Articles by Paul Thomson on ArticleSnatch.com

This little Piggy: Taking a Look at the Meaning of Pigs in Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies Quotes

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:34:41 -0500

Pigs get a bad rap some times. They’re passed off as gluttonous, greedy animals, covered in filth and sometimes their own feces. For humans, being called a pig or a hog is something rude and degrading, intended to make one feel ashamed or inferior.That’s how we generally view pigs: a dirty, greedy lower species that just so happens to taste absolutely delicious in a BLT sandwich. And chorizo. Also, pork chops. Oh and hot dogs!Excuse our untameable appetite. We are such pigs, really (hardy-har-har). Anyways, back to our scheduled programming.However, both George Orwell and William Golding do not see these cloven-foot porkies just as walking, squealing examples of abhorrence; they seem them as symbolic extensions of mankind.The comparison is unflattering, of course, but that is precisely the authors’ intent. The British authors’ classic novels, Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies respectively, are all about the dark or even evil capabilities and tendencies of humans, essentially. In fact, both novels read as allegories that comment on the power-greedy and dirty jerks human beings can be sometimes.Take Golding’s classic about a bunch of British boys marooned on an isolated tropical island without adult supervision. **End Summary** Topics: CAHSEE]]> AP Psychology]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include CASHEE , AP Psychology , and ACT Prep. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

Quotes from Macbeth and a Look at Hamlet in Exploring Gender Roles

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:33:49 -0500

What does it mean to be a man or a woman in today’s society? None of us can fit into a neat, tiny, little, stereotypical box based on anything, including our gender. How do we define gender and how are these roles presented in literature? Often, many of our favorite characters defy gender stereotypes and thus, are more three-dimensional, more human, and more relatable. The play of gender and society is not limited to the pages of books, but is also reflected in the literary choices of the authors themselves. Take the example of The Outsiders. Essentially a coming of age story, the characters are predominantly male, and the book explores adolescence, societal pressure and isolation from a male perspective. The realism of the book, the fact that it speaks to adolescent issues and yet appeals to readers of all ages, makes it seem like a starker, more contemporary Huckleberry Finn. Interestingly enough, the author, S.E. Hinton, was 18 years old when she wrote this book. Yes, she. S.E. Hinton described herself as a tomboy and her gender did not define her writing style or her experiences. **End Summary** Topics: The Outsiders]]> Huckleberry Finn]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include The Outsiders , Huckleberry Finn , and ACT Prep. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

Putting a human face to tragic history in The Diary of Anne Frank and To Kill A Mockingbird

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:32:53 -0500

Perspective is everything. Oftentimes, it makes the book what it is. Consider The Diary of Anne Frank. The Diary of Anne Frank is often considered a literary exemplar that stands for the atrocities during the Holocaust. It is taught in high school classes and served up as examples on CAHSEE, alongside history lessons of World War II, Hitler and Nazis, serving as a primary source or historical document to study and understand the lives of Jewish people in war-torn Europe. Yet, the deeper power of the book lies in its personal narrative formed by a relatively normal teenage girl with parent troubles and boy crushes, yet who comes of age in a world where her ethnicity forces her to hide from plain view.Anne’s self-focused diary gives readers a deeper sense of the subjective emotional lives that endured during the Holocaust, doing something a objective history book can hardly do. Through her personal diary entries, Anne emerges as a character relatable to every young female girl across time, space and even ethnicities. **End Summary** Topics: Of Mice and Men]]> Lord of the Flies]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include Of Mice and Men , Lord of the Flies , and ACT Prep. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

Persistent Characters in the Old Man and the Sea Could Take On Zeus or AP Macroeconomics

