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Carolyn Williams author of the literary criticism "Trying to do without God" in the Color Purple by Alice Walker criticizes how the main character Celie turns away from God and begins to write to Nettie, her sister. When Celie stops, writing to God it seems as if she felt betrayed by him because apparently God did not like poor colored women. Based on what Williams wrote, Celie felt as if God was like all other men, liars and cheaters. Celie began to refer to God because her stepfather always told her not to tell anyone but God because it would her mother. I think that is where Celie felt betrayed, because she probably imagined God as her stepfather since back then, society did not have enough knowledge about religion. When Celie found love, her personality changed because before she was lonely and empty inside. Now that she has a man on her side, her world completely changed because she has a sense of wholeness and she managed to recognize God once more. Williams included a small passage from the story and it said "Man corrupt everything" meaning that men feel like they can do whatever they want and they will get it and I think that is why Williams targeted the "trying to do without God". Alice Walker compared men to a God and that is why Celie stopped because she had, had terrible experiences with men like her stepfather. I would say that Williams criticized Walker because she tried to exclude God, and Williams believes that in order for something to happen people must acknowledge God in their lives.

Argument: Conrad's purpose for writing The Secret Sharer is to get the reader to infer the themes of " the dual Selves that exist in each person and the extent of responsibility one holds for another in contrast to one's Self." Evidence:1.The suspenseful artistry in Conrad's style of writing serves to amplify the contrasting persona of the captain and his second self. 2. He succeeds in this by vividly portraying his themes of Self and responsibility through his suspenseful artistry and his various methods of first person point of view, use of symbols, tone, and biblical allusion. Quotes: "Conrad's use of first person point of view narration via the captain is essential to showing how the protagonist views himself as an incomplete Self." "In describing the captain and his surroundings, Conrad paints the picture of a timid man who lacks confidence aboard a ship that harbors mutinous qualities." "A deep connection between the captain and Leggatt seems to exist, indicating that their meeting will have significant ramifications. With such a strong bond seeming to form immediately between these two, the reader can sense the captain's previous feeling of being a "stranger" shed. Through Conrad's use of first person point of view, the reader gets a clear picture of the incomplete Self the narrator originally feels give way to a stronger sense of completeness." Own Thoughts: I like how the source explains that characterization can be found through narrator's tone. Conrad making his writing suspenseful helps understand the characters and also helps set the stage of what is to come.

Arugement: Fitzgerald embodys beauty, sex, and aristocracy throughout the novel and portrays how they are linked aswell as how they are contradicting towards one another--order, responsibility, and purposefulness. Claim: Fitzgerald's dominating purpose for this book, as for all his books, illustrates "unity and force," and this book is considered as a traditional bildungsroman:a novel about the moral and psychological growth of the main character. Amory being the target character for this. Evidence: "But the bar is strong enough to hold them and emerges intact because Fitzgerald does use those things with a "mentality back of them." Amory metamorphosis into the spiritually unmarried man should come as no surprise: from his first instictive attempts to get something definite to his explicit commitment to the struggle to guide and control his life, that is where he is heading."

Robert McKay, author of the criticism on human-animal relationships that are described in The Temple of My Familiar by Alice Walker, believes in two arguments. One begin that Robert believes that the ability in which humans use language sets the difference between humans and animals. Secondly, he critiques about how Walker has "anti-oppressive" political views towards race and gender. In the story Walker "re- writes" the book of Genesis and she makes many references that are mythological and biblical. Robert McKay believes that humans and animals are very distinct and even though many people believe that there is communication between an animal and a human…well they are wrong according to McKay. In the novel Walker wrote about past lives and how humans came from animals, well according to McKay that's impossible and that's is why he critiques Walker on her comparisons between a human and an animal. The second argument he brought up was how political references were made to gender and race. These references were made when the young boy and the young girl were together and they realized that they were different due to the color of their skin. It is like an allusion to the bible says McKay because the boy lost his sexual innocence due to the temptation. Also, Walker makes an animal intertwine in a way between humans. For example, she puts the woman, followed by the familiar and then the man when in reality the animal is external in this human relationship. In the story when the boy and girl were together as it was stated above the boy kills the girl's familiar which was a serpent and it represents the serpent from the bible according to McKay, but that event (the boy killing the serpent) represents how men (white men) had the power over women and animals.

