1. Sacrificing Individuality in Steven Crane's Civil War Novel, The Red Badge of Courage by Paul Thomson
   
   When Steven Crane wrote The Red Badge of Courage in 1895, he had never even been in a battle, let alone the American Civil War. Nevertheless, it's now considered one of the most accurate portrayals of war in literature - a characteristic that initially ticked a lot of Americans off as being "unpatriotic." Only when British critics praised the novel could Americans forgive Crane's suggestion that war is no picnic in the park.
   
   
2. Watching Characters Grow Up - The Catcher in the Rye and to Kill a Mockingbird by Paul Thomson
   
   For most of us, reading "The Catcher in the Rye" and "To Kill a Mockingbird" sticks out as a highlight of the high school lit experience. This ain't no Charles Dickens; both stories are narrated by young protagonists in everyday speak and are chock full of youthful insights - namely, that adulthood sucks. Holden Caulfield and Scout Finch are two kids looking down the road connecting childhood and adulthood, only from opposite ends of the trip.
   
   
3. My Top 10 Books by Sharanya Sridhar
   
   For a loner like me who almost never shares the deepest feelings with anyone, books were a great solace. I could find half of the answers about my questions on life through books, the rest of the answers came from my experimentation with life. Thus books became an integral part of my existence.
   
   
4. Do You Know the Real Story of the Princess and the Frog? by Erin Schmidt
   
   Before you see the Disney film The Princess and the Frog, keep this in mind: everything you know about the fairy tale may be wrong. Pick up Grimm's Fairy Tales and you'll read an entirely different version. The true story of the Frog Prince is better still.
   
   
5. Russian Literature, Leo Tolstoy and Anna Karenina by Stephan O Oconnor
   
   Everyone has known Russia as the great amazing country nowadays, although everything have to be paid through long struggles as we can read on the history. But do you know that Russian Literature plays an important role in the development of world literature? Now, I will let you know about it.
   
   
6. Lessons Taught by the Green Knight by Jack Mascar
   
   In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain encounters an immortal being referred to as the Green Knight. From the moment the Green Knight barges into King Arthur's court, Sir Gawain is not only thrust into a journey that will define him as a knight, but he is exposed to several important lessons - all of which are taught by the GreenKnight. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the Green Knight teaches Gawain lessons of respect and accomplishment, mortal humility, and the virtue of understanding a challenge before accepting it.
   
   
7. Analysis of the Chorus in "Murder at the Cathedral" by Jack Mascar
   
   T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral tells the story of Thomas Beckett, a man who reigned as Archbishop of Canterbury during the 12th century in England until his death in 1170. In order to tell Beckett's story, Eliot creates a series of equally interesting characters that each play a crucial role thought the play. The most unique role found within the play is the Women of Canterbury, or the Chorus.
   
   
8. Elayne & Gunievere - Their Disparate Roles in Morte D'Arthur and the Coming New Age by Byron Edgington
   
   Ancient chivalric code of Arthur's time. Homeric versus post-Homeric, the so-called shame versus guilt paradigm. Guinevere is firmly anchored in the rapidly receding, shame based culture. Lady Elayne symbolizes the emerging, guilt oriented, inner-directed norm in the work.
   
   
9. Interpreting Meter and Rhyme in William Blake's the Chimney Sweeper by Dianne Heath
   
   William Blake writes The Chimney Sweeper to bring to light the social injustice the conditions and harsh treatment and the cruelties of child labor. He creatively uses meter and rhyme to spread his message.
   
   
10. King Arthur's Court - Interplay Between Lancelot and Sir Gawain by Byron Edgington
    
    Sir Lancelot and Sir Gawain spend a large part of the Arthurian cycle as bitter enemies. Gawain's brothers Sir Gaheris and Sir Gareth are accidentally killed by Sir Lancelot. The knights were obedient to a code that demanded an almost dualistic personality. The round table, and its knightly code of chivalry vanished into history.
    
    
11. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe's Snapshot of Nigerian Colonization by Paul Thomson
    
    Chinua Achebe is a multi award-winning Nigerian writer and one of the most important African authors of all time. He is also the most translated - which is saying something, considering that he writes in English specifically for the purpose of bridging language barriers.
    
    
12. Emoji Dick and Other Emoji Translations by Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson
    
    The famous novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville has recently seen a translation activity fronted by Fred Benenson aiming to produce Emoji Dick, the world's first (and perhaps last!) novel written in emoji. What is it and why do it is answered in the article.
    
    
13. Twelfth Night and Homoerotic Undercurrents in Shakespeare by Byron Edgington
    
    Twelfth Night, or As You Will, is one of Shakespeare's so-called transvestite plays. Homoerotic scripting in Shakespearean drama. A man playing a woman playing a man. The lady expressing her love for a young man who is actually a woman.
    
    
14. Boo! A Halloween Summary of to Kill a Mockingbird by Paul Thomson
    
    For many, Halloween is the time to brave the consumer crowds, dress up like our favorite villains and superheroes, and invest in a dental plan. For those of us who are too old (or too sober) to put on a Halloween costume, however, this is the perfect time to curl up by the radiator and indulge in a scary story.
    
    
15. A Perfect Day For Dissecting J.D. Salinger's Bananafish by Paul Thomson
    
    J.D. Salinger's 1951 classic short story, "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," introduces Salinger's favorite character, Seymour Glass - only to kill him some several pages later. The story starts in a posh seaside hotel room, where we overhear Glass's wife on the phone with her mother discussing Seymour's mental health.
    
