Brandie Davis

In the poem "My Parents" by Stephen Spender, we are able to understand the narrator by how he describes both the boys and his parents. In the first line, the boy states, "My parents kept me from...

The theme of Ezra Pound's poem "The Plunge" seems to be one of escape. The speaker begins by saying, "I would bathe myself in strangeness." This opens us up to the speaker's desire to be immersed...

Emily Dickinson is my all-time favorite poet, so it is a joy to help you with this question! The poem "I Heard a Fly Buzz—When I died" seems to be focusing on the literal moment of death for the...

The final line from the poem "Enterprise" is the culmination of a long and arduous journey. The line, "Home is where we have to gather grace" is the speaker's own conclusion after having faced so...

The major turning point in Things Fall Apart is when Okonkwo beats his wife, Ojiugo, during the week of peace. This is a blatant display of his uncontrollable, volatile temper. It causes the rest...

Amy Tan's story, "A Pair of Tickets" describes both a physical and emotional journey experienced by Jing Mei Woo and Canning Woo, her father. Jing Mei's mother is recently deceased, and the pair...

I love this story! Bill and Sam think they've got a sure thing when they make their plan to kidnap Johnny Dorset. They know that Ebenezer, as a loving father, will gladly pay their ransom to get...

William Faulkner's story "A Rose for Emily" would have been very different had it been told by Emily herself. The reader would have gained some insight into Emily's behavior, but would have lost...

John Donne gives us the first hint of the poem's meaning with the title. Alchemy was a precursor to modern day chemistry. Those who performed alchemy believed they could change substances into...

Thomas Gray's poem "Elegy Written in a Country Courtyard" is a sorrowful poem. The speaker in the poem is observing a cemetery, where he sees a variety of people "each in his narrow cell for ever...

"Love's Last Lesson" seems to be about the deep love that a woman (the speaker) holds for a person as yet unnamed. So much of the poem is steeped in her love for the unnamed person that she says,...

Meditation is Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov's take on the failings of a generation. The speaker looks sadly at the men and women of the time, believing they have inherited the "errors of our sires"...

In the poem "Where the Mind Is Without Fear," the author shows his patriotic feelings by voicing his wishes for his country and its future. His first wish is for his country to be a place "where...

Anne is only thirteen years old when she begins to write in her diary. She is full of curiosity and hope, and she yearns for true friendship. She seems to be very intuitive for a girl her age, and...

The wanderer seems to be seeking both understanding and peace in this poem. He speaks of the family and friends he has lost over the years, most of them killed during war. He has been hardened by...

June May changes gradually from the beginning of "A Pair of Tickets" as she travels to China to meet a family she has never known. She travels with her father, having lost her mother only three...

Hardships for African Americans living in the United States were far from over when slavery was abolished in 1865. The Civil War might have ended, and the final decision on the legality of slavery...

The poem "The Man with the Hoe" was inspired by a famous painting of a man working tirelessly in a field with a hoe. The painting moved the author, Edward Markham, and he was inspired to write an...

Understanding the social and economic differences in Maycomb becomes much easier when we are able to see the characters in their era and location. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in a fictional town...

Being considered "different" by others can have very negative effects. In the book Stargirl we see just how being the outsider in high school affects Stargirl. When Stargirl first gets to her new...

In Tim O'Brien's book, The Things They Carried, there are many times in which a soldier discusses something which reminds him of home, but to me the most important quote about a soldier's home is...

Twelve Angry Men is, on its surface, a simple play about a murder case. As the reader gets further into the action of the play, we are able to see the good and bad characteristics of each juror,...

One of the major conflicts in Cheaper by the Dozen is dealing with the large size of the family and all of the different character traits that come together from each individual. Simple tasks, such...

Jonas has a unique relationship with The Giver. Whereas Jonas's other relationships are very constricted by societal norms, Jonas's relationship with The Giver is very open and stems from the...

Lord of the Flies is a novel that has stood the test of time for many reasons. It contains characters who are both relatable and multi-faceted, and it forces readers to examine their own hearts and...

In chapter 9 we find Nick, Adam, and Roger walking all day in the pouring rain. While they are walking, they see a magpie, which hints at further trials to come (through the use of foreshadowing)....

The reader is quickly drawn into the novel Out of My Mind with the discussion of something all readers have in common: language and words. Melody's love for words is lovely in its simplicity, and...

Many of Sam Westing's heirs had motives to kill Mr. Westing. Grace Wexler is an ostentatious woman whose desire for wealth would be a major motivation for murder. Bertha Crow, who was married to...

In the short story "The Lady or the Tiger?" the king devises a method of punishment for those he believes have committed crimes. Each criminal will be given the choice to open one of two identical...

"Everyday Use" shows Dee as a somewhat pretentious, condescending woman. She is very unlike her mother and sister, and she is treated as an outsider by her family for the choices she makes in life....

Several themes run throughout the pages of the book The Vendor of Sweets, but one of the most predominant ones is the theme of marriage. Because the novel deals with the dichotomy of modern versus...

Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a book that appears quite simple on the surface but that has many underlying adult themes. Haroun is haunted by the question he overhears Rashid ask Soraya: "What's...

While on the surface the book The Wednesday Wars may appear to be a simple coming-of-age novel set in the late 1960s, there are many underlying lessons interwoven in its pages and in the...

The custom house officers in The Scarlet Letter are the men whose job it is to collect taxes. The narrator of the book is a custom house officer, and he both sets the tone and describes the setting...