The significance of age and aging in One Hundred Years of Solitude
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
In the remote town of Mocondo which Gabriel Garcia Marquez vividly depicts in his novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, the process of aging plays an important role in the development of the characters, their development and in the plot as whole. Throughout the aging process, some characters'...
Wrath of the Gods in the epic 'The Odyssey'
Essay - 1 pages - Literature
The dictionary definition of an epic is “An extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, celebrating the feats of a legendary or traditional hero.” In the epic, The Odyssey, the narrator takes the reader on a journey with the epic hero, (or traditional/ legendary hero)...
The Cause of Samuel Death in Grace Paley's "Samuel"
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
The death of the young boy in Grace Paley's “Samuel” was caused by irresponsible behavior, not by the repetitive interference of the passengers in the games of young people. The brave men in the train did not convey a message of absolute disapproval towards the boys' dangerous games,...
Dynamics of language and society: A discourse of identity togetherness
Thesis - 7 pages - Linguistics & languages
Ethnicity or ethnic groups generally understood as tribal societies or communities who traditionally have something in common identity. A form of identity such as language, place of residence, kinship patterns, marriage patterns, religion, architecture, patterns of residence, and others....
"Flying Carpet", Steven Millhauser - "flying up to the sky"
Book review - 4 pages - Literature
Steven Millhauser is a writer of realist fiction. However, his work cannot be limited by labeling it only realistic. Another dimension is added to his short stories. They are full of interpretations. In Flying Carpet, though the story seems to be quite casual, even banal - a child trying to reach...
"From the Diary of an almost-four-year-old", Hanan Ashrawi (1988)
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
The poem, 'From the Diary of an almost-four-year-old' was written by Hanan Mikhail Ashrawi, a Palestinian writer, in 1988. The speaker in this poem is an almost-four-year-old little girl who was fired at by a soldier, during the Israel-Palestine war. She lost an eye and she wonders about...
"They came for the Jews," Martin Niemoller, and "God loves you anyway" Harold Kushnersay - the care of others
Book review - 1 pages - Literature
The first essay is a poem entitled 'First, They Came for The Jews', written by a German Pastor named Martin Niemoller. It talks about what happened in 1939-1945, during World War II, where many people died, due to the nazi government in Germany. The second essay is an extract of a book...
The "Frenglish"
Worksheets - 1 pages - Linguistics & languages
Since the beginning of the XIXth century, English was in vogue in some circles. Little by little we can see the birth of a new way of speaking, a French language much anglicized, which is called usually the 'Frenglish'. But why was this kind of language born and what is it's influence...
If you were given a chance to create an ideal society, what would it be?
Essay - 2 pages - Philosophy
It always seems dangerous to talk about an 'ideal society' because this is exactly what all the totalitarian and authoritarian regimes have been looking for. It has also been the ultimate purpose of all politics since Antiquity and one of the biggest dream of humankind. First of all, an...
Catch-22 : black comedy or satire ?
Book review - 5 pages - Literature
Catch-22, often considered as one of the literary masterpieces of the twentieth century, is also often analyzed as being either satirical, or characteristic of the theater of the absurd, or even both. At first sight, this appears to be totally irrelevant, given the subtle but still significant...
Paul Auster, The Brooklyn Follies - Overture (Chap. 1) "It was early" - "were lost forever"
Book review - 1 pages - Literature
This text is an extract from the novel The Brooklyn Follies, written by Paul Auster and published in 2005. Earlier in the novel, we discovered the main character, Nathan Glass, a 60 year old man in remission from cancer. He was looking for a quiet place to die. Someone recommended Brooklyn to...
Paul Auster, The Brooklyn Follies Farewell to the court (Chap. 3)
Book review - 1 pages - Literature
What we are about to study is an extract from the novel The Brooklyn Follies, written by Paul Auster and published in 2005. Here, we are at the beginning of the novel, where Nathan and Tom are having lunch and talking about Tom's activities. We may wonder in what ways the passage is...
English as a global language : Past, present and future
Essay - 2 pages - Linguistics & languages
Globalization has ushered in an era of global culture and economy. With this increased internationalization, everyone needs a medium of communication. Intercultural transactions can only take place if a common language is used. The English language has become popular as a common language. As...
Review of the Rabbits who caused all the trouble by James Thurber in Fables of your times
Book review - 1 pages - Literature
The text we are going to study is entitled “The Rabbits who caused all the trouble”. It is an extract from “Fables of your times” written by James Thurber in 1940. The main characters of this text are the rabbits and the wolves. However, there are other animals involved in the...
First scene of Doris Lessing's "The Fifth Child"
Book review - 3 pages - Literature
This extract is the first scene of Doris Lessing's The Fifth Child, a book published in 1988 which deals with Ben a monster-like child whose birth deeply alters his parent's life. This first scene introduces us to the main characters i.e. David and Harriet and sets the general tone of the...
