation is all the more salient for the fact that in the subsequent paragraph the author mentions that the lovers have neglected to bring sufficient protection. The imagery of the angry fists and the grey storm ravaging trees foreshadows the consequences of such neglect.

Boyle employs a similar sense of foreboding by utilizing imagery inherent in Winter to foreshadow the trouble which the will beset upon the characters when China gives birth. Although the setting is in mid-December, the following quotation, in which China is going to meet Jeremy at a hotel to give birth and then destroy her child, is definitely like Winter in tone and…

Alcohol vs. coffee: Literary reaction

"The sweet Poison of the Treacherous Grape/....Drowning our very Reason and our Souls." The 18th century marked the beginning of what would come to be known as the neoclassical era of art and literature. It was the era of satire, marked by a belief in reason over emotion, an age which prized what was artificial, man-made and constructed over what was natural and instinctive. It was also the era of coffee and the coffee house. In this poem, coffee is celebrated as a beverage that sharpens the intellect, rather than dulls it like alcohol, the 'poison' that drowns reason. Throughout the poem, a dichotomy of coffee vs. alcohol is created. The values of the Age of Enlightenment are exemplified in this contrast, as well as many of the literary features of the era, including rhyming couplets, metrical verse, and poems that 'say' what they mean…

Bible

Isaiah Chapter 6 addresses Isaiah's commission, and is a perfect example of the use of narrative structure, format, and style in the Hebrew Bible. A plethora of Tate's literary elements pertain directly to Isaiah, and reading Isaiah with Tate's elements in mind enhances understanding of the text. In particular, Isaiah 6 reflects Old Testament narratology: the method by which the story is being told. Hebrew narratology retains core elements, some of which are adhered to and some of which are subverted in Isaiah 6. Isaiah 6 is told from a first person point-of-view, evident from the first line: "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple," (Isaiah 6:1). The first person point-of-view establishes a literary, thematic, and semantic bond between implied reader and implied narrator. Moreover, the first person point-of-view…

Wild Geese Analysis

Oliver's "Wild Geese"

Mary Oliver is an American poet who explores an individual's relationship with nature through her work. Oliver's poetry has been described as "an excellent antidote for the excesses of civilization for too much flurry and inattention, and the baroque conventions of our social and professional lives. She is a poet of wisdom and generosity whose vision allows us to look intimately at a world not of our making" (Mary Oliver, n.d.). In "Wild Geese," Oliver uses imagery, content, and form to explore the relationship between an individual and nature.

In "Wild Geese" (1986), Oliver use of imagery helps to establish the bond that she is advocating between individuals and nature. The first six lines of the poem focus on the individual and establish that the individual does "not have to be good" and does "not have to walk on [their] knees/for a hundred miles…

Subject should also increase fat intake to better balance his diet.

Subject's fiber consumption was so far in excess of DV that negative digestive consequences cannot be ruled out.

Salt intake was more than the DV, but could be easily corrected with some minor dietary changes.

The Food Standards Agency has developed the Eat Well Plate as an easy to follow nutritional guideline.

The Eat Well Plate is a visual display and quick reference for consumers to better balance their diets in compliance with the DV's. Analysis revealed a shortfall in fruits and vegetables as well as bread, rice and pasta - the two largest sections of the plate. Subjects fat consumptions were well below the DV's, but per the Eat Well Plate are the smallest category recommended.

ecommendations for Subject's improved nutritional balance would include increased caloric intake, weighted heavily in the fruits and vegetables, breads, rice and pasta…

The student jumps from one tense to another in the space of two sentences, revealing a discussion which is largely uncertain of its own chronology. Naturally, this makes the work a very unclear experience for the reader such as in the pair of sentences in the second paragraph, which declare that "A few days later 'This alarms the Crows.' Father Crows discussed the matter with the other animals that live in the banyan tree." Again, only with respect to tense changes, the pattern of error in this sentence jumps from present tense (alarms), to past tense (discussed) and then back to present (live). These examples all come from the first few sentences of the essay, and are consistently observable throughout, indicating that verb conjugation is an area of particular need for this student where written expression in concerned.

