American Literature Essay Topics

While he is conversing and eating dinner with some of the Italian ambulance drivers, they are hit by a trench mortar shell. The reader soon learns that this accident has fractured one of Henry’s legs. Soon he is well enough to be transported to an American hospital in Milan. Here, he clearly exemplifies his common sense and determination. Refusing to wait the suggested six months for his knee surgery, he insists upon a second opinion by a more highly ranked surgeon. He argued with the hospital 's doctor

long and grueling war. Ernest Hemingway served in WW1 as an ambulance driver and did not have a pedestrian life. Hemingway wrote the book “Farewell to Arms” based on his time in WW1. In “Farewell to Arms” the main character Frederic Henry is an american in the italian army. During his time in the war he meets a woman named Catherine Barkley and they spend much of their time together. During the book many heavy themes are discussed such as: appearances, uselessness, and identity. In Hemingway's “Farewell

Titles can be straightforward, or they can be analyzed through a figurative view, or even taken for what they are on a personal level. “Extremely Loud and Incredible Close” is very hard to take at face value it could mean many things, the bombs in Dresden were loud, maybe Oskar was too close to his father for his own good. “A Farewell to Arms” can be taken in the literal sense that Henry was just going to leave the front, or maybe it was used as a metaphor to describe the war and its horror. Both

Throughout history, women such as Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and countless others have been known to play a significant role in helping to shape the world. Although Jig and Elisa were not the “Mary Edwards Walker” or the “Rosa Parks” of their time, both Elisa and Jig depict characteristics of regular females living through problematic social situations that could only be justified through the actions of their husbands. John Steinbeck's “The Chrysanthemums” and Ernest Hemingway’s

Rachel Hobson HON English 3 September 11, 2011 Critical Analysis: The Great Gatsby Film The classic American novel, The Great Gatsby, presents a major theme of passing time. Losing Daisy meant losing Gatsby’s entire world, which he only kept alive through his hope of repeating the past. Daisy is a symbol of everything he values and therefore became the entity of his dream: his dream of spending the rest of his life with Daisy, the woman he loves undeniably. But Gatsby doesn’t realize his dream

The Character Brett Ashley in Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises There is a common perception among casual readers--who hasn't heard it voiced?--that Ernest Hemingway did not respect women. The purpose of this essay is to examine one work in such a way as to challenge these heinous assumptions. Hemingway's persona will be left alone. What will be examined is the role of women, as evidenced by Brett Ashley in The Sun Also Rises, and what, if anything, it reveals in the way of settling this

him an aura of superiority and importance among others, while a deficiency of it makes him worthless in society’s eyes. Considering these two roads, most do not take more than a second to decide to chase riches. Blinded by the self-destructive American dream of “Marie-Antoinette music-rooms and Restoration salons” and “toilet sets of pure dull gold” most murder their morals and harm others in the process (Fitzgerald 5.91). Whether rich or poor two things can be assured: the poor want to be rich

The Modernist movement took place in a time of happiness, a time of sadness, a time of objects, a time of saving, a time of prosperity, a time of poverty and in a time of greed. Two novels, written by Steinbeck and Fitzgerald, portray this underlying greed and envy better than most novels of that period. These novels, The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath, show that despite the difference between the 1920s and the 1930s, greed remained a part of human life, whether superficially or necessarily

From a young age, our parents teach us to be grateful for what we have. However, as human beings and Americans, we * find it difficult to be content with what we consider “less.” Much of the American Dream revolves around success, and in general, the more you have, whether it is money, possessions, or relationships, the more successful you are. The American value of achievement often results in selfishness, once described by William E. Gladstone as “the greatest curse of the human race” (William

No Heros in The Red Badge of Courage and A Farewell to Arms        Many great literary novels have the protagonist, the main character of the novel, being portrayed as the "hero".  There are many different deeds and actions that can characterize a person as a hero such as saving someone from a burning house at the risk of one's own life.  The main distinguishing characteristic of a true hero is self-sacrifice, whether it be scarifice of your own personal desires or ideals