intro to lit

1729 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How to read literature like a professor analysis

Literature allows people to better understand themselves and the world they live in. Many people turn to literature to escape their own lives for a while, and in doing so they often learn something about themselves through exploring the motivations, actions, thoughts, and ideas an author brings. It teaches people to empathize with others who might live in different circumstances or even time periods. Although, if it were not for the authors who appreciate the importance of literature, people would not be able to experience the depth of complexity it brings. That being said, it takes a rare ability for an author to see the world from the outside and plot its curves. Edith Wharton is a great example of an author of her time that was able to capture the world from an outside point of view. Her fiction brings out her ironic style and satiric wit while still having a moral seriousness to her work. In her short story, Souls Belated, her satiric sense of style is displayed through the characters in conflict with society’s expectations.
Over Edith Wharton’s impressive career, which stretched over 40 years, she has published numerous works that include novels, short stories, and travel essays. Her ironic and satiric sense of style remains memorable in American literature, as does she. Wharton inspiringly became the first woman to be awarded with the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, The Age of Innocence in 1921. Many of her works are still in print today (Merriman, 2007).
Edith Wharton was born on January 24, 1962 in New York City as Edith Newbold Jones (Bloom, 1988, p.4213). Her parents, George Frederic Jones and Lucretia Rhinelander, were wealthy people who made fortunes in shipping, banking, and real estate. Wharton lived in t...

... middle of paper ...

...lted in her actually thinking about her and Gannett’s situation. All in all, I loved Wharton’s story because it was a compelling examination of the influence society has on all of our lives.
Throughout the semester, this class has taught me the importance of literature. I have learned that literature isn’t just reading a piece of work, but analyzing it. Although I love to read, I never have tried to find the central point of what an author was trying to make. I read because I enjoy experiencing something new and getting to know characters. However, this class has taught me to appreciate literature much more. By researching about the author and studying specific lines, a piece of work becomes much more meaningful. Analyzing is tough to do, but I will walk away with a greater understanding of the value literature brings to the world and the people in it.

Show More
Related

  • Ethan Frome And The House Of Mirth, By Edith Wharton

    920 Words  | 2 Pages

    “For the first time in his life he sees her in a new light: he sees her as no longer the listless creature who had lived at his side in a state of self-absorption, but a mysterious alien presence an evil energy secreted from the long years of silent brooding…” (Wharton 117) Edith Wharton is best known for her books Ethan Frome and The House of Mirth. Wharton was often compared to another writer in her time, Henry James. Even though this occurred, she considered her books one of a kind. She was pleased with her work, but the critics were not. Often, she received poor reviews, but this did not stop her; in fact, she then went on to be the first woman to win The Legion of Honor Medal. Wharton also won the Pulitzer Prize and a gold

    Read More

  • Fantasy is an Escape from Fear in Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome

    978 Words  | 2 Pages

    Perhaps Edith Wharton's reason for writing Ethan Frome, was that it so vividly reflected her own dreary life. Abandoned of any love as a child from her mother and trapped in a marriage similar to that of Zeena and Ethan, Wharton found herself relying on illicit love. This illicit love was also her favorite topic of writing, which helped her to escape her own tragedies. She spent many nights in the arms of other men searching desperately for the love she believed existed, but had never felt, which is evident in all of her writings.

    Read More

  • The Legacy Of Edith Wharton: The Legacy Of Edith Wharton

    1320 Words  | 3 Pages

    Edith Wharton, originally named “Edith Newbold Jones”(Cliff Notes), was born on “January 24, 1862 in New York City to George Frederic Jones and Lucretia Stevens Rhinelander Jones and died on August 11, 1937”(Cliff Notes). She was born into a wealthy family and was a “designer, short story writer and American novelist”(Cliff Notes). Wharton descended from the English and Dutch cultures. She had two siblings, one known as “Frederic Rhinelander Jones” (Cliff Notes) who was sixteen years older than her, and “Henry Edward Jones eleven years older”(Cliff Notes). While her brothers attended boarding school, Wharton became “raised as an only child in a brownstone mansion on West Twenty-third Street in New York City”(Cliff

    Read More

  • The Complex and Effective Structure of Ethan Frome

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    People have often pondered the reasons for the greatness of Edith Wharton's novel, Ethan Frome. What is it that causes this story to be considered an all-time American classic? One journalist quotes a humanities professor at MIT who states that, "We turn to Wharton because the truths she tells are a bracing tonic in a culture steeped in saccharine sentimentality." The journalist goes on to describe the typical, "popular" story and how they often have endings where "romantic ideals are magically fulfilled..." There is much more to Ethan Frome than simply an unhappy ending to contrast with the many other stories that have sugar-coated and sanguine endings. At first glance, the ending of Ethan Frome may appear to be only depressing. In truth, Wharton offers the reader a complex ending through the careful incorporation of poetic justice and irony.

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Book Report

    155 Words  | 1 Pages

    It was her only piece of writing, and she wrote it when she was 34

    Read More

  • Edna Ferber, Jewish American Feminist

    1175 Words  | 3 Pages

    Edna Ferber's childhood and career influences many of her works. She was born in 1885 and died in 1968. Growing up, she was taunted for being Jewish. Her family moved a great deal, so she was able to see a lot of the country. She eventually landed a job as a reporter, but faced a lot of criticism at the workplace for being a woman. When asked about her role model, Edna Ferber said, "My mother is of the iron age when things were not handed to people on velvet pads of ease-She had a zest for life and the ability to impart it on others. Her belief in the eternity of life has a nourishing effect on her and all those who come in contact with her. She is a wonderful woman" (Shapiro 15). Because of this, she bases most of her heroines on her mother. In fact, Edna Ferber based nearly all her novels, plays, and short stories on her own life as a Jewish woman reporter in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

    Read More

  • Edith Stein

    533 Words  | 2 Pages

    Edith Stein was born on October 12, 1891 , Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of Atonement in Breslau Germany now Wroclaw Poland. She was born into an Orthodox Jewish family and was the youngest of 11 children. When she was not yet 2 years of age, her father suddenly died. This left Edith's mother to raise the seven remaining children since 4 had died in childhood and manage the family business. She considered her mother an example of the woman in Proverbs 31, who rises early to care for her family and trade in the marketplace. At around the age of 13 she no longer practiced her Jewish faith and became an atheist although she admired her mother's attitude of total openness towards God.

    Read More

  • The Roman Way, by Edith Hamilton

    2468 Words  | 5 Pages

    Author Edith Hamilton was born on August 12, 1867 in Dresden, Germany while her mother was visiting relatives. Hamilton started to study Latin at the age of seven, memorized passages from the Bible and could also recite poetry. Even as a young girl, she was a "natural storyteller. " She was determined to get a good education. After receiving her B.A. and M.A. from Bryn Mawr College in 1894 she studied the classics in Germany.

    Read More

  • Literary Legends: Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    Literature has played a large role in the way we perceive the world and it can affect the way in which we think about things. Edgar Allan Poe along with Mark Twain are two of the most influential authors that our world has ever seen. Their descriptiveness and diction has had a huge impact on their readers for centuries. Poe’s gothic style of writing was very enthralling and suspenseful; it left you wanting to know what was going to happen next. Whereas, Mark Twain was a very humorous author that intended to amuse all that read. The descriptiveness that was incorporated by these world-renown authors is tremendous.

    Read More

  • Zeena Quotes

    567 Words  | 2 Pages

    Where did Wharton get her inspiration for her characters? Simply out of curiosity. With a single last question, why a pickle dish?

    Read More

  • Comparing Nineteen Eighty-Four and Utopia

    2005 Words  | 5 Pages

    Literature is a mirror of life. In order to reflect their views on the problems in society, many authors of fiction, including Sir Thomas More of Utopia and George Orwell of Nineteen Eighty-Four, use parallels in character, setting, government, and society to link their works to the real world.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Jane Eyre

    558 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1847, Charlotte Bronte, although a woman, published her semi autobiographical Jane Eyre. She wrote her novels in Thornton, Yorkshire, England. This novel later became a classic literature novel. ( Bronte) She wrote in the 1800’s and her novel reflects the time period, which she wrote in with the various techniques and themes. In the novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte uses literary devices such as, imagery and themes like religion and feminism to demonstrate the time period in which she wrote.

    Read More

  • The Portrayal of Women in American Literature

    2124 Words  | 5 Pages

    A. A. Edith Wharton’s Women: Friends & Rivals.

    Read More

  • Short Biography: A Brief Biography Of Emily Bronte

    2759 Words  | 6 Pages

    Emily’s most famous work was published in 1847, called “Wuthering Heights.” It was a complex novel that had a lot of exploration. This work is still used today.

    Read More

  • Robert Frost: A Critical Analysis

    1234 Words  | 3 Pages

    Literature is rarely, if ever, merely a story that the author is trying to tell. It is imperative that the reader digs deep within the story to accurately analyze and understand the message the author is trying to portray. Authors tend to hide themselves in their stories. The reader can learn about the author through literary elements such as symbolism, diction, and structure. A good example of this is Robert Frost’s poems The Road Not Taken and Nothing Gold can Stay in which he uses ordinary language unlike many other poets that became more experimental (Frost, Robert. “1.”).

    Read More

More about intro to lit

Open Document