Other issues that are often encountered by ELL students will concern the…

Adultery and any sort of infidelity turns out to be a different story for men as Rosenthal stresses: "prohibition against adultery is not about property, pregnancy, misdirected male desire, or bloodlines, as one might have thought, but about the prevention of female comparison" (Rosenthal, 2008) as sharing men would be established by the size of their sexual organs.

A recurrent theme in the play from a gender perspective relates to the fact that the play is generally a patriarchal type of play in which paternal figures are predominant and the evolution of the other characters is a direct result of this way of using power. The women in this play, especially Doralice and Melantha are victimized as women had lesser rights to speak their minds or act according to their decisions. The paternalistic environment is also observed in the way Palamede and Rhodophil behave, as all four of them find…

"In eloved, Morrison allows the reader to share the legacy of slavery as the characters Sethe, Paul D, and Denver attempt to make a new life in freedom. However, they cannot put the past, lived in slavery, behind them; they must reveal it to themselves, to each other, and to the reader in 'digestible pieces.'" (Nigro) The traumatic events which were experienced by slaves cannot be wiped clean, and the past will continue to have an effect on the future. Today, the concept of post-traumatic stress disorder -- the psychological consequences of experiencing traumatic events -- would perhaps be identified in Morrison's characters. (Feldspar) Nightmares, flashbacks, irritability, emotional detachment, and other distress are common symptoms, and certainly experienced by Sethe and others in eloved, all of which are a kind of continued mental slavery.

In addition to freedom being a myth because of legal and psychological reasons, there are also…

Synge's iders To The Sea

Analysis of structure, narrative, and irony in Synge's "iders to the Sea"

John Millington Synge is considered to be one of Irish literature's most influential writers. Born near Dublin in 1871, he was highly interested in studying music before turning his attentions to literature. In 1898, Synge made his first visit to the Aran Islands, which he continued to visit at various intervals for the next four years (J.M. Synge, n.d.). It was during this time that he began to study the way of life on the islands. "On they rocky, isolated islands, Synge took photographs and notes. He listened to the speech of the islanders, a musical, old-fashioned, Irish-flavored dialect of English. He conversed with them in Irish and English, listened to stories, and learned the impact that the sound of word could have apart from their meaning" (J.M. Synge, n.d.). The influence of…

The poem that is reviewed in this brief essay is The Very End, as written by Tom Sleigh. As is indicated by the essay assignment prompt, the poem is about Sleigh’s grandmother. This is made quite clear on the page with the poem. Indeed, there is the text “For my grandmother” just below the title of the essay. What follows is a poem that is not terribly long. However, there is obviously a lot going on and the verbiage on display is both profound and nebulous at the same time. This is true in terms of what is said about his grandmother. It is also true about what is said about others. While Sleigh’s message is shrouded and dressed with some interesting references, the intent of the poem’s author is quite clear.
Analysis
One thing to point out about the poem is how Sleigh swings back and forth in terms…

Modernism: Depth Analysis European Art Works 1860-1935

Modernism, in its widest meaning, is considered to be modern belief, eccentric, or practice. To add a little more, the word gives a description of the modernist movement occurring in the arts, its set of cultural propensities and related cultural actions, initially rising from wide-scale and extensive differences to Western civilization in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (aker 2005). In specific the expansion of modern industrial cultures and the quick growing of cities, trailed then by the dismay of the First World War, were among the issues that fashioned Modernism. Connected expressions are modernist, modern, present-day, and postmodern. In art, Modernism openly rejects the philosophy of realism (aker 2005) and creates usage of the works from previous times, through the request of return, incorporation, redrafting, recapitulation, review and at times mockery in new methods. (aker 2005) Innovation also discards the lasting…

Analysis of passage from The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and Other Stories by Carson McCullers (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1951; rpt. 1971), pp.3-5

Carson McCullers' short story "The Ballad of the Sad Cafe" is set in a town that is immediately established as remote, rural, and Southern: it is located near a cotton mill, there are peach trees all over the area, and there is only a single church. Even the buses are three miles away, which suggest the stranded and isolated nature of the residents. The main street is only two miles long, and there is "nothing whatsoever to do" during the long, hot summers. Even the nearest train stop (the significantly named 'Society' City) is far away. The largest building looks lonely and is boarded up completely. This large building, half-painted and left unfinished becomes a kind of metaphor for the town, as well as the woman…

Blurring the Gap Between Fiction and eal Life

This is a paper that outlines how modern literature integrates personal experiences of the writers into works of fiction. It has 5 sources.

