Jessica Akcinar

Of Mice and Men is replete with examples of loss. In fact, most, if not all, of the characters have experienced loss in the past or experience it in the course of the novella. Additionally,...

The theme of fate versus free will is very evident in the play Julius Caesar, especially when it comes to whether or not Caesar will use his free will to allow himself to listen to the three...

Julius Caesar is known for it's speeches, rhetoric, and propaganda. Both Brutus and Marc Antony give speeches dripping with rhetorical devices and propaganda to the plebeians. However, Marc...

Part II of "The Monkey's Paw" takes place the day after Mr. Whites makes his first wish, two hundred pounds to clear the mortgage. The mood of that day is light and playful, as the family sits...

Chapter 26 takes place after Tom Robinson's unfair trial and subsequent death. Scout is back at school, and her teacher Miss Gates assigns the children a current events article to bring...

William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 30" is about the speaker feeling dejected when remembering past woes and losses. For example, in the first two quatrains, he "drowns an eye" remembering...

Most animals in Animal Farm represent real people from the Russian Revolution and the USSR. Old Major, for example, is a combination of the founder of Marxism/communism, Karl Marx, and an...

Thomas Jefferson uses a persuasive but formal style when writing "The Declaration of Independence." He uses long, compound and complex sentences, and often employs semicolons instead of ending...

The novella Of Mice and Men only contains a handful of women. Most of them are not depicted in a positive light. First, the reader encounters the woman in the red dress. In chapter one, George...

Most round characters have several strengths and weaknesses. In Julius Caesar, Cassius is recognized as intelligent and convincing. On the other hand, his weaknesses include jealousy, a lack...

The tone of Shel Silverstein's poem "Masks" is one of regret. In the poem, a boy and a girl walk through life wearing masks. In fact, the drawing which accompanies the poem shows the masks to...

In Warner Books' 1960 edition of To Kill a Mockingbird, the location of the town dump, found on pages 170 and 171, is essential to the story’s theme of discrimination and prejudice. On page...

The theme of fate vs. free will in Oedipus Rex is a tricky one. On one hand, the gods determined a person's destiny. On the other, a person's free will is what often led to his fate. This is...

In Of Mice and Men, the symbolism of its title is twofold. First, the title represents the fact that the plans we make can often fall apart. Steinbeck took the title from Robert Burns' poem "To a...

According to the Greeks, the tragic hero's hamartia, or tragic flaw, does not always have to be something negative. It can be a seemingly positive trait, but in excess, it can lead the hero to his...

The chorus in Greek plays served several purposes. This group of around twelve men in masks sometimes played small roles, sang and danced, and served as a group of citizens. In the case of the...

Every tragic hero has a tragic flaw, a hamartia, and Oedipus is no exception to the rule. Usually this hamartia is hubris: excessive pride or self-confidence. Every mortal needs pride to some...

"Hooks" are imperative for any type of writing. Short stories, such as Edgar Allan Poe's "A Tell-Tale Heart," are no exception to this rule. Like many of his stories, Poe uses the...

In "Our Society", chapter one of the novel Cranford, Captain Brown is a round character. Round characters are presented to the reader like real people, in comparison to flat characters...

Medicine River is a complex novel full of equally complex themes. One of those themes is the importance of identity and heritage. Will Sampson, the protagonist of the book, has several questions...

Thesis: Oedipus and his birth parents exercise free will in trying to avoid fate, which ultimately leads to their downfall. The Greeks believed that people could not escape fate. However,...

Both the story "The Happy Prince" and the novella The Great Gatsby share a similar superficially appealing, yet selfless protagonist and comment on the shallowness of upper class...

Every good story has a strong climax which gets the reader's heart racing and fulfills the the promises and expectations of the rising action. Because To Kill a Mockingbird uses nonlinear plot...

In Bless Me, Ultima, Cico is the first to introduce Antonio "to the existence of the Golden Carp, a pagan god," and also tells him the story of the mermaid who rests "on the water...singing a...

First, the epigraph at the very beginning of the novella by definition serves as a brief summary of the story and also hints at what the lesson or moral of the story will be. Next, the purpose of...

