... "within a month" she had shown "wicked speed, to post / With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!" Hamlet choice of vocabulary - "dexterity" - suggests that the queen has suddenly changed into some sort of cunning sexual athlete. This first soliloquy holds great importance for the theme of frailty, or change, within characters. Hamlet has suddenly changed from some gallant, young intellectual to a depressed, confused, suicidal wreck ... . The queen has changed from a noble, respectable mother to an incestuous, impulsive bride. These two drastic changes both within the first act of the pl...

• Word Count: 307
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... term for boy, which illustrates at least some insight in other cultures and languages. There are a lot of themes in the story; one of them is the theme of growing up and learning from life and experiences. The narrator clearly learns from his experience with the whaler. Destroying or altering his view on things, a person whom he saw as perfectly innocent, suddenly turned out not ... to be this angel he thought she was. In connections with this experience, the theme of people appearing differently from who they really are comes up. Both the whaler and Mrs Early appear differently from wh...

• Word Count: 719
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... term for boy, which illustrates at least some insight in other cultures and languages. There are a lot of themes in the story; one of them is the theme of growing up and learning from life and experiences. The narrator clearly learns from his experience with the whaler. Destroying or altering his view on things, a person whom he saw as perfectly innocent, suddenly turned out not ... to be this angel he thought she was. In connections with this experience, the theme of people appearing differently from who they really are comes up. Both the whaler and Mrs Early appear differently from wh...

• Word Count: 727
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee Harper uses the theme of bravery to develop her story. This goes along with the plot because of all of the characters that had problems they had to deal with and endure no matter how difficult they became. The best example of bravery in the book would be Atticus. Everyone in the town doubted him and hated him for defending a black man, but ... , they realize how brave she is dealing with her problems. Mr. Dolyphus Raymond is another example of bravery. He is also misjudged by the town. "Cry about what Mr. Raymond?" Dill's maleness was beginning to assert itself. ...

• Word Count: 317
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

Show how the theme of Greed is illustrated through the characters and events in the Pearl. John Steinbeck develops the theme of greed through the characters and events in " the Pearl". Ever since the finding of the pearl, it appears to me that the greed of man had grown readily throughout time. When the news of the pearl reached the town, everybody starts to fantasize and dream of the "impossible". "Every man suddenly became related to ... Kino's pearl. From here. We could see the power of "the pearl", the ... ...

• Word Count: 498
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... sometimes an over whelming pride can blind us from things that really matter. Hurst uses many of the thoughts of the narrator to make the theme. "There is within me (and with sadness I have watched it in others) a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love, much as our blood bears the seed of destruction, and at times I was mean to Doodle." Later on in ... had, how horrible it was and what it would lead to. Hurst allowing the reader to go into the character's mind enabled the reader to pick up on the narrator's pride for himself. Not only did Hurst use the thought of the narrator to il...

• Word Count: 452
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Show how the theme of Greed is illustrated through the characters and events in the Pearl. John Steinbeck develops the theme of greed through the characters and events in " the Pearl". Ever since the finding of the pearl, it appears to me that the greed of man had grown readily throughout time. When the news of the pearl reached the town, everybody starts to fantasize and dream of the "impossible". "Every man suddenly became related to ... Kino's pearl. From here. We could see the power of "the pearl", the ... ...

• Word Count: 477
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... remembering certain events that he still feels guilty about in his life. The theme of the poem is people tend to make decisions based on the standards set by society, instead of using their own minds. Richard Hugo uses metonymy, symbolism, and satire to emphasize the theme of the poem. Richard Hugo uses metonomy in the second stanza of this poem to illustrate a whole experience or feeling. He ... uses the word contrite and dirt to show how he feels guilty or remorseful about a past event. He also used L.A. Union Station, '46 to ... have. He was mocking people's decisions to try and cha...