It is quite interesting to note the means by which eminent writers attract attention to their ideas and literary content. On closer examination, we may come to the conclusion that the means by which public attention may be grabbed has followed a definite pattern through the years. While writers like Shakespeare and his contemporaries used fiction to project their literary geniuses, modern day writers strive to catch the attention of the masses by presenting their own personal conflicts and tragedies to the public. The modern writer has lessened the gap between a literary piece of work and real life. However, literature in the classical period is known for its often unnatural and over-dramatized perspectives on life. Today, the stories…

Cleandro has learned everything from Nicomaco, but is not grateful enough to share the prize with Nicomaco. (Phillipakis, 2011, p. 13). According to Phillipakis, "…they are competitors for a prize that cannot be shared. Fortune is a kingdom 'safeliest when with one man manned.'" (Phillipakis, 2011, p. 13)

Phillipakis concludes that Machiavelli "must remain the philosopher who generates thoughts but not deeds," simply "…because he cannot be anything more." (Phillipakis, 2011, p. 13).

Critique

Phillipakis appears to have something against philosophers and bookish men in general. Men who are thinkers, rather than doers. Or perhaps only against bookish men who presume to be manly men, such as Machiavelli.

Phillipakis' rage seems to stem from certain passages in Machiavelli's The Prince that could be perceived as misogynistic. She appears to dwell particularly on Machiavelli's comments about raping "Fortuna," the female characterization of fortune. Machiavelli is, of course, speaking metaphorically here. Though…

Kate Chopin, "The Story of an Hour"

Kate Chopin's 1894 short story "The Story of An Hour" depicts a major event in a minimalist fashion -- most of the action of the tale takes place in the mind of the protagonist, Louise Mallard. The story fits well with modern summaries of Chopin's achievement in longer fiction: her well-known novel The Awakening, published five years after "The Story of An Hour," would revisit many of the same themes depicted in the earlier story, but will dramatize them in large broad colorful strokes, endeavoring accurately to depict the vanishing world of Creole New Orleans at the same time as they depict, in Martha Cutter's words, "stronger, less conventional female characters" (Cutter 34). In his survey of the nineteenth century American novel, Gregg Crane notes that in The Awakening "Chopin convincingly dramatizes how an unnameable and relatively faint discontent grows into a very…

Yes, the Oedipus complex aspect of Shakespeare it gives us and which in turn invites us to think about the issue of subjectivity, the myth and its relation to psychoanalytic theory. (Selfe, 1999, p292-322)

Hemlet and Postcolonial theory

Postcolonial theory was born as a result of the publication of the famous work of Edward Said, Orientalism (1978). This theory claim that some authors (Paul Gilroy, Achille Mbembe, Francoise Verges, etc.) and that seem so elegant in its formulation, in my opinion raises three fundamental problems: At a time when we are witnessing the emergence of new expressions of colonialism (colonialism, cultural, political and economic globalization, neo-colonialism nestled in the relationship between the hegemonic colonial past and their old colonies, colonialism in disguise that structure the relationship between international institutions and developing countries, institutions from the rest behest of the former colonial powers according to their interests), speak of post-colonial era…

Note in the above two lines the way that the coming "doom" is emphasized by word order and the placement of active verbs at the end of each line. Use is also made telling adjectives such as "lowering sky" to emphasize the apparent awesomeness of the coming washing day.

The following lines express an obviously ironic comparison between the mundane images of washing day and tragic events in history.

Saints have been calm while stretched upon the rack,

And Guatimozin smil'd on burning coals;

ut never yet did housewife notable

Greet with a smile a rainy washing-day.

Lines 29 -32)

The reference to the death of the Mexican Emperor Guatimozin makes the concerns and work of the maids and housewives seem extremely trivial and are a good example of the way that the mock-heroic expresses a point-of-view through satire.

