The Awakening by Kate Chopin is about a young woman, named Edna Pontellier, who realizes her trapped state in society and who slowly awakens to a new freedom of self expression, sexuality, and self confidence. She so craves her freedom, that she is willing to do anything to get it, no matter what i...

The Glass Menagerie The play The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams, Williams uses many symbols which represent many different things. Many of the symbols used in the play try to symbolize some form of escape or difference between reality and illusion. The first symbol, p...

Edna's Awakenings Symbolism is one of the most obvious factors in Kate Chopin's Novel, The Awakening. The meaning of each place and objects create major symbols throughout the novel. The ocean is a sense of freedom and solitude. Love is also incredibly symbolic throughout the novel,...

In our present culture, we (and when I say "we", I am referring to the majority of society) think we know about a person's background after a couple of simple facts; and what we don't know, we automatically assume based upon stereotypes and limited interaction with few people who shar...

"I hate life." I casually said to her roommate. "Clarissa, why would you say something like that?" Keryn said. "Life has been so hard for me. All my life, I have been the outcast white chick, my mother clearly hates me, my sister is crazy, and life sucks." I di...

The Game of Life Stephen Crane's "The Five White Mice" is a story of chance, a game, and the unpredictability of life. A game is defined as: "A way of amusing oneself. A set of rules completely specifying a competition, including the permissible actions of and information ...

Everyone falls in love sometime in their life. Whether it is love at first site or love built up after being with someone after a long period of time, they all attain different characteristics of a loving relationship. In the story Selway by Pam Houston, the narrator has a love and a drive to sta...

Word Count: 1609 Life's Little Secrets Everyone has that one experience in school that sticks with him or her through the years. It may be an embarrassing moment, or the discomfort of being the new kid in school. Although, I'm sure these are all valuable lessons some of the most pr...

The place on earth that holds the most dreams and memories for me is a hundred and twenty-eight acre farm in north western Maryland where life and time truly run in circles. This small, rundown farm is made up of hilly, rocky land with a shallow stream and open valleys. I was raised here, learned to...

In The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, the upper class Creole society, in the 1890s, has a strict idea of the appropriate lifestyle. Their expectations of women include nothing more than being devoted wives and nurturing mothers. Chopin introduces the reader to the life of Edna Pontellier. Edna has al...

In describing Amanda's personality she can only be described as a southern belle desperately clinging to the past, before her dreams are destroyed by the harsh realities of the world. Amanda devastated after her daughter Laura's failure to cope in Business College, becomes obsessed with ...

According to The American Heritage Dictionary, the definition of awakening is "to become aware: awoke to reality". When you think of the word "awakening" the first thing that usually comes to your mind is a new train of thought, or a revelation. Kate Chopin's novella is e...

Many western-oriented films tend to focus on reckless cowboys running from town to town, killing anyone who may potentially threaten their power. The Outlaw Josey Wales by Robert Daly, however, portrays a new type of main character defined by an entirely different set of morals and values. Through...

Imagine having a week off from school and work, the keys to a convertible and five hundred dollars in cash sitting in your wallet. This was my situation during spring break two years ago. Just like many people, I jumped on the opportunity to use all of these factors to my advantage. The best and ...

"The Lady with the Pet Dog" A story of lost and born again love: both Anton Chekhov's 1899 original as well as Joyce Carol Oates' version of "The Lady with the Pet Dog" deal with the love lives and the unhappiness of two individuals. Anton Chekhov tells the story of Gurov – a well-to- do m...

My Rude Awakening The beginning of my freshman year in high school started out to be what I thought was, "great." I was hanging out with the cool seniors and moving up the social ladder quite rapidly. Little did I know how much my friends would influence my life. My parents had ju...

With or Without You "See the stone set in your eyes, see the thorn twist in your side. I'll wait, for you. Slide of hand and twist of fate, on a bed of nails see makes me wait. And I'll wait, without you, with or without you, with or without you. Through the storm we reach the shore, you ...

Frankenstein's Ill Fated Life In both publications of Frankenstein whether it was the movie or the novel, we see Frankenstein's ill fated life. For a man who is extremely intelligent, he just can't shake off his bad fate. The reason I decided to select Frankenstein's ill-fate...

The following is a story that I hope to someday tell my grandchildren. I want it to serve as a means of instilling in them the courage and dexterity that I have somehow found within myself to make it through this wonderful and sometimes very painful journey. Once upon a time, high, high up in a...

"Lone Star" "Lone Star" is a modern day based western. Director John Sayles is one of the many great independent directors. "Lone Star" was made in 1996 so it is a more contemporary film. This film has a basic western theme. But it is set in the present day. It is...