"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson is a short story set in a small town that practices a violent tradition of human sacrifice every year. ... The author presents the society around this small town as rigid due to the unknown fear and evil of human nature. ... At first, this short story is very worrying especially when compared to today's world. ... The story shows the extent of the sacrifice of human race to attain success. ... Jackson, through this story indicates that human beings can do anything ranging from stoning to death to racism and all other acts considered against hum...

• Word Count: 1254
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

However, Aylmer's attempt to destroy the birthmark and Georgiana's human nature fails. ... This opportunity, however, leads to Georgiana's destruction and death because Aylmer fails to accept either Georgiana's human nature or his own human nature. ... Despite the views of others, humans' flawed nature must be accepted as a significant part of humanity. ... " Hawthorne begins by alluding to the belief in total depravity in this short story when Goodman Brown sees Goody Cloyse in the forest and is reminded of the Puritan catechism. ... The forest provides Goodman B...

• Word Count: 1568
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Irving shows his interest in achieving justice and liberty for all human beings no matter their race or history. ... Washington Irving engages his readers in both short stories and sketches and tries to teach a lesson in every story. ... Additionally, Irving's short stories are an example of expressive literature. ... The story narrates the short life of a girl who dies of sorrow as her lover goes away. ... Even more, his short stories employ an imaginative treatment of materials to engage the reader. ...

• Word Count: 2209
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

I can say based off of personal experience that there is something about being completely swallowed up by nature and having to defy its harsh elements that we as humans find to be undeniably comforting. ... I believe that there is something that stems from the natural instincts of all human beings that causes us to long for the opportunity to be alone in nature. ... Regardless of one's origin, humans all share an undeniable attraction to break free from society and return to nature to just be alone; additionally, it's safe to say that the rewarding feeling that is derived from conque...

• Word Count: 1281
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Poe, well known today for his poetry and short stories, such as "The Pit and the Pendulum", is regarded by many to be the founder of the modern detective story. He often wrote horror stories and psychological thrillers, while at the same time exploring the human mind and individual emotions. ... "Transcendentalists accepted the neo-platonic conception of nature as a living mystery, full of signs - nature is symbolic.... The human soul was part of the oversoul, essentially the spirit of the cosmos, and upon death, would return to the oversoul. ... In his essay "Nature"...

• Word Count: 1786
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

"Captain Delano's nature was not only benign, but familiarly and humorously so" (41). ... Though "Benito Cereno" is a fictional story, it still has a very real context. ... In short, Goodman Brown sets off on a journey through the forest, where he meets up with an older man with a walking stick that possesses supernatural powers. ... The authors' perspectives on evil are reflected through the main characters of their stories. ... While Amasa Delano is a generally good-natured and righteous man, he is ignorant towards the reality of slavery and looks at blacks as l...

• Word Count: 1557
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

As a result, Deckard is tasked with the responsibility of exterminating four human replicants that have migrated into Earth illegally to extend their engineered, short lifespan. The scene takes place a short time after Deckard retires two human replicants and discovers the location of the two remaining replicants. ... Conceptually, it reveals the literal divide between the story's brave new world and the classic, normal (familiar) human society. ... At 1:32:00, the unrealistic, metaphorical world is further emphasized by the artificial ˜toys' surrounding Pris and she fits in t...

• Word Count: 1454
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

As with any of the ancient Greek myths, there are always a number of permutations and interpretations of the story that lead modern readers to question what the original intent of the story actually had been. ... Ultimately, Medusa is compelling because she has such power and yet, she is still an example of vulnerability since such power is cut short by the actions of Perseus. ... Myth has become so ingrained in culture as the origins of examples of human behavior. ... Examples could be those that concerning the relationship of humanity with nature, the divine, and even in terms of other human...

• Word Count: 1572
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In her 1831 introduction, Shelley declares her desire to think of a story which would speak to the "mysterious fears of our nature and awaken thrilling horror " one to "curdle the blood, and quicken the beatings of the heart". ... Nature and weather plays an important role in foreshadowing dark evil acts, events and confrontation to come in the novel. ... This aspect links the Gothicism of the novel to the Romantic period, a period closely related with nature. ... Through the setting, Shelley shows that if an individual tries to play God and mess the order of nature, it will deliver the c...

