Tale Literature Reviews Samples For Students

The European renaissance was a time for people to rediscover philosophies from the Greek and Roman culture. These influences changed aspects to the English literature for the better. During the medieval times, dramas consisted of focusing on religious themes but with the rebirth the renaissance brought tragedies and comedies became the norm for stories and plays. Authors, such as William Shakespeare and Chaucer, began creating works that the held their beliefs on what the world and life were like. This paved the way for many other authors to base their literary works off of what they believed instead of ...

Chaucer’s attitude to the Church was ambivalent: it depended on the individual employed by the church. For example, in The General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, he displays enormous admiration for the piety and Christian lifestyle of the poor Parson who will do anything for his parishioners. This character is an exception, however. In his portraits of the Monk, the Prioress and the Friar, Chaucer mocks them for their failure to lead a Christian lifestyle, fitting to their role in society. The monk is harmless enough, but is more interested in hunting than in doing God’s work; the ...

The article by Maria Tatar goes on to delve deep into the complexities of the popular fairy tale, Cinderella. The author of the piece engages in tracing the history of the fairy tale. She opines that there have been many interpolations and transformations in the narrative and content of the story based on cultural difference and timeline in history of literature. To substantiate her point, Tatar cites the versions of the fairy tale popularized in Germany, Indonesia, Japan and some other countries where the stepsisters of the central female character of the fairy tale meet very grave destinies by ...

PART-I: CHARACTER SKETCH OF “THE WIFE OF BATH”

In the Prologue to The Wife of Bath Tale, we come across a woman, who in medieval times was regarded as a “wicked Woman” because she had married five times. She gives an account of her five marriages out of which three husbands were good and two were bad. She has been presented as a woman who does not care about what the world says about her character. She lives life on her own rules and if someone criticizes her on her five marriages she rebukes by saying that the holy figures like Jacob and Abraham married so many times so why ...

All children grow up in the magical world of fairy tales that have been so gripping and inspiring. Most of the legends are about challenges and tough times plus how the main character deals with injustices in their lives. Although the primary motive behind telling those fairy tales is pure entertainment for children, the tales are well known as a literary genre. Thus, there is a lot more to those fairy tales as they have a lot to offer to people of all age groups. The setting of the storyline sis simple in nature and magical. The characters are ...

This week study focused on Allan Poe’s short story, The Purloined Letter. Allan Poe is acknowledged for his Gothic and American Romantic poems and short stories (Poe, Edgar, 4) Taking into consideration all the work done by Allan Poe, this is regarded the finest. This because the story does not have any gothic elements. From the letter, it is clear that the major theme focuses on the displacement and positioning of power. The two characters Lucan and Derrida are depicted with different levels of irony on the ownership of the letter. The struggle of power is re-enacted between ...

2012/11/06

“The Tale of Kieu”: A Study on Karma

Right or wrong is purely cultural, yet there are certain things or actions which are considered either right or wrong universally in all cultures. In “The Tale of Kieu,” the author Nguyen Du describes a female named Kieu who suffers innumerable tragedies for paying back the sins she committed in her previous life.
“The Tale of Kieu” narrates the life, trials and tribulations of Thuy Kieu, a beautiful and intelligent young woman, who sacrifices herself to save her family. To save her imprisoned father and brother, she sells herself into a marriage with a middle aged man, a pimp who forces her ...

Belovezhskaya pushcha national park, Belarus

Critical analysis
About Belarus
Belarus is a European country located in the east side of Europe and shares its borders with Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. It is a landlocked country with a total land area of 207, 600 square kilometers. Minsk is its capital city but it has other major cities across its land area. The country’s major economic activities are in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. 40% of the country’s land area is forested thus having a cool and favorable agricultural climate. Belarus took shape in the early 1940s after joining the Soviet Union. Its borders ...

