The details of his life are as mundane as Felicite's, if more lucrative. As he grows more obsessed with his work he loses touch with his family and other things that presumably used to bring him joy. He begins to suffer all the more when he learns that he is dying. Death is not easy for him, either; he suffers from a pain in his side for a long time first. The reason an ordinary life is considered so terrible is because Ilyich is blind to the ordinariness. Only on his death bed does he realize the difference between a true life of fulfillment and an artificial life of selfishness and greed. Ilyich was not exactly a miser in life, but he was so focused on work that he missed the genuine moments of life that he could have had with his family and other experiences. It is ordinary…...

Misfit
Challenging Event

Character's Response

The moment when he needs to decide whether or not he wants to escape prison

He realizes that there is no solution left and he decides to escape

The moment when he comes across the ailey's family and has the opportunity to help them

He considers that they can provide the authorities with information and decides to kill them all

Him being provided with a series of reasons to redeem himself

He believes that it is in his best interest to be a criminal regardless of circumstances

The Misfit is an extremely immoral individual and he is determined to harm people that he interacts with, regardless of circumstances. The concept of ethics is completely foreign for him, taking into account that even though he would have been long gone before the family could have reported him to the authorities he still decides to murder all of them. This is a pathological killer and…...

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Bibliography:

LE GUIN, U. (2011). The wife's story. In Acosta, D.L.P. a. A. (Eds) Literature: A World of Writing Stories, Poems, Plays, and Essays [VitalSource Digital Version](pp. 3-27) Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions.

O'Conner, F. (2011). A good man is hard to find. In Acosta, D.L.P. a. A. (Eds) Literature: A World of Writing Stories, Poems, Plays, and Essays [VitalSource Digital Version](pp. 247-258) Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions.

Desiree's Baby is an 1892 story by Kate Chopin that examines how the Aubigny family falls apart due to assumptions and misunderstandings. In the story, Desiree, an orphan whose parentage is unknown and whom the Valmonde family lovingly raises, marries Armand Aubigny, a man whose father comes from a prominent family. Desiree eventually gets pregnant by and gives birth to Armand's son, who later is the cause for Armand to banish Desiree from their home as Armand's son appears to have been fathered by a man who is not white. hile Armand works under the assumption that Desiree is not 100% white because no one knows who her parents are or that Desiree possibly had an adulterous affair, he does not consider the fact that he may be the reason his child is not 100% white. In Desiree's Baby, the consequences of perception, assumption, and identity, in relation to social…...

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Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. "Desiree's Baby." PBS. Web. 17 October 2012.

These stories; Araby written by James Joyce and A&P written by John Updike, draw attention to a number of the common problems which youths face when approaching adulthood. These two stories are of young men that are pictured to be hit with the unsettling understanding of the fantasies and the brutal reality of romance. They talk about a man who is currently in the development phase due to romance and love. Along the way, these men suffer emotional problems. A major similarity existing between both stories is the major characters are impractical and they both have weird expectations from women. This caused them to show women lots of affection which is not fully reciprocated and this causes them to be heartbroken and sad. They don’t enjoy any rewards from the love and affection they give to women but instead they face rejection severally and sometimes, they are unable to handle…...

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Work Cited

Gale, Cengage Learning. A Study Guide for Updike\\\\'s A & P. Gale, Cengage Learning, 2015.

Joyce, James, et al. Araby. Triestina Carlo Moscheni, 1935.

Joyce, James. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: And, Dubliners. Barnes & Noble Classics, 2004.

Saldivar, Toni. \\\\"The art of John Updike\\\\'s\\\\" A&P\\\\".\\\\" Studies in Short Fiction 34.2 (1997): 215.