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:31:57 -0500

Persistent, passionate characters make good stories. We love passionate characters that fight tooth and nail for what they want. Those characters that believe they would take on Thor to get their prize are the ones we return to again and again. Great Gatsby is a clear example of this; Jay Gatsby, as a character, has stood the test of time due to the tenacity and sheer force of will with which he creates for himself the life he wants, that too from completely humble beginnings. While those around him are born into luxury, he is the only one who has fought and struggled in order to enjoy the opulence and extravagance of his 1920s playboy lifestyle. The book truly rests on his shoulders and even today we read it and teach it for Gatsby, who represents the ideal American past. We read it for pleasure, add it as suggested reading for CAHSEE, and speak of it as the great American classic. Would we have done this if Gatsby had given up on his dream of Daisy and the world she represented? Doubtful. Let’s face it. **End Summary** Topics: CAHSEE]]> 1920s]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include 1920s , CAHSEE , and ACT Prep. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

Mythology, Zeus, the Raven, and the Future of the Written Word

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:31:10 -0500

Technology seems to be advancing faster than we can keep up with it in these modern times. With bookstores closing and kindles and ipads flying off the shelves, we have to wonder how it will change the world of print. It is certainly affecting the way books are read. Will this technology impact the way books are written? Will the interactive features that these types of “e readers” create an audience with expectations for something more in their books? And if so, what does those features mean for the future of literature?The option to look an unknown word up in the dictionary instantly is a handy feature available on e-readers and it does not seem too invasive as far as the reading experience goes. Some children’s books offer features like clicking on a picture to see it come to life or playing interactive games on a page of the book. While this doesn’t seem like a likely option for adult literature, the technology is there and it makes one wonder if it will have any impact on publishing and more importantly, the way books are written and read. **End Summary** Topics: The Raven]]> Brave New World]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include The Raven , Brave New World , and ACT Prep. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

Great Gatsby setting as a Prequel to the Great Depression

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:30:08 -0500

F.Scott Fitzgerald’s the Great Gatsby can be considered as a sort of prequel to the Great Depression. Its tale of social-climbing Midwesterners, illicit money making activities, lavish parties and economic class distinctions makes the novel appear as a critical study of the wealth and excess that largely defined the 1920s before the infamous stock market crash. For the most part, Fitzgerald’s novel is taught to high schoolers in conjunction or as an introduction to the 1920s and the eventual Great Depression, the US’s biggest economic catastrophe and likely AP Macroeconomics topic of discussion.The character Jay Gatsby can seen somewhat to be a foreshadowed symbol of the excess that characterized pre-Depression times. Yet, by the time we meet the title character Gatsby—the bootlegging Gatz who builds a illegal bootlegging empire arguably in attempt to win back his true love, the high class but married Daisy—he has already been dead for a while. The narrator Nick Carraway’s purpose in telling this story is largely to admonish high society for its cold cruelty and to ponder the downsides of the mythical American Dream—all told through a post-mortem of the final weeks leading up to Gatsby’s death. **End Summary** Topics: Great Gatsby]]> Great Depression]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include Great Gatsby , Great Depression , and ACT Prep. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

Gender-Bending in Twelfth Night and To Kill a Mockingbird

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:29:23 -0500

Much stress there is a difference between gender and sex. And there certainly is. Sex is essentially biology, the male and female manifestations or to put it more plainly, the physical parts that come with being male or female. Gender, on the other hand, are the social norms, roles and ideals tied to one’s identity, usually ascribed on which of those physical parts you own. It’s a “social construct,” something that is not founded in the actual physical make-up.William Shakespeare’s famous “transvestite drama,” Twelfth Night effectively exemplifies gender as a social construct. After all, the play is focused on, among other things, on a young female fraternal twin named Viola who decided to cross-dress to gain a job and entry into Duke Orsino’s court. After all, a girl’s gotta eat, and since she’s been separated from her believed-to-be-dead twin brother after a nasty shipwreck, she’s got to find work.In Shakespeare’s time, cross-dressing (with the exception of on stage, as male actors played female characters all the time) was a big no-no. Women, of course, were expected to maintain and adopt strict norms regarding femininity, appearance and behavior. **End Summary** Topics: Hamlet]]> Antigone]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include Hamlet , Antigone , and ACT Prep. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

