David White

Industrialization is the process by which a society moves from being primarily agricultural to largely based on production and manufacturing. Although industrialization and imperialism tend to...

Atticus tells Scout that rape is "carnal knowledge of a female by force and without consent." Given that she responds by saying "well, if that's all it is...," it's unlikely that Scout understands....

In the United States, the colonial era (mid-to-late 15th century) and the age of reason (c. 18th century) are separated by by about 100 years, but they still have more in common than you might...

Racism and racial prejudice are among the most significant themes in To Kill a Mockingbird, but they aren't always obvious. As such, it can be considered a motif, which is its own literary...

In the context of American politics, there are few more memorable inaugural speeches than John F. Kennedy's 1961 speech. In many ways, JFK's victory was symbolic of a turning point in American...

Unlike a traditional debate, wherein each side argues opposing positions on an issue, the middle ground method of argumentation is essentially an attempt to find a compromise. For example, if you...

The Pianist is a book (1946) and a film (2002), both based on the life of Jewish composer Wldyslaw Szpilman. The semi-autobiographical story is based on Szpilman's life and experiences during the...

Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee continuously demonstrates the ways in which things like race and class influence the lives and perspectives of the people in Maycomb. This becomes particularly...

The influence of technology on society and social relations is a common theme in many of Bradbury's works. Although Bradbury didn't necessarily dislike technology, he was concerned that technology...

The term revolution is fairly ambiguous and can refer to anything from a single person revolting against a small group to a large body of people revolting against their government. Assuming that...

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) are a white supremacist group that emerged in the American South in the years after the Civil War (c. 1865). Initially, the KKK was formed by a small number of former...

The spelling bee medal is one of the items that Scout and Jem find in the knothole of the tree, which the reader assumes were left by Boo Radley. Collectively, these objects are Boo's way of...

Although Jim Crow Laws had a profound influence on the lives of most African-Americans in the South, it's difficult to say whether or not they are significant in To Kill a Mockingbird. It is clear...

When considering the subject of slavery, it's important to remember that many groups of people have been enslaved by others over the course of history, sometimes by people of their own race. In the...

When it came to the intersections of technology, convenience, and entertainment, Bradbury was often rather ambivalent. This can be seen in many of his stories, most notably Fahrenheit 451, in which...

Among the reasons so many were shocked and affected by the murder of the Clutter family was that the crime seemed to be meaningless and without motive. In the 1950s, the idea that a person or...

In To Kill a Mockingbird, race and class play important roles in how certain characters are viewed by others and where they exist in the social hierarchy. People of color, for example, are at the...

In Fahrenheit 451, a form of interactive television has taken the place of reading, intellectual discussion, and critical thinking. In Guy and Mildred's home, three walls of their parlor have been...

Frank Crawley is the overseer of Manderley and friend of Maxim de Winter. Unlike the other characters, who the narrator often regards with suspicion or uncertainty, Frank is regularly described or...

Something Wicked This Way Comes was written in 1962, which puts it near the end of modernism, or what is sometimes referred to as "late modernism." It also falls into the broad category of...

The Finch's housekeeper, Calpurnia, lives in two different worlds. During the day, she exists in a white world and as such she presents herself in a very formal, proper way. As Calpurnia is a major...

Diversity and intersections of difference are indeed fundamental elements of To Kill a Mockingbird, particularly as they relate to the coming of age of Jem and Scout Finch. In the early chapters,...