... , ignorance (of one's own incompetence) truly is bliss. This is the only book I have read in which study and goals for self-improvement have a negative connotation. This book leads me to question all that I have been taught and held true for the past seventeen years. Maybe I, like so many of the well-documented cases in the book, have reached my level of incompetence. I have begun to display ... some of the medical problems linked with Final Placement, not to mention the way I work diligently and never seem to be able to get ahead. Maybe I should stand ... idle in my level of incompeten...

• Word Count: 415
• Approx Pages: 2

... listening to her play. She is an unusual character that is often misunderstood. Alcee Arobin-Mr. Arobin is madly in love with Edna, but she does not feel the same way about him. The book indicates that he is a playboy that gets around. Key Incidents: Chapter 8 Mrs. Ratignolle tells Robert to stay away from Mrs. Ponteilier because she May take him too seriously ... break free from her life, her husband, her children, and society in general. When she is able to do this, she becomes awakened. This is the theme and title of the book. Significant Quotes: Pg 62 "I would give up the unessentia...

• Word Count: 1006
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... , "I don't want anything but my own way. That is wanting a good deal, of course, when you have to trample upon the lives, the hearts, the prejudices of others - but no matter_" This was an awakening to her husband and society around her. When the book begins, Edna is a married woman who seems satisfied with her life. However, she cannot find happiness. Her "awakening" begins when ... begins loving her. Edna begins to respond to him in a way she hasn't done before. She begins to realize that she can be more than a wife and mother. All throughout the book Edna starts to become more indepen...

• Word Count: 724
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Lars I. Granberg wrote the book, Husbands Hold the Key to Happy Homes. It dealt with the issues of Parental roles in the Family. In addition to the issues, the book also mentioned about the Father being the leader or the focal point in the family. The first few chapters of the book talked about the roles the wife should play in her family and in society. It stated that many marriages end in divorces because of the changing roles ... of men and women in our society upon marriage. The book mentioned that the ... ...

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

... us do not understand their culture and their way of life. It also tells us that it is important to understand the Aboriginal culture when dealing with Aboriginal people so that we would not be offending them in anyway. The book explores the Aboriginal culture with a view to bring out its prevailing themes and foremost characteristics. There is a rough division between chapters devoted ... -human forms of life are all written in great detail in different chapters. In the first chapter of the book titled "Remodelling Society", the author immediately brings up the idea of assimilation and h...

• Word Count: 507
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... was used to describe why Pecola's baby did not live, it was not meant for her to have her father's baby. Morrison used many metaphors like this one through out the book. Pecola is a girl who hates her self. She finds no solace in her family, her community rejects her. She views herself as ugly. Her perceived solution: Blue eyes. She is ... . She would jump around from one character to another character and I didn't realize until the end why the character was in the story or how it all connected. It was hard for me to establish that Pecola was supposed to be the main character, until the ...

• Word Count: 877
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... other and learning how to live. It depends on whom one is to say if the book is needed. A world history teacher would find it more necessary than a student would. The author had to consult many sources because he definitely was not born with the knowledge to write a book about human societies. It seems he relied on evidence from: Books, universities and their ... allowed the reader to see the different kinds of people the author wrote about very clearly. The pictures did not follow the text they were mentioned in immediately. But, the pictures did have text under them explaining the pic...

• Word Count: 508
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... concept in his book Fahrenheit 451. Even though the Hound is not present in the movie relative to the book, control is equally obtained in both mediums of this dystopia presented by Mr. Bradbury in spite of the differences between the book and movie versions of Fahrenheit 451. In the book, the Hound plays a crucial role in the way control is obtained in the isolated society. The Hound acts as the enforcer of the law in ... still important to identify these. An evident difference between the movie and book is that the Hound isn't present in the movie like in the book. This does not alter ...