 

Fiction's Come a Long Way, aby
The development of fiction from its nascent stages until today's contemporary works is a storied one. Many features mark contemporary fiction and differentiate it from the classics of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries: For one, modern writers use different perspectives to narrate: In some works, the narrator switches from third-person omniscient to first person, and in some contemporary works, even the challenging second-person. Experimentation in styles also marks contemporary fiction: Nabokov, perhaps fiction's greatest ever stylist, has written one novel penned to ladies and gentlemen of the jury, and another as literary criticism on a purposefully mediocre poem. (Nabokov: Lolita and Pale Fire).

ut one of the most pronounced shifts in fiction over these centuries has been the move from stuffy, high art to a fixation on and immersion in pop culture. George Eliot, for instance, in "Daniel Deronda," interspersed a very staid narrative with…...

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Bibliography

Cisneros, Sandra: Woman Hollering Creek. New York: Vintage.

Cisneros, Sandra: Mexican Movies. New York: Vintage.

Cisneros, Sandra: Barbie-Q. New York: Vintage.

Johnson, Samuel: Rasselas. New York: Oxford.

Characters in American Fiction
Two terms used that are to describe characters are static and dynamic, which mean rarely or never changing, and constantly changing, respectively. This paper provides an analysis of the characters of Sammy in the short story "A&P" by John Updike and Louise Mallard in the short story "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin to determine whether these characters are static or dynamic. Drawing on supportive quotations from the two short stories, a discussion concerning who the person is at the start and end of the story is followed by an analysis of whether constant changes were a good thing for the dynamic character. Finally, a summary of the research and important findings concerning these issues are provided in the conclusion.

Review and Analysis

"Sammy" in John Updike's "A&P"

This short story is set in the early 1960s in a small town somewhere north of Boston (Saldivar 215).…...

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Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. (1894). "The Story of an Hour." Virginia Commonwealth University [online]

available:  http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/hour/ .

Saldivar, Toni. (1997, Spring). "The Art of John Updike's 'A&P.'" Studies in Short Fiction

34(2): 215-217.

Colonial and Post Colonial Short Stories
In the 19th and 20th centuries, much of the world was divided and compartmentalized. Empire nations colonized lands all over the world creating cultures which were based upon differentiation and racial inequality. In a colonized nation, the population would be comprised of the colonizers who were the ethnic and racial power and the colonized that would be considered ethnically inferior. In the short stories "Going to Exile" by author Liam O'Flaherty and "The Day They Burnt the Books" by Jean Rhys, the authors relate brief narratives which reflect the racial prejudices and conflicts that were bubbling beneath, and often times above, the surface of colonized countries.

In colonial literature, one of the dilemmas that come up most often is the question of identity. People who are colonized are forced to create for themselves a dual identity. At one they have their innate cultures, but at the…...

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Works Cited:

O'Flaherty, Liam. "Going into Exile." Ed. Baldwin, Dean R., and Patrick J. Quinn. An Anthology

of Colonial and Postcolonial Short Fiction. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007. 283-291.

Print.

Rhys, Jean. "The Day They Burnt the Books." Ed. Baldwin, Dean R., and Patrick J. Quinn. An Anthology of Colonial and Postcolonial Short Fiction. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007. 452-457. Print.

The narrator becomes repulsed by Bartleby and decides that he must be suffering from some type of mental problem. The less the narrator knows about Bartleby the worse things seem to be for him. He wants to make sense of things. He wants it all to make sense. The conflict arises from his inability to do so. The narrator is simply being human in his desire to control and understand things but Kafka is demonstrating how we cannot always know everything and how we must be at peace with that, lest we become insane. It is also important to point out that some things are simply not meant to be known or completely understood. Kafka does not attempt to explain everything in this story because we often face situations that will never be truly understood.
Marquez demonstrates conflict and how it makes for interesting fiction by allowing the readers to…...

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Works Cited

Kafka, Franz. "The Metamorphosis." The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction R.V. Cassill, ed.

New York W.W. Norton and Company. 1981.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Chronicle of a Death Foretold." Collected Novellas. New York:

Harper Perennial. 1990.