Finding Utopia in Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies (Like Acing your AP Calculus Exam without Knowin

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:28:42 -0500

Since the beginning of time human beings have imagined living in a utopia. It seems simple enough. In a perfect world everyone would live together in harmony, help each other out, there would be no war, no hunger, and no hate. It sounds pretty simple on the surface. Writers William Golding and George Orwell both explored the idea of a perfect society in their famous, captivating allegorical tales. Each author may be saying something slightly different, but in the end they both clearly have negative views about us human beings being capable of ever attaining the perfection of a utopia. Alduos Huxley too, explored the idea ofWilliams Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies explores the idea of living in an ideal society. The young boys that find themselves stranded on an island have an ideal opportunity to form a perfectly utopian existence. With WWII as a backdrop, one would think that these boys would do their best to make their world as peaceful and harmonious as possible. And maybe they do try their best. Maybe that is the point. **End Summary** Topics: AP Psychology]]> AP Calculus]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include AP Calculus , AP Psychology , and ACT Prep. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

Depictions of Racism in To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the Social Psycho

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:27:44 -0500

Right around the age of 10, there is a marked shift in a child's perspective. The world is no longer simply a wonderland of curiosities, but a popularity contest. Girls begin to wear makeup and form cliques, and boys become showmen, proving themselves with their fists. Think of Mean Girls or The Outsiders. In Lacan's terms, once we identify ourselves as "other" in the mirror stage, the beasts of jealousy and self-consciousness arise. This is a time in psychological terms in which children, going through their first major identity crisis, often begin to designate others into two categories: the ingroup and the outgroup.Meet Tom and Scout. They are characters in this very stage and life, and while at times they are carefree, rambunctious troublemakers, at others, they are young adults faced with a daunting world distinctly divided across racial lines. Tom Sawyer is a mischievous urchin, stealing from jam jars and tricking other boys into doing work for him. However, his blithe antics turn for the worst when he stumbles into a graveyard. He witnesses Injun Joe murder a man, and life is no longer a piece of jam pie. **End Summary** Topics: The Outsiders]]> Huckleberry Finn]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include The Outsiders , Huckleberry Finn , and ACT Prep. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

Life is Not Futile if You Are Not Macbeth: You Have More Than One Chance on the SAT

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 07:10:47 -0500

Although Macbeth is not exactly an idol for the ages, given that he committed murder in a crazed pursuit of power, he certainly does have some notable words to impart through the illustrious voice of Shakespeare. Catch this monologue:To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing (5.5.2)In a nutshell, he is saying: ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Way before his time, Shakespeare in Macbeth created a nihilistic character far before the concept of nihilism came into being. While Macbeth's message is that life has no significance, he certainly utters the words in a significant way. At times in the play, we do not know if events are really happening, or the products of Macbeth's mind. **End Summary** Topics: SAT]]> PSAT]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include SAT , PSAT , and ACT Prep. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

From Adulteress to Bombshell: The Continuing Relevance of The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 07:09:56 -0500

It bears repeating that history repeats itself. Although Arthur Miller's The Crucible is about the Salem Witch Trials in 17th century New England, it is also a biting satire of McCarthyism in the 1950s. Just as colonists tried to save their own skin by accusing community members of witchcraft, American citizens, who were blacklisted as Communists in the late 40s and 50s, accused others in order to save their own reputations.This ugly pattern is the result of a human defense mechanism known as projection, or the attribution of one's undesirable thoughts or emotions to another, which often is expressed in the form of jealousy or prejudice. In laymen's terms, this is known as hypocrisy. And extended to sex and gender, it can take the shape of castration anxiety. Also set in 17th century Puritan New England, Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter examines the story of another unfortunate scapegoat. The novel explicitly encapsulates the supposed threat of a powerful woman to paternalistic society, which pushes forth that political or religious order resides in domestic control, making adultery an overblown sin. **End Summary** Topics: The Crucible]]> The Scarlet Letter]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include The Crucible , The Scarlet Letter , and ACT Prep. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