Authorship: Murasaki Shikibu’s classic Japanese novel “The Tale of Genji” is in three parts. The first two parts revolve around the rise, fall and death of Genji, the primary hero of the novel. The last part revolves around the early years of Genji’s two prominent descendants. All three parts are self-contained, and each part seems like it is a separate novel on its own. Theme(s): Although love, lust, and the interaction of male and female characters is a central theme of Shikibu’s novel, particularly Genji’s love life, the different themes of affection, family bonds, filial ...

Abstract

Three types of examples from the genres of world literature are integral to the strength of investigating the works of different periods and cultures. Different eras represented sweeping views of war, the sacred, the secular, and expressions of stories that culminated in philosophical lessons or important pieces in historical sagas. This essay develops a critique based upon the prompt which looks at the literary works of: (a) Homer’s “The Iliad”, (b) Dante Alighieri’s “The Divine Comedy – Inferno”, and (c) Elphinstone Dayrell’s “Nigerian Folk Stories”. The richly contrasting nuances of the literary comparisons provide a marvelous rubric and background from which ...

Literature

FRANKENSTEIN AND DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE
Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are very interesting from an analytical point of view. The books primarily tell the tales of ambitious scientists trying to defy the rules of nature with respect to the human capacity to give and take life. In both cases, the end results are disastrous and both scientists en up regretting their previous creation. These two stories, from the community point of view, tell the tale of the duality of all human beings with respect to their ability to do good as well as to ...

The story of Cinderella is, perhaps, one of the most well-known stories in the world. Many cultures have traditional folk stories involving the rags-to-riches story arc; becoming massively successful in the face of adversity seems to be one of humanity's driving personality features. Because the story of Cinderella is so ubiquitous, it is not surprising that great storytellers borrow tropes, character arcs, and thematic ideas from the folktale. Tales like the Cinderella story are generally not created merely as a form of entertainment, but also as a way to educate people-- particularly children-- about cultural mores and societal expectations. These tales ...

Angela Carter prominently retells the fairy tale story of Little Red Riding Hood, with more vivid and gruesome details as to the horrors of monstrosity. In The Company of Wolves, she first describes in detail the attitudes and machinations of wolves, providing examples using the concept of a werewolf compared to the anthropomorphized wolf in the original tale. Through Carter’s retelling, she envisions a tale of love that more closely resembles what could have happened in reality. Through this, the dichotomy of humanity and monstrosity is blurred when both exhibit traits that are supposedly exclusive of the other.
...

Introduction

It is a million dollar question. What makes a good piece of literature? What makes a memorable piece of music? The question applies to every medium of art in factwhat makes the work of a human worth seeing, worth reading, listening, feeling or watching, studying. And the answer too is simple enough. Any work of art that conveys an idea in its purity and freshness no matter where the looking glass is aimed at, from whichever perspective, is worthy of note. Literature can transmit ideas from ages past, to demographics wide, mould itself into fashions and traditions and yet mean something different to ...

"Young Goodman Brown" - Symbolism

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Young Goodman Brown," the titular character is a pious, faithful man in Salem, Massachusetts who leaves his wife to run a mysterious errand out in the forest.. Along the way, he encounters many different people and situations along the way, eventually resulting in a horrific dream that shows the fallibility of humankind and the ineffectiveness of Christianity. Hawthorne tells the tale of a naive, faithful young man who begins his fall from grace and acknowledging the presence of evil in the world, especially in other people. The story is rife with symbolism, and ...

Helen Rountree’s book Pocahontas, Powhatan and Opechancanough: Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown retells the tale of Jamestown from the perspective of the Indians – the objective of this is to determine the effect of European settlers in America from those who lived there. Over the course of this book, their story is told – many blanks have to be filled in, however, as the Powhatan Indians do not have a written language. This leaves the responsibility of the information gathered to fall to the Jamestown English; Rountree does the best to keep the book objective, but “such sources of information ...

