... harmed Morag. They loved her as if she were their own daughter. However in privacy, Morag admired Christie's wisdom and she enjoyed listening to his stories he was telling her. The snapshots of "The Diviners" reveal Morag's past. The entire novel deals with her childhood in a small Manitoba town ... good student at school and she always wanted to leave her home town. In Manitoba she learned Jules (Skinner) Tonnerre, an Indian who was discriminated by the town's inhabitants at that time. They fell in love. Morag herself is Scottish. Her classmates have English, French and Scottish roots. C...

• Word Count: 785
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... hand and finally notices that his thumb and fingers are misshapen. Not able to remove her glance from the horror, she describes them as "a pliant beast, awkwardly bent, shaken by faint jerks which resembled some sort of agony. The flat, cruel nail of the over long thumb glistened." This sickens the girl and she is somewhat repulsed ... by him now. She exclaims, "And I've kissed that hand!...How horrible! Haven't I ever looked at it?" Even when she wakes up in the morning, the image of the hand is ... ...

• Word Count: 486
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Conflicting Minds The theme of "Home Burial," by Robert Frost, is the misunderstanding between a husband and a wife because of conflicting attitudes regarding the death of a child and that these opposing attitudes can cause the ... the home of the husband and wife. During this time period society dictated that men did not show their true feelings. Therefore, men tended to have dealt with conflicts by working hard and being domineering. The poem states that he "mounted until she cowered under him" (l. 11). Later on in the poem, the husband says "I"ll ... follow you and bring you back by force....

• Word Count: 764
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... conflict. The Westcott's are different in one way; they share an interest in serious music. Although they chose to conform and talk little about this interest to anyone, this passion for listening to serious music results in Jim buying Irene a new radio when the old one breaks. Irene's first impression of the radio is fore-shadowing at its best, "She ... ...

• Word Count: 671
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... Unlike the common belief, we as 20th-century kids have grown up believing that the successful marriages are the "Hollywood" type love stories when partners are infatuated with each other and that love never dies. But in the real world, it is not like that, those types ... more likely to last. Aviva Patz has experience with failed marriages and also successful ones, so her interest in this seminar about marriages, hosted by Ted Huston, seems more personal rather than academic. The way Aviva uses her personal experiences to support the things Ted Huston says in this research ... rushing i...

• Word Count: 574
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... the husband goes to the Land of Souls to visit his wife hoping he could somehow bring her back. Readers also see in "Blankets," by Sherman Alexie, that this short story about Native Americans also brings a sense of endearment, but towards parents instead of lovers. The son in this story ... an alcoholic, enough to let a complete stranger sing a healing song to the blanket that was to be given to his father. Both men in these stories show feelings towards the ones they love, they even go to the extent of doing things that are not allowed to help their loved ones. Throughout ... those mis...

• Word Count: 620
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... hundreds of years ago still remain. Through the years most stories are either lost or forgotten. However, one story has lived through the centuries and still makes an impact on people today. The story of Oedipus was written around 420 B.C. by a leading playwright named Sophocles. The theme of Oedipus is fate ... queen. The queen, unbeknownst to him, was his mother. He ruled with a strong hand but is still a very noble character. Oedipus ruled Thebes for many years without any difficulties, until a blind man named Teiresias reminds Oedipus of Apollo's prophecies. Teiresias tells Oedipus t...

• Word Count: 629
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... the maternal qualities of Ruth but loves the body of Mary Fisher, who became a successful novelist writing love stories. No doubt that Ruth is trapped in a loveless marriage. Her feelings transform her into a she-devil, seeking for revenge. First of all she burns down the house after she has sent the children to Mary Fisher's ... and wants to get the respect she never had before. When Ruth starts working in an old people's home she gets to know Mary Fisher's mother by coincidence. She feigns the incontinence of the old woman and because of the strict rules she has to leave the facility. R...

