... short story, "The Story of an Hour," a young woman named Louise Mallard is in the last hour of her life. She suffers from a condition of her heart when she learns of her husband's death. "Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news ... is in despair due to her sadness of a husband who doesn't love her. "She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death: the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead"" (533). Her heart was broken and s...

• Word Count: 616
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... : A Story of Wall Street, Herman Melville portrays the deranged character and namesake of the novel, as a blatant critique of nineteenth century America. In spite of his seemingly antagonistic role in the novel, Bartleby is really a victim of his surroundings. He is an alienated proletarian in the American workplace, who, after asserting that his job and his future are meaningless, decides to waste away into death ... rich men's bonds, and mortgages, and title-deeds." (4) His duties are agonizingly tedious, including the duplication of legal documents and verification of their accuracy. ...

• Word Count: 455
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Summary of Explorers Christopher Columbus (1451-1506): An Italian who was a Spanish explorer, Columbus was most famous because of his "discovery" of the "New World". Contrary to popular belief, Columbus mistreated the Native Americans, killing over a third of their populations in the period of two years. His major motives were spreading Christianity and finding a westward route to Asia. Personal motivation was power, glory, and gold. His supporters were Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain; he propagandized the new world so that they would continue funding the whole expedition. His failures were th...

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

... to go against what she feels or does. Overall this passage is important for the reader to understand the themes, characters, and their positions within the play. In Moliere's The flying Doctor, the young women depicted in the play also have a terrible fate. The character of Sganarelle first appears in The Flying Doctor; his namesake recurs in no fewer than six other plays by Moliere, though in different guises ... more convincingly than a genuine doctor could. The Flying Doctor is a tour de force for a comedian; except for one interlude when the lawyer takes over, he is in command of the...

• Word Count: 1240
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... and people as symbols to express his message throughout the book. He begins using a plant, then the namesake of the book, then continues on to uses two people as symbols to get his message across. Although seemingly simple, all of these symbols are extremely complex, and used in a multitude of ways. First, the rosebush outside the prison; in the first chapter, it is used as a symbol of ... strongly resembles Hester's openly defiant stature when asked who the father of her baby was during the first scaffold scene. Perhaps the most complex symbol in the book is the most obvious and preval...

• Word Count: 777
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... limbs were gnarled, and fantastic, large enough to form trunks for ordinary trees, twisting down almost to the earth, and rising again into the air."(Irving) going on, "The common people regarded it with a mixture of respect and superstition, partly out of sympathy for the fate of its ill famed namesake, and partly from the tales of strange sights and doleful laminations told concerning it."(Irving ... ). The description gives nature a mysterious and haunted value rather than beauty, used to make the reader feel scared for the character. Not only did Irving use familiar settings to write...

• Word Count: 1020
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... of family is evident in each of these pieces of literature; this theme is significant because it epitomizes the influence that American stereotypes and culture have on foreign migrators. Throughout Jhumpa Lahiri's short story, "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine", the identity of the main character, Lilia, fluctuates between being an ignorant Indian girl and being a normal American citizen. Whenever she ... is inside the realm of family, Lilia is portrayed as a little girl struggling to understand her culture, but in her ... . These situations convey that Bich does not completely belong any...

• Word Count: 778
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... can only chuckle at themselves for not seeing it coming. Early in "The Swimmer" Neddy establishes that the name of the "quasi- subterranean stream that [curves] across the country" is Lucinda (Cheever 174). As keen readers will observe, the river symbolizes the person behind its namesake and by extension, the pools that Neddy swims in throughout his journey represent his relationship with his wife ... ", consistent foreshadowing in conjunction with symbolism and third person narration creates an increasing sense of foreboding leading to a predictable revelation. In "The Purloined Letter"...

• Word Count: 598
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School