Considering honesty in literature in Diary of Anne Frank (Written during World War II) and To Kill a

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 07:09:13 -0500

Writers like to talk about “honesty” and “truth.” They aim to tell an “honest” tale, reveal “honesty” in characters, or get the “truth” of a story on the page. What does it mean? In a fictional novel, the truth authors seek is a sincere understanding of the world and the characters they have created. A truth that is so sincere that they, along with their readers, feel as though the story could have actually happened, the characters and the world that the story is set in could have actually existed. Aren’t those the stories we love most? The stories that feel like we are reading about real people who truly went through all we’re reading about are the stories that keep us coming back for more. These are the stories we relate to because they reveal things about us as human beings.One tactic many writers use to help them find this truth is taking pieces of real life and using them as inspiration. An author may use personality traits or elements from different people they actually know to help create characters that “feel real. **End Summary** Topics: World War II]]> To Kill a Mockingbird]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include To Kill a Mockingbird , World War II , and ACT Prep. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

Classics like Romeo and Juliet Adapted for the Screen and the new Great Gatsby Movie and its Setting

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 07:07:54 -0500

Chose a classic and chances are it has been adapted into a movie or television show. Some of the adaptations may be exactly as the original version was and others may take liberties, but it seems as though a classic untouched by Hollywood is about as common as a movie version of the SAT. Why are these classics churned in Hollywood again and again? From straight “remakes” to “inspired by,” Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has seen countless adaptations and is among the most frequently adapted classics. What is it about stories like Romeo and Juliet that inspire someone to make a movie that so many want to see? For some classics, like Romeo and Juliet, it seems like it’s the story or concept. For others it’s the interesting or likeable characters. Some classics may be attractive to Hollywood simply for the unique “world” or location where the story takes place. In the case of The Great Gatsby, it’s all of these things.The Great Gatsby has been adapted into several major motion pictures and there is a new one in the works right now. Writer/director Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge, Australia, Romeo and Juliet) is shooting his version of F. **End Summary** Topics: Romeo and Juliet]]> SAT]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include SAT , Romeo and Juliet , and ACT Prep. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

A Digital Brave New World That Needs a Dose of Romeo and Juliet

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 07:07:10 -0500

Aldous Huxley wrote a treatise in 1958 that explicated how his dystopian vision in Brave New World was coming true. If Huxley felt like that then, imagine what he would say about the world now. The hyper-mediation of computer technology has led to a digitized existence; ipads and iphones have taken over communication, resulting in much less face-to-face interaction. In most cases, digital media is a huge blessing, as exemplified by educational websites like Shmoop, but there are dangers of where it could lead. While the digital revolution has not lead to the extreme mechanization of society that Huxley envisioned, it certainly raises fears of artificial intelligence and impersonal interaction. Huxley's fictional world in which human beings are genetically manufactured and soma users, a drug that transports them to a trippy universe removed from reality, could easily be compared to post-millennium existence, in which cyborgs and virtual reality have infiltrated society (think of the more and more real possibility of The Matrix).In Huxley's world and perhaps in our own, the antidote is Shakespeare. Looking to classic literature that explores the depths of human nature certainly counteracts technology overload. **End Summary** Topics: Brave New World]]> AP Calculus]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include AP Calculus , Brave New World , and ACT Prep. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