• Word Count: 610
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... for Chocolate the narrator, a woman, sees everything in life from an emotional standpoint. She tells the basic history of her family through the "rose colored" glasses of emotion. To her, the things that happened to her family, while some were tragic, were still wonderful love stories. Family to the narrator was the most important thing in life, with family by ... your side she thought that you could accomplish anything. She saw life through love and emotion and not through the eyes of hatred or war. The film, Like Water for Chocolate, represents a ... her two daughters to not have any ...

• Word Count: 823
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... feelings about Hardy's female characters with evidence from the stories to support your response. In the first short story the withered arm' there are two main characters are female, one of which is Rhoda Brooks. Hardy creates Rhoda sympathetically by telling the readers that many of the people lookdown, ... main female character, She is married to Rhoda's ex-lover, the farmer. Hardy creates rivalry between the two women as Rhoda still has feelings for the farmer and wants his love back. The two girls are not friendly at the start of the story but gradually throughout the story they ... ...

• Word Count: 885
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... discussed in Martin Golan's short story called ''The Arena'' from 2008. This short story is about a man which name we do not get to know. The short story goes by in one morning with a lot of flashbacks in time. It is about a man who is going to drop off his son at an arena where the son is going to ... living a new life now with a new son and a new wife. We do not know how they lost their son, but the text tells in p. 3 l. 122-123: ''We attended a group for parents of children who died in preventable accidents'' that it was not a natural death (it never is when children die), ...

• Word Count: 778
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... her their maid and she slept on the dirty ground every night. One night her father brought presents from town and gave Cinderella a twig, she planted the twig by her mothers grave and it grew into a tree. At the top of a tree, sat a white dove who would throw down anything she wanted. It says ... ran off and got married. There are a couple different themes in this poem, one of them are luck. Luck is shown in some of the stories that Sexton told in the beginning of the poem. It is also shown when Cinderella gets the white bird that drops down whatever she wants. Although, ... dolls in a ...

• Word Count: 900
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... 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 is sorrowful that she cannot have children. She hides this from ... children and she found that "there was love in his embrace and love in his words and in her heart there was no room now for doubt, no room for sorrow."" Faye and Kai overcome their sorrow to live wonderful lives. In Class, Edgar has a different type of sorrow. He is unhappy with ... to be with his...

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

"Yours" by Mary Robinson is a story of an evening in the life of a couple struggling to come to grips with cancer. Allison and Clark spend the evening carving pumpkins and then bickering ... phone; perhaps to an ambulance, perhaps to his relatives, perhaps to god. This story is about death, a topic that we all have to face. In particularly about cancer, a horrible disease for which there is no cure and which most of us can relate to. What struck me the most about this story was Clark's anguish. Even though he led a career as ... ...

• Word Count: 646
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

In the poem "Sex without Love" by Sharon Olds, the speaker is confused about how people can engage in the act of intercourse without love. Casual sex was something that was just being introduced during this time ... forms of love in the universe. Olds perspective of love involves two people sharing a life with one another but "Sex without Love" is more about a person's own love for themselves. Only certain people can experience this type of love without feeling guilty or the burdensome of ones culture. It's human nature to want to have sex and reproduce. But ... satisfied with his best time...

• Word Count: 774
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... of the Sun by Judith Ortiz Cofer, is a novel based in the 1950's through the 1960's about story-telling. All the characters introduced in the novel, have some sort of tie or connection to the main narrator, Marisol. The book begins before Marisol is born, and is comprised of stories that have been ... receives the letter of her mother's death and then moves herself and her daughter back to Salud. Rosa spends her life telling stories as she tries to gain acceptance for her past and current behaviors, trying desperately to prove that the things that happened to her were not her fault, but b...

• Word Count: 1045
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... is an "until-death-do-us-part" commitment. Marriage should be for the right reasons and not the wrong ones. In most cases, people get married for foolish reasons. One, some people get married for financial security. We have all heard of those stories of a young American girl or guy who has lived a poor or ... rough life and is all the sudden romanced by someone very wealthy. In most cases, the person is looking for a way out of ... his or her hard life and wants the easy way out. Feeling that living wealthy and having whatever money can buy is going to make a person believe that it will...

