Critical Review: Whitewashed Adobe

Deverell, William. Whitewashed Adobe: The Rise of Los Angeles and the Remaking of Its Mexican Past. Berkeley; Los Angeles; London: University of California Press, 2005. In the pages of Whitewashed Adobe’s introduction, author William Deverell sets his foundation explaining to readers the consequential nature of the racial and cultural conflicts found at the heart of […]

Perspectives on Reliance: Explorations of Native America’s Labor in the Fur Trade

Over the years, the historiography of the fur trade has reflected various perspectives on Native American importance. Individual scholars have developed differing insights into the contributions of Native peoples. Some see Native American contributions as secondary. Others see Natives as being crucial players who were necessary to support the existence of the trade. Still, others […]

Critical Review: Custer Died for Your Sins and Survivance

Native American history tells a difficult story that ranges from the great heights of empires to the deep lows of extermination. Despite the toll it has taken, Native American communities have, nonetheless, survived to tell their stories. These stories are acts of survivance. Native Americans seek to not just hold the line on Native survival; […]

Postmodernism, Postcolonialism, and Literary Theory in Orientalism by Edward Said

Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York City, NY: Vintage Books, 1979. Early in the 2003 preface of Orientalism, author Edward W. Said states that if it were not for the Orientalist dogma as he describes in the pages that follow, “there would have been no war” in Iraq or Afghanistan.[1] This statement sets a tone […]

Martha A. Sandweiss’ Passing Strange: What It Tells Us About Privilege and Race In Nineteenth-Century America

Martha Sandweiss’ Passing Strange is a fascinating personal portrait of a man and woman who, by all accounts, defy our expectations of ending up together. Sandweiss’ retelling of this story has many historical roots in America’s past social and racial divides. These roots overlap and intersect coming together to form the circumstances that would lead […]

Literary Analysis: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Prompt: What does Jekyll feel guilty about? Why does Jekyll feel the need to create a double? What does Hyde do? Response: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a mystery that draws the reader in with questions of a puzzling relationship between a respected doctor of high social standing and a […]

Literary Analysis: Antigone

Prompt: Who is right–Antigone or Creon? Response: In his 1902 critical look at Antigone, Richard C. Jebb states that “the simplicity of the plot is due to the clearness of which the two principles are opposed to each other.” This is both accurate and inaccurate. It is true the conflict is a simple one on […]

Literary Analysis: Harlem Renaissance poetry

Prompt: How do the poets of the Harlem Renaissance portray Black life, culture, emotion, and consciousness? What do you think these writers hope to achieve in their revelations? Do they live up to Langston Hughes’ dictum? Response: The Harlem Renaissance was a revolutionary period of approximately fifteen years starting loosely in 1917 or so and continuing […]

Literary Analysis: Daddy

The work of Sylvia Plath is defined by its morbid mood, cheerless tone, and the author’s dark reflections of her own childhood. Plath makes no exception in her poem “Daddy”. She has with “Daddy”, as in much of her work, struck a chord of great contention leading to much discussion about this work’s meaning over […]

Literary Analysis: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Prompt: What role does the idea of “reputation” play in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight? Does Gawain uphold the reputation (and in turn, the Code) of the Court? Response: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an absolutely fantastic display of the Arthurian Legend and the ideas of chivalry and honor. Sir Gawain takes […]