Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed.
The poem “Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave” evokes a deep sense of sadness in me. There is a feeling of finality and inevitability in the poem, as if the speaker is resigned to their fate of being buried beneath the ground. The poem …
Steinbeck’s story “The Chrysanthemums”, which is set in the 1950s, clearly reflects the theme of isolation. Elisa is the main character and she is isolated emotionally, sexually, and physically from the beginning until the end. It is easy to sympathize with Elisa as she struggles …
Each person reacts differently when faced with the loss. The individual response to loss is what matters most. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” describes a situation in which the wife is extremely happy at the thought of her husband’s death, but is shocked …
I was embarrassed when my family invited the minister and his family over for dinner because I had a huge crush on the minister’s son. Amy Tan, a self-published narrative called “Fish Cheeks”, compares her view at Christmas with other people to show her cultural …
This extract from Walden shows Henry David Thoreau speaking to millions of people who “are awake sufficient for physical labor.” He attempts to encourage them to look at nature more fully and make them appreciate it more. Through rhetorical questions, symbolism, first-person plural pronouns, loose …
We as citizens have the right to criticize, question and suggest alternate ways of governing a society to improve its members and the society. Thomas More used his ability as a critic to create Utopia, a social comment on Tudor England’s failures and its rulers. …
Charles Dickens, in his masterpiece A Tale of Two Cities, reinforces the theme of paired opposites with juxtapositions of Charles Darnay’s and Sydney Carton’s characters. At first glance, it appears that Darnay and Carton are totally bipolar. Darnay is a model of poise and manners …
Beard, Sedaris and others create brilliant narratives. Each essay builds up in depth and provides a more comprehensive view of the writer’s life than a single essay. Her memoir-essays use metaphor to compare and contrast. The reader can thus ascertain her truths while she writes …
The Handmaid’s Tale of Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale relates the life of a woman living in the dystopia Gilead. The society is a totalitarian state in what was once the United States. This regime treats women like property and faces environmental disasters and a declining …
“During the entire autumn of the years, when the sky was oppressively low and the clouds were dark and dull. . . As the evening began to fade, I finally found myself in the shadows of the House of Usher (317). The opening line of …