• Word Count: 576
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... sometimes an over whelming pride can blind us from things that really matter. Hurst uses many of the thoughts of the narrator to make the theme. "There is within me (and with sadness I have watched it in others) a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love, much as our blood bears the seed of destruction, and at times I was mean to Doodle." Later on in ... had, how horrible it was and what it would lead to. Hurst allowing the reader to go into the character's mind enabled the reader to pick up on the narrator's pride for himself. Not only did Hurst use the thought of the narrator to il...

• Word Count: 452
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... . Forster's symbolic elements within A Passage to India require the reader to contemplate the deeper issues of the human psyche. Perhaps the most important symbolic element within the novel - in both structure and theme - are the Marabar Caves. Here, deep within the recesses of the dark caves, the characters within the novel confront the deepest recesses of the unconscious mind. A Passage to India begins in the city of Chandrapore in British ruled India, a location best ... impact on those who experience them. This conflict between intangible spirituality and the tangible human experienc...

• Word Count: 1164
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... darkness if something is mysterious, unknown or hidden. The human soul is also dark because its hidden and something that isn't evident to people. When Dick enters shadows are used to portray a change from light to dark. Shadows are dark and sinister. Evil is a dark element that is used to describe a human trait. The theme of The Child by Tiger is darkness. It displays ... a theme that evil and good are both present in every part of life. Humans have the trait of darkness that they always hid but its still exists. The way the people chose to react to Dick's killings was very dark and my...

• Word Count: 430
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Theme in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, by playwright Tom Stoppard, explores deep concepts of fate through the eyes of Hamlet's bewildered lackeys. The human perception of destiny and death is questioned and answered by the themes of the play. Fate, death, and human consciousness open new doors of thought and provide valuable insights about the characters. Fate holds the main role in ... "Deaths for all ages and occasions! Deaths by suspension, convulsion, consumption, incision, execution, asphyxiation and malnutrition-! Climactic carnage, by poiso...

• Word Count: 737
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... their consequences on Macbeth's state of mind, then we will move on to order and disorder and finally to the murder Macbeth is about to commit. In this passage, the theme of illusion and reality is clearly shown. Macbeth is the victim of his illusions. The ultimate questions would be to know if we can rely on our senses and if what we see is ... he has in his hand? Given these points, we can interpret the vision of the dagger as the product of Macbeth's guilty mind. He is uncertain about what he has to do. The dagger represents his conscience which will finally lead him to the murder of...

• Word Count: 1123
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... are my optimism, phone, my mom, my purse and my pride. These objects that I carry that make and show who I am. Optimism is one of the most important things I carry because it's what keeps me to be happy. Although just like others I have my bad days, being optimistic saves me from living ... It isn't my ultimate escape, but music does put a pep in my step wherever I need it. Sometimes while I strut down the sidewalk, I like to pretend that the music is my background or theme song like in the movies, and I'll giggle a little to myself. My mother has a very big influence on my life and who...

• Word Count: 1105
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... whether one wanted it or not quintessentially is the primary theme of "The Death of Ivan Ilyich." Ivan's life was in its purest form as a young lad. But at the same time his mind was being corrupted by the lifestyles of his father and older sibling who was a realist to the "T." His family's mindless pursuit of wealth and the glorifications that accompany it eventually overtook his mind ... as well. His constant pursuit of the higher-level positions ... who held them led to his inevitable demise. His economic status, as earlier mentioned, begot his newly acquired social status after his...

• Word Count: 555
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... this because we are told that she is afflicted with a heart trouble. I realize that having heart trouble does not ultimately mean old, but that is just the way our minds work. I was surprised to find that Mrs. Mallard was actually a young woman, described as having "a fair, calm face, whose lines ... be quite interesting to see this story from someone else's perspective. Kate Chopin's stories often deal with marriage and present an unconventional perspective on the theme. Her characters face choices between what society expects of them and what they really desire; often they decide to fo...

• Word Count: 721
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The central theme of this book is how people, children in this case, become when they live in a society where there are no rules or regulations they must abide by. This question asked by Piggy, was aimed at Jack's tribe of savages. He was asking whether it was "better to have rules and agree or to hunt and kill". Throughout the book the boys begin ... savage dance. They see a shape moving in the forest and they assume it is the "beastie" (a creature that lives only in the boy's minds). The boys believe it can change its figure, and the boys attacked it, what they thought was the beastie, was...