The poem continues in this fashion to present a view of…

Exegetical Analysis of 1st Peter 2:1-10

The New Testament's two documents, ascribed to Peter, represent a work in contrasts. Peter's first letter depicts a writing style, which reflects most of his letters. A reason behind this statement appears in 1 Pet. 5:12, where it is stated that the brief letter is written through Silvanus, who is regarded as a devoted brother, for encouraging readers and testifying that this truly is God's grace. This implies that the letter was not written by Peter himself, but by Silvanus (Latin name for Silas), who wrote it as directed by Peter. An ancient universal system for writing formal letters was through an amanuensis (Latin for writing secretary). Predictably, an individual who spent the major part of his adulthood traveling with Paul, the apostle, and had most probably also written some letters of Paul, would write Peter's ideas with a distinct Pauline quality to them.…

Conflict in the First Scene of Dialogue in Miller's The Crucible

The piece of dialogue at the beginning of The Crucible in which Abigail and Parris reveal their respective characters through snippets and snatches of admissions is an important scene that sets the tone and initial conflict of the drama. The tone is serious but chaotic: a child is in danger; the doctor has no cure; foul play in the form of "possession" is suspected by the community, many members of which are talking in the parlor where the "rumor of witchcraft is all about" (Miller 9). Parris, who is a Reverend in the community, and who himself is at odds with his parish, is afraid because such talk will put him in a very bad light: "There is a faction that is sworn to drive me from my pulpit. Do you understand that?" Parris cries to Abigail. He is…

Shannon, Jr.

"Outsiders" in a Multicultural Society

The United States is generally recognized for the multitude of cultural values present in the country as a result of the wide range of ideas that have been introduced here across the years. hile the majority of individuals in the country have often discriminated against people that they considered "outsiders," many notable non-white persons in the country's history have managed to emphasize the fact that they too are an active part of its culture and that they are able to contribute to making society as a whole acknowledge its complex nature. Langston Hughes and Jhumpa Lahiri are two of the most prominent artists responsible for making the American community accept its multicultural character and for influencing Americans to adopt less discriminatory attitudes concerning non-white individuals. Hughes got actively involved in changing the way that the masses and African-Americans in particular saw discriminated groups…

For Arrietty, the boy represents the unknown elements of adult life. She has no young men within the walls with whom she can form relationships, marry or start a family. The boy is the first young male she has ever met. One of the first things he points out to her is the obviousness of her situation. "One day," he told her, smiling triumphantly, "you'll be the only Borrower left in the world!" (87). The boy's purpose is to shake the family out of isolation and inertia and force them out into the larger world.

Question 4

Mrs. Driver, the cook, was created by Mary Norton to represent the adult double standard of "do as I say, not as I do." She mistrusts children and Borrowers because they are disruptive elements to her system of order and authority. These disruptions have the potential to threaten her livelihood and her personal…

In this stanza, mainline and dragon are used as metaphors for his drug of preference, although these drugs can be seen as metaphors for the other addictive substances and behaviors that people can become dependent on regardless of if these substances are legal or illegal. The last two lines of this stanza insinuate that Nikki has come to an impasse and does not know what to next with his life, which is possibly why he turned to drugs. The last two lines state, "No regrets, you've got no goals/Nothing more to learn" (Queensryche). These concluding lines indicate that Nikki is waiting for some sort of direction, regardless of whether it is good or bad, simply to not be a slave to the drug.

The third stanza offers Nikki a solution for his dilemma and proposes that the doctor will give his life purpose, which ironically, is the price Nikki will…

Sea and Poison

Shusaku Endo's novel The Sea and Poison was published in 1958. Although it is set during orld ar II, The Sea and Poison is about much more than the war. The novel is about bioethics. The fact that The Sea and Poison is set against the backdrop of one of the bloodiest wars in history is appropriate from a literary perspective. Morality of war is juxtaposed with the morality of self-serving doctors. The decisions that doctors make in their own interest is depicted alongside the decisions that generals make to take prisoners of war and strip them of their humanity. Therefore, Endo's novel is multilayered and complex. The lessons Endo tries to teach through the moral turpitude of The Sea and Poison remain salient today, especially in light of the growing conflicts of interest in a for-profit American healthcare system.

