Essays on Banality

Introduction and Thesis

First published in 1922, Virginia Woolf’s Jacob’s Room was her first novel to use modernist and impressionistic techniques. This paper will show that Woolf’s methodology (the way she wrote the novel) is intimately connected with the thematic preoccupations of the author: the method mirrors the message. Jacob’s Room is commonly seen as an indictment of the sterility and emptiness of modern civilization at the start of the twentieth century and it is true that at its heart is an existential angst that is presented vividly by Woolf. However, this paper will argue that Woolf uses ...

Technology is advancing at an alarming, almost exponential rate; as human progress increases, so does technology, and its effects on our society become somewhat more truncated. Vincent Mosco, in his article “When Old Myths Were New: The Ever-Ending Story,” notes that human society has a tendency to repeat history when it comes to technological advances; with each new stop, we hail our latest invention to be the be-all end-all for communication technology, ignoring that we have done that many times before. According to Mosco, “there is indeed a remarkably willful, historical amnesia about technology, particularly when it turns to communication and ...

Article 1

Smith, Virginia Llewellyn “The Ending of the Story.” Anton Chekhov and the Lady with the Dog (1973): 221–22. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Web 3 April 2013. Smith begins this piece of literary criticism by observing that the situation in Anton Chekov’s The Lady with the Dog is trite. Consequently the value of this work is in the intricate balance between poetry and prose, in characterization and in the inherent ordinary themes. Smith asserts that in The Lady with the Dog Chekov does not force opinions on the readers but rather leaves them to make ...

Argumentative Essay

Argumentative Essay In Jamaica Kincaid’s story, A Small Place, she gives a clear picture of the conditions of living in Antigua. The island is portrayed as a popular tourist destination. However, the author gives a comprehensive overview of the island’s state of welfare. The people on the island lead a miserable life at best. There are no proper facilities such as schools and hospitals on the island. The struggles of Antiguans are given detailed focus by the author. The natives hate tourists because they feel they have invaded their homeland. The poverty, poor living conditions such as blocked sewage flowing ...

People, particularly young people, are often inextricably affected by their experienced in confined institutions, such as British boarding schools. In the search for one's sense of identity, as well as the skills they need for the rest of their lives, the social and educational experiences gleaned in these institutions are thought to be heartless, cruel and confining, permitting only a limited perspective on life as opposed to the freedom of interacting with the outside world, and the strict bureaucracy of the faculty and staff. Kazuo Ishiguro's novel Never Let Me Go demonstrates a science-fiction spin on the institution of the British ...

Identity Conflicts never begin as identity conflicts

Literature Review: In ‘The Myth of Global Ethnic Conflicts’, John Bowen argues that although conflicts may at face value appear to have been simmering for hundreds of years under the surface, this is not always the case as can be seen in the former Yugoslavia conflicts. In ‘Ethnic and Nationalist Violence’, Brubaker and Laitin argue along similar lines to Bowen but they also delve into the problem with far greater detail demonstrating that perceptions of violence may not always be what they seem or what they appear. This is further reinforced by the fact that the former ...