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"Our Town", 2008.
An analysis of the themes presented in Thornton Wilder's play, "Our Town."
914 words (approx. 3.7 pages), 0 sources, $ 32.95
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Abstract
This paper analyzes Thornton Wilder's play, "Our Town." The paper describes the plot and characters of the play and focuses on the themes that Wilder presents through the play. It suggests that "Our Town" is emblematic of turn-of-the-century America and that Wilder's play includes subtle references to modernization, industrialization and globalization.
From the Paper
"Our Town is emblematic of turn-of-the-century America. Thornton Wilder's play includes subtle references to modernization. In keeping with the suggestion that small town values include insularity and resistance to change, Wilder does not make any overt references to industrialization or urbanization. Instead the insight into every day life in Grover's Corners lends insight into how America was changing at that crucial period in world history. Although gender values and social roles were generally unchanged, persons of Emily's and George's generation were on the brink of a major turning point at which the world's balance of power would indelibly change. The coming World Wars would alter the geo-political landscape in Europe and propel America onto the world's stage in a role that the nation had never served before. Wilder hints at the dramatic future of America through his time capsule and also through his use of the Stage Manager, who directly addresses the audience in a dramatically ironic manner."
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"Stupid White Men", 2008.
A report on the book "Stupid White Men ...and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation! " by Michael Moore, which is a critical discussion on U.S. government policies.
1,306 words (approx. 5.2 pages), 1 source, MLA, $ 44.95
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Abstract
The paper states that before making assumptions and applying critical thinking to any one of the topics from Michael Moore's book, "Stupid White Men ...and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation!" we need to make the observation that his work is a set of applicable solutions to problems that he identifies in the American society and political life. The paper says its more of a putting together of real facts and humorous comments, of permanently critical observations and hilariously inapplicable solutions. The paper conveys that many of these solutions are comical, either real ones or unreal ones.
From the Paper
"Third of all, some of the facts that Moore uses seem to be right down wrong. The US leads in terms of budget deficit, however, up to 2001, this was not true: the US recorded throughout the Clinton administration a positive budgetary balance. At this point, as a reader, I would have probably been more entitled to discover why it came about that this balance turned negative, under what circumstances and how this affected the US society. From all these perspectives, Michael Moore's book succeeds only occasionally to go beyond the stature of a comment book, a small satiric comment on US society, rather than a well-analyzed, documented critic of the US society."
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"The Unbearable Lightness of Being", 2008.
An analysis of the plot and characters in Milan Kundera's book, "The Unbearable Lightness of Being."
1,557 words (approx. 6.2 pages), 5 sources, MLA, $ 51.95
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Abstract
This paper discusses Milan Kundera's book, "The Unbearable Lightness of Being." It describes Kundera's characters and their relationship to how he perceived life in Soviet Czechoslovakia at the time as well as the book's core issue of existentialism and the techniques used by the narrator. In addition, the paper discusses the plot of the book and how the characters relate to it.
From the Paper
"Franz is a university professor who teaches philosophy and falls in love with Sabina, his exact opposite. Franz is a heavy character who looks for meaning in life and lives for strong emotions generated either by love or by politics. He is a combination of idealism, naivete and the inability to understand his surroundings. Unlike Tomas, he does not change; he is not a dynamic character. Only at the end of his life is he able to wonder about his choices and question his decisions. He goes to Vietnam and becomes a political activist, upholding ideals of freedom, justice and truth, thinking that Sabina would be proud of him and his mission. He is sadly mistaken, and dies a meaningless death, killed during a mugging."
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Gender Roles in "Beowulf" and "Confessions", 2008.
A review of the history of gender roles and their depiction in "Beowulf" and St. Augustine's "Confessions."
1,779 words (approx. 7.1 pages), 9 sources, MLA, $ 57.95
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Abstract
This paper discusses the depiction of gender roles in "Beowulf" and by St. Augustine in his "Confessions." The paper argues that pagan gender roles as described in "Beowulf" were different than those prescribed by St. Augustine in his "Confessions," demonstrating that Christian beliefs may have eliminated the "warrior-woman" of ancient times, leaving only the submissive role as a model for women to follow. The paper contains notes about the translation of "Beowulf" at the end.
