Benjamin Beach, Ph.D.

The grandmother in Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" spends much of her time trying to get her way about everything. She begins by trying to talk the family out of going to...

David Sedaris draws in his readers so quickly because he makes his life an open book. He is always honest, even when that honesty might reflect poorly on him. In the "Me Talk Pretty One Day"...

One practical piece of advice given to new inmates had to do with keeping up personal appearances, however wretched the conditions. One prisoner specifically mentions that shaving every day (even...

I can think of a number of Bishop's poems that would provide evidence for the idea that her careful choice of language (diction) underscores her poetic intensity. The most powerful example would, I...

Tim O'Brien's inner turmoil is so severe in "On the Rainy River" that he becomes bitter and feels unstable: "The emotions went from outrage to terror to bewilderment to guilt to sorrow and then...

An overwhelming desire to avoid shame and embarrassment is what makes Tim O'Brien go to war. He clarifies his decision-making process in the story "On the Rainy River." He states clearly that he...

In "Speaking of Courage," Norman Bowker circles the lake on the Fourth of July in endless loops. This passage is central to the novel's theme that war never ends for soldiers. There is no release...