Wife-Wooing, by John Updike
Book review - 1 pages - Literature
In his short story, 'Wife-Wooing', John Updike portrays the life of what seems to be an ordinary family through which he discusses matters related to matrimony. This story centers around two people who seem to have forgotten the meaning of their marriage. Through this essay, I will...
Marvel's "To His Coy Mistress": a Baroque reworking of conventions
Book review - 4 pages - Literature
Andrew Marvell (1621-1678) was an English Metaphysical poet. Marvell wrote several satirical poems against the corruption of the court, but they were published after his death (for being too subversive). ?To His Coy Mistress', though not about politics, is also a subversive poem. It is an...
Analysis of the sonnet 'to sleep' by J. Keats
Book review - 3 pages - Literature
One may get the impression that this poem is about pain and agony and troubles encountered throughout life, yet at the same time one expects a sonnet to possess the qualities of romance, adoration, and themes of love. Although this poem may appear to only deal with dark images about the...
Hobbes and the question of Legitimate Authority in the Leviathan: liberalism or fascism avant la lettre?
Book review - 3 pages - Philosophy
Hobbes contends that the human state of nature exists where every man is at war with every other man and in order to free ourselves from this state, we must relinquish all of our rights to one unified authority. The intention of this sovereign body is supposedly to serve the good of the people,...
Commentary Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is known as one of the author's most powerful novels. Even though the story is completely imaginary, the plot takes place in a very precise historical and geographical context: 1930s California. Moreover, one of the main themes of the novel is humanity and...
De Lacey Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Book review - 6 pages - Literature
In a disconcertingly candid manner, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein offers its readers a sensible critique on the callous superficiality of human social interaction. Shelley imaginatively introduces a repugnant, yet kindhearted monster into the world of man, who is only to be received, and...
Analysis of Socrates' Crito
Book review - 4 pages - Philosophy
The Crito strikes us as an oddly shocking story simply because Socrates, who was once portrayed as a loyalist to the gods, now argues the importance and essentiality of obedience to the laws of the state. It is natural to find The Crito surprising because Plato had described Socrates in The...
Compare and contrast Rousseau's and Tocqueville's accounts of the civil function of religion in a democracy. Consider closely the respective merits of their case before offering your own assessment
Essay - 4 pages - Philosophy
Rousseau and Tocqueville fundamentally agree that the civil function of religion is to strengthen the bond that exists between the people and the law. However, the two men differ in their views on how this bond should be strengthened. Rousseau argues in favor of a new, civil religion being...
Comparing the ideas of sovereignty of Hobbes and Rousseau
Book review - 4 pages - Philosophy
As the study revolves around the notion of sovereignty, it is important to know what sovereignty is. Presenting the definition given by a dictionary might be of no use, but it could partially enlighten us of what we are discussing. Various dictionaries offer alternative definitions for...
The theme of the declining Big House in Bowen's The Last September
Book review - 5 pages - Literature
'The Last September', Elizabeth Bowen's second novel, describes the Anglo-Irish life of the provincial aristocracy during the turbulent times of 1920, and deals directly with the crisis of being Anglo-Irish. In this particular context, Bowen makes a combination between social comedy and...
Contemporary theories of Justice- Essay : is the principle of Fair Equality of Opportunity (FEO) defensible?
Essay - 4 pages - Philosophy
The principle of Fair Equality of Opportunity (FEO) is a part of Rawls' theory of justice, detailed in his Theory of Justice (1971) . This principle emerges from Rawl's distinction of the classical liberal of ?careers open to talents' -or "formal equality of opportunity?- from a more...
"Answers to a questionnaire" by James Graham Ballard
Book review - 2 pages - Literature
Answers to a Questionnaire' is a short story which was written by James Graham Ballard, and published for the first time in the English literary magazine 'Ambit', in 1985. Ballard's style of writing is highly important to understand his works, he is a member of the 'New...
"The Wanderer" by W. H. Auden
Thesis - 3 pages - Literature
What could a layman think about such a poem? When one tries to understand a poem, it is in fact a whole work that must be understood; a whole thought that has to be reached. Whether we are studying a poem by W. H. Auden, E. Bishop, W. B. Yeats, or A. Sexton, it is impossible to understand it...
Race, culture, civilisation
Essay - 5 pages - Philosophy
As we can observe daily uses of concepts like race, culture, or civilization through newspapers, magazines, TV shows, etc. The need of defining them occurs repeatedly. What then are we talking about with respect to the concept of culture? Is it a political, artistic, or even ethnic pattern of...
Technical and commercial english vocabulary to pass the TOEIC test
Worksheets - 7 pages - Linguistics & languages
This document sets out a list of commonly used words in various domains such as business, production, sales, finance, budget, etc.