• Word Count: 2218
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Rashomon is a Japanese crime drama film directed by Akira Kurosawa, adapted from the two short stories "Rashomon" and "In a Grove", written by Ryunosuke Akutagawa. The film uses multiple narrators to tell the story of the death of a samurai. ... None of the men believe the stories they heard, assuming humans to be at their base self-serving and selfish creatures. ... The viewer is told to "look carefully now", as they confront the darkest aspects of human nature (IMDb 8). ... Rashomon is a story about the failings of humanity. ...

• Word Count: 1710
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Although many believers stop short of claiming an exclusive status for their tradition,. ... Religious experience may be expressed in visual symbols, dance and performance, elaborate philosophical systems, legendary and imaginative stories, formal ceremonies, meditative techniques, and detailed rules of ethical conduct and law. ... In this way, the religious reality whether conceived as a divine commandment, the will of God, Buddha nature, or the Taos acknowledged to be the true and proper basis of all life. ... Religions typically hold that human beings have a higher nature that exists in ten...

• Word Count: 1578
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Aristophanes" speech begins by explaining the nature of man and what has become of it. Aristophanes suggests that long ago, the nature of the original human being was very much different from what it is today. ... In order to explain how this story might shed some light on Aristophanes idea of love, and what he believes are the characteristics of love; we must first acknowledge the difference between physical sexual love, and a deeper spiritual love that emanates from the soul. ... From an analogous stand point he does provide us with an elegant explanation for the ploysxuality of human beings...

• Word Count: 1564
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The common good can be summarized into a short definition stating that it is the focus on how to benefit all individuals. ... In the endeavor to live a life beneficial to the common good, an individual is forced to walk a tight line between an altruistic nature and an egotistic nature. ... An aspect of human nature that separates humans from other organisms present in the world is the altruistic nature that many people exhibit. ... For a person possessing a completely egotistic nature, there is absolutely no possibility of fulfilling the common good. ... MacIntyre7 provides a useful example in...

• Word Count: 1864
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The story is realistic regarding the description of violence and language employed, but it also has an obvious allegorical subtext. ... It also expresses the detective's obsessive nature with his work, as well as his subconscious realization that an unqualified victory is not acceptable in his struggle to rid this town of its evils. On a thematic level, hard-boiled fiction focuses on the secrets, mental depravity and human weakness leading to crime. ... Red Harvest can almost be read as a laconic fever dream with its short chapters and shorter sentences. ... Detective fiction is an inhe...

• Word Count: 1452
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

At first, it seems really confusing because it's very contradictory for "water" to be "thirsty" since it's supposed to quench a human being and it'd be weird for "bread loaf" to be "stone.... Humans tend to hold many connections to nature, so when Maya Angelou uses nature imagery towards the end of her poem, she is able to remind the readers that are alone of their true misery. ... By employing this comparison to nature, the readers are more likely to reflect upon their own life. ... " in human beings and make them feel or relate to her e...

• Word Count: 1766
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The article was partitioned into five sections, each named to include the story and feelings of the short parts. ... It is unrealistic to dispose of lapses from clinical practice yet we can enhance the nature of therapeutic consideration by receiving blunder tolerant working medicinal frameworks (E-TOMS) in view of advancement in subjective brain research, human components, and human unwavering quality appraisal made amid the previous 30 years. E-TOMS ought to empower identification, reporting and focused on lessening of lapses, and together with powerful group elements, great clinical adminis...

• Word Count: 1966
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Only at the very end of the novel are we given any definite indication of the timeframe the story. ... Even for modern readers, however, who are aware of the work's fictitious nature, Jane's addressing of the reader in such direct sentences as "reader I married him," and even more so in questions such as "You have not quite forgotten little Adele, have you reader," creates the image of Jane as a very real, living narrator. ... There remains, however, some tension and uncertainty in parts of the novel, as to whether the events of the story are being narrated by the experienced, matu...