The Sea and Poison is as realistic…

Cinematography

As with any film, what is captured by the eye of the camera in this film is done with skill, expertise, and a high level of perfection in direction. The locations are captured by the camera in a way that supports and adds to the film's satire. For instance, in the gypsy camp, where Turkish and Tommy have gone to purchase a caravan to serve as an office for Turkish to work out for the fight he has to fix, the pair must walk around what appears to be large pile of excrement - and it doesn't appear to be animal in nature. Gross, yes, but it works with the conveyance of the stereotypical image that the director is attempting to convey.

Much the same holds true when Brick Top is giving Turkish and Tommy a tour of the pig pens. It is a harsh looking environment that successfully…

Faustus, who sees his time also coming to a close, becomes a kind of Hamlet-figure and doubts that he can be forgiven. Faustus' problem is more than a life of misdeeds -- it is a problem of lack of faith. The faith of Everyman may have been lukewarm, but it was not corrupt. The faith in the time of Everyman has been polluted by Lutheran and Calvinist doctrines.

Considering the form of the narrative, this is not surprising: Faustus is obsessed with fame and renown. Everyman has no name proper -- and neither does his author. That the author of the medieval morality play should be anonymous is nothing out of the ordinary, and indeed seems all the more fitting when one considers that the second most printed book after the ible was The Imitation of Christ, a work whose author never put his name on the original (and which…

Idyllic, Idolizing, Late Victorian Tears

The poem by the Victorian poet laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson entitled "Tears, idle tears," has the unfortunate status of having its become such a common phrase in modern parlance, that the reader finds him or herself bracing his or her ear for more and more cliches as the poem progresses. In other words, one hears that tears are idle so often, one can easily forget, not only that Tennyson said, "I know not what they mean," but that the poem attempts to express the seriousness of futility of grief, or outward displays of affection by calling tears idle, in that they do no real work in the world. The use of 'idle' in multiple variances of meaning, from impractical and lazy, to idyllic, to idolizing is in fact quite profound and sophisticated, yielding a poem with a compact linguistic and stylistic structure.

It is also…

changing because of advances in technology. How we communicate with each other has changed dramatically with the implementation of powerful and popular social media platforms, like Facebook. Today, both teams and adults spend a surprising amount of time on the social media sites. The question here is whether or not such activities can actually be a positive potential in regards to the growth of literacy and language development.

Social media is a trend that is only continuing to grow. It is used by most adolescents and young adults, who are still rolling in terms of their literacy and reading skills. This current dissertation aims to explore how we use and prevalence of social media can actually assist in developing literacy skills. As teenagers and young adults spend so much time on social media sites like Facebook, they are bombarded with visual and textual material. The current research was aiming to…

The horn, like Saturn,

Is suspended in its ring of steering wheel;

And below is the black tongue of the gas pedal,

The bulge of the brake, the stalk

Of the stick shift,

Lines 17-21)

The simile, "like Saturn" succeeds in expanding on the image of the car in adding a sense of its larger symbolic meaning. The other images also tend to provide the car with natural attributes - such as a tongue.

In the final lines of the poem, there is a suggestion of Apollonian individualism. The protagonist overcomes the fear of the car and drives. This can be seen as an assertion of individuality over the Dionysian mystery or, on the other hand, acceptance and entrance into that mystery. The last lines of the poem tend to favor the latter interpretation.

The world's open gate, eternity

Hits me like a heart attack.

There is a sense of…

Rule of the Bone

About the author

The author Russell Banks writes in the manner that infused his stories with a sadistic honesty and moral goodness that his characters strive to live up to. He writes in striking and most often sad tones about the drama of daily life (Anderson, eye net).

Furthermore, his themes of failure, of weakness, of the complexity of living an honest life were often desolating, but all his stories does contain a positive wisdom to them along with a sense of optimism found in the details that he carefully draws out of his characters' routine and everyday realities (Anderson, eye net). Hence, in my opinion no modern author writes more delicately about common man's uncertain search for the American grail of material ease and self-esteem than Russell Banks.

About the book

In writing Rule of the Bone the author Russell Banks took almost a year…