From the Paper
"After six months in Cassiacum, Augustine was baptized in the church of St. John the Baptist in Milan. Then he and his mother started out on a trip to Africa, stopping at Civita Vecchia and at Ostia, where death claimed Monica. Mourning for his mother, Augustine penned the finest pages of his Confessions. Monica was a good mother, but Augustine regretted that, as a young man, he did not follow her example of Christian faith. However, Augustine credited Monica with planting the seeds of faith in his heart. He called his conversion a return to the faith she had instilled in him as a child. "So be fulfilled what my mother desired of me--more richly in the prayers of so many gained for her through these confessions of mine than by my prayers alone" (Confessions, Book IX.13.37)"
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Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", 2008.
Explores Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" by analyzing the characters.
1,720 words (approx. 6.9 pages), 5 sources, MLA, $ 55.95
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Abstract
This paper explains that Mike Kundera's characters in "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" are subjected to the two major influences of the historical context of the novel and the existentialist philosophy as expressed especially by Heidegger in his "Being and Time". The author points out that the technique used in the book by the narrator to describe the mental states of his characters follows a precise format. The paper also describes each of the four major characters and to what degree they reflect the lightness of being.
Outline:
Characters Exponents of the Author's Real Life Experience
Historical Context
Communist Czechoslovakia
Prague, Czechoslovakia
Philosophical Theme; Existentialism
Character: Tomas
Free Individual
Character: Tereza
Opposite of Her Husband: Highly Idealistic
Character: Sabina
Highly Individualistic and Independent, Rebellious And Unconventional
Character: Franz
Very Passionate; Believes In Love and Politics
The Four Characters Reconstruct Milan Kundera's Life Experience
The Characters Choose Exile over Communism
From the Paper
"Sabina is Tomas' lover, an artist who rebels against the ugliness of the surrounding world, and her oppressive father through her paintings and lifestyle choices. She is the extreme instance of the lightness of being. In fact, her love affair with Tomas is based upon this very lightness of being that they share. Their affair has nothing in common with a traditional romance as they are not traditional characters. Nevertheless, she looks for heaviness, which is why she falls in love with Franz, a university professor and at the same time, the extreme instance of heaviness."
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Contemporary Poetry about the Old South, 2008.
Analyzes the poetry of Natasha Trethewey in "Native Guard" and Marilyn Nelson in "A Wreath for Emmett Till" as contemporary American eulogies to the Old South.
2,030 words (approx. 8.1 pages), 10 sources, MLA, $ 64.95
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Abstract
This paper explains that both American poets, Natasha Trethewey in "Native Guard" and Marilyn Nelson in "A Wreath for Emmett Till", tackle aspects of the American history of racial intolerance. Their interconnected poems are united by common themes and structures as well as their enclosure within the covers of a single volume. They pay their respect to seismic historical events in American history, which are of personal significance to the poets. The paper then points out that Nelson's book is a text of anger at present and past racism; however, Trethewey's gentler volume is a homage to her family and to anonymous soldiers. The paper reviews the content and structure of both sets of poems.
From the Paper
"The voice of the lost, nameless (unlike Till) soldier becomes a poetic voice of memory, in short he becomes like Trethewey herself as this modern woman takes on the voice of the memory of fallen men and also the Black woman and a White man who gave her life and raised her even when their marriage was illegal and it was still technically illegal in 1966 Mississippi to have a mixed marriage. Like the South still remembers the Civil War and the Confederacy, Trethewey tries to remember--but with a difference."
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John Keats' "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer", 2008.
Analyzes John Keats' sonnet "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer".
1,275 words (approx. 5.1 pages), 0 sources, $ 43.95
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Abstract
This paper describes the meaning and construction of John Keats' sonnet "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" and explains that it was written as an immediate response to the revelation experienced by Keats on first reading George Chapman's classic translation of Homer's epic the "Odyssey". The paper further relates that Keats' poem expresses his excitement about what he has just discovered in reading Chapman's work, which leads him to want to make more discoveries about himself and about the world, especially the world of ancient times.
