Category: Literature 5177
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Death of Loved Ones: Foer’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”
The death of a loved one causes torment and anguish pushing the mind to try everything possible to get close to the lost loved one more time. This premise comes out clearly in Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close publication. The book is a narration by a nine-year-old Oskar Schell after his father,…
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Self-Referentiality in Jorge Luis Borges’ “Blindness”
“Blindness” is an essay written by Jorge Luis Borges in 1977. In this work, much attention was paid to self-referentiality because the author’s experience is extremely important to support his writing (Block de Behar, A Rhetoric of Silence 279-281). To understand the purpose of this essay, it is critical to refer to Borges’s explanations and…
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Reconnecting With the Past: “The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri
Table of Contents Introduction Cultural Identity and the Idea of Fitting In Family Values and a Sense of Belonging Conclusion Work Cited Introduction The Namesake is a debut novel by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri. Originally, a part of the novel was published in a magazine and only later extended to a full-length novel.…
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Female Identity in Ortiz Cofer’s “Quinceanera”
Judith Ortiz Cofer Judith Ortiz Cofer (1952-2016), who wrote Quinceañera, was a Puerto Rican American author critically acclaimed for her poetry, short stories, essays, fiction, and autobiography. She was born in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico, in the family with a military father, J. M. Ortiz Lugo, who took his closest relatives, including his wife Fanny Morot…
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Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” Analysis
Woody Guthrie composed “This Land Is Your Land” in 1940 with the hope of proving the Americans to diverse views. The poem is well known, and it is considered the nation’s patriotic anthem. While the composition is supposed to promote patriotism, some of the song’s stanzas contradict the tune’s intended theme. For instance, the poem…
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Heir of Prometheus – Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” Analysis
Greek legend has it that when it was time for men to be created, it was delegated by the gods to Prometheus, the Titan who had sided with Zeus in the war with the Titans. Prometheus whose name means forethought was very wise, wiser even than the gods. Prometheus took over the task of creation…
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Forster’s “The Machine Stops”: Into the Darkness We Walk
As children, our curiosities and wonders of the world are at their peak. We have just been brought into the world and are restless to venture out and explore, to experience the world first-hand. I remember having a sponge-like mind and the desire to satisfy my endless curiosity while growing up in the Philippines before…
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The Defining Decade: Summary and Response
The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter and How to Make the Most of Them Now is a must-read book for those who are in the “twentysomething” phase and want to make their life better. Meg Jay, who has worked with clients of this age, has discovered some common problems and patterns of behavior that…
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Poem Analysis: Langston Hughes
Introduction Racial and cultural identity are among the most prominent themes of Langston Hughes’s literary works. It is important to point out that many of his poems explore different aspects of African American identity in regards to the overall culture and race as well as the intricate topics on social injustice. The given analysis will…
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Lucy Lurie Character From Coetzee’s “Disgrace”
Lucy Lurie is one of the supportive characters of J. M. Coetzee’s Nobel Prize awarded novel Disgrace. Despite being a secondary character, she plays an important role in illuminating some of the key points of the novel, revealing some hidden sides of David Lurie, her father, who is the major character. Her character is also…