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

... that someone is using a key to open the door. When the door opens, Brently Mallard, Mrs. Mallard's husband enters. The pure shock of seeing her husband whom she thought was dead, killed her almost instantly. According to Kate Chopin, "When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease "of joy that kills."" (14) One theme illustrated in this story is a "new ... beginning,"" or a newfound freedom. "The Story of an Hour- takes place during the season of spring. Springtime usually signifies new life, rebirth, and new beginnings. Therefore ... , Kate Chopin may have included this ...

• Word Count: 591
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... had dared to be different were the ones not treated well by society. Society needed and stills needs her individualistic approach on writing and life. Although Into the Wild was a more physical form of individualism, Emily Dickinson was still a representation of this theme. Individualism is a main part of ... what allows people to express their own views, leaving the rest of the world with options to think about. One of the many things that is ... needed to expand a person's views is change. Sometimes it is a change in others or a change in a person themself. Once again, Into the ... ...

• Word Count: 860
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... six-line stanza (sestet). The octave often proposes a problem or concern and the sestet develops a theme or suggests a solution to the problem. The ninth line ( first line of the sestet) makes a shift in the direction of the poem and is called the "turn" of the Volta. While the rhyme scheme of the octave is ABAB ABAB, the rhyme scheme of the sestet is more flexible; two of the most common being CDCDCD and ... CDECDE. "The world is too much with ... ...

• Word Count: 975
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... Ernest Hemingway that draws upon Socrates" eternal Perennial Questions to put across a theme of honor in struggle, life, and death. The main character, Santiago, is an old fisherman who has been on a low for 84 days. Even though he has not caught anything, the boy, Manolin still looks up to him. Hemingway uses Santiago's perseverance to ... that he thinks he is pretty sure of. But, really, what can this old, practically decrepit fisherman really say he knows? The whole time he is out on the ocean struggling with the fish, Santiago keeps saying how much easier it would be if Manolin wer...

• Word Count: 990
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... argued that the theme of evolution runs through the work of both Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer, perhaps as an attempt to legitimate the new social order. This paper will explore this possibility through commentary on the cultural bias characteristic of nineteenth century evolutionary theory, and by citing examples of the evolutionary nature of these sociologists" theories of social change. The attitudes of the new social ... of our knowledge passes through three different theoretical conditions: the theological, or fictitious; the metaphysical, or abstract; and the scientific, or po...

• Word Count: 1058
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... and try to convince others that you were justified in taking the life of another human being? It is this very line of thinking that Poe forces one to analyze in his short stories filled with murder, insanity, and darkness. A common theme in "The Tell-Tale Heart- and "The Black Cat- is the narrator being a seemingly normal and perfectly sane person to all others when ... in actuality the case was anything but. From the onset of "The Tell-Tale Heart- the narrator attempts to convince the readers that he is sane, "TRUE! "nervous "very, very dreadfully ... 's heart."" He attributes his abil...

• Word Count: 1106
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... in field running idle. I found that this was the climax because all of a sudden you realize that the Martian inside the machine must be dead. This gives way to the thought that all the Martians might be dead. This of course solves the conflict in the story, and the excitement decreases from this point. 6. I think the theme that the other is trying to illustrate in this novel is arrogance ... . The arrogance that the human race poses over his place in the world. The author finds a way ... to suddenly make man, the "greatest" being on this ... ...

• Word Count: 1249
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... around him. Leading me to this conclusion is that, much of the reality factor of this story is left to the reader, the analysis of the old man's character, and the terms of Goodman's life when he returns to the town the next day. The use of ambiguity in this story leaves the conclusion entirely up to the reader. We must decide whether or not we trust Goodman's recollection of ... factor that signifies all of his visions on the journey were manifested within himself is the way he acts when returning home the next day. Before he even left his wife wishes him well and hopes that when he re...

• Word Count: 819
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School