Olivia Connelly

Marc Antony is not viewed as a threat by most of the conspirators. The only conspirator who wishes him harm is Cassius, but he is dissuaded by Brutus, who argues "Antony is only a limb of Caesar"...

In Lord of the Flies, William Golding seeks to prove that humanity is innately evil. By using the most innocent creatures, children, he illustrates that even the most inexperienced and...

Madame Loisel's character is superficial and concerned about status. When invited to the Minister of Public Instruction's soiree, a difficult invitation to receive considering her husband's status...

Throughout the novel, Jack's character develops from a boy who has feelings of grandeur to a leader of a band of vicious hunters. Jack is desperate to be leader and exert his authority from the...

Booker T. Washington believes that in order to secure funds for the Tuskegee Institute he must adhere to two rules: 1. "First, always to do my whole duty regarding making our work known to...

Simon's character is essential to understanding how the society the boys inhabit turns from logical, reasonable, and essentially good to illogical, unreasonable, and overcome by evil. Initially...

Villeforte wants Valentine (his daughter from his first marriage) to marry the Baron Franz d'Epinay. This union is not motivated by love, but by Villefort's personal political gains and Valentine's...

The premise of Vonnegut's short story "Harrison Bergeron" is society cannot be successful when trying to create equality by stripping individuality from its people.  In the short story the...

This is a great question! So many people read Julius Caesar and assume that women have no significant role in the text, but that is not true. The dynamic between Brutus and Portia (and Caesar...

Prior to being sent to the slaughter, Boxer was loyal and perhaps the most devoted member of the farm to the Animalism movement. After the rebellion, he adopts the motto, "I must work harder" and...

Throughout the text there are many ways Golding demonstrates the loss of civilization on the island.  Initially, the boys abandon simple things like bathing regularly, their uniforms, and...

In the play Julius Caesar Brutus is essential to the success of the conspiracy for many reasons.  Although Cassius initiates the conspiracy and manipulates Brutus to join the conspiracy,...

When writing "The Lottery" Jackson's use of "common people" and lack of specificity in time period, location, etc is purposeful. She wanted the themes in the text to resonate and be timeless. If...

William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies is set in a wartime era (we assume World War II although it is not explicitly stated in the text). In chapter one when Piggy and Ralph first meet on...

Throughout Golding's Lord of the Flies the boys on the island struggle with power both internally and externally. He uses the characters and the dynamics between the boys in order to...

In Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken," the speaker is not identified by gender or age because the speaker could be anyone.  Essentially, the poem is about how it is human nature to want...

Shirley Jackson is known for her relatable characters in most of her short stories. In the short story "The Lottery," Jackson may be trying to convey a message about scapegoating and its impact on...

In Lord of the Flies one of the central conflicts is Jack's alliances (known as the hunters) versus Ralph's alliances (made up primarily of Piggy, Simon, Samneric, and some Little Uns). This...

Lorraine and John first become involved with Mr. Pignati when they are prank calling people. Lorraine is supposed to choose a phone number randomly from the phone book, but she chooses a number...

Author Thomas C. Foster titled one of his chapters in How to Read Literature Like a Professor, "When in doubt, it is from Shakespeare..." This exemplifies how influential Shakespeare's...

Animal Farm is a dystopian text because it portrays a world where the characters seek to have a perfect or utopian society, but their plight results in a world that is worse than the world they...

The intended audience for the text Fast Food Nation is the American consumer. The central claim of the text is the fast food industry helped to shape American culture. This is evident by the...

The characters in the text vary greatly, but the majority of the main characters are all connected through John Singer. He is a deaf-mute who lives in a small southern town. Although he is...

The author's central claim in the text is the fast food industry "has helped to transform not only the American diet, but our landscape, economy, workforce, and popular culture."  The author...

In the text Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, he details the journey that lead to Chris McCandless' demise in the Alaskan wilderness. McCandless' parents play an essential role to understanding...

Lorraine's problems at home stem primarily from her mother. Lorraine's mother's issues with men and honesty create an unstable environment for Lorraine at home where she is overly criticized and...

Shirley Jackson's short story "Charles" is an ironic tale about a young boy's experience at school. Throughout the story, the narrator's son returns home and tells tales about a little boy in his...

The Nun's Priest's Tale is a fable that allegorical. Though the characters are animals, the animals represent elements of human nature and the ultimate goal of the tale it to reveal a "universal...

Hamlet is the definition of a Shakespearean tragedy. The main protagonist, Hamlet, loses everything that is important to him in the end and his life. Unlike Greek tragedies where the main character...

When Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath, his intentions were to draw attention to the plight of the migrant American worker. He witnessed first hand the deplorable conditions that many of...

When writing a persuasive essay, the first thing you must do is clearly define your stance. This will help you organize the rest of your material prior to writing your essay and will also aid you...

In Act I, Scene 2 of the play, Caesar is initially greeted by Antony, and it is evident Antony respects and admires Caesar because when he states, "When Caesar says, 'Do this' it is perform'd."...