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The Early Work of Arthur Miller Critic In this larger analysis by Leonard Moss on the complete works of Arthur Miller, the subsection regarding "All My Sons" explored the use of diction and other literary techniques to develop the complex family relationships of this novel. The family unit in "All My Sons" enjoys strong bonds and affections according to Moss; nonetheless, they are plagued with uncertainty and distrust among other members of the family despite this closeness. Moss progresses through the plot sequentially in order to support this claim about the family. Along the way, the article notes the language used by Miller to supplement the work. Colloquial language is used frequently, for instance, along with many allusions which are employed to reveal secrets of the family and signify shifts in emotions found within the story. Specifically noted is the "verbal contrast bringing out a psychological contrast" such as "harshness starting to displace simple folkiness, fearfulness displacing the comfortable self-assurance." Once accounting for the social truths and themes put forth by Miller, and the many supporting details, the author of this article concludes that much of the plot is centered on characters whose existence thrives in their pride as an honorable family member. This claim is supported by the actions of Joe Keller; after learning of his sons' discontent with his job as a father, he gives up everything and commits suicide because his life has no worth. These sentiments are definitely reflected within "Death of a Salesman" as well, which leads Moss to further conclude that Miller has strong opinions regarding family norms of this time.

The author of this critic, Terry Thompson, examined the family relationships and themes of Arthur Miller's "Death of A Salesman". Specifically the author examined two central symbolic elements to these aspects of the play, the first being the names of and the second being the physical characteristics of Willy, Biff, and Happy Loman. When closely examined, Thompson points out, the only character who is not addressed by a childish rendition of their name is Willy's brother, Benjamin Loman. Coincidently this is the only character of the novel that is viewed as successful; Willy, Biff, and Happy all continue to use immature pseudonyms which reflect their perceived shortcomings in life. In this same manner, the only characters who have facial hair and other features typical of grown men are Benjamin Loman and the father of Benjamin and Willy Loman. Again, this signifies their superiority, maturity, and success over the characters of Willy, Biff, and Happy. These minor details solidify the relationships between the male characters in the play, which lead to the conclusion by Thompson that Willy and his sons were truly inferior to other males. Moreover, this definition of inferiority was purely devised through standards put forth by Willy's idea of success stemming from the influences he had from men as he was growing up. This is clearly shown when Willy asks Benjamin to describe their father to his sons in order to show them a real role model and guide for success. Overall, Willy had a very harsh view about what success and self-worth comprised of.

Cody Villanueva E. Jensen AP Literature 27 January 2011 Literary Analysis #4 It can be concluded from several sources that Yann Martel's novel Beatrice and Virgil does not meet the standards set by his previous novel Life of Pi. An article written by Cathal Kelly not only goes into the detail of her own criticism but displays several criticisms through the use of different resources that have the same view; Beatrice and Virgil's downfalls. Hitting on points of Martel's overall idea of the book, they criticize it as being offensive and misconceived. Using the Holocaust has caused such a demeaning affect to the overall idea of the book, that ot takes away from the theme and the underlying message Martel is trying to persuade the reader to understand. Cathal not only has lots of evidence and quotation to reinstate her idea of Yann Martel's faults but she also gives insight from her personal views. Bringing forth the idea that this novel was merely pieced together after the rejection of the publication of a previous novel, Kelly points out that this book cannot really in the running on the best books list as Martel's previous novel. The novel contain too many loose ends and has and ending that does not satisfy the bulk of the readers. From these criticism it is perceived that Life of Pi contained much more attention to its detail, making it a novel of praise and prosperity. Her use of significant proof helps back up not only her opinion but allow the reader to consider such element from varied resources, crucial in attaining something believable and real. The overall article shows the downfalls of Beatrice and Virgil and its insignificance compared to Yann Martel's previous works of literature.

Argument: Bruce Reeves points out that although "To Have and Have Not" is not one of Hemingway's better-known novels, it has had an insight on issues during the time it was written, and brought with it a new form of writing. The main theme is dealing with pain and hardships, overcoming them to move on with life and existence. Hemingway portrays his own personal struggles and life experiences through his work. Often times his characters experience and go through similar things he did. Evidence: "It was considered a forerunner of the "tough guy" school of fiction, but it has come to be seen more as a unique work…"(Reeves). "To Have and Have Not is arguably his one book in which the sum of the parts does not equal the individual fragments."(Reeves). "He assumes that everyone is equally alone."(Reeves). "Harry Morgan with relentless energy from one situation to another, until he is cornered with no hope of escape."(Reeves). Thoughts: Reeves summarizes the novel and describes the characters to show the main themes and meaning of the novel. I have also found that there are many correlations between Hemingway's characters from one book to another, such as how they act and their personalities. The characters are put in difficult situations that challenge their emotional strength. They all seem to know something bad is going to happen to them in the end.

