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Willie C

Themes of As I Lay Dying | Novel Summaries Analysis - 0 views

  • every character is essentially isolated from the others. Moreover, the characters in the novel do not communicate effectively with one another.
  • The absence of his mother’s love leads Darl to isolation not only from others but also from himself.
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    This source discusses several themes of the novel, including isolation, death, sanity, and identity. Without the role of any decent parent, most of the children evolve into isolated, uncaring characters, who only seek their own self interests. This contrasts sharply with Jewel, who has a caring mother, and ends up sacrificing all that he cares about in order to respectfully (in his opinion) bury his mother.
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    "Faulkner's use of multiple narrators underscores one of his primary themes: every character is essentially isolated from the others. Moreover, the characters in the novel do not communicate effectively with one another"
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    This source outlines the themes in As I lay Dying, as well as giving examples. This quote provides an overview of Faulkner's style of using the different characters as narrators in order to further emphasize that the characters do not communicate well.
Willie C

Grapes of Wrath Themes - 0 views

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    "The Grapes of Wrath is a literary triumph, beautifully and movingly written, artistically interweaving great themes of westward movement, Biblical sacrifice, human courage and endurance, the centrality of the family and of women within the family, the importance of community and human brotherhood, and the evils of selfish individualism"
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    This source discusses the major themes in the Gapes of Wrath the coexist with the major paper themes we are using as well as contributes to them. This quote encompasses them all, which can be picked out for the paper.
Sarah Sch

Themes and Construction: The Grapes of Wrath - 0 views

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    This article describes the themes of "The Grapes of Wrath". For example, the article discusses the themes of class conflict and hope. The article is also a good source for examining the allusions and symbols which bolster the themes in the novel. The article will give support to a paper discussing the class struggle over time.
Connor P

Gale Power Search - Document - 0 views

  • It shares also the sense of crossing lines or boundaries and of otherworldliness. The enormous popularity of the Gothic novel had actually passed by 1816, but the genre, with its emphasis on darkness, madness, the supernatural, and strange passions, has never been fully dead.
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    This talks about the theme of sanity vs insanity and chaos vs order. The gothic elements helps make the novel dark and chaotic in which Victor must define because of his responsibility. The helpful gothic elements of madness and darkenss help further these themes
Connor P

Gale Power Search - Document - 0 views

  • while Shelley's Gothic in Frankenstein (1818) urges personal integrity and social responsibility in an age of scientific progress, and represents the anxiety produced by the disruption of the traditional, known natural world order.
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    This source discusses the theme of responsiility in the novel as Victor is responsibile for the monster life. It also talks about the theme of chaos vs order as the creation of a new life form disturbs the order of the world. Thus Victor must make order out of the choatic world and accpet the responsibillity of his actions
Evan G

Addie Bundren in As I Lay Dying - 0 views

  • She worked as a schoolteacher and enjoyed whipping her students, whom she secretly hated. Oddly enough, what appealed to Addie most about this corporal punishment was the fact that it made her a part of the students’ lives. "Now you are aware of me!"
  • She wants to be noticed; she wants to be a real person. Having kids doesn’t solve the problem; it just presents a new one.
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    Good source which discusses Addie Bunds and the entire theme of isolation; as a mother back in the day, childbirth is really her only appreciable quality. Her entire life, Addie just wants some recognition and companionship; Anse certainly neglects to fulfill the part of a decent husband, so she is left alone to die. Good site for the theme of isolation/alienation, especially by her own children.
Connor P

Gale Power Search - Document - 0 views

  • he uses Gothic imagery and atmosphere in particular to highlight this idea. Gothicism is also used in Faulkner's work to emphasize
  • distorted religious views, the clash between those with power and those without, the isolation of the individual, humans' powerlessness in an indifferent universe, the moral decay of the community, the burden of history, the horrors of humans' treatment of each other, and the problem of evil.
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    This shows how Faulkner uses his Gothic elements to highlight his specific themes such as isolation. this is the main theme in As I Lay Dying, as it leads the the struggles in the family and their destruction
Connor P

Gale Power Search - Document - 1 views

  • A strong irony is at work in most of the monologues in the novel, revealing Anse and his children with their individual dreams and preoccupations, some of them utterly selfish,
  • A whole range of emotions colors the monologues and hence the novel as a whole, from anger and hatred and fear to loyalty and reverence.
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    This is the theme of selfishness and hostility within the family. Both of these Gothic elements imployed by Faulker lead to the ultimate theme of isolation
Evan G