• Word Count: 669
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... claims that this was not a good idea because it increased the rate of maternal and infant mortality in the region. The book is an essential and effective approach towards meeting the needs and preferences of women interested in the concept of healthcare or friendship in West Africa. In the book, the author claims that the region lacked running water; they did not have any trained doctor, thus ... that problems facing women in America and Mali were same, and it showed the manner in which the issue is heartbreaking because their discussion enabled them to find a common ground in the act ...

• Word Count: 1541
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... at least initiating many of the changes that take place. So many of the characters go through transformations, such as Newland. Throughout the book, I had a changing opinion of his status, whether he was a "god," or a simple mortal like Ellen. In the end, I concluded that in a way he was both. On the inside, I believe he had the heart of a man not affected by the pressures of society, though this ... spirit of "old" society wins, causing enough impact to keep Ellen and Newland apart, when, finally, nothing else is keeping them apart. I saw many contrasts throughout the book, especially ...

• Word Count: 1661
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... is a work of fiction and a tragic-comedy. I came to choose it because I heard it is about a boy who is around my age. In this book, the main character, Holden Caulfield, tells us a story about what happened during his Christmas vacation. Holden is a sixteen-year-old boy who has flunked out of a private prep school. Because he ... well, but I feel sorry for him because nobody can understand his dream, and it is not realistic. Holden seems to be too good a person to be in this corrupt world. The style of this book is unusual because it is told by a sixteen-year-old boy who appears to be ...

• Word Count: 859
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... , and who belongs where in what part of the social circle. They sit at the top of the list and look down upon all the people who struggle their entire lives trying to be good enough to be accepted, and always living in fear of their actions. In the book The Age of Innocence written by Edith Wharton, the main characters go through their days trying to live ... up to the standards of the society of "Old New York ... ", and worry about the reputation of their family names more than that of their own well being. From this ... ...

• Word Count: 314
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... McCarthyism in the USA. The book makes a portrait of the "red-scare" and the American hysteria. However, Doctorow does not do it from a social perspective, at least strait forwardly, but from the individual one. The story is told from the perspective of Daniel (the son of the Isaacsons and the brother of Susan) who is now attending college during the historical moment of the radical upheaval of the 1960s in the US. The construction of the character ... together with an unusual narrative structure that reflects in itself the fragmentation of the socio-political moments the story refers t...

• Word Count: 1122
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... faced with situations that tempt him to break down and confess. The author made the city come across as harsh and unclean. The descriptions are dark and depressing. This sets the mood for the book. Everything about the setting and themes of the book is somber. If the novel was set in a sunny and happy town, the situations in the book would not come across as dramatic as they did. I ... believe that the setting was an important way for the reader to understand the characters and the trials they were going ... through. 2) Explain how the civilization represented in your ... ...

• Word Count: 1349
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... , and who belongs where in what part of the social circle. They sit at the top of the list and look down upon all the people who struggle their entire lives trying to be good enough to be accepted, and always living in fear of their actions. In the book The Age of Innocence written by Edith Wharton, the main characters go through their days trying to live ... up to the standards of the society of "Old New York ... ", and worry about the reputation of their family names more than that of their own well being. From this ... ...

• Word Count: 314
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... is present in a community, eventually, that community will deteriorate. In Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, the boys" society has slowly fallen due to the lack of civilization. The boys on the island, in this book, are extremely self-centered. They care mainly about their personal necessities and not about the necessities of the group as a whole. In a society, if there are not people with these ... below characteristics, it will fail, and not many of the boys in this book had all or any. The people of a successful society are dedicated, intellectual, and possess self-contr...

• Word Count: 632
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... have. Freedom is a concept that is not even living in the book 1984. People were only allowed a little part of their brain to think on their own; the rest was up to big brother. In Oceana there wasn't true education, the party re-wrote history so that they were always right. This kept the citizens ignorant, and keeping people controlled while they are ignorant isn ... no loved ones, really don't know how to live a life that is happy, that is how the party kept them controlled in this aspect. Another way to control a society is limits on food supplies. Someone who is hungry will do anyth...