From the Paper
"As is the case with the sonnet form, this sonnet is in fourteen lines. The rhyme scheme may vary in different types of sonnet, and Keats her uses a scheme of ABBA ABBA CDCDCD. The Shakespearian sonnet would normally end with a couplet, but Keats does not do that, effectively using two quatrains followed by a six-line conclusion. The meter for the sonnet is iambic pentameter, with variations that emphasize words and thoughts. for instance, line 10 is ... a line that is hard to read in strict iambic pentameter and that begins with a trochee, an accented followed by an unaccented syllable, followed by a spondee, with two accented syllables."
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Polidori's and Byron's Vampirism, 2008.
Compares the theme of vampirism in John Polidori's book "The Vampyre" and Lord Byron's lengthy poem "Giaour".
1,850 words (approx. 7.4 pages), 2 sources, MLA, $ 59.95
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Abstract
This paper explains that John Polidori acknowledged that, for his book "The Vampyre", he drew on a number of themes and other elements in the formation of his own story of vampirism from Lord Byron's poem "Giaour". The author describes both works, which both involve a sort of outside observer, who becomes a biographer for the main character and gives the story a sense of authenticity. The paper concludes that the pattern set by Polidori for his protagonist Ruthven would become the norm for the vampire in fiction after this time, as witnessed with the future creation of the character Dracula.
From the Paper
"Giaour is a stranger among people of a different culture, and Ruthven is also depicted as a stranger in the midst of London society. Polidori says that he is "remarkable for his singularities" and that he looks at the proceedings around him "as if he could not participate therein." This sense of being an outsider links the two characters from the first. Ruthven is invited everywhere because of his foreign-ness rather than in spite of it, and he is pursued by women like Lady Mercer because he is so prized and so different."
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The Catholic Mass, 2008.
A description and discussion of the significance and complexity of Catholic Mass.
845 words (approx. 3.4 pages), 1 source, MLA, $ 30.95
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Abstract
This paper describes the ritual of the Mass and discusses how it is viewed differently between Protestants and Catholics and even amongst Catholics themselves. In particular, the paper discusses Catholic theologian Michael McGuckian's explanation of the Catholic Mass and suggests that Catholicism's unclear understanding of what McGuckian calls an "unbloody" sacrifice in the first chapter of his work proves how essential it is that greater clarity be attained regarding the definition of Mass. The paper concludes that McGuckian's explanation of the Mass in a three-part structure is both powerful and lucid. It is also inspiring, given that it counters the tendency of some Catholic authors to stress only the painful aspects of Christ's sacrifice, rather than the eternal, positive, and visionary elements of the crucifixion.
From the Paper
"One of the difficulties presented by the Mass to modern Christians is that Christians live in the absence of a concrete memory of the sacrificial system from which the Mass is derived. Thus, sacrifice can seem like a primitive concept, something from a long ago time, even while the Catholic Church teaches that the Eucharist is above all a sacrifice. It is a sacramental sacrifice, but not only a sacramental sacrifice or re-enactment of reality remembered--it is reality, in the moment and time of the Mass."
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"A & P", 2008.
An analysis of generational conflict and adult decision-making in John Updike's short story "A & P".
988 words (approx. 4.0 pages), 0 sources, $ 35.95
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Abstract
This paper discusses how the short story "A & P", by John Updike, first published in 1962, focuses on a moral/social dilemma suddenly, unexpectedly experienced one summer afternoon by a teenage boy, Sammy, who works as a check-out clerk at the neighborhood grocery store, the A & P. In particular, the paper looks at how "A & P" focuses on the tension Sammy feels between allegiance to A & P; his boss, and by association, his parents, and the rights of three teenage girls to dress as they please inside the store.
From the Paper
" Sammy's tone as narrator is intended by the author to sound (and it does) more rebellious; irreverent and sarcastic than Sammy himself actually is, deep down. True, he is just a teen, and is probably just starting to even think for himself; in giving him voice, John Updike therefore, obviously and effectively, employs teenage idioms and cadences of the time. Still, though he does not speak like one, Sammy is a person of reflectivity and conscience, e.g., he recognizes to himself his real concern, at story's-end, about how the decision he has made will impact his family in this small, obviously judgmental community, and only after that about how it may impact himself now and later. "
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