David Baldwin was very enthusiastic about religion. ... He also began to question why blacks' accepted Christianity. ... He supported himself by performing a variety of odd jobs: handyman, porter, elevator operator, office boy, factory, worker, dishwasher, and a file clerk. ... Both of these novels were about his African American past. ... Although he wrote in favor of blacks, he was often put down by black critics for being biased and one-sided. ...

• Word Count: 2515
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

Sigmund Freud took the legend of Oedipus as a metaphor for the wish of every small boy to get his father out of the way so he could have his mother all to himself. ... The game of Strip Botticelli is particularly illustrative of the plot about to unfold. ... However, the game may be a larger allegory for the broader scheme of the detective story about to begin. When Oedipa goes about trying to solve the mystery of the Tristero, she will quickly find that no matter how many insights she discovers or twists she uncovers, she will never fully expose the conspiracy. ... Instead, however, Oedipa fo...

• Word Count: 2590
• Approx Pages: 10

There have not been many stories written about homosexuality in the first half of the twentieth century. ... Idgie loves Ruth more than anything in the world, and Ruth feels the same way about Idgie. ... After all, they were much more accepting of and caring towards the blacks in the town; which was also unheard of in that time. ... When she goes to Georgia and threatens Frank Bennett in the barbershop, even the barber thinks that Idgie is a guy, "He looked Frank in the mirror and said, That boy must be crazy.- (FGT 189). ... Lesbianism is not a subject that many people wish to speak...

• Word Count: 2942
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

Anthony begins as the trim and dapper man-about-town, wearing his attitudes in the same way that he wears his clean, clean clothes. ... She bangs her fist on the table, glares at the waiter, stamps her feet, insults Anthony, complains about the injustice of the universe. ... There is no need to go through every nasty remark made about Italians, garlic eaters, Negroes, Jewish shopkeepers, the millions "swarming like rats, chattering like apes, smelling like all hell monkeys," (p.394). ...

• Word Count: 2828
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: High School