Twelfth Night: Dude Looks Like a Lady

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:35:49 -0400

To this day, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night remains one of his most widely read, performed and adored comedies. Wonder if it has something to do with the cross-dressing.Seriously. There is a lot of cross-dressing in this one. Yes, true, it’s only one character who does the dressing up, but it’s a pretty central point of focus, and when you also consider that the women were all played by men in the first place in Shakespeare’s time, you have a truly confusing (albeit entertaining) scenario. The issue stands out even more because plays about cross-dressing were simply not done back then. (Again - interesting, since half the actors on stage in any play during that time were cross-dressing.)It was feared by certain members of the community that the very act of dressing in the clothing of the opposite gender would turn women into hermaphrodites. (There’s a vocab word that may pop up on your PSAT.) Yeah, we’re sure there were a lot of actual case studies of that happening for them to draw from. Nevertheless, the subject matter and treatment of it were frowned upon and heavily criticized, which probably thrilled Shakespeare, as he was such a controversy enthusiast. **End Summary** Topics: Twelfth Night]]> AP Calculus]]> PSAT]]> literature]]> test prep]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include Twelfth Night , AP Calculus , and PSAT. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

To Kill a Mockingbird: The Effect of Racist Influences on the Young

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:34:49 -0400

America has a long history of racism. Unless you’ve spent your entire life with your head under a watermelon, you should be well aware of the negative stereotypes that African Americans have long had to endure, and the discrimination with which they continue to be faced. Believe it or not, there once was a time when they weren’t even allowed to take the SAT!Because of this country’s long history of slavery, the struggles of African Americans have often been reflected in our nation’s literature. Many works centering on race or racism have won Pulitzers and National Book Awards and are frequently listed as some of the greatest American novels - books such as Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man and Richard Wright’s Native Son and Black Boy among them. However, none has stuck with us quite so strongly nor had quite such a profound effect on the makeup of the American literary canon as Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.So the question is, why? What makes this book so special? **End Summary** Topics: To Kill a Mockingbird]]> To Kill a Mockingbird Quotes]]> SAT]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include SAT , To Kill a Mockingbird , and PSAT. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

Thereâs Something Rotten in the State of Denmark... and It Isnât the Eggs in Our Hamlet

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:31:03 -0400

There’s a major problem with trust between the characters in William Shakespeare’s most famous play - Hamlet. How can you blame them? They’re not the most upright, honorable bunch. In fact, they make Dexter look like a sweetheart.A couple of these Hamlet quotes pretty much say it all in a nutshell:GHOST: “Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast..” (1.5.9)HAMLET: “O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!” (1.5.10)POLONIUS: “At such a time I’ll loose my daughter to him;Be you and I behind an arras then.” (2.2.12)LAERTES: “I am justly kill’d with mine own treachery.” (5.2.12)Sounds like these guys have got some issues to work out. Let’s break it down and take a look at who’s doing what to whom:Claudius kills the king, Hamlet’s father, takes over the throne and snags his own brother’s wife while he’s at itGertrude, Hamlet’s mother, betrays her ex-husband the king by jumping into the sack with Claudius immediately after his deathLaertes interferes in his sister Ophelia’s love life and demands that she stop trying to become involved romantically with HamletHamlet pretends to be crazy. **End Summary** Topics: Hamlet]]> Hamlet quotes]]> PSAT]]> literature]]> test prep]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include Hamlet , Hamlet quotes , and PSAT. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

The Great Depression - Whatâs So Great About It?

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:29:49 -0400

The Great Depression was an undeniably awful period of time in our nation’s history. The word ‘great’ is really just used here to signify the large extent to which the dire economic situation affected the American population in the 1920s. However, when we examine it more closely, perhaps the Great Depression actually was ‘great’ in a way. Sort of one of those we’ll-laugh-about-all-this-later situations.We certainly don’t wish to trivialize or disrespect the misery and anguish that beset everyone who was victimized by such a terrible and sudden collapse of the economy. Times were indescribably hard, and we’re sure that anyone who went through it would love to turn back the clock and make it un-happen. But if there is any reason at all that this country sticks you kids into an AP US History class, it is so that we can learn from past mistakes so that they will not be repeated.Granted, we as a nation have gone through periods of economic depression since, but nothing nearly as overwhelmingly devastating as the big one. **End Summary** Topics: Great Depression]]> AP US History]]> SAT]]> Us History]]> Test prep]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include Great Depression , AP US History , and PSAT. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