Argument: John Steinbeck shows not just the Great Depression in his stories but he tells about depression. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck explains his characters as depressed and lonely; even though they have each other they show signs of loneliness. In the book Lennie and George, just like everyone in American wants to achieve the American Dream. "…the gulf between the gritty struggle for survival and the ideal dream life can never be bridged, except in death." (Reith). I agree with the author that Steinbeck illustrates that the American Dream is hard to achieve without any happiness. Evidence: "The magnitude of this failure is recorded by the extent to which Lennie, a cipher for America, is denied life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." (Reith). "But for Steinbeck the American Dream of self-sufficiency and living off the fat of the land, premised as it is on a gun culture which involves brutality and the exploitation of the weak, is doomed to failure." (Reith). "While Steinbeck exposes the inequalities in society and encourages the reader to sympathies with the plight of poor migrant workers, his depiction of the inherent will to power in human nature shows us that attempts to change the social system will be futile." (Reith). Thoughts: Based on the article Steinbeck is described of having a gloomy story but having a great way of showing the life of people living in the Great Depression. It was hard enough for a man to live in this time let alone a men trying to proved for his family. Steinbeck described the friendship of two men who realized it's better to stick together then to separate in a time like this. With Lennies strength and George's smarts it seems so cliché but a well rounded story. The article provides the insight on the story and the opinions on Steinbeck's thoughts that the American Dream is almost impossible to achieve. I believe that if you live up to your standard then that's all the dreams you

Argument: In using music as a symbol and motif in his novels and essays, Ellison contributes jazz artists not only as musicians who inspire and express Ellison's evolution as a person, but represent a social case that he personifies through their music. Claim: Ellison uses the motif of music to both represent evolution of a person, and the social distinction/respect a black man gains through music. Such musicians as Louis Armstrong, have unintentionally utilized their music to raise their social class and respect (an element of Marxism). Quote: "He was from a very poor family and was sent to reform school when he was twelve after firing a gun in the air on New Year's Eve. At the school he learned to play cornet. After being released at age fourteen, he worked selling papers, unloading boats, and selling coal from a cart...The band went through a number of personnel changes over the years but remained extremely popular worldwide. They toured extensively travelling to Africa, Asia, Europe and South America for the next twenty years until Louis' failing health caused them to disband. Armstrong became known as America's Ambassador."

Argument: Author Sarah Hackenberg presents the opinion that women are only hiding behind their servant attitudes in order to get where they would like. She presents the sequence of events that led up to the initial true image of Jean Muir, not that of a nineteen year old but in fact of a haggard old woman. Hackenberg also gives certatin prominence to the idea of womens' highest achievement would be their marital status. The entire story epitomizes a servant of a governess that exhibits the standard female behaviors up until the very end where the maanipulative and devious women unmasks her self, hypothetically and literally. Evidence: "Most critics of "Behind a Mask" attend closely to the tale's radical gender and class dynamics: the way Alcott overtly aligns operating behind a mask with female power" (Hackenberg) "the fact that the governess's ultimate ambition, despite all her formidable powers of artistry and perception, is to "trick" a man into marriage..."(Hackenberg) Thoughts: Hackenberg raises many interesting points. Jean Muir was the ultimate woman. She only lacked in one area and that area was her status. Her only hope of climbing up in the world would to be marrying someone of a higher class. She said multiple times in the story that if this did happen to her that she would be completly content and only honor and follow her husband's rules. However, with the history that she has and what we know of her from reading this story we can be almost certain that Jean will not be content and will have to stir up some troulbe somehow. The story leaves off at a crucial point that leaves the readers contemplating all the different outcomes it could have.