All the deaths in The Great Gatsby occur in the last few chapters of the novel. First, in chapter seven, Myrtle, Tom's married lover, gets hit by Daisy, who is driving Gatsby's yellow sports car....

Chapter six of The Great Gatsby is mainly about the rumors surrounding Gatsby's occupation, Nick recounting Gatsby’s past, and a party Gatsby has at his house, which both Daisy and Tom attend. At...

Continuation of first response: Currently, Dee continues to feel hatred towards her past. For example, she changes her name from Dee, a family name, to Wangero, a name she feels is closer to...

Indeed, Dee hates everything about her old life, including the old house. The family’s first house was destroyed in a fire when the girls were younger, and Dee’s sister, Maggie, was slightly...

Conchetta Pignati, Mr. Angelo Pignati's wife, was the love of the Pigman's life. The two had shared a love of gourmet food, jokes, and wine. He misses her tremendously and mourns her...

Slim, the "prince of the ranch," is the master “skinner” or mule driver of the ranch. He is a tall man with "god-like eyes" and long black hair. In fact, he is so tall and confident...

A motif is a recurring subject, idea, or theme. Sonnet 130, which is devoted to the dark lady, emphasizes her coloring, so colors would be a motif in the poem. As a matter of fact, the first 5...

The pear tree represents transformation and change or the lack thereof. Bertha is on her way to transforming into a sexual being, but this change is arrested suddenly when...

Fences are significant of many things in this play. In fact, fences means different things for different people. For example, Rose believes the incomplete fence surrounding the home...

In "The Cask of Amontillado," there is no reason to believe that Montresor committed murder before he killed Fortunato. The reason his says "the piles of bones of which I have before spoken"...

Metaphysical poetry, a term coined by Samuel Johnson, has its roots in 17th-century England. This type of poetry is witty, ingenious, and highly philosophical. It topics...

Bella is exceptional as a vampire. Of course, as a new vampire, she experiences the "burning thirst" for human blood that other vampires experience. However, unlike other newborn vampires, Bella...

Many see Romeo as very immature and fickle, especially when it comes to love. At the beginning of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is extremely dejected because Rosaline, the girl he loves, has vowed...

In "The Yellow Wallpaper," the unnamed woman narrating the short story is virtually a prisoner in a small yellow room with horrendous yellow wallpaper. She is staying at this small summer house...

Meyer never gives an exact explanation for this variance from the traditional vampire other than the fact that she got the idea for the story from a dream. She dreamt of the meadow scene where two...

Twilight is written in the past tense, and the events in novel occured in the immediate past. Although the author never mentions the exact year, it can be inferred that the story happened...

In Tony's already confused world of magic versus religion, the Golden Carp signifies yet one more source for his doubts about Christianity. Cico introduces Tony to the Golden...

In Act II, Scene I, Puck finds the actors in the woods near the sleeping Titania and her fairies. He is at first confused by their play, and then he wants to be a part of it. He decides to by...

Hermia and Helena are described as opposites of one another. They are both beautiful, but in different ways: Helena is seen as tall, thin, and fair of skin, and Hermia is seen as voluptuous and has...

In the beginning of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," the reader is told that fairies have come from India to bless Hippolyta and Theseus on their wedding day. In act 5, after the love potion ordeal,...

Oberon, the king of the fairies and Titania's husband, is the character who sends Puck to put the love potion on Titania's eyes. He and Titania have been arguing over a changeling, a boy, which...

Many readers are shocked to find that the tragic events in Romeo and Juliet span over the course of only five days, Sunday through Thursday. 1. On Sunday, Romeo and Juliet meet and fall in love....

After meeting Romeo, Juliet changed from a child to a woman. When Juliet is first introduced in the play, she is depicted as a young girl of thriteen with no thoughts yet of an adult life....

Most of the "witches" brought to trial during the Salem Witch Hunts were people who did not fit in, or belong, in Puritan Salem society at that time. For example, Tituba is a slave from Barbados...

Although many characters exemplify these traits, the main examples of good and evil in the novel Bless Me, Ultima are Ultima and Tenorio. Ultima is a benign medicine woman whose ultimate goal...