... the pointless death of a boy I loved as my own." "That boy of mine was not whipped to death for running away, for getting nowhere, not even to the next town I look with these blood-shot eyes that see without seeing, witness without registering a memory or sensation. The boy's two hundred lashes lasted no more than twenty minutes but he was gone half-way into it all ... That's when I learned how to live without being hurt by life- Whitechapel shares with us his memory of his son's death. He tells us that he learnt not to be hurt ... as his own. Later we learn that the boy was not his so...

• Word Count: 801
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

"The Gift of the Magi" In the story, "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry, I believe the theme was, sacrificing what you take great pride in is not always the best choice. It is not how much or what the gift is, it is what the meaning behind the gift is. Della and Jim are a married couple. The author wrote, "There were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took mighty pride in." This proves ... more worried about buying each other gifts, instead of saving their money or possessions they prized most. They only receive twenty dollars a week, which Jim worked for. This...

• Word Count: 378
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... that you can not have sex before marriage.The couples may think that they are mature enough and have responsibility. Live-in relationship is the good way to get to know each other.I think when people love each other,they have the idea of getting married but they will never know whether they are the perfect match or not.In order to get to know each other ... better,living together before marriage seems to be the good way.If they can not live together happily,they can learn to adapt to ... might feel uncomfortable and want to break up which mean they have to divorce.Moreover,if the coupl...

• Word Count: 353
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... him within seconds. Mary then quickly plots a way to cover the murder. This theme of contrast is repeated when Mary is speaking with the detectives. "Briefly, she told her story about going out to the grocer and coming back to find him on the floor." After stating the theme to the reader, Dahl is ready to reveal the cover up. The reader is not prepared for what is to come. Mary begins ... to feel badly about what she has done, but she must not tell the detectives in order to protect her unborn child. The detectives ask many questions pertaining ... to the murder weapon. " Did she know,...

• Word Count: 552
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... . This is suppose to make her happy by being a wife, mother and housemaker. This is the image of the American dream for a woman. In reality the author says life is a lot different. The middle-class woman is likely to work until she is pregnant. Whether she works or not the first part of the myth crumbles. Men believe that women do not need anything but a good provider and healthy ... children to make her happy. The traditional American family structure is not good for the wife and can ... be hard the husband ... ...

• Word Count: 337
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan The novel, The Kitchen God's Wife is a true-life story told in flashbacks, by a mother (Winnie) to her daughter (Pearl). She relates the incidents that had occurred in her life when she was in China. The story begins with the memories of a six-year old, about her mother who she loves intensely. At such a tender age she experiences the pangs of separation when her mother suddenly disappears from her life. Till her marriage to Wen Fu, Winnie lives in Tsungming Island where her treatment is no better than that of an orphan. Despite all the sufferings that Winnie ...

• Word Count: 136
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... him a crib and Gimpel does not see why he would need it. Gimpel is not very good at understanding his new wife nor does he see fully the concept of having children in his life. Throughout the story, Gimpel is given clues that his wife is not faithful to him. For one, Elka continues to have children even though Gimpel sees that he could ... not possibly have fathered them. Also, he notices one night coming from his work at the bakery the figure of a man sleeping next to Elka. Even with the rabbis advice to stay away ... finally confesses to him that she had been unfaithful to him. The n...

• Word Count: 381
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... " written by Ruth and Augustus Goetz displays many examples of Aristotle's six elements. Poetics outlines the six elements which are: plot, characters, thought, diction, music (or sound), and spectacle, all of which were present in this play. "The Heiress" is a play about a young woman living in New York with her father. One day she gets a "gentlemen caller- who, after two weeks time, ends up asking her to ... and the dad dies. The theme of the play seemed to be one of coming of age. Catherine Sloper was extremely nave and not a "people person- in the least during the beginning of the pl...

• Word Count: 300
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

Jane does grow in the book Jane Eyre. The theme of the book is Jane's continual quest for love. Jane searches for acceptance through the five settings where she lives: Gateshead, Lowood, Thornfield, Moor House and Ferndean. Through these the maturation and self-recognition of Jane becomes traceable. It is not until she runs from Rochester and Thornfield ... strike back again very hard; I am sure we should . . ." Helen replies, "Love you enemies; bless them that curse you . . ." (56). When Helen is dying of Ty! phus she reminds Jane, "I believe: I have faith: I am going to God," (82). Jane is a...

