Studying for a literature degree? Taking a literature course? Literature students will appreciate our range of literature essays covering a variety of popular topics. Get a helping hand with these essay examples, donated by students like yourself! Find more literature essays here.
Different societies have been through various issues to make the milestones the out-group sees in the contemporary world. For instance, the United States was not always a cohesive community as the world perceives it to be (Mackenzie 18). Different cultures interact freely with limited scrutiny and criticism of what one was not doing in a … Read more
Holden Caulfield is a very interesting character in The Catcher in the Rye. I found him to be quite intellectual at times despite him being rather closed minded and naïve. We see his use of the word “phony” relatively often in the novel. I associate the word “phony” with a more urban word which is … Read more
The comic implies that, stories have the power to shape peoples beliefs and thus their behaviors, as per this story, it mainly puts its focus on the Alison Bechdels home which was a funny one. The father of this family was a gay. The story shows how the father changed the view of gender identities, … Read more
Question 10- “Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a controversial novel in its own time and is a problematic one in ours.” Discuss this statement, referring to the novel in your answer. In this essay I will discuss the reasons why I believe that Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a controversial novel in its own time and why … Read more
Question 2 “[I]t’s as dark almost as if it came from the devil” (Wuthering Heights). Discuss the portrayal of Heathcliff in Emily Bronte’s novel. In this essay I will discuss Emily Bronte’s portrayal of the landlord Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. The novel centres around Heathcliff’s life story from the age of a young boy to … Read more
Humanity has developed formal education as a means to distribute information and knowledge of the world around us, often by utilizing hands-on experiences, art, music, and literature as both subjects and supplemental materials. However, with an endless amount of topics to be taught, choices must be made to determine which subjects bring the greatest value … Read more
Introduction The British Empire at a glance, appears to warrant a seemingly clear definition. Expansive areas were under the rule of the British military and economic control, territories and seas were united by the British Crown and governed in the main city of London, this is the Empire on which the Sun never set. The … Read more
What can we tell about the subject matter of the poem from its title? The poem’s title is ‘Valentine.’ From the title the poem could be talking about the person she is in love with, her valentine. It could’ve been describing the person and using mushy language to describe her lover. The title could have … Read more
The World’s Wife is a collection of witty and dramatic poems by Carol Ann Duffy, which takes a female perspective through different characters, stories, historical events, and myths. The original stories focus on legendary men, but Duffy takes a feminist approach to each tale and presents them in an altered fashion, showing the women who … Read more
William Shakespeare is an amazing author who was able to write an amazing play called The Tragedy of Julius Caesar in which he wrote a scene that had Brutus and Antony make speeches at the funeral of Julius Caesar. In the funeral speech, both men had different points to achieve when talking to the audience; … Read more
In this essay the two poems that will be discussed; William Shakespeare’s sonnet 18 and Edmund Spenser’s sonnet 75 respectively will be compared with respect to their poetic techniques and form as well as the underlying thesis of Love which is prominent within both pieces. In order to show this comparison, both sonnets will be … Read more
Romanticism has been read as a reaction to the Age of Enlightenment’s desire to acquire knowledge and it has influenced many mediums of literature and art. Some attempt to emulate the romantic current and such a lot of the imagery and symbolism of romanticism become cliché. As we have seen throughout the semester, many of … Read more
Prompt: The imitation of models (religion) in Don Quixote. In Miguel De Cervantes’ Don Quixote, Don Quixote is a hidalgo living in La Mancha during the end of the 16th century. He has a vivid imagination, and an obsession with reading books of chivalry. He decides to act as a knight errant, wandering and performing … Read more
Robert Browning’s poems, Porphyria’s Lover, and My Last Dutchess, are comparable to Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights because they describe how women are pushed into submissive objectified roles by Victorian culture. The three texts are comparable because Browning and Brontë’s describe women as possessing less social power. Wuthering Heights is comparable to through descriptions of the … Read more
When something is idealised, it is seen as being ‘perfect’ and above reality. It is put on a pedestal above everything else, and is used as a means to achieve happiness. Both novels – The Great Gatsby, written by F.Scott Fitzgerald and Wuthering Heights, written by Emily Brontë explore the idealisation of love itself, a … Read more
When writing a literature essay, it is crucial to keep in mind the importance of the readability of your essay. Throughout the essay, ensure that the essay is not a regurgitation of other writers’ ideas, research notes or facts. This is important because people will not find your essay interesting to read if you would not read it yourself.
The following sections offer fundamental guidelines on how to write an literature essay.
Planning is an important point, which you need to keep in mind before you even start to write your essay. It is important that before starting to write your literature essay, you identify your audience. Planning for your essay requires that you identify a goal or the major points to discuss in your essay. Before starting the essay, ensure that you write all the key points or ideas you intend to discuss in your essay. Visualize how you want your essay to be, and develop an outline of all the paragraphs. Identify the argument of the essay and position.
It is important to have an idea of where you want to take the reader in terms of the impacts you seek to have on the audience after reading the literature essay. These are among the various important aspects that you need to keep in mind when writing a literature essay. These suggestions when followed are helpful in writing a high standard essay, which is relevant to the topic of discussion.
Learning how to write a literature essay is not just about writing the essay. You also need to know how to structure the essay in the correct way.
This is the most important factor in an essay. The length of each paragraph is a crucial point for consideration to avoid a reader getting lost while reading it. Paragraphs are useful to both you as the writer, and the reader of the essay. Use different paragraphs to categorize your points and ideas. Ensure that you use short paragraphs throughout your essay. A high standard essay should not have paragraphs that exceed an A4 page.
Literature essays require that you have a strong argument unless the paper instructions need you to write a summary of a provided text. Ensure that your argument is not biased. The discussion should comprise all the possible position of the argument. A quality essay should provoke discussion by including different thoughts using the texts creatively.
The aim of writing a literature essay is to demonstrate an individual’s love of words and English language. Utilize literary devices like alliterations, onomatopoeia, sibilance, and anaphora to make your English essay interesting. These technique can be effectively used when writing poetry.
All sources used in the essay should be credited and acknowledged using footnotes and creating a reference list. There are various ways which you can use to credit texts and ideas from other writers that you have used in your essay. In-text references can comprise name of the author, year of publication, and page number of the source. This allows a reader to look up the source used should he want. Ensure that your footnotes for the essay are well notated, and include information about the edition of the source and name of the publisher.
Use quotations in your essay to support facts, theories, ideas, thoughts, and argument in the essay. Quotations are effectively presented either as part of an essay sentence or as a word. Ensure that you include quotations in your essay creatively. In cases where you think that you need to use lengthy quotations to support your discussion or argument, make sure that you satisfy the following areas in your essay:
