PAPER Topics

... Pearl took some eelgrass and imitated, as best she could, on her own bosom, the decoration with which she was so familiar on her mother's - a letter - the letter "A"... (Hawthorne 174) Later in the story Pearl refuses to acknowledge her mother because of the fact that she is not wearing the scarlet letter. "Seen in the brook, once more, was the shadowy wrath of Pearl's image, crowned and girdled with flowers, but stamping it's foot, wildly gesticulating, and, in the midst of all, still pointing it's small forefinger at Hester's bosom." (Hawthorne 206) Hester Prynne's connection with the minister is best symbolized by Pearl. Throughout the book, Pearl is fascinated by the fact that the minis ...

... it has driven people to a desperate state to do anything. This is a large contributor to the reasons for the extreme violence present there today. The author states, "A Croat, thus, is someone who is not a Serb. A Serb is someone who is not a Croat." This quotation profoundly expresses the short-sighted mentality present in their conflict. In his travels in Germany, the author points out an important question. Does the nation make the state, or the state the nation? This question by far does not stop here, especially when Germany is the subject. The essence of the German people is seen by some as aggressive and offensive, thus the existence of the German problem. If the nation makes t ...

... rebuttal consisted only of a threat to himself- that if Oedipus’ claim against him were true, then let him not live out the rest of his days. Later, in a conversation with Oedipus, he justifies his denial of the charge that Oedipus had placed against him by illustrating the irrelevance of attempting to dethrone the king. When Jocasta enters, she sides with Creon and respects his oath to the gods. But later, when Oedipus says the claim against him is based on prophecy, she reasons with him since she does not believe in prophetic power. She explains how the prophecy of Laius’ son killing him never came true. Then Oedipus realizes that it was he that had slain Laius and that the ...

... Joe and her search for self-satisfaction. Even though the history that is recounted in this novel is more gossip than fact, it presents a more accurate story than the one depicted in the “offical story” located at the beginning of the novel. Toni Morrison attempts, through these three characters to illustrate how the narrator's perception of each character's history can alter the reader's understanding of a character's actions. Through this technique, she is able to demonstrate that circumstances and events are not always as simple or truthful as they seem. The first impression of Violet is presented through the "official story" established at the beginning of the novel. Her charact ...

... not to abandon the house, but told them that he would not be returning until morning. He knew that during this time of merriment the servants would disappear as soon as he turned his back. He lures Fortunato deeper and deeper into the family catacombs where the cask of amontillado was supposedly stored. Fortunato had a cold in the catacombs' mold aggravated his cough. Montresor kept offering Fortunato the chance to turn around and go back, but he also kept mentioning Luchresi's name. Once Montresor lures Fortunato to the deepest part of the catacombs, he shackles Fortunato to the walls of a small chamber. Montresor pushes aside a pile of bones that had concealed stones and mortar. He ...

... name was used to symbolize his qualities. Jem was like the valuable stone. He was rough on the outside but inside was nice. Jem was not always mature to other people in the beginning but at the end he treated all people like he was an adult. “How he could tell I was feeling bad under my costume I don’t know, but he said I did all right, I just came in a little late, that was all. Jem was becoming almost as good as Atticus at making you feel right when things went wrong.” Harper Lee used the title of the book in the story as a symbol. One example is when Mr. Underwood said that killing Tom Robinson was like killing a mockingbird. “Mr. Underwood simply figured it was a sin to kill ...

... contrast one another in a plethora of ways. Where Billy is sweet, John is bitter. Where Billy is naïve, John is knowledgeable. Where Billy is content, John is jealous. Lastly, where Billy is good, John is bad. The ugliness that results in the death of both men portrays the triumph of sinister forces over the meek. John Claggart, who is a powerful and feared man aboard Bellipotent, lashes out at Billy who is for the most part defenseless. This is an injustice of biblical proportions. What could have prevented this from happening? Perhaps, if Billy picked up on John’s malicious intent the entire tragedy could have been avoided. But, on the other hand Billy was good and sought goodness ...

... They feared rituals and ceremonies that seemed strange and suspicious. They feared a social unity of sharing and togetherness that they found alarming and intimidating. The Indians woke up one morning to find that the lands they once belonged to were no longer theirs. The deeds and papers said the land now belonged to the white folk. It was taken away from them by sheer physical force, stolen, and they were sent away to live on reservations. Tayo was a part of the Laguna Pueblo reservation. As a young kid on the Laguna Pueblo reservation, Tayo and the other children were sent away to white schools, and it was mandatory that they did not speak in their native tongue or take part ...

... as a new hegemonic class that possessed riches and power that were practically undreamt of. This era saw a dramatic increase in the size of the lower classes as immigrants filled the country and jobs became scarce, and a decrease in the size of the middle class. However, despite the less than ideal conditions that existed for many people in the country, middle and upper class citizens had the impression that they were in an era of prosperity. They turned a blind eye towards all the suffering and hardships of the lower class, in their perfect, ignorant world “There were no Negroes. There were no immigrants” (3). Doctorow recognized the dominant attitude of the times for wha ...

... Blake protests against various forms of oppression resulting from humans in his poem “London” which speaks about a slice of life in London in his times. Blake believes that an individual’s state of mind enslaves itself. Therefore, he refers to the Thames and the city streets as “chartered”(1) alluding to the image that man-made conventions and laws have succeeded in placing man in captivity and making them unable to escape from their molded path. Blake also implies that man perverts everything into something impure. The water, which was once a beautiful natural river, has now become polluted for merely economic purposes, which illustrates man’s n ...