Abstract

This peer review looks at Alex Pierce’s story, The Challenging Two Mile, which is a story about a young man who is running a two mile race at Virginia State Championships. This tale is a self-reflection and personal growth story that follows a chronological plot format, focusing on the character and his pain as the main imagery from the audience’s viewpoint. While the overall image of the two-mile race sets the backdrop, it is the internal and external body struggles that make this story so captivating. Fast-paced and well-written it is an honest, simple and down-to-earth learning ...

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by Joanne K. Rowling is the first book in a series of novels about Harry Potter, a young magician. The book is commonly referred to as children’s literature, though a deeper insight into its plot and symbols used by the author reveals much more essential, even encyclopedic, knowledge about British history and folklore as well as ancient mythology. Something that may initially seem to be just products of Rowling’s imagination turns out to be real things rooted in history and traditions, fairy tales and myth.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’ ...

Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Tell-Tale Heart” comprises, in only 2200 words, so much cleverly built suspense, that it has become one of his most renowned works. In the story, an unreliable narrator, a mad murderer, tells the story of his murder in order to convince the audience that he is not mad. The story is rich in symbolism and in clues which allow the readers to make sense of the events, to anticipate the murder and to understand the reasons for the narrator’s crime. However, one of the most important elements of fiction in this ...

Introduction

The work,”The Mortal Immortal”, views women as submissive and helpless, and need to constantly rely on others before achieving satisfaction during the work’s specific era (The Author Of Frankenstein 2). As quoted from the work: “I was then very young--very poor--and very much. in love. I had been for about a year the pupil of Cornelius, though I was absent when this accident took place. On my return, my friends implored me not to return to the alchymist's abode. I trembled as I listened to the dire tale they told; I required no second warning; ...

Dubliners is a novel in the loosest of senses, much in the same way that The Martian Chronicles is a novel. Both books contain vignettes that can stand alone as separate short stories, although they contain characters and a sort of story arc that holds the whole entity together. One of the main elements that holds the story together is the plight of the poor in Dublin; despite the fact that most of the characters are poor, the truth of their poverty comes to the reader indirectly, through such details as the fact that Lenehan has not eaten all day, while he ...

Abstract

The Piper Alpha disaster is well known for it resulted in the highest number of casualties who lost their lives in the history of off shore oil and gas rigging. This paper reviews literature on the Piper Alpha disaster presenting an overview of the circumstances that led to the occurrence of the tragedy. Further, it examines the role that different parties played with regard to their contributions to the situation. Subsequently, an analysis of the course of action taken with regard to the management of the disaster as it happened and in its aftermath is as well evaluated. The ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” is a story of a man and his love for science and his wife, Georgiana. Aylmer, a chemist, has given up his scientific studies to win the heart of a woman he loved. At one stage, the birthmark on his wife’s face disturbs him “as being a sign of earthly imperfection” (7). According to him, she becomes an imperfect thing. While trying to remove her mark by using chemical, she dies. His desire to win both love ends up in the rivalry that ruins his life. This story is the best example of Girard’s mimetic desire, which ...

Analysis - "The Mother" and “Daughters”

Poetry about family can often reveal fascinating dynamics in these omnipresent and complex relationships. In Gwendolyn Brooks' "The Mother," the regret and guilt that a woman experiences upon reflecting on the various abortions she has had throughout her life is presented in an intriguing and haunting way. The suffering that the mother expresses in this poem is done through Brooks' expert use of figurative language and repetition, as the potential these children had before her abortions, as she sees them, is made clear. Meanwhile, Lucille Clifton’s “Daughters” allows a young woman to imagine the grandmother she never met, and the ...

Analysis of the personality traits present in “the Grinch” from Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”

Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is one of the quintessential Christmas stories in the English-speaking world. It chronicles the story of the Grinch, a green, greedy, cantankerous character who hates the Christmas season and, ostensibly, everything that the Christmas season stands for. On its face, it seems to be a tale about the meaning of Christmas, and the Christmas season, transformed into a fairytale-like format so that children can easily grasp the issues at play in the text. However, upon closer examination, the story of the Grinch contains a vast number of social and psychological clues about the true mental state ...