The Frailty of Dreams in Of Mice and Men

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:28:41 -0400

You’re still young, so we’re sure you still have plenty of dreams. That’s not to say that we, your elders (hey - some of us are barely thirty!) have lost the ability to dream or no longer have any good ones. It’s just that, after you’ve lived a number of years out there in the real world, you’re certain to experience a good deal of disappointment. Even if some of our dreams have come true, others have idled or fallen by the wayside.In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck shares the story of a couple of dreamers. George and Lennie start out with the highest hopes - they are on their way to find work and easy money in the land of opportunity (California, not Vegas - you’re thinking of the land of opportunists). Although poor and just starting out, they haven’t a care in the world and have not yet let the possibility of failure enter their minds. To be fair, Lennie doesn’t let much of anything enter his mind.Lennie is the epitome of hopefulness. For starters, he’s a little, er, well... **End Summary** Topics: Of Mice and Men]]> AP English Language]]> PSAT]]> literature]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include Of Mice and Men , AP English Language , and PSAT. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

The Allure of Wealth in The Great Gatsby

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:27:30 -0400

The vast majority of popular literature has long revolved around the lives of the rich and powerful. Until recently (the last couple of centuries or so), it was almost exclusively just that. Books and plays about kings and queens, princes and princesses, knights, wizards, famous warriors and a litany of gods and supernatural beings. It hasn’t been long that authors have been penning works about the common man (like you, for example).It was long thought that these stories were the most interesting because the stakes were highest. There were kingdoms to be won or lost, fortunes to be made or squandered, wars to be fought that would determine champions and heroes. Why would anyone want to hear about the boring day-to-day of an ordinary Joe? Who wants to read about what color socks somebody’s wearing or how much time they spent on their ACT Prep? Why not just flip through some random’s diary if you’re into that sort of thing?But then there was a shift in thought. Perhaps because readers found it difficult to connect to such lofty individuals; perhaps because our egos got the better of us and we wished to read more about ourselves. **End Summary** Topics: Great Gatsby]]> Great Gatsby setting]]> ACT Prep]]> literature]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include ACT Prep , Great Gatsby , and PSAT. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A Classic Thatâs Just Plain Fun

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:26:13 -0400

We here at Shmoop know that reading the classics isn’t always easy work. There’s a reason that they’re considered classics in the first place - they are multi-layered and intelligently written (suck on that, John Grisham), and generally require quite a bit of in-depth scrutiny and analysis in order to get as much out of them as you should.And then there is the occasional novel that is just so darn funny, endearing and original that it receives widespread critical acclaim despite its avoidance of any ‘heavy matters.’ In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, there are no rapes, no political uprisings, no philosophical interpolation. Okay, so there is a murder, but it isn’t dealt with in a heavy-handed manner, and isn’t intended to cause the reader any real amount of distress. It serves merely as the impetus for a grand adventure.One of the reasons that younger readers may enjoy reading about Tom’s exploits is that he represents that kind of rebelliousness that you perhaps envy or fantasize about, especially with regard to school. **End Summary** Topics: Tom Sawyer]]> AP Exams]]> ACT Prep]]> test prep]]> literature]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include Adventures of Tom Sawyer , AP Exams , and PSAT. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

Kurtz and his Heart of Darkness

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:25:16 -0400

In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad presents us with two men who are, more or less, polar opposites. Charlie Marlow is a compassionate, humane man with a stockpile of integrity, and he is a lover and pursuer of truth and justice. Mr. Kurtz, on the other hand, is a bit of a &$%!@#.Both men are compared to gods within the text, and each is viewed as one - Marlow by the men on his boat and - Conrad hopes - by his readers as well, and Kurtz by the native Africans, who look at him as almost some sort of Zeus-like figure. Throughout the book, we are exposed to both the ‘angry and vengeful god’ type as well as the ‘peace-loving god of enlightenment’ type. There are many religions in the world that propose the existence of one or the other; here we can see the two sides of the coin and perhaps gain a little insight into why different cultures worship such drastically different divine spirits.Christianity, with which you are likely most familiar, is structured around a god - or a son of one - who is all of the things that Marlow is. **End Summary** Topics: Heart of Darkness]]> Zeus]]> ACT Prep]]> literature]]> test prep]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include Heart of Darkness , ACT Prep , and PSAT. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