SparkNotes: The Jungle: Themes, Motifs & Symbols - 0 views

  • Every event, especially in the first twenty-seven chapters of the book, is chosen deliberately to portray a particular failure of capitalism, which is, in Sinclair’s view, inhuman, destructive, unjust, brutal, and violent.
  • The slow annihilation of Jurgis’s immigrant family at the hands of a cruel and prejudiced economic and social system demonstrates the effect of capitalism on the working class as a whole
  • Instead of a land of acceptance and opportunity, they find a place of prejudice and exploitation; instead of a country where hard work and morality lead to success, they find a place where only moral corruption, crime, and graft enable one to succeed materially.
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  • The family itself has been subject to swindles, grafts, manipulation, and rape. As the corruption motif recurs with increasing levels of immorality, it enhances the sense that things are growing worse and worse for the family. Sinclair heightens the atmosphere of grim tragedy and hopelessness to such an extent that only the encounter with socialism in Chapter 28 can possibly alleviate Jurgis’s suffering and give his life meaning.
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    Yet again, Sparknotes is a fairly decent source, describing various themes for potential essay topics including the failure of capitalism, corruption in businesses, treatment of the [immigrant]  worker, etc. It's very short, to the point, and concise, talking about how awfully workers are manipulated, and the utter torment they go through on a day-to-day basis, merely trying to survive.
Connor P

Literary Reference Center - powered by EBSCOhost: The Grapes of Wrath - 1 views

  • The Grapes of Wrath is a bitter tale of humans against nature and against a brutally exploitive society, but it is also a tale of nobility, of self-sacrifice, and ultimately of hope.
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    This quote shows the constant battle between humans against nature and society. Nature and society is symbolic of the poor working conditions and few jobs that they must overcome. By displaying the theme of the fight for better conditions, Steinbeck parallels this with his theme of helping others to show their differences
Evan G

The Great Gatsby Setting - 0 views

  • Nobody’s concerned about politics or spiritual matters – but everybody cares about how they are perceived socially. The social climate demands respectability; it asks people to conform to certain standards
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    Talks about themes such as setting and appearance vs reality. Clearly, people aren't focused on internal qualities such as politics or religion; the rich care only about how they are perceived and how they appear. The need for social acceptance gives way to the appearance vs reality theme
Connor P

Literary Reference Center - powered by EBSCOhost: Frankenstein - 0 views

  • Victor and the creature are “doubles” (or mirrors) of each other because they are both struck with the inability to successfully communicate with society. This theme demonstrates the balance of the conscious and unconscious aspects of human behavior.
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    This source shows the doppelganger between the monster and Victor as they are doubles of each other. One of their connections is the fact that both are isolated and cannot communicate with society. This leads to the theme of isolation.
Sarah Sch

(7) In Cold Blood - 0 views

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    "Irony is, in fact, one of Capote's major techniques, and he achieves it by juxtaposing the circumstances of the killers to those of the Clutter family."
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    "Capote introduces the idea of fate and predestination and the ways in which society produces killers and unleashes them on the innocent."
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    This article discusses the main themes of In Cold Blood and general information about the novel. Background information is evident in the article including the relationship Capote had with Dick and Perry. The theme of irony is evident throughout the whole novel such as a robbery with no money. This article supports an essay including the major themes of In Cold Blood.
Evan G

It's Alive: Frankenstein's Monster and Modern Science - 0 views

  • The theme of civic responsibility in Frankenstein begins with the book’s subtitle, "the Modern Prometheus."
  • Victor Frankenstein may also be in search of God-like secrets and claim only the best intentions, but his actions are corrupt and he dies without acknowledging his role in the destruction that has occurred.
  • A central concern of Frankenstein is the scientist’s shirking of responsibility for the creature he has created.
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    Mary Shelley used science as a metaphor for any kind of irresponsible action and what she really was concerned with was the politics of the era and the way the monarchy was operating in the interest of relatively few people.
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    This source relates Frankenstein to contemporary times, discussing the theme of social responsibility that scientists have, both to their experiments as well as to humanity. It discusses the manner in which Victor overstepped his boundaries, and resultingly was punished and suffered for it.
Evan G