Gulliver’s Travels is a book written by Jonathan Swift in the 18th century. It was a very popular book then and is still as popular today. It has never been out of print since it was first published. “It is universally read, from the cabinet council to the nursery”. (John Gay wrote in a letter to Jonathan Swift in 1726). It was a very advanced book for its time when people were less travelled than they are today and foreign countries were as yet unknown. People were afraid of what they did not know and therefore these tales gave them an insight ...

The Heart of Darkness reflects the paradoxes of imperialism in the late 19th century.

Imperialism is the act of developing a country in infrastructures and basic growth by the superior countries in order to exploit the minor countries. In Africa, during colonization the superior countries developed African countries in growth and improved literacy level while reaping the benefits from the native countries.
In the Heart of Darkness, the author demonstrates imperialism to be costly and ridiculous in conquests of Africa. It is contrary to the expectation of the Africa since the profit was not proportional to the Africans. The end did not justify the means but there was a team that misquoted saying that ...

Analysis: Out of the Dust

Abstract
Karen Hesse's book Out of the Dust takes an unconventional approach to fiction, depicting the events of a full-length novel in a number of free verse poems. The tale of a family of farmers attempting to survive the Dust Bowl, Hesse's work is fascinating in its minimalism and heartbreaking in its focus. Hesse's free verse prose lends a childlike sense of simplicity and wonder to these heavy themes, showing just how dramatic these conditions can affect a child of that age; the result is an intelligent and thoughtful book on life in the Dust Bowl.
Karen Hesse's book Out of the ...

The tale of the first meeting between the European expedition of John Smith and the Native Americans during the founding of Jamestown in 1607 is one that has captured the American imagination for centuries. The meeting of John Smith and the Native American girl Pocahontas, and their subsequent love story, is echoed by the tense clash of cultures, demonstrating a dramatic story of love being found in the strangest places, as well as issues of land ownership and the promise of a New World. The original John Smith writings tell the tale in a fascinating and Eurocentric way that belies the true ...

"The Gentlemen from Cracow" - Analysis

The allegorical short story "The Gentlemen from Cracow" is a very well-known and important piece of Yiddish folklore; a short story in which the poor villagers of the Polish town of Frampol attempt to deal with their own poverty in very interesting ways. When a drought is followed by a hailstorm, then locusts and other supernatural happenstances, the titular gentlemen arrives to offer these villagers a solution. The story itself is a treatise on conspicuous consumption, especially as it befalls a society that is unused to it. Attempting to transform this simple village into a haven for consumerism has disastrous consequences ...

Historical Essay: The Diary of Anne Frank

As the title of the book suggests, Anne Frank’s diary is the published diary of the titular Jewish girl in the 1940s. It begins before the Holocaust hit the world on her thirteenth birthday in June 12, 1942 and abruptly ends two years later on fifteenth birthday after the capture of her family by the Nazis. The diary begins with descriptions of the experiences and thoughts of a Jewish girl on the brink of womanhood in an anti-Semite atmosphere. It then describes the life of the Franks in hiding after the Nazis reached their home in the Netherlands. The ...

Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake (2003) and Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games (2008) bear striking resemblances to each other. Both novels are set in an apocalyptic dystopian future; both novels use modern advances in the media as a central part of their plot; and both could be argued, in a way, to address the issues of male/female relationships. They are linked too by critical confusion over their genre. Are they both science fiction novels? Are they fantasies? Are they informed predictions of the fate of humanity? Atwood has always been adamant that her earlier novel The Handmaid’s Tale was ...

“The Happy Family” is a sarcastic little tale written by Hans Christian Andersen. The most important theme of the story is the ignorant and narrow-minded nature of human beings. The story features two snails that believed they were the most outstanding creatures in the whole world and that the entire forest of burdocks was built for them. They wanted to get into the “manor house to be boiled and served on a silver plate” because they thought it was a very special and honorable thing to have that happen to them. However, what the two snails believed about themselves and the world ...