Literature

As the novel opens we find Dagny Taggart, vide president in charge of operations, struggling against worsening economic conditions to save Taggart Transcontinental’s Rio Norte Line which provides service to Colorado. This is the last place in America that is experiencing economic growth. She is struggling because, as we find out, the most talented entrepreneurs in the nation are all...

From: Literature Guides

Quotations and Analysis “Isn’t it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive—it’s such an interesting world. It wouldn’t be half so interesting if we knew all about everything, would it? There’d be no scope for imagination then, would there?” Anne says this to Gilbert in...

From: Literature Guides

CONTENTS The most important themes or issues of the book include racial injustice in the South, class issues, social prejudice, the need for courage, compassion and tolerance, questioning the existing laws and traditions, and the defeat and loss of innocent illusions that characters have to face.

From: Literature Guides

CONTENTS General Introduction Niccolo Machiavelli was a 16th Century political theorist. Since his name is become synonymous with his political theories, the question often becomes who is Machiavelli? But the answer is in the book The Prince.  The Prince was likely written in 1513 in manuscript form and distributed among a few people, but the text as it has come down to...

From: Literature Guides

Introduction Published in 1957, Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand’s fourth and final novel. It is also her longest. The book combines elements of romance, science fiction, and mystery. The novel is the most extensive fictionalized expression of her philosophy of “objectivism.” Atlas Shrugged tells the story of a dystopian future in which business and innovation are hampered by the burdensome government policies...

From: Literature Guides

Introduction Sir Thomas Mallory’s Le Morte d’Arthur is a collection of tales originally in French which tell of the rise and fall of the legendary KingARthur. It includes numerous tales of the Knight of the Round Table and follows the struggles of these knights to uphold a strict code of courtly honor and chivalry. The story follows a known set...

From: Literature Guides

CONTENTS Beowulf The epic hero or protagonist. He is hero of the Geats who defeats Grendel and his Ogress mother. He later slays the great dragon. Beowulf’s feats of heroism and tales of his adventures prove him to be a true warrior rather than one who boasts. He is the epitome of a Great Anglo-Saxon hero: fearless in battle, true...

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“Invictus” was written when Henley was in the hospital being treated for Tuberculosis of the bone, also known as Pott’s disease. The poem is about showing undivided courage in the face of death and keeping the dignity against all the hardships in life. The poem was dedicated to Robert Thomas Hamilton Bruce, a Scottish flour merchant. Invictus BY WILLIAM ERNEST...

From: Poem Examples

CONTENTS Summary The novel opens as Jake Barnes, the narrator, offers an account of his friend, Robert Cohn. Jake is a journalist in Paris; a job he took on after his service in WWI. His friend also lives in Paris, although he is not a war veteran. Cohn is a rich Jewish writer, living in Paris with a controlling girlfriend...

From: Literature Guides

CONTENTS Brave New World begins in what is called the Central London Hatching and Conditioning Centre. Henry Foster, an assistant to the Director, is leading a group of boys on a tour. Henry teaches the boys about the Bokanovsky and Podsnap processes which make it possible for the Hatchery to produce thousands of nearly identical human embryos. We learn that...

From: Literature Guides