• Word Count: 907
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... story in only thirteen pages. This shows what an accomplished writer Elizabeth is. Helen marries twice at a young age "My mother was twice married" "I believe she was scarcely seventeen". Immediately this makes the reader think of Helen as brave and also that even so early in her ... more into debt so resorts to selling her cattle so she can buy small provisions in order to survive, Helen still has another child on the way and winter is coming. In the book it says it's "sad and sorry". This describes how Helen is feeling very ... the author dumps all the sadness back on Helen by saying, ...

• Word Count: 1890
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... to decline because he does not have his gun and he is in the presence of his new bride. Scratchy Wilson walks away dejected. Characters: Jack Plotter - town marshal of Yellow Sky, returning home with his new bride Scratchy Wilson - the town drunk who loves a duel Theme: This is a transition from experience to innocence. A portion of Jack's life is missing which will make him whole - he wants ... to become a family man. Jack is experienced in his work and is respected by the town. However, he is nave at marriage ... . Jack lacks experience with the courting of a woman never mind being ma...

• Word Count: 287
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

The American Dream in the back in the 1920's was originally about pursuing happiness, growth, and indivivualism, but the dream was corrupted by greed and the desire for pleasure. In the Great Gatsby, almost every character had a desire for something. The characters in the story were corrupted by greed. Jay Gatsby, the stories main character, is the first example of amorality. Coming from a poor family with nothing, Gatsby desired wealth, security, and to be an intellectual aristocrat ... . He wished to impress Daisy, whom he fell in love with while on duty ... ...

• Word Count: 345
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... . Movie Report George is, a stuck-up white insurance agent who is married to Parsons and fathers two children, Garrett and Moran. The family's life is pretty normal and uneventful in other words typical white suburban family with all the usual suburbia problems. One morning George wakes up and realizes that due to some crazy phenomenon with his body he has turned into a black man. At ... before he turned black, never thought much of him became interested in him. Eventually, George starts feeling better about being black. He realized that there is no way that he can hide it nor can he run...

• Word Count: 398
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... feet. Very pretty. But at such conferences, it is the subordinate who crosses the stream. This is important enough that some conferences between equals were held in midstream scarcely a comfortable arrangement. After the reconciliation, Alfonso gave his followers leave to join the Cid, if they wished. Almost all did so, whereupon the Cid presented Alfonso with a gift, a large number of finely saddled horses that were paraded in front of Alfonso. The scene is ... dramatic. There is the Cid, surrounded by his old vassals and by the warriors who have deserted the king, and there is ... ...

• Word Count: 1732
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... than her own rosy complexion, but upon being startled, she pales and the tiny mark is highlighted against her whitened cheek. Once Aylmer decides that the mark is a defect, Georgiana agrees the mark should be removed to "simply secure her sanity and Aylmer's peace" (452). In fact, Aylmer renders the birthmark as "a symbol of his wife's liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death" (453 ... ). Georgiana not only believes her husband is correct in everything, she wants to aspire to become even one of his failures. "The Birthmark" proposes that human nature is compound, a sacred mystery. The o...

• Word Count: 254
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... from which he draws spiritual refreshment. O-lan O-lan could be characterized as the most appealing character in the book. She doesn't really express herself through words but one can learn a great deal of her thoughts and feelings from her actions. Her poor parents sold her to the great Hwang household at the age of ten, during a famine. O-lan was a good worker and so was kept as a kitchen slave ... . She is referred to by Wang as his "poor fool." This daughter reflects a good side of Wang. Wang Lung's Younger Daughter She is the third son's girl twin who grows up to be a pretty woman. ...

• Word Count: 2063
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... led her even more deeply into sin. And so her love turns to hatred of the betrayer. Love has little chance of surviving against the intensity of her concern for her own purity and clarity of conscience. For her there can be none of the excuses that we might make: that she did not intend wrong-doing, that she ... was led into it, that it was not really her fault. If Bertrande wants to cleanse herself of sin, she must cease to accept the role of wife. At first she tries to deal with this by begging her "husband" to leave her, but when he refuses, saying that ... it would confirm her in w...