Have Great Expectations and You Will Not Be Disappointed

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:24:16 -0400

We’re sure you’re familiar with the concept of a Hollywood ending. If you’d care for a few examples: the guy finally gets the girl, the bad guy gets caught and locked up, good triumphs over evil, you get a perfect score on your SAT. You know - the stuff dreams are made of.Nearly every Hollywood blockbuster wraps up with a satisfying ending - something that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. On the other hand, rent a few indie films and you’re likely to be confronted with death, sadness, unrequited love and absolute devastation. Hope you weren’t planning on getting any sleep tonight.The Hollywood blockbusters make gazillions of dollars, while most indie films flop and flounder. The writing and acting are almost certainly superior in the latter, but stories with unhappy endings simply fail to grab audiences on a large scale. Imagine a movie about you studying and working hard in class only to eventually fail your AP Exams. Who’d want to see that?Which brings us to the subject of this article. **End Summary** Topics: Great Expectations]]> AP Exams]]> SAT]]> Test prep]]> literature]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include AP Exams , Great Expectations , and PSAT. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

Great Gatsby, Not Such a Great Tipper

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:22:49 -0400

First of all, if you the reader happen to be one of the truly disgustingly wealthy that are the subject of this article, then it is probably not for you. We’re likely to do a lot of whining and complaining about how unfair it all is that we have to take the bus to work and you get to travel to non-work via yacht, and it will likely just be one huge yawn for you. Of course, if it really bothered you enough, we’re sure you could pay someone to make us shut up about it.In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterwork The Great Gatsby, his narrator Nick Carroway has mixed feelings about his prosperous acquaintance. While he is envious of Jay Gatsby’s ridiculous fortune and easy lifestyle, he is also repulsed by his playboy behavior. Below are a couple of Great Gatsby quotes that illustrate his opinion of the millionaire: When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. **End Summary** Topics: Great Gatsby]]> Great Gatsby quotes]]> ACT Prep]]> test prep]]> literature]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include Great Gatsby , ACT Prep , and PSAT. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.

Editing Huckleberry Finn and Removing the French and Indian War from AP US History

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:21:30 -0400

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, has been critically acclaimed and the subject of much controversy since its publication in 1885. It’s not surprising that Twain’s fearless exploration of racism through the relationship between thirteen-year-old Huckleberry Finn, and Miss Watson’s African-American slave, Jim, was a hotly debated novel.Though Huckleberry Finn is considered one of the Great American Novels, it continues to cause a stir. The book has been banned across the United States throughout the years, specifically in many southern states, for its use of the word “nigger.” The “n-word” as many prefer to call it in a “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” sort of way, is used in Huckleberry Finn over 200 times. Many school districts in the United States do not allow teachers to assign the book because of that controversial word. A Great American Novel that is kept from a significant number of students because of a word that makes people uncomfortable. A 2011 version of Huckleberry Finn published by a company in Alabama took matters into their own hands and cleaned up the manuscript. As if editing the dirty words out of a movie, the publisher simply substituted the word “nigger” with the word “slave. **End Summary** Topics: Huckleberry Finn]]> AP US History]]> French and Indian War]]> us h]]>]]> About the Author: ]]> Paul Thomson is an avid reader of English Literature. His areas of expertise include Huckleberry Finn , AP US History , and PSAT. In his spare time, he loves to participate in online literature forums and promote reading for youth.