Conflict Between Exterior and Interior Life
Kate Chopin's "The story of an Hour" offers a story behind a story. First it can be noted that this talks about Mr. And Mrs. Mallard. Mrs. Mallard received a news that her husband has just died. This prompted for a roller coaster of emotions to build inside her heart and mind.

First, she felt sadness. She was saddened by the fact that she is now alone and that her husband will no longer be with her. But the feeling of sadness did not stay for long in Mrs. Mallard's heart because she suddenly realized that she is now free. The death of her husband would mean that nobody will hurt her anymore. Because her husband is dead, nobody will discriminate her anymore. Nobody will make her feel that she is just a low or second class citizen. Nobody will prevent her from doing what she…...

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Reference:

Chopin, Kate. The Complete Works of Kate Chopin. Ed. Per Seyersted. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 1969.

Winner Not a Winner?
In the short story "The Rocking Horse Winner" by DH Lawrence, the writer creates a spooky fantasy in which three major themes, luck, money, and love combine to form a bizarre and deadly unity. The boy Paul, intuitively feeling the lack of love in his family, becomes the embodiment of his parents obsessions with money. Riding his toy rocking horse he receives supernatural messages that allow him to pick winners in real horse races. He believes that he thus renews his family's luck, by winning money which he equates on an unconscious level with love. Lawrence uses the unified themes of luck, money and love to create a symbolic representation of life that is not truly lived, but in which concepts of luck, money and love are perverted into an imitation of life, the falseness of which kills the boy Paul.

This is a story about the…...

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Bibliography

Beauchamp, Gorman. "Lawrence's The Rocking-Horse Winner." Explicator 31.5 (1973): Item 32.

Becker, George Joseph. DH Lawrence. New York: F. Ungar, 1980.

Burke, Daniel. Beyond Interpretation: Studies in the Modern Short Story. Troy, NY: Whitston, 1991.

Consolo, Dominick P. The Rocking-Horse Winner. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill, 1969.

obert Graves lived from 1895 to 1985, and was a novelist, poet as well as a translator of the English Language. obert Graves has been a vivacious author, and has won acclaim as an author of the accounts of the First World War, in his book called 'Good bye to all that' republished in 1957. His poetry about the First World War he was recognized as being one of the sixteen Great War poets in 1985. These poets were honoured on the slate stone that was unveiled in Westminster Abbey's Poet's Corner as an edifice respecting their contribution to the narration of the war.
Through his life span, obert Graves has worked on various aspects in literature, ranging from autobiographical accounts, to historical novels. His works also include translations of Greek mythology as well as historical novels such as King Jesus, I and the Golden Fleece. obert Graves's memoirs particularly his…...

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References

Brown, Keith and Jim Miller. Concise Encyclopedia of Syntactic Theories. . New York: Elsevier Science, 1996.

Campbell, Donna M. Regionalism and Local Color Fiction, 1865-1895. . Washington: Literary Movements. Dept. Of English, Washington State University., n.d.

Carnie, Andrew. Syntax: A Generative Introduction. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2006.

Freidin, Robert and Howard Lasnik. Syntax. Critical Concepts in Linguistics. . New York: Routledge, 2006.

irthmark, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is the story of a man consumed by the pursuit of perfection. He seeks absolute knowledge and absolute control, and imagines that he has discovered great scientific absolutes including the nature of the very heavens and the reason volcanoes erupt. After he marries, he becomes obsessed by a small birthmark on the cheek of his otherwise flawlessly beautiful young wife. His obsession with perfection combined with his scientific hubris leads to the death of his wife. Ironically, in death, the hated birthmark finally fades. The story demonstrates the danger of hubris in assuming that science will have all our answers, that we can manipulate life to meet our arbitrary standards.
Hawthorne demonstrates the protagonist, Aylmer's, obsession through various references. In the opening paragraph he says Aylmer.".. had made experience of a spiritual affinity more attractive than any chemical one. He had left his laboratory to the…...

