... daughter, Jing Mei, to such a degree that it is hard for Jing Mei to understand her mother's culture and life lessons. Yet it is not until Jing Mei realizes that the key to understanding who her mother was and who she is lies in understanding her mother's life. Jing Mei spends her American life trying to pull away from her Chinese heritage, and therefore also ends up pulling away from her mother. Jing Mei does not understand the culture and does not feel it is necessary to her life. When she grows up it is not "fashionable" to be called by your Chinese name (26). She doesn’t use, understand, or remember the Chinese ...

... perhaps the most powerful and influential tragedies and comedies. The historic story of King Lear, which fits the tragedy mold, follows the family problems revolving around King Lear and the Earl of Gloucester. The story begins when the 80-year-old King of Britain decides to retire and divide his land among his three daughters: Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. Cordelia, King Lear's youngest daughter, is almost immediately dispossessed of the rights to her land, and is cast from the kingdom after she does not profess her love to her father right away. With Cordelia stripped of her heir, her share is cut amongst the ...

... fights demons or kill dragons, but rather that he stands for what he believe is right and he is not afraid to go to extreme measures to protect the people he love. He shows that he is a "man of the llano" when he "does[n't] run from a fight" even when confronted with Horse, the notorious bully (37). Tony also stands up against a mob for Florence; everyone wants to punish Florence for "not believing in God" (214) and Tony pushes the crowd away and refuses to give Florence the penance that Florence does not deserve. Although Tony knows that he will be given the "Indian torture" (214), he still speaks up for his frien ...

... and do everything their powers allow to ‘protecting’ family members such as Mr. Bingley from people of the lower class. Instead of realizing the love Mr. Bingley and Jane had towards each other, they allow their pride to blind them of the truth and foolishly assume that only a lady of equal status as theirs is ‘worthy’ of their brother’s love. To destroy any hopes Jane might entertain of marrying Mr. Bingley, the sisters connivingly convince her that that her love for Bingley is unrequited. They continue by saying that the marriage of Bingley to Miss Darcy, who will be “hereafter our [their] sister� ...

... character. In Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises Jake Barnes is the character who maintains the typical Code Hero qualities; while Robert Cohn provides the antithesis of a Code Hero. Jake Barnes, the narrator and main character of The Sun Also Rises, is left impotent by an ambiguous accident during World War I. Jake's wound is the first of many code hero traits that he features. This physical wound, however, transcends into an emotional one by preventing Jake from ever consummating his love with Lady Brett Ashley. Emotional suffering can take its toll on the Code Hero as it did with Jake Barnes. Despite the deep ...

... the poem, which says, "Little Lamb, God bless thee!", shows innocence through the "Little Lamb" and just the mentioning of "God bless." Blake and other transitional writers liked the tranquility, purity, and innocence that they put into their poems. Although all three groups of author's wrote structured poems, Wordsworth was more so than most. He was a first generation writer, and he wrote "I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud." It has four stanzas and a rhyme scheme of AB AB CC for each one. His was a lyric poem, describing a million dandelions in a field. Wordsworth was terrific at putting words together. All groups t ...

... as the Lisbon earthquake and war to show that things are not always for the best. To make get his point clear in Candide, Voltaire creates the character Dr. Pangloss, an unconditional follower of Leibniz’ philosophy. Voltaire shows this early in the novella by stating, "He proved admirably that there is no effect without a cause and hat, in this best of all possible worlds....(1)" Pangloss goes on to say that everything has its purpose and things are made for the best. For example, legs were created for the purpose of wearing stockings (2). Because of his "great knowledge," Candide at this point a very naiv ...

... an escape must permanently or at least temporarily eliminate one’s responsibilities. As long as one has responsibilities looming overhead, one cannot really feel free. It will also work if the escape produces the illusion that one’s responsibilities are gone. Secondly, an escape must enhance leisure. If the escape does not enhance leisure then boredom will most likely be the result. Also, due to the fact that most escapes are the temporary kind, leisure time is generally very precious. Therefore, it is not enough that an escape simply do away with work and responsibility. An escape must also take full advantage ...

... or to pursue ones greater happiness. Immanuel Kant stipulates that the more people cultivate their reason, the less likely they are to find happiness. Kate Chopin's character Edna tries her entire life to fit in the prescribed mold of the women of her time. She invests so much time into duty and responsibility that she loses any happiness that she could hope to achieve. With time, Kant noted, the person who devotes their life to reason finds themselves needing a release, in the end despising reason, and eventually pursuing only their true happiness. After being "reasonable" for the twenty-eight years of her li ...

... include novels such as Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim, and The Secret Agent. Heart of Darkness is basically based on his own experiences, but Conrad also adds fiction into this particular novel (Dintenfass 1). It has been said that Conrad’s style of writing is described as "...life as we actually live it...[is] to be blurred and messy and confusing-- and the abstract ideas...[of] actual experiences can sometimes produce in us, or in that part of us, anyway, which tries to understand the world in some rational way." Acquiring this from the novel gives the reader a psychological perspective in that they are ...