• Word Count: 372
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... , is influenced by many different characters. Huck's closest companions, Jim and Tom Sawyer have perhaps more influence on him than any other personalities in the book. Though both are his friends, the effects of Jim and Tom's relationships with Huck almost entirely contradict each other. Because he sees Tom as "civilized", Huck submits to him and allows him to make him less ... realize that Jim is in fact a human being who is just as good, if not better, than any white man. Though he is passive, and always at the mercy of almost every other character in the book, Jim remains a kind, co...

• Word Count: 694
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... or someone else. Authenticity implies that no one choice is better than another. "It involves creation and construction as well as discovery, originality, and frequently opposition to the rules of society and even potentially to what we recognize as morality". There will always be a struggle. The book reads that authenticity is an idea of freedom. We choose what we want because we have ... the freedom to. Taylor concludes that this freedom comes from us deciding for ourselves what concerns us instead of external influences. Overall, this book is recommended to audiences whom enjoy knowi...

• Word Count: 868
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... age and one of their prevailing immoralities is their distinct sexual behavior. They are not taught to believe any certain religion, and consequentially, they mature into carefree, promiscuous adults. The setting of this novel is altogether startling. Penned in 632 A.F., it's unimaginable motor vehicles and transport systems are mind-boggling, while their health care and sterilization are not to ... Although full of interesting and thought-provoking material, the novel was not without its drawbacks. The decanting process, or the process in which fetuses are raised and doctored, is quite...

• Word Count: 472
• Approx Pages: 2

Often in literature the title of a book gives insight to the lives of characters within the book, but insight to the society as well. In the book, Women on the Margins by Natalie Zemon Davis, she writes about three women in different locations across Europe in the 17th century. Those three women represent a change in society for all women across the continent in that time period as well. The women he uses ... have their own distinct method of becoming more apart of society. With the ... into these situations due to life experiences, and succeeded well. This book provided the idea that societ...

• Word Count: 1253
• Approx Pages: 5

... among all these kind people who only ask one to pretend!" (63). This is extremely significant in this book in that Wharton is commenting on the fact that in this society where status means so much, people must constantly pretend to be joyous all of the time. It seems as though they can never have real feelings, or real conversations, or ask real ... questions. In contrast, Newland understands Ellen's discord with the way that they live in this imaginary world, because he too has pondered it. Later on in the book, however, when you expect Newland to finally become real with himself and e...

• Word Count: 628
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... balance each one of their lives. Nobody can be strong without being weak at some point in time. Socrates greatest strength was his integrity. In the passage Apology, Socrates states many times that he has always been "the same in all [his] actions, public as well as private." This high integrity was defiantly Socrates strength. However, Socrates greatest weakness was that he ... stated that he would let anyone listen to his words. This was his greatest weakness because he was in so much denial to see that what he said was changing the society he lived in and his tunnel vision and couldn...

• Word Count: 296
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... straight from the book "The Sociological Imagination". The author of this book is C. Wright Mills, who was thought of as a very controversial sociologist when The Sociological Imagination was published in 1959. The main idea in this excerpt from Mills" book is that a normal man doesn't view things the way that a sociologist might view them. One of the major points he makes is that a single man has "troubles", while the society he ... were put aside in order to work as a team and complete these tasks. While reading this article by Mills, I was pretty confused. Not so much by the language...

• Word Count: 488
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... he wont give it much more credit than any other unpractical story. This is not because the book does not deserve credit, but because the book does not follow the Victorian mold. It is, however, fascinating to look at the way Sumner speaks of the new literature. He tells the tales of the different periodicals in intimate detail and involvement, and then refuses to admit that they intrigue him ... have no genuine appreciation of art and literature, and seem sad because they are sadly in need of something interesting to think about." (47 Stevens). Stevens would view the book not as un-civi...

• Word Count: 1185
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School