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Bibliography

1) Beauchamp, Gorman. 2002. "Hawthorne and the Universal Reformers." Utopian Studies 13. (Beauchamp, 2002)

2) Fitzpatrick, Martin. 2000. "To a Practised Touch': Miles Coverdale and Hawthorne's Irony." ATQ 14:1, pp. 27+. (Fitzpatrick, 2000)

3) Wohlpart, A. James. 1994. "Allegories of art, allegories of heart: Hawthorne's 'Egotism' and 'The Christmas Banquet.'" Studies in Short Fiction, June 22. (Wohlpart, 1994)

ALSO:

Unfortunately the story shows the swaggie acting like a barbarian and the guard, Bill forced to defend himself and fulfill his role as guard.
The story ends with the swag man kicked out of the train where Stivens eludes to a possible serious injury or death and Bill looking back as if to show he's worried. The best line of the whole story is when everything as mentioned is described right before the train enters junction as if to say Bill kept his job for one more day. It was a well written story with vivid and beautifully done descriptions and it definitely shines a light to the plight of not only the miserable, but also the people who are forced to battle them. And although there are things in the story that seem one sided and forced, it does a very good job of showing the viewpoint of a…...

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References

Casey, Gavin. "Short-Shift Saturday." 1937. The Australian Short Story: An

Anthology from the 1880s to the 1980s. Ed. Laurie Hergenhan. St. Lucia: U. Of Queensland P, 1986. 70-99.

Dal Stivens, 'Mr. Bloody Kearns', from Dal Stivens, Selected Stories: 1936-1968 (Sydney: A&R, 1969).

fiction's biggest advantages is the way it can be used to explore sensitive, difficult, and contentious topics from a relative distance. Fictional characters can express ideas and ask questions that would be considered beyond the pale in everyday life, offering writers and readers a relatively safe space in which to deal with these difficult issues. However, this quality also has a downside, because too often destructive ideas can be repeated and strengthened through works of fiction that purport to be doing quite the opposite. The short stories "Sharing," "Along the Frontage Road," and "Brownies" are all guilty of this dishonest, destructive practice, because although all three stories pretend to offer useful insights into the contentious issue of race and identity, all three end up subtly reproducing racist ideas and tropes. By examining these stories in conjunction, one is able to see how the productive, exploratory power of fiction can…...

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Works Cited

Chabon, Michael. "Along the Frontage Road." The Best American Short Stories. Ed. Sue Miller

and Katrina Kenison. New York:Mariner Books, 2002. 1-8.

Packer, ZZ. "Brownies." Drinking Coffee Elsewhere. New York: Riverhead, 2003. 1-28.

Wideman, John Edgar. "Sharing." God's Gym. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2005. 27-

In Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," the setting is of a very different nature, but also concerns life, death, and the irony that often accompanies the interaction between the two. The main character and first-person narrator, Montresor, leads Fortunato to his grave for an unnamed trespass. Under the pretence of wanting his expertise regarding a cask of amontillado, Montresor leads his friend into the recesses of an extensive vault, which also serves as a grave for a centuries-old family. The story is filled with increasingly grim descriptions of damp darkness and "piled bones" belonging to the generations of Montresor's family. The increasing darkness then correlates with the theme of Fortunato's impending doom. At the final turn, Montresor traps him in a crypt and seals him inside. The darkness can then serve to indicate the darkness of Montresor's action as well as the horror of Fortunato's final doom.

In Hawthorne's story, "Young…...

Selecting Essay Topics Covering English: A Comprehensive Guide

Introduction
Essay writing is an integral part of English studies, allowing students to showcase their analytical, critical thinking, and writing abilities. Choosing the right topic is crucial for producing an effective essay. This guide provides comprehensive guidance on selecting essay topics that effectively cover various aspects of English.

Types of English Essays
Before selecting a topic, it is essential to understand the different types of English essays:

Argumentative: Presents a persuasive argument supported by evidence and analysis.
Analytical: Examines a text or idea, breaking it down into its components and discussing its significance.
Comparative: Compares and....