SparkNotes: The Grapes of Wrath: Themes, Motifs & Symbols - 3 views

  • Steinbeck consistently and woefully points to the fact that the migrants’ great suffering is caused not by bad weather or mere misfortune but by their fellow human beings. Historical, social, and economic circumstances separate people into rich and poor, landowner and tenant, and the people in the dominant roles struggle viciously to preserve their positions.
  • In order to protect themselves from such danger, the landowners create a system in which the migrants are treated like animals, shuffled from one filthy roadside camp to the next, denied livable wages, and forced to turn against their brethren simply to survive.
  • ” In the face of adversity, the livelihood of the migrants depends upon their union. As Tom eventually realizes, “his” people are all people.
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  • . Simple self-interest motivates the landowners and businessmen to sustain a system that sinks thousands of families into poverty.
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    Although Sparknotes is a very stereotypcial website on novels, it's still a very effective source of information. It makes blatantly clear the fact that the rich, aristocratic upper class is mainly responsible for the poverty and economic devastation in the country. The rich get richer at the cost of the destruction of the lower class. The workers are treated poorly in an effort to keep them desperate, which in turn keeps the rich people rich. Selfishness and greed, key themes in practically every novel read so far, is clarified and pointed out. The condition of the migrants is no accident, it's an intentional, deliberate plot to oppress them. Their only hope is through unity.
Connor P

Gale Power Search - Document - 0 views

  • The color green represents not only Gatsby's dream of winning back the idealized Daisy but also the broader American dream. The valley of ashes that lies between Long Island and New York City
  • symbolize both the moral decay of U.S. society and the plight of the poor people (including Myrtle and her husband)
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    This shows the symbolism of the color green in which Ftizgerald uses colors to express his themes and the setting which symbolizes the social classes on a larger scale
Connor P

Gale Power Search - Document - 0 views

  • The society in which Frankenstein and Walton alike opt for the isolation of individual pursuits over the socializing impulses of human interaction proves to be the real agent in redefining the parameters of creative activity.
  • Acts are replaced by words, activity by passivity, responsibility by the irresponsibly ambivalent, and individuality by abstraction. The person is dissolved.
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    This source shows how related the character of Victor and Walton in the themes of isolation. It also taks about their irresponsibilty and the chaos of their lives. Thus their structures are paralle
Willie C

Frankenstein- Novels for Students - 0 views

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    "As textile factories and iron mills increased production with advanced machinery and technology, the working classes grew restive and increasingly alarmed by jobs that seemed insecure because a worker could be replaced by machines"
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    This article gives background information on the influence the Industrial Revolution on Mary Shelly's writing. The Industrial Revolution was a revolution in the 1800's that was characterized by great advances in technology and the standard of living. However, the great advancements also replaced many traditional man powered jobs with machines. The fear of progression is a main notion in Frankenstein.
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    "Victor's inquisitive nature causes his emotional and physical peril because he cannot balance his intellectual and social interactions. For instance, when he leaves home to attend the University of Ingolstadt, he immerses himself in his experiment and forgets about the family who lovingly supported him throughout his childhood"
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    This article provides a detailed overview of the novel. It also provides an overview of the themes including alienation or isolation. This example could be used as support for the basic theme.
Evan G

shsaplit - How Racism Prevents the Invisible Man from Attaining Goals and his Identity - 1 views

  • the Invisible Man felt that in order to reach his goals he had to have a white lifestyle and was insecure within his true culture. This hindered his goals because he was trying too hard, and once he accepted who he was and where he came from, including his culture and the foods that came with it, he could begin to grow and become the person he once wished to be.
  • He never realized that the brotherhood was bound for nowhere and they were just averting him from achieveing something greater. They treated him unequally such as any other negro in the civil rights movement or the Jews in the holocaust, he was an unheard voice.
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    Discusses direct correlations between quotes from IM and the racist impact they have upon him. As seen in the case of the yams, it is only after IM decides to accept his own culture and past that he can have his own identity. Until then, he is still trying to live white. Also, back to the theme of oppression, the Brotherhood was acting in the name of blacks, yet truly just held IM back, hovering inches from success, in order to ensure that he never gets his fully deserved recognition or rights.
Brian C

The Invisible Man in Ralph Ellisons Invisible Man - 3 views

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    goes into detail about the theme of invisibility and connects it to the real world. Relates the apocalyptic ending of the novel to the theme of invisibility, as well as discussing Ellison's literary influences
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