Argument: The heated passion within Wuthering Heights is a product of the intense relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine. Claim: Passion is an essential element of a Romantic novel. Catherine is, in some ways, addicted to Heathcliff. Catherine's addiction to Heathcliff is bold, especially for society at the time. Catherine is somewhat reckless. Catherine has an empty soul. Evidence: "Intensity arises out of the bond between Catherine and Heathcliff, a bond which can best be described as an addiction rather than as a 'theme' of a traditional Romantic Gothic novel. The addictive nature of the relationship is illuminated by Catherine's cry of 'I am Heathcliff!' (98). Lacking any inner resources, Catherine attempts to capture Heathcliff's psyche to fulfill the emptiness in her own soul. This then is sexual addiction--the need to possess another being." http://go.galegroup.com.lib.chandleraz.gov/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CA18290969&v=2.1&u=chandler_main&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w

Ron Evans's purpose is to thoroughly explain Holden as a character in Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. The theme of human connection is apparent in his criticism because he states that Holden is in "search for authentic human contact and love" (Evans). The structure of the argument is very organized and coherent with each other. In the beginning of his argument Evans characterized Holden and talks about how he is a "mythic-quest hero". He also describes Holden as a distraught teen on a journey towards self-discovery and realization. Towards the end Evans connects the theme and an element of plot to Salinger's other pieces of work such as Nine Stories and Franny and Zooey. The evidence provided by the author helps his case due to his specific examples and details. Evans uses a few characters from the novel to further enhance his portrayal of Holden. He concludes that Salinger "captured the attention of a generation of readers seeking reassurance during the rough transition from childhood to adulthood" (Evans). His conclusion adds to his bias since he believes The Catcher in the Rye will be read by most young adult readers. Also, the fact that Evans thinks that Salinger influenced an entire generation contributes to his bias and assumptions.

Joyce Carol Oats is the author of this critical analysis of Wuthering Heights. Oats explains how Emily Bronte's writing is unique and anticipated, but still brings in the basics of a romantic novel. She feels that it evolves well through loss and love. The novel also uses the time period it was written in very well through many examples. The purpose of this critical analysis is to prove Bronte's writing and show how well she can fit everything together. Wuthering Heights has a storyline to it, where it could seem like there are two tales in one. One tale would be of the romance and the second would be of maturing through life's challenges. Oats determines that Bronte includes nature into society, which makes up the theme of the novel. Passion is also incorporated into this romantic, gothic novel through various generations of people falling in love. The purpose of this was to prove the theme, in Oats' eyes. Joyce Oats feels that Wuthering Heights has to be understood on two levels to obtain the entire meaning. Emily Bronte has a writing style that gets her point across, but most of the time has an underlying meaning pertaining to the historical aspect and also the romantic aspect.

Argument: To a God Unknown is a novel riddled with the power idea of the something to believe in; faith. Faith is in the forefront of the novel because Joesph, the main character, believes in the universe as whole rather than his brothers strong Christan beliefs. By being an out lier of the family ultimately leads to the farm dramatic drought. Evidence: "the central theme of the novel is belief," Joesph's pagan beliefs are vastly different than those of his brother and of those of the time period. his were somewhat structured on "little more than fluttering of leaves on tree, and the chill breath of wind before it rains. My thoughts: Damian Kelleher is simply criticizing the obvious spiritual differences between the family, however, he allows the reader to understand that the novel gives off a feeling of Steinbeck actually writing of his own life. This is interesting because in a lot of his novels he writes or adds an idea of religion. The addition of religion brings froth the the realization that he is attempting to sway the public to his religion or just to leave what is different becoming eerily close to religious proganda.

