Literature

In the 400th anniversary of his death, how has Shakespeare's works influenced literature and why is it still held in high regard today.

There are a lot of books that focus on India that are written by english speaking writers, why is this and what are some of the best examples of novels that truly portray this country?

Lady Chatterley's Lover has had a reputation for being perverse in its sexual subject matter and use of descriptive language. However, does there need to be an understanding of the full narrative in order to contextualise what D.H. Lawrence's ideas of characterisation were.

A lot of people are vampire'd out these days. That's because they have been so popular that we haven't been able to escape these stories. Vampire stories aren't new though, we have ton that existed prior to the 2000's. Why weren't we sick of them before? I'd like to see a compare contrast of older vampire stories compared to new ones. Were they better before? Or just less popular? Are the target audiences different? Were the stories more meaningful or easier to relate to? Scarier? What makes people so sick of vampire stories now, but not sick of them before even though tons of stories still existed?

Ideas for older examples:
Dracula – book and various movies.
Anne Rice – So many books
Buffy – comics and tv show

New
Twilight
Vampire Diaries
Vampire Academy
Trueblood

You can draw the line between new and old whenever you want and obviously there are a lot more examples.

Examine the social issues Flannery O’Connor explores in her short stories, as well as any potential historical contexts. O’Connor’s short stories primarily take place in the Deep South (O’Connor was Georgian) and create a Southern Gothic atmosphere. They also depict life during the Jim Crow era. Issues to explore could be religion (O’Connor was a staunch Catholic in the heavily Protestant South), Old versus New (post-Civil War, post-Reconstruction) South, race, and class.

Examples:

“A Good Man is Hard to Find”: This short story deals with the conflict between the Old South and the newer generation. The grandmother of the family reminisces on how the Old South was better than modern times and how children now have no appreciation or respect for their own state. Also, when the grandmother encounters a serial killer, she tries to argue about morality and religion to spare her own life.

“The Artificial N*****”: This story, with a racial epithet in its title, deals with a poor white man (Mr. Head) and his grandson going to Atlanta, which contains more black people than the rural area. Class and race intersect as Mr. Head grooms his grandson to have a prejudice against black people, and the grandfather expresses resentment and insecurity at seeing a wealthy black man, as well as when he believes he will not be able to “teach” his grandson racism. The title refers to Jim Crow-era statues that depicted extremely grotesque and demeaning caricatures of black people, which also connects to minstrel shows (performances that depict white people in blackface).

Other potential short stories and issues to explore are 1) xenophobia and the Holocaust in “The Displaced Person” and 2) disability in “The Life You Save May Be Your Own.” (O’Connor suffered from lupus, an autoimmune disease that made her body deteriorate until her death.)

Anne Rice's The Lives of the Mayfair Witches (1990-1994) is a Gothic horror trilogy that involves the history of a family of witches. Starting with The Witching Hour, the prose goes to great lengths to describe both antebellum and contemporary New Orleans. There are florid descriptions of the heat, the cracked streets, the rotting architecture, and the sprawling flora overtaking the Mayfair manor.

Points of analysis: What impact does the vivid imagery have on establishing the atmosphere and the history of the location? How does this incredibly detailed, setting-focused technique connect to other works of Southern Gothic literature, such as Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird or Flannery O'Connor's short stories? How do the elaborate descriptions affect the more fantastical or surreal aspects of Gothic horror?

Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird is a widely known book in the United States, that also talks about several issues in our society. It has become a staple in American literature, often found on high school book reading lists. Most students only know about this book because they had read or discussed it in class. The perspectives of teachers, thus, are what students are exposed to as teachers guide students in reading this book. It would be interesting to read an article that talks about this book without any influence from the culture of school, and the differences this might have in what someone learns after reading this book for leisure.

In both film and literature, there is an immortalization and sometimes a glorification of those who go against the law. Whether it be Michael Corleone and his mafia empire, Robin Hood and his crusade of justice against the Sheriff of Nottingham, or William Wallace in his brutal guerilla war against the English. What makes these seemingly heroic characters, albeit felonious, so popular?