Argument Steinbecks main influence from the Pearl was drawn from the oppression and pain he saw during and after world war 2. The Pearl takes on many darker tones than his previous works, showing steinbeck had lost a lot of faith in humanity, and the corruption of man due to greed. Evidence -novella is "permeated with the special sort of impotent and sullen bitterness which only an oppressed and subject people know." - "organismal view of life, his belief that men can work together to fashion a better, more productive, and more meaningful life, seemed less and less applicable to the world he saw around him." -denied basic human rights; they have been marginalized and disenfranchised. The money they earn from diving for pearls is not enough to adequately feed, shelter, and educate themselves and their families -This doctor was not of his people. This doctor was of a race which for nearly four hundred years had beaten and starved and robbed and despised Kino's race Analysis Steinbecks pessimism is clearly seen throughout both of his novels, however thier is a more melancholic tone within The Pearl. Although Grapes of Wrath displays many sad mooments, the death of Kino's son and the opression his people face is unparralled to what the Joads suffer through

Argument: Basically that "Beatrice and Virgil" is the worst book of the decade, because supposedly it mock Jews and the Holocaust by misinformation and a strong lack of merit. The writer feels Martel completely underscored the Holocaust, and trivialized the entire tragic even, by representing the Jews with donkeys to satirize the Holocaust. "There comes a rare time - perhaps once every ten or fifteen years - when you read a book with such dreadful syntax, without even a fiber of merit, so libertine in the manner it insults the audience, and so producing the literary equivalent to being completely submerged into a vat of shit, that the reader, having embarked on the fetid journey, begins to pine for a brutal throng of vigilantes to chop off the author's hands and prevent the hopeless hack from ever holding a pen or setting foot near a laptop again." "This book will fill you with such vileness that you will find yourself instantly ruminating about what an AK-47 might be able to do when fired in the right direction." "The book asks us to sympathize with a douchebag named Henry, whose only real character traits are that he has written a successful book and that he is revered by his readers. Tough life, this Henry." Analysis: The author writes with a lot of passion and eloquence, about his extreme almost dramatic distaste for the book. Even the most simple slightly sarcastic sentence just breathes malice and hate. The man used plentiful support and an easy to read chronological layout that was easy to read which I very much liked.

Mariah Love Ms. Jensen AP Literature - 1 27 Jan. 2011 Mythology in it's Many Forms As religion is one of the most practiced, and longest-lived commonality in man, and mythology pertains to religion exclusively it can be concluded that religious mythology has impacted much of the world all throughout history. However, this may be harder to recognize in some areas and times than it is or was in others. For instance, the most well-known forms of mythology is that of Greek mythology pertaining to gods and goddesses, but there are in fact other forms of mythology such as that of Native Americans. Although Native Americans did not necessarily have gods and goddesses nor did they have much written myths, the tales in which they used to explain the unexplained were indeed a form of mythology. In the book, "Teach Yourself Native American Myths" the author argues that there are both similarities and differences between the common mythology the world perceives as Greek mythology and that of Native American Mythology. A similarity the author describes would be their use of animals as guides, which occurs in both types of mythology. The way the author presents this information is slightly ineffective due to the fact that the information is broken into many subcategories, leaving the reader with a feeling of choppy unclear thoughts. However, it is obvious what the authors focus is, and the information presented within the text all supports the topic and is carried throughout the entirety of the work.

Argument: The argument is that TIm O'Brien, the author of "The Things They Carried", Creates a both fictional and non-fictional story which creates confusion in interpreting the books stories. Stories are jumbled up and not told in sequence or by the same people, or even interupted because of the stroytellers death. Because of this the reader may struggle with having a clear understanidng of the novel. Evidence:"'Patrol went up the mountain. One man came back. He died before he could tell us what happened,'"(6) -- many are in their own way as enigmatic. The tales included in O'Brien's twenty-two chapters range from several lines to many pages and demonstrate well the impossibility of knowing the reality of the war in absolute terms." "Tim Obrien terms TheThings They Carried "'fiction. . . a novel. . . (Mehren El), but in an interview with Martin Naparsteck, he refers to the work as a "sort of half novel, half group of stories. It's part nonfiction, too," he insists" Thoughts: I agree with the argument of this essay. I often become confused or lost within the stories of Tim O;Briens "The Things They Carried" because the stories are so damn unorganized! One story may begin than abruptly end, only to be finished by another soldier farther along in the novel. I will admit it is a challenge to understand, but I do enjoy this novel, and must admit the stories are interesting......well, when understood at least.