ARGUMENT: Jhumpa Lahiri's central theme in both The Namesake and Interpreter of Maladies is Diaspora, isolation, and search for identity and fulfillment. Jhumpa Lahiri is the "voice from the gaps" because she puts the "in between" identity feeling into a compelling story that many can relate to. SUPPORT: "Both Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake contain themes of conflict in relationships between couples, families, and friends. Through these relationships she explores ideas of isolation and identity, both personal and cultural. The characters in both works frequently encounter crises of identity, which are tied to their inabilities to reconcile their American identity with their Indian identity. " "She often correlates her characters' cultural isolation with extreme personal isolation, suggesting that the cultural isolation causes the personal." "In their isolation, these characters feel that they are missing something vital to their identities. It is this missing "something" that defines them. It seems that few characters in these stories have any idea of who they are or where they are going in life." THOUGHTS: The authors Gipe, Greco, Spencer and Yang provide key facts about Lahiri's background in India and why she chooses to write novels about Diaspora because she relates to the feeling of being "in between" cultures. The article is concluded well by referring to the ending of The Namesake where Gogol finally realizes that he doesn't have to choose between cultures, his identity is both of them meshed together.

This review, like all others, praises Cornwell for his use of real historical places and characters. Each of the Viking leaders in the Last Kingdom was derived directly from historical facts. "[Cornwell] Liberally feeds readers history and nuggets of battle data and customs". This is a very key aspect of Cornwell's writing style. On top of this, Uhtred, the main character, goes through tremendous physical, mental, and emotional change all throughout the novel. This is another very common theme in all of Cornwell's novels. He uses this dynamic character type in the story Agincourt as well. He shows that no matter what era the world is in, everyone goes through the same trials and tribulations. "Uhtred's first-person wonderment spinning all into a colorful journey of (self-) discovery." This theme applies to Cornwell's life as well. He himself went through similar predicaments to his main characters that dealt with emotional trials, loss of parents, discovering themselves, and trouble in deciding national allegiance. "This is a solid adventure by a crackling good storyteller."

Argument: An overarching theme in Douglas Coupland's books is depressing and the tones are extremely dark. Claim: Coupland's own disappointment of the world is seen in his books. He writes about the failures and apathy of society. Evidence: "With each new book, his vision darkens further, his tone becoming ever more nostalgic. His characters mourn not only the lost idealism of their youth but also something more important-purpose, meaning."

Claim:"where his Zen interests coalesced with his emerging themes, where he gave new life to the American short story." Argument: J.D.Salinger reveals what the new American life with the characters and families who chooses to make in his novels. Evidence: "Thornton Wilder published a magazine piece on the declining moral standards of America's youth, and John Cheever, as if to chronicle these uncertain times, published The Enormous Radio and Other Stories--featuring such emblematic titles as "The Season of Divorce," "O City of Broken Dreams," and "Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor." Nine Stories tapped into this ambivalent milieu [(being in a area where there is a positive and negitive feeling towards one person)]: the stories dealt with genius, spiritual integrity, moral corruption, and the occasional ability of innocence to transform our lives."

Literary Analysis #2-Nineteen Minutes Throughout the literary critic of Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, the main argument given by author Julie Ellam is based upon the fact that Picoult's work lacks depth. Throughout the critic, she gives examples such as the fact that one of the main characters Peter lacks characterization, as well as the fact that the author shies away from the central concern of the novel which is based upon the violence developed in schools. Ellam goes on to explain the way in which Picoult uses over description of her characters and hence lacks insight from the main focus once again. "These parts feels bolted on and overdone, and have the effect of making the reader even more impatient for a greater insight into the thought processes of the bullies and victims." (Ellam) This passage is significant to the work as a whole because it describes the way in which Picoult over analyzes characterization throughout her novel as well as the way in which she uses subplots to carry her story as a whole. Ellam goes on to discuss the way in which Picoult uses excessive description on main characters and background information that is unnecessary to the whole of the novel. She states that the reader tends to feel impatient throughout the reading and is frequently distracted from the main theme attempting to be expressed. "It is possible that the subplots that diverge from the massacre are used to give light as a contrast to the shade, but they appear instead as elements from a soapy romance." (Ellam) The way in which Ellam uses specific descriptions and examples from the novel give to the overall effectiveness of the critic by justifying her argument. This gives to the overall significance as the text as a whole by questioning the way in which the novel is written and taking in the novel from a diverse perspective.

In her analysis of Henrik Ibsen, Martha Fletcher Bellinger analyses Ibsen's writing style and how his personality and opinions influenced his writings. Bellinger says that Ibsen believed "honesty in facing facts is the first requisite of a decent life". I believe that this one idea influences all of Ibsen's writings because they are all attacks on problems in society, such as sexism and corruption. Bellinger says that Ibsen thought, "Society has humbugs, hypocrisies, and obscure diseases which must be revealed before they can be cured." According to her Ibsen believed that in order for the society to fix its problems they first must be brought to life, this was done through Ibsen's writing. Bellinger also argues the purposes of Ibsen's plays themselves and she states that Enemy of the People is discussing the "struggle between hypocrisy and greed on one side, and the ideal of personal honor on the other" because of this I think that the idea of corruption and hypocrisy could be a good topic to write about being that the entire play revolves around the idea that people are out for their own gains and interests. The idea that Ibsen wrote in order to bring issues in society into the light must mean that all of his books are written for the purpose of bettering society, at least in his eyes. Overall Bellinger appears to have written this analysis of Ibsen in order to explain why Ibsen writes his plays and gives examples by explaining the purposes or themes of his most important plays.

The author John Iverson main purpose of writing the paper was to show how much O'Neil revealed about himself in The Iceman Cometh. Each character Parritt, Hickey and Slade represented Id, Ego, Super Ego about O'Neil. John Iverson quickly went to each point of Id, Ego, and Super Ego in a logical and organized theme. He stayed focused at the point at hand. Every tad bit that the author adds supports his views of how the characters in the play are pieces of O'Neil. There is clearly enough evidence in the paper to support the author. This evidence used is typical. The main conclusion the author is trying to portray is that the three characters represent O'Neill's Oedipus complex. The character Don Parritt represents the ID, Hickey the Ego, and Slade the Super Ego. Iverson bases the information given from the great psychologist Sigmund Freud who believes in the Oedipus complex. Freud believed that all people have a Oedipus complex that shows the internal desires and external conflicts that relate to their parents. O'Neill at the time had a bad relationship with his mother due to her abuse of morphine. The author does not correlate with the subject on a personal basis. Nowhere does it state how the author felt or interfered his own life about the conclusion.

In the article "Science Fiction," primary contributor Bruce Sterling discusses the history of the literary genre of science fiction, delineating how it came into being and how it has evolved over the years. In addition to this, Sterling analyzes the various themes and ideas that recur throughout science fiction works. Organized both chronologically and by topic, the article begins with a brief explanation of the genre itself before delving into the history and evolution of science fiction as a whole. Examples are provided throughout, creating connotations with which the reader can associate the topic at hand, provided they have read the works of those mentioned by Sterling. According to the article, certain key traits differentiate works of science fiction from those of other genres such as horror and fantasy, both of which are explained to be similar in nature to the science fiction genre. Shared traits such as a dark, dreary mood and plots revolving around the notions of alternative societies, alien encounters, time travel, space travel, and alternate universes serve as distinguishing factors of science fiction novels. Other commonalities involve plot points such as apocalyptic disaster, epic voyages, and prophetic events, as well as a heavy focus on technology. Over the years, authors have begun to use the genre of science fiction as an outlet for social discontent, satirizing society in such a manner as which they cannot be persecuted for. Sterling's assertions appear to be based on factual research, and therefore are unlikely to be influenced by biases or predispositions.

Robert Young takes an interesting perspective on the book Catch 22 as he offers his criticisms of the logic that Heller used within the novel. The basis of the criticism focuses on this "unconscious logic" that Young believes Heller has used. He believes that the novel really focuses on a world "where everyone lives perpetually in projective identification, and the only value is survival." Furthermore, he establishes that the book is essentially about ideals, and how the in the real world it is hard for anyone to behave in a paranoid world, especially in groups and under the pressure of the war. There is this sort of overarching theme that decency is not at the mainstream of societies core values. Within the text Major Danby advises his soldiers, "And you must never let them change your values. Ideals are good, but people are sometimes not so good. You must try to look up at the big picture." I thought that from the criticism that it was interesting how it was stated that there was only one real Catch 22, that specified that a concern for your own safety in the face of dangers were real and immediate and in the process of a rational mind. In general, this criticism is very analytical on the methods of logic that Heller uses in the book. However, Young is very hard to follow and his reasoning is sparely related. His point is clear to understand however, because he opens the argument with his general ideology that the book is about a society that acts in a certain way because they are faced with the possibility of annihilation daily.