• Word Count: 2174
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Myths always played an important role in human societies. ... The purpose of the athenian tragic poets was to ask questions about the nature of man, his position in the universe, his relation to the powers that govern his life, in short: Therefore the prime function of these dramas is the expression of the feelings and reflections excited by man's encounters with the external forces which appear to rule his life, and the actions man takes in such an encounter. ... The hero, like any man, is human. ... Churchmen and philosophers gradually forged a system, based on the Christian revelation,...

• Word Count: 1396
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

If that were true, ugliness would be the monster's only weakness, as the story goes on to tell of the selfless acts of kindness the creature administers. ... Even though the monster was shunned, hated, labeled prematurely as a killer, and cursed by his very own maker, he sees the goodness of the human heart and desires to learn more about the human race. ... Victor, like his creation, was the victim of hasty opinions regarding the nature of their personal inner countenances. ... The universal quest for acceptance has led many humans to irrevocable and indecent acts. ... The flashes of a...

• Word Count: 1633
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In addition, he makes claim to the fact that the only witnesses to this supernatural reality are humans who were themselves representative of the Jewish priests working in collusion with the Roman church (which is entirely unsupported by any evidence of history) that supposedly put Christ to death. ... Paine continues to have a problem with the superstitious nature of the stories combined with the fact that the power of the so-called prophets is constantly being put in terms of evil. ... The specific story to which he refers is the story of loosing Satan upon the world giving him more power th...

• Word Count: 1321
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

As an expert on symbolism in human culture, Carl Jung writes in Man and His Symbols: "Thus a word or an image is symbolic when it implies something more than it's obvious and immediate meaning. ... The story takes the form of a journal of the main character. ... Gilman has suffered an extreme mental depression as the result of psychiatric treatments, prior to writing this short story. ... The wall between the reality and the fantastic world slowly becomes transparent; the reader is allowed short glimpses inside the world beyond reality, when the humanoid face in the wallpaper seems to mov...

• Word Count: 2394
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The argument I put forward in this paper is such: children's literature is a vital tool in didactic fiction, as in the words of Phillip Pullman, it teaches lessons "about what it means to be human, to grow up, to suffer and learn- (assignment handout, 11/3/03). ... It has been said that Little Women has in it the universal theme of human nature (Meigs, 213). Louisa May Alcott presents this human nature as a woman's struggle between duty to family and personal growth. ... Nevertheless, Little Women is a story about teaching and educating young women about maturation, and Alcott eff...

• Word Count: 1473
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Heart of Darkness In just the opening pages of Heart of Darkness, Conrad's ability as a writer becomes abundantly clear, for the subliminal nature of his writing is constantly sustained. Conrad begins Marlow's journey into the heart of darkness on the Thames, on the yawl, "Nellie" with a short prologue, which contains subtle use of imagery and a brilliant suggestion of the atmosphere that prepares a reader for the prevailing themes of the novel. ... Conrad operates in this manner with deliberate intent, so to prepare the reader for the human savagery and despair that is to follow ...

• Word Count: 1586
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

These examples happen to be some of the less radical traditions across cultures, especially when compared to the tradition of drawing a sacrifice to be stoned in Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery.... Another consequence of blindly following tradition is shown through the hypocrisy of the characters within the story. ... In addition to Tess's own hypocritical nature, readers are also able to observe how the villagers are hypocritical with one another. ... The ability to kill another human being without an ounce of empathy is ingrained at a young age for the villagers, as...

• Word Count: 1719
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

This can include the possibility of the story looping back on earlier sections, and is often used to mimic the structure and recall of human memory (Askham). ... By retelling the same story three times, Tykwer is able to present three contrasting endings, and drastically defy our expectations. ... "Run Lola Run" offers three alternative narratives, each comprising the same story, but told in contrasting ways. ... Tykwer makes it very clear to audiences that we are watching a made-up story, which the he can play with in any way he likes. ... Besides the chaotic, colourful, fast-paced nature of ...

• Word Count: 2156
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate