The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

When you care about someone, sacrifices are inevitable. Sacrifice kills the imperative compulsion of dreams. Sacrifice kills the vital necessity of the meaning of time and viscously slaughters the meaning of justice and faith. Yet, what if sacrifice killed people? The notorious and impractical story, The Lottery, written by Shirley Jackson, proposes the narrative of … Read more

Macbeth’s Deteriorating Mental Health

Although physical distractions such as Lady Macbeth and the Witches played a role in the ambition for Macbeth to go above and beyond to eliminate his enemies, the elements of damaging mental health, interpersonal difficulties, and psychological problems all lead, in the end, to complete self-destruction. This essay seeks to educate the reader on how … Read more

Your Inner Fish by Shubin

Your Inner Fish written by Shubin explores the evolution of mankind and animals to uncover the journey through history of the human body. The possibility of how every creature on earth share the same resemblances on certain body parts and function is deeply rooted within our body and fossil records. Ancient records provides a brief … Read more

“The History Teacher” (Billy Collins)

The poem, “The History Teacher,” could be describing a teacher that is giving a lecture on historical events to students. The teacher would be speaking of the past and what major events affected today’s society. Even so, the poem could also be about the history of a teacher and what s/he has taught students and … Read more

Oryx and Crake – Margaret Atwood

Oryx and Crake is a novel set sometime in the near future. It is important to note that Margaret Atwood doesn’t like to call this novel science fiction as the technology being used in the story exists today, and everything that transpires could realistically happen in the real world. The novel follows the character Jimmy … Read more

Human nature, god, and morality

History is a cycle and that is the complex nature of it. There are always old customs and traditional views of the way the world works that have been in place for many generations that are overthrown by new, “radical” ideas. These ideas remain and then become tradition until the cycle repeats itself again.  Change … Read more

George Orwell – Shooting an Elephant and Langston Hughes – Salvation

Personal conscience encompasses a person’s individual relationship with the environmental situation because everyone has a different experience of reality. It can be interpreted as one’s individual thoughts, feelings and emotions based on the way they perceive things. Stanley Milgram, an American Social Psychologist, conducted a series of social psychology experiments in which he measured the willingness … Read more

Mary Shelley’s The Last Man & William Sanders’ “When This World Is All On Fire”

The environment is defined as the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates. When the environment is altered, we are forced to adapt accordingly in order to survive. However, these alterations in the ecosystem do not come without consequences. In William Sanders’ “When This World Is All On Fire” … Read more

Homegoing (Yaa Gyasi)

Homegoing is the story of two sisters, Effia and Esi, who were born in two different villages without knowing of each other. The novel highlights the transgression of slavery and bondage through a lineage of people. Homegoing gives an outlook on the horrid treatment Africans and African Americans suffered. Homegoing provides an account of narratives … Read more

Analysis of ‘What Written Knowledge Does’ by Charles Bazerman

In today’s society most knowledge is presented in written form. Whether it’s through textbooks, journals, or articles, this is the primary way to attain information. In his article, What Written Knowledge Does, Charles Bazerman analyzes how this knowledge is presented, interpreted, and how effective it is. He states that “The written text, published in journal … Read more

Hemingway’s The Killers (Freud’s perspective)

Hemingway’s short-story masterpiece stand out as a representation of the author’s writing by giving an insight into the psyche of the author himself and reflect on the deeply-rooted lost generation’s hollowness and meaninglessness. However, it also aims to delve into the phenomenon of the inevitability of death as well as masculine fellowship. Apart from the … Read more

All The Pretty Horses Literary Analysis

In 1948 America, the Frontier Mentality and the lifestyle that surrounded it began to dissipate as modernization swept the country. Many people gave up their rural lifestyles to work in a city upon realization that western lifestyle was losing popularity. There is one animal that represents the ideals of the forgotten frontier life and allows … Read more

Analysis of pieces by Judith Butler and Steven Epstein

Critical Analysis One Judith Butler’s “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory” The first piece of writing I wish to analyse is Judith Butler’s “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory”. Butler contests the popular argument that a person’s way of being, like their actions, … Read more