• Word Count: 283
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

A theme that is covered in various stories is the theme that even if people appear happy on the outside, on the inside there is almost always some sorrow either hidden deep in their heart and soul or being shown to people of the world. There are many different types of sorrow shown or hidden in many different ways in multiple stories, and is sometimes overcome. A Secret Sorrow is a story about a woman, Faye, who ... after all the years seeing him again brings her sorrow. She hides it from him by telling him she's fine, but she is still sorrowful and that will not be resolved as long as she h...

• Word Count: 1192
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... marries Harold and is unhappy. She cannot bear to see Lena living in this misery. Modern America vs. Traditional China: I think that in this chapter there is a clear comparison between the ways of America and the traditions of China. There are many descriptions of how China is very different such as the building with bamboo poles as supports with men working without safety support. ... Chinese people are "not in a rush to get ahead, unlike the people in America" I believe that this theme is not only present in this chapter but ... throughout the entire book as well ... ...

• Word Count: 295
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... my uncle" This use of bestial imagery is used through out the soliloquy; "to post" refers to horses used for post. It refers to Hamlets feelings his mothers relationship is based on lust rather than love, like a relationship an animal might have. Hamlet condemns the marriage in the last to lines. The repetition of the "s" sound creates a hissing and scornful tone. The penultimate line is a prophecy of doom, which will become ... clear to the audience as the play unfolds, "It ... ...

• Word Count: 574
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... story. She discusses sexuality using the elements of theme and symbolism. In "The Storm," the theme, feminine sexuality and passion is important. The title of The Storm, with its obvious connotations of sexual energy and passion, is of course critical to any interpretation of the narrative. Chopin's title refers to nature, which is symbolically feminine; the storm can therefore be seen as symbolic of feminine sexuality and passion, and the image of the storm will be returned to again ... and again throughout the story. Chopin talks ... ...

• Word Count: 356
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... that her body was thrown forward." The reader gets the idea she is a pretty girl flirting with the workers for attention. We see later in the book that this is a routine. Lennie takes a shine to Curley's wife, which could be a potential threat to their jobs. George instantly takes a dislike to her, "bitch," and " poison, but never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her." When ... . I think Curley's wife is the loneliest character in the book. She has no friends, future or respect: In the book, she does not have a name. To gain attention from the men on the ranch she flirts with the w...

• Word Count: 804
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... look at her. ‬ Location is also a factor that even he admits. He moved to the city from Ohio and now has access to "battalions of women" who create a land where "everything is concentrated from all over the world into seven blocks-the best furs, the best clothes, and the handsomest women, out to spend money and feeling good about it." Fifth Avenue comes ... not willing to mask her feelings anymore. She is hurt and fed up with the disrespect from Michael and in the end she takes a stand for herself that she doesn't want to hear the nonsense anymore. "Stop talking about how pretty this ...

• Word Count: 935
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... Hawthorne wrote The Birthmark in the 3rd person omniscient point of view in order to clearly illustrate the story's theme, which is the protagonist's, Aylmer, inability to deal with his wife's imperfection, a small birthmark on her cheek. Hawthorne uses Aylmer's insecurity as an example of how a person's pursuit of perfection is not only impossible, but in some cases, destructive. Hawthorne wants the reader to understand that the individual should learn to deal with ... and adjust to other people's imperfections, not other way around. Hawthorne also wants the ... ...

• Word Count: 419
• Approx Pages: 2

The main themes in "The Rocking-Horse Winner" are the pursuit of love and luck. Both of the main characters in "The Rocking-Horse Winner," the mother and Paul, are in pursuit of love. First the mother marries for love, and the love fades. She gains children from her marriage, but she can not love them. Nowhere in her life can she find love. She rejects the closest thing to love, her young son Paul. Her feelings ... toward her children, especially Paul, are exemplified when her children are around. She feels the centre of her heart ... go hard. Everyone thought of her as a great mother who lo...

• Word Count: 260
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School