    
16. Doing the Wrong Thing the Right Way - A Look at the Characters in Macbeth and Hamlet by Paul Thomson
    
    "The Tragedy of Macbeth" and "The Tragedy of Hamlet" are Shakespeare's most widely read plays featuring royalty as main characters. Both are about the violent overthrow of the throne, both contain plenty of needless casualties, and both are gruesome enough to drive their leading ladies to suicide.
    
    
17. Evocation of Biblical Symbols in the Canterbury Tales by Byron Edgington
    
    The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th century masterwork, is filled with Biblical references. There are mentions of Christ's visitation of Cana in the Wife of Bath's tale. Chaucer's famous entourage from London to Canterbury could be viewed as a remake of the Noah's Ark story. The most direct, and most interesting biblical reference may be found in the miller's tale.
    
    
18. Social Status and Its Contrasting Roles in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales by Byron Edgington
    
    There are three distinct social status levels in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. As the author's twenty-nine pilgrims set out on their religious sojourn to Canterbury, they represent these levels. In Chaucer's tale, the roles each of his pilgrims plays corresponds roughly with his or her position in the parade.
    
    
19. Review - Ayn Rand For Beginners by Paul Lappen
    
    Here is a simple introduction to the life and philosophy of Ayn Rand. Along with being the founder of Objectivism, she also wrote Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, two of the 20th Century's most famous novels.
    
    
20. The Role of Women in Beowulf - An Overview by Byron Edgington
    
    Women portrayed in the Old English Epic Beowulf were critical to any understanding of the poem. Womens' roles portrayed in Beowulf were critical to any understanding of the culture of that ancient time. The peace-keeping, peace-weaving role of women in Beowulf. In Beowulf, women were assigned the power of prophesy.
    
    
21. "The Aeneid" by Virgil by Joan One
    
    The Aeneid is an epic poem which was written by Virgil (70 BC - 19 BC) about Aeneas, a mythical Trojan prince who survives the fall of Troy then journeys to Italy to found the great Roman Empire. Aeneas was an already existent character from Greco-Roman mythology as he was featured in Homer's Iliad, from which Virgil borrowed his protagonist and fashioned this compelling nationalistic epic.
    
    
22. The Crucible Book Review by Tonia Jordan
    
    The Crucible by Arthur Miller takes place during the volatile time of the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts, 1692. When you hear "history" and "literature" associated with a written work, many may cringe and groan. No worries - this is one you will enjoy.
    
    
23. A Basic Great Gatsby Summary and How Nick Ruins it For You by Paul Thomson
    
    Although The Great Gatsby is one of America's most beloved and respected novels, the basic premise of the book is so simple that it could easily make for a bad sitcom: boy meets girl, boy loses girl, girl marries someone else, boy buys nearby mansion, tells girl he happened to be "in the neighborhood." What gives the story it's depth and complexity - aside from the tricky love pentagram and depressing double-murder/suicide - are the elements added by Nick Carraway's narration.
    
    
24. Great Gatsby Character Study - Jay Gatsby - The Myth, The Legend, The Really Straightforward Guy by Paul Thomson
    
    For most readers, "The Great Gatsby" is a story about mystery, intrigue, and deception. Even those big floating eyes on the book cover have an enigmatic, come-hither dreaminess. Gatsby is a mystifying figure who appears out of nowhere, buys a mansion, and embarks on what appears to be a crusade to get every person in a five-mile radius completely hammered. His inexplicable entrance into an uber posh area of New York City sparks a flurry of questions. Does he have a secret past? Has he assumed a false identity? Is the source of his income dubious? Does he have ulterior motives? Is that is his real hair?
    
    
25. The Wild Wood Flower - A Great American Classic, But What Does it Mean? by Earl Cripe
    
    Without argument one of the most charming, intriguing, and captivating of all early American folk poems and songs is The Wildwood Flower. Its haunting tale has arrested the fascination and loyalty of untold thousands. A major feature of its fascination and holding-power lies in the fact that it is a riddle that has never been solved.
    
    
26. Throwing Up on the Joneses - A Howling Allen Ginsberg Takes "Howl" on the Road in the 1950's by Paul Thomson
    
    The year is 1955. The Fonz is blasting "Rock Around the Clock" on the jukebox and the McFlys are going steady thanks to a confused teen with a tricked-out DeLorean. Greasers and poodle skirts abound. America is prosperous, the middle class is enormous, suburbia is ubiquitous and, aside from the constant looming threat of global nuclear annihilation, life really couldn't get more swell. That is, if you're white, straight, and sober...
    
    
27. The Houyhnhnms As a Moral Ideal For Humans by Rick Huffman
    
    Some of the most profound questions that arise after reading the fourth book of Gulliver's Travels are: What message is Swift trying to convey with the Houyhnhnms? Are they satiric figures or do they represent an ideal to which humans should aspire? Or is it something else entirely?
    
    
28. E Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes - A Literary Prototype by Marciano Guerrero
    
    E Rice Burroughs bequeathed for posterity a prototype character: Tarzan. This feat together with a wise use of English syntax - in particular his sentence openers - make Tarzan a masterpiece. A classic to be read by many generations to come.
    
    
29. Conan Doyle - The Hound of the Baskervilles by Marciano Guerrero
    
    My neighborhood bookstore was touting a Sherlock Holmes detective story, and I wondered why? "Babyboomers don't read Sherlock Holmes stuff anymore," I thought.
    
    
30. Awesome Anthology of Dynamic Poets by Joseph Spence, Sr.
    
    "The Oxford Book of American Poetry" is a great American anthology. It is Chosen and Edited by David Lehman and offers the best in poetry to read about and learn from. It's a dynamic anthology with a compilation of the greatest poets on the American landscape. This is definitely an anthology to have for a reference source and to study from. The volume of information in this text is just incredible.
    
    

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