The Catcher in the Rye, on of the biggest coming-of-age novels, shows a very unique point-of-view in the meaning of the novel on everyday existence. J. D. Salinger uses a variety of words and expressions, to not only show the tone in the book, but to advance the meaning of the novel. In the novel, w...

Araby by James Joyce masterfully guides the reader from the age of adolescent wonder to the pinnacle of a young boy's epiphany and subsequent disillusionment. The disillusionment is revealed in his psychic journey from first love to despair and disappointment. The visual and symbolic detail ...

In Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon and Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie the authors utilized symbolism to convey important aspects of the novel. Symbolism was used to enhance the importance of the novel by using an underlying message to portray the larger picture. These two authors ...

Irony occurs when a reader predicts what will happen in a story, then the story takes a turn and the complete opposite of the prediction occurs. Authors use ironic situations in stories to retain their reader's interest and keep the readers wondering what will happen next. Guy de Manpassant w...

Kay Boyle's "Astronomer's Wife" is the story of an inhibited woman named Mrs. Ames who is married to a domineering and apparently abusive astronomer. In the beginning of the story Mrs. Ames awakens early one morning to a visit from the plumber sent to repair a water leak inside...

A Synopsis of Lasting Themes Found in "The Child by Tiger" In Thomas Wolfe's carefully constructed short story, "The Child by Tiger," excerpts from William Blake's poem "Tiger" and the King James Bible enrich the central themes of the plot. Although "...

The story is based around a window, hence the name "The Open Window". It all starts with a young girl, named Vera, and a guy named Mr. Nuttel, having a conversation about her aunt who is yet to come onto the scene. The little girl asks the guy if he wants to know why her aunt keeps the one...

Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" is a short story illustrating the struggle between tradition and life. At the story's heart is a masterful characterization of the protagonist, the townspeople. Jackson's portrayal of the lottery depends mainly on her use of three artistic t...

Pushkin's short story, "The Shot," has an emphasis on the duel as it was in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and on the delicate balance of life and death that is brought into existence when a duel is begun. The narrator is not the protagonist, but rather a sort-of nondescript...

Anne Fine uses a number of literary features in her novel Goggle-Eyes to influence the ways the reader responds. These literary elements include: point of view, theme, style, plot, mood/tone, setting and characters. Point of view establishes how the reader sees the story. Lukens (2003, p 168) des...

In literature, irony is a tremendously important facet of fictional work. Irony involves a contrast or discrepancy between one thing and another. The contrast may be between what is said and what is meant or between what happens and what is meant to happen. In Edgar Allan Poe's The Black...

The Vagabond, written by Sidonie Gabrielle Colette, is a story of romance set in turn-of-the-century Paris and several provincial towns. The novel was published in France in 1911 and later published in 1955 for the English audience. The Vagabond is recognized as one of Colette's best-known pr...

The plot of this story , focusing on a seemingly unusual death of Louise Mallard , can be divided into three parts . The first part lies in Richards's occasion access of the sudden accident news of Brently Mallard and his contrived revealing of the news to Louise with the help of latter's...