Estella is generally viewed as a mean and heartless character, which is what she was raised to be. She was cruel to him, as she was to all men. Though, according to Lucille P. Shores, Pip fails to realize that Estella really shows her affection for him in her own way. Pip is subject to her constant mockery and insults, and yet when he fights over her with Herbert she rewards him with a kiss. Estella knows all too well that she has been warped by the demented Miss Havisham, this is why she warns him away from her. She has strong feelings for him, maybe not of love but certainly of admiration, and that is why she cannot subject him to her grating personality. Shores submits that Estella "knows that she cannot make Pip happy, and she has too much affection for him to link her unhappy life with his", she refuses to ruin his life by her presence. Therefore her rejection of him is possibly her greatest gift to him, at least in her own eyes. When Pip sees hatred and scorn, Estella is really trying to show her admiration and fondness of him. When Estella and Pip first meet as adults, Estella looks at Pip, looks at her shoe, and then back to Pip and laughs. Shores states that at this point Dickens perfectly captures a woman's subconscious feelings toward a man she feels attracted to, and yet to the naïve Pip it is just more rejection from Estella. Shores, Lucille P. "'The Character of Estella in Great Expectations." Massachusetts Studies in English (Fall 1972): 91-99. Rpt. in Novels for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Literature Resource Center. Web. 23 Jan. 2011.

A thousand Splendid Suns is about women being abused by the men. Many people have read this book but Cheryl Reed saw it as "nearly impossible for a novel a work of fantasy and fabrication to deliver a formidable blow, a pounding of the senses, a reeling so staggering that we are convinced the characters and their dilemmas are genuine" (Reed). The two stories are similar but different at the same time because of the different women and different time periods. Reed goes onto explain that the two stories are about such young women being married off to much older women, while these men have multiple wives. An example of this is would be, "The man who saves her, who digs her from the rubble, is 60ish Rasheed, a shoe salesman, who has a penchant for young girls. His wife, Mariam, was given to him when she was only 15" (Reed). Mariam's mother dies in a hanging and she is married off by her dad. However, they are married to men much older than them and have to deal with the beatings and abuse. Although before they may be married off many things could happen to them. For example when Rasheed wives try to escape and get caught their punishment is brutal. "Rasheed's dissimilar wives team up to offer each other support from the beatings and the verbal lashings. They plan a risky escape but when that fails, the powerlessness of their plight couldn't be more palpable: Strangers turn them in to the authorities, and police officers shrug their shoulders at the likelihood that Rasheed may kill them for causing dishonor" (Reed). However, as punishment for trying to escape from a life of torture, they are brutally beat. Seems all they want is freedom but to get that they have to escape. Reed describes this the best "While The Kite Runner was the story of redemption, of male friendship and the bond between fathers and sons, Suns is a multigenerational story with a larger cast of characters, spanning 45 years and told from the dual perspectives of two powerless women

TIME Magazine's "Books: The Strength of One" draws similarities between Kesey's McMurphy from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Hank Stamper from Sometimes a Great Notion. Both characters possess strength not often seen in one person and characteristics that could categorize them as antiheros. They are rough and tough and seek to stand up against what the feel is wrong and will use force to do so. This article presents the theme of Sometimes a Great Notion to be "the weakness of the strong and the persistent tensility of the weak". The townspeople within the novel can't stand to see Stamper win in the final "battle", but they are confused when he begins to lose. Kesey understands that intolerable as a good man may be to men, his defeat is even more so. This is the major paradox presented within the novel and explains the prominence of strength captured in both books. This article presents strong ideas that are tied in with the plot very well, however the author did not include quotes, which would have provided more support for the conclusions. The connections to the author included in the article suggest that the author has thorough knowledge into Kesey's background and his motives for writing each novel. It was almost as if the author was in Kesey's mind while writing this piece. The author drew parallels between Kesey's works and Greek mythology that posed interesting thoughts for the reader. Overall, Ken Kesey's ideas are transferred well in this article and are analyzed with a fresh outlook.