... of his huge diocese. -Immigrants, Pioneers, Europe - Religion spirituality-throughout her life and especially after 1922, Cather was concerned with the decline of spirituality in an increasingly materialistic American society - Nature, Catholicism/Protestantism, Modernism -Missions and Native Americans Death comes for the Archbishop: symbolism and imagery In Death Comes for The Archbishop, Willa Cather demonstrates her unique ability to illustrate exceedingly ... (see the 1932 preface). In fact, her critics have often questioned precisely her capabilities as a novelist. One early reviewer...

• Word Count: 7335
• Approx Pages: 29
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... times of recession and falling expectations, stress levels rise, alcoholism increases, and marriages falter. In Carver's stories, disaster always seems to be just outside the pages of the book. His characters generally have jobs, although they are jobs that do not contribute to their emotional or intellectual well-being. The characters seem to float in existential despair through ... merits during the years following its publication. Early reviewers of the collection singled out "Cathedral" as a story that broke new ground for Carver. Bruce Allen, for example, in a review for The Christi...

• Word Count: 11148
• Approx Pages: 45
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... he cut back to give himself more time to write. At age 45, Lafferty began to explore his interest in writing. The New Mexico Quarterly Review published "The Wagons" in 1959, his first short story. In 1968 his first novel was published, Past Master. Lafferty wrote over two hundred short ... realism. Shake again. The exact latitude and longitude of Paradise: go there and see, Shake, the exact name written upon the Devil's tombstone. This book is a strange twist of myths and monsters. The Devil is Dead is the classic example of the bizarre potential of Science Fiction. It is very ... tries ...

• Word Count: 2850
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... tone and point of view throughout the novel. Fitzgerald tells a wonderful story and in this novel, the story is quite easy to follow. In the first book, the couple (Anthony and Gloria) meet and fall in love. We are introduced to Adam Patch, Anthony's philanthropist prohibitionist grandfather. We meet Anthony's friends, ... from the pampered life of the beautiful to the suffering of the damned. The damnation is mainly caused by alcohol. Toward the end of the book, the broken, debt-ridden hero, Anthony Patch, "awoke in the morning so nervous that Gloria could feel him trembling in the bed...

• Word Count: 2828
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: High School

... published in 1983. With its publication he finally received the critical praise he had longed for. Cathedral is generally considered to be one of Carver's finest works. The book was also Pulitzer Prize nominated book. The story is narrated in first person and is about a blind man who is coming to visit the narrator and his wife. The narrator does not realize ... of short stories by Raymond Carver, Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?, was his first key work. It was published in the United States in 1976 and nominated for a National Book Award in 1977 (Claude Grimal, 1995). Carver began dri...

• Word Count: 3978
• Approx Pages: 16
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... of the title- he tells readers to take action, explaining that history is never unbiased- it is tainted by the storyteller's prejudice. The imagery in the title, and throughout the book, indicates that assuming the skin of a lion can be a way of legitimising one's life in order to compensate for historical omissions. This provides an opportunity for the once marginalised persons ... is actually an attempt at coming to terms with his own story since the stories of these two women are intricately interwoven with his own. By the end of the book, which actually is the beginning, Patrick is ...

• Word Count: 3985
• Approx Pages: 16
• Grade Level: High School

... progresses, and Clifford becomes trapped by Maule's curse, Hepzibah's devotion grows stronger, and it is her and her alone that keeps Clifford alive and well at the end of the book. Again, Hepzibah is a surprise heroine/domestic ideology role reverser The scene in the novel with Clifford and Hepzibah on the train is the culmination of the old maid's triumph, and ... ...

• Word Count: 2986
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

... for revenge. We can also see how Pip is at heart a very generous and sympathetic young man, a fact that can be witnessed in his numerous acts of kindness throughout the book (helping Magwitch, secretly buying Herbert's way into business, etc.) and his essential love for all those who love him. Pip's main line of development in the novel may be seen ... ...

• Word Count: 3498
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Graduate