• Word Count: 785
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The major theme in the novel The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan is the personal quest for identity that is made more difficult by the cultural diversity of all the characters. The conflict between the Chinese mothers and their American-born daughters proves to be the major obstacle ... is dominant, this person is strong and forceful. "The black side stands still with cunning, hiding it's gold between trees, seeing and not being seen, waiting patiently for things to come." (282) The black side of a person is usually the hidden one which possesses a great patience. In the case of Ying-Ying, she "did...

• Word Count: 707
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

In the exposition of The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, the character of Louise Mallard, the protagonist of the story, is introduced. The reader sees her through both the ... sudden death of her husband. Both her sister, Josephine, and the family friend, Richard, are concerned about how the sad news will affect Louise and are equally fearful for her heart condition. Josephine's delivery of the news is described as "in broken sentences", "veiled hints", in half concealing". Richard, who "hastened" to the Mallard's ... house, is described as "careful" and "tender". An impression of fragilit...

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

... looking at is Frances, every other woman should be irrelevant to him, but he does not understand that. Frances notices particularly the way he looks at woman as they pass by, and she notifies him how much that irks her. But Michael being the man he is disregards her feelings and pours every secret he has about woman in detail. He ... talks about the variety of woman that grabs his attention and he speaks about them as if he wants them. Michael is a husband that cannot be trusted by Frances, and she is supposed to be his queen and they are supposed to have the most trust in each other. Mi...

• Word Count: 782
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... money. He ends to be a wealthy man, but not happy at all. As his financial status improves, Suezo becomes dissatisfied with his wife. Although she does a good job of caring for the children, Otsune is not the best looking and she is argumentative. And along the novel Ogai Mori successfully accomplish to show the role of women in that time. Maybe ... important example of women role in the 1800s in the novel is Otama. Her relationship with Suezo can be best described as she in the house making whatever is possible for making Suezo confortable. Her role as a woman is clearly shown when Ota...

• Word Count: 955
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

The short story "Straight Pool", written by John O"Hara, is one of the most interesting and mysterious stories in the anthology, Points of View. The story shows O"Hara's masterful ability to create drama and intrigue and to involve the reader in the lives ... about his wife. He even takes her to the doctor to see if there is anything wrong with her physically. . The reader begins to feel badly for the helpless narrator because he is at his wit end with his seemingly depressed wife. Another ambiguous feature of the story deals with the style in which it ... written. Even though it is a monolog...

• Word Count: 1133
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... , showing the readers her affection towards her husband. However as the story progresses, the audience learns of her adoring patience towards her husband as he distances himself away from her for his cause. An example is the change in his behavior after his return from prison. The narrator notices they "used to whisper a long time" but they no longer ... ] worry him with talk." Even daily conversations with his wife no longer interests him. When the narrator tries to tell her husband of the years she spent waiting for him, he responds by "smil[ing] and nod[ing], asks a couple of questions...

• Word Count: 536
• Approx Pages: 2

... Logan is insensitive and does not care about her. When Janie finally tells Logan that she is unhappy, he yells at her - but Janie reluctantly stands up for herself. When she was leaving, she had "a feeling of sudden newness and change...the change was bound to do her good"(32). As a result ... of this experience, Janie walks away from a bad situation and continues her journey. For the next step in her travels to find a voice, Janie decides to run off and elope with Joe Starks, husband number two. Joe Starks is a man ... carries himself with a lot of confidence that oddly resembles a wh...

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

... along to us the observations and suspicions of his fellow townspeople. Homer's visit occurred forty years before the narrator writes. Surely memory and imagination have helped to embellish the stories swept forward by curiosity and "affection." Because everything this narrator says is suspect, we are denied the luxury of knowing that Homer Barron is or was anything. In fact, if Homer is ... " is about, among many other things, gossip, and Faulkner, through his narrator, tricks us into implicating ourselves as we gossip about his characters in a way that we usually reserve for neighbors--...

• Word Count: 872
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate