British and American literature up to the 18th century
Text commentary - 1 pages - Literature
Shakespeare's sonnets deal with themes of life such as love, the passing of time, old age and death. They are therefore universal themes that still speak to us today. Among these sonnets, I chose sonnet 73 which deals with the theme of old age because it is a theme that is not sufficiently...
A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf (1929) ; Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus - Mary Shelley (1818) - The Quest for Education
Text commentary - 2 pages - Literature
While analyzing A Room of One's Own and Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, the quest for education among the youth in England and the prejudices they had to overcome in their quest to receive an education will be explored. The characters will elaborate on various social and system hurdles...
The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje (1992) - The complexity of identity
Text commentary - 2 pages - Literature
Michael Ondaatje's thriller novel, The English Patient, tells the stories of various characters after the war that disrupted their lives changed their culture and challenged their identity. Most of the characters have endured traumatic experiences that Ondaatje makes apparent by employing...
The picture of Dorian Grey - Oscar Wilde (1890) - Do the seeds of Dorian Gray's destruction ultimately lie in Dorian's self-hatred?
Text commentary - 1 pages - Literature
From the beginning of the novel, Dorian portrays the essence of male beauty and youth. Basil is taken aback by the perfection in Dorian's appearance. Lord Henry is friends with Basil. Basil is hesitant for Lord Henry to be introduced to Dorian. Basil knows the ways of Lord Henry and is well...
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde (1890) - Psychological mechanisms of dissociation and projection
Text commentary - 2 pages - Literature
Throughout the novel The Picture of Dorian Grey, it becomes clear that Dorian Gray's psychological well-being becomes compromised with every negative thing that happens within his life. To make matters worse, the majority of his issues stem from actions that he has consciously taken, making him...
Youth marginality in Britain: Contemporary studies of austerity - Shane Blackman and Ruth Rogers (2017) - Offering evidence-based recommendations for policymakers to achieve social justice for young people
Text commentary - 3 pages - Literature
The selected book for review is Youth marginality in Britain: Contemporary studies of austerity by Shane Blackman and Ruth Rogers. This book was published in 2017 and is based on case studies on factors affecting young people in the United Kingdom. The book has 17 chapters written by different...
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (1899) - Cruelty
Text commentary - 2 pages - Literature
Within the text of Heart of Darkness, cruelty is a prominent concept. The corruption exhibited is essential to the book, shaping not only the story but the characters such as Kurtz. Cruelty is an important factor for the victims because it serves as a crucial motivation to live and as a major...
David Copperfield - Charles Dickens (1849); Cat's Eye - Margaret Atwood (1988); Juno - Jason Reitman (2007) - Difficulties in friendship and love relationships
Text commentary - 2 pages - Literature
This passage is an extract from the novel David Coperfield by Charles Dickens, at the time David Coperfield was married to Dora Spenlow. David felt completely in love with Dora, and they decided to get married. However, their relationship is not reasonable because Dora has no sense of everyday...
Maggie, A Girl of the Streets - Stephen Crane - Maggie is impossible to weep over
Text commentary - 3 pages - Literature
Individuals are determined by heredity and their social category (which covers the place they live in and their standard of living). Maggie, the protagonist of Stephen Crane's novel Maggie, A Girl of the Streets published in 1896, is modelled, shaped, and ultimately determined by her...
A Book of Dreaming (A bok of swevenyng)
Text commentary - 7 pages - Literature
A Book of Dreaming traces its roots to the Latin Somniale Danielis and has been reproduced in numerous manuscripts across Europe from the 9th to the 15th centuries. In other words, some stylistic effects could have been lost in the translation from Latin to Middle English. Indeed, the editor,...
Is a road trip running away from things or running towards something?
Text commentary - 1 pages - Literature
A road trip is a travel, an escape by campervan or motorcycle (like a Harley Davidson), through vast spaces and during long hours on the road, to discover new landscape, cities or countries. I will take three texts as examples.
Oedipus The King - Sophocles (425 B.C.) - The Dramatic Power of Fate
Text commentary - 3 pages - Literature
Over the centuries, people have believed in the influence of divine or diabolical power in their lives. One of the most often discussed themes of ancient Greek tragedy is fatalism, the idea and belief that human actions are guided by the hand of fate, destiny, the gods or some other supernatural...
How to become a part of the Great British story?
Text commentary - 2 pages - Literature
Cultural heritage, representing culture and civilisation, has a vital importance in Great Britain, and in this context the school has an important place. Access to culture is achieved primarily through education and training and, in addition, literature, theatre and art, which are unique and...
Dance of the Happy Shades: And Other Stories - Alice Munro (1946) - Comparaison with Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth (1990)
Text commentary - 3 pages - Literature
The first text we study here is a story from Dance of the Happy Shades: And Other Stories, which was written by Alice Munro in 1946. From the beginning of the text, the protagonist explains that her mom spends all of her time working on sewing her daughter's dress for the dance. She spends...
