Category: Literature Review
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William M. Johnston: Some Causes of World War I and Historians’ Taboos – a Critique
Some Causes of World War I and Historians’ Taboos is a scholarly journal article written by William M. Johnston considering the ‘What if?’ on World War I. He observes the of how Vienna dealt with World War I along with its counterfactuals and how things would be differently if a certain variable were to be…
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Review of The Storm by Mcknight Malmar
The Storm Analysis of The Storm In McKnight Malmars frightening story The Storm she weaves a violent storm and murder together to heighten the horrific fear that engulfs Janet Willsom. The storm is a combination of mother nature, Janets emotions and her heartbreaking dilemmas. The story begins with Janet Willsom coming home from a vacation…
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Anton Chekhov’s Portrayal of 18th Century Russian Culture in The Play The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard is a play written by Anton Chekhov in 1903. It concerns an aristocratic Russian landowner who returns to her family estate (which includes a large and well-known cherry orchard) just before it is auctioned to pay the mortgage. Unresponsive to offers to save the estate, she allows its sale to the son…
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Symbolism in This Boy’s Life
Symbolism is a used throughout literature in which a concrete image represents something deeper and more implicit. It is an effective strategy used to enhance the meanings of novels and memoirs and also to reveal certain things about characters within the text. In the memoir This Boy’s Life, is a young boy trying to find…
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Questioning God: Bengal Tiger at The Baghdad Zoo
Rajiv Joseph’s characters in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo wander through the war-torn Iraqi landscape looking for answers and finding none. The characters span a wide range of humanity: from young, ignorant American soldiers to a former gardener now employed as an interpreter for the occupying army to the ghost of Saddam Hussein’s son,…
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Violent Or Healing: an Exploration of The Role of Water in Raymond Carver’s Stories
The beautiful Pacific Northwest serves as a perfect backdrop for Raymond Carver’s stories, full of recurring symbolism, underlying themes, and significant motifs, most importantly the repeated theme of water. Just as water plays such a significant role in the identity, culture, and nature of the Pacific Northwest, Carver’s continued inclusion of the theme in his…
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Comparing Ansary and The Lost Boys
According to Ansary, it is not possible for the mind to comply with the cultural requirements of two distinct cultural systems. He notes that “growing up bicultural is like straddling a crack in the earth. If the cultures are far apart—like those of and America—one feels an urge to get entirely over to one side…
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Literature Review: The Maze Runner
The book, The Maze Runner, shows the journey of Thomas finding out where he came from and how he got to where he was. Thomas’s call to adventure begins he first wakes up in a metal box in the middle of an enclosed forest where he had began his new life. Having his memory erased,…
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Women’s Use of Deception in “Medea”, “The Book of Judith” and “The Ecclesiazusae”
Writer Oscar Wilde once said: “A mask tells us more than a face.” Throughout history, lies and masks have been a means to an end in achieving the goals of women who are limited in their current situations – social, political, or economical. Women traditionally cannot simply lash out in moments of angry frustration. The…
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The Effects of The Social Hierarchy in Caleb Williams and Pamela Or Virtue Rewarded
Samuel Richardson’s Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded and William Godwin’s Caleb Williams are both novels that deal with the influence of social hierarchy on the characters’ psychologies. In Caleb Williams, the protagonist is a young man who learns the horrifying truth about his master (Squire Falkland) and spends the entire novel being hunted down. Pamela narrates…