Stephen Crane once quoted, “Sometimes the most profound of awakenings come wrapped in the quietest moments.” I find this quote to be very true in the way Crane lived his short but remarkable life. Stephen Crane was a prolific writer of fiction and poetry, whose realistic style influenced American literature for many years after his death (“Stephen Crane” 123HelpMe.com). His life was considered spontaneous, adventurous, and spunky compared to other famous American authors. He was able to change the face of literature forever through his works on Maggie and The Red Badge of Courage.
Stephen Crane was born on November 1st, 1871, as the youngest of fourteen children to Jonathan Townley Crane and his wife Mary (“Stephen Crane”). He grew up in Newark, New Jersey where his father was the presiding minister of the Methodist church (“The Red Badge of Courage”). While he was growing up, he was practically raised by his older sister Agnes who was fifteen years older than Crane (“Stephen Crane” Bio). Agnes was responsible for Crane’s education throughout his
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The pages of Maggie were forfeited with topics like brutality, alcoholism, prostitution, and suicide (“Stephen Crane”). The book was so shocking that publishers feared that Crane’s description of the slum life would shock readers, so he published it himself in 1893 (“Stephen Crane” Bio.com). Maggie broke ground as one of the first novels to use the city and its “all-too-real” slums as a setting (“Stephen Crane”). Arena writer Hamlin Garland published a review on Maggie calling it, “the most truthful and unhackneyed study of the slums I have yet read” (“Stephen Crane” Bio.com). Unfortunately after that review, Maggie failed to garner any further attention which left Crane penniless (“Stephen Crane”
In “What They Fought For 1861-1865,” prize winning author James M. McPherson writes a conflicting non-subjected book that explores the major motivations of the men who enlisted and fought the Civil War. McPherson examines in a non-biased tone the reason why the men in gray and blue fought in the bloodiest war in American history. James M. McPherson discusses the significant characteristics of the theme and ideas of the book that explores ideology. Within the conflicting book, McPherson analyzes the major theme and idea of ideology or “what Civil War soldiers believed they were fighting for” (McPherson pg. 1). McPherson encounters the quarrel that many historians disagree upon: whether or not the soldiers during this war knew their intentions of fighting the war.
Jasper Jones In Jasper Jones, written by Craig Silvey, the main theme is courage. This is demonstrated throughout the text, that bravery is demonstrated not by being heroic instead it is by standing up for oneself or others, especially when there may be a great risk. The three characters that represent bravery the most are Charlie Bucktin, Jasper Jones and Jeffrey Lu. Jasper and Jeffrey are subjected to violence and racism by the parochial town of Corrigan while Charlie is bullied because he is intelligent and academically successful.
The book What They Fought for written by James M. McPherson is a small set of pages that focused on the reason why soldiers from both sides the Union and Confederate were risking their lives to fight during the Civil War. He claims that Civil War soldiers do know what they are fighting for unlike other historians who say the opposite. McPherson backs his claims by using letters and diaries from the Civil War soldiers as his main source to prove his statement. In the first chapter “The holy cause of liberty and independence” focuses on the thoughts and opinions of the Confederate armies.
Nathaniel Philbrick, author of Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution, successfully enables his readers to grasp the significance behind Boston and its neighboring cities during the rise of the Revolutionary War. Most Americans have a vague understanding of why events like the Battle of Bunker Hill are relevant and how this particular campaign played a pinnacle role in leading up to the Revolutionary War, but Philbrick does a service to Americans by beautifully illustrating these events from cover to cover. Not only is each occasion intimately detailed, but Philbrick records these instances in a precise and memorable rhythm. Although at times his novel might appear exhausting with vivid imagery, Philbrick’s thesis remains clear: In the
Have you ever been arrogant towards someone or something? The character Henry Fleming from “The Red Badge of Courage” and the narrator in “The Scarlet Ibis” were arrogant. The definition of arrogant is to have an exaggerated sense of one’s own self-worth/importance as well as abilities. In both stories the main character thought of themself as more than needed, they thought that they could get and should get whatever they wanted.
Maggie on the other hand, is characterized by her unattractiveness and timidity. Her skin is scarred from the fire that had happened ten or twelve years ago. Those scars she has on her body in the same way have scarred her soul leaving her ashamed. She “stumbles” in her reading, but Mrs. Johnson loves her saying she is sweet and is the daughter she can sing songs at church with, but more so that Maggie is like an image of her. She honors her family’s heritage and culture, by learning how to quilt and do things in the household, like her mother views their heritage.
The Second Red Scare was based upon hysteria, not legitimate threats as evident in American politics. The first example that proves the Second Red Scare was based upon hysteria not legitimate political threats is the low percent of the population that were Communists. “In 1950, fewer than 50,000 Americans out of a total U.S. population of 150 million were members of the Communist Party” (“Anticommunist Hysteria”). Americans feared that Communists were becoming the majority of American citizens (“Anticommunist Hysteria”). Among the American population, only 0.03% of the population actually identified as Communist.
He had thought of a fine revenge upon the officer who had referred to him and his fellows as mule drivers” (192). Henry’s intense desire for revenge is a moral flaw, but Crane leaves hope for Henry as he does not act on his hatred for the officer (192). Henry Fleming finally finds inner peace, and courage wins the war in his heart. Crane writes, “Yet the youth smiled, for he saw that the world was a world for him, though many discovered it to be made of oaths and walking sticks. He had rid himself of the red sickness of , battle” (232).
Many books have been banned in the past including The Red Badge of Courage by Stephan Crane. This novel follows a young man named Henry Fleming in his first battle of the Civil War. He internally clashes with the idea if he should stay and fight in the battle or if he should run away from the battlefield. Once the Confederates charged for a second time, Henry chose to run away from the battle which he soon regretted and he wished "he had a bloody bandage, a Red Badge of Courage"("Florida Officials Yield On Book Ban"). After he ran away from the battle he became obsessed with fighting in the war.
The Red Badge of Courage The type of book report I am writing is a plot summary, character analyses, and theme analyses. The title of the book is The Red Badge of Courage. The author of The Red Badge of Courage is Steven Crane. The Red Badge of Courage takes place during the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia in the era of the Civil War in 1863.
The excerpt we read from Stephen Crane's novel The Red Badge of Courage and Yusef Komunyakaa's poem camouflaging the Chimera have some similarities and differences apart from them being decades apart. Some of the similarities and differences between the two works include themes, language, and genre. The themes of the works are very different because in Crane's piece the theme is about one young soldier who wants to be remembered after the civil war as war hero and eventually have a statue built in his honor. In Komunyakaa's piece the point of view of a whole group of soldiers.
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets was published during the time of industrialization when the United States almost completed the transform from an agriculture society to an industrialized nation in the late 1800s. A tremendous amount of people came to New York and contributed to the rapid growth of population in the urban New York. While these immigrants helped the United States to develop economically, the progress is accompanied by poverty. Maggie, the lovely protagonist, is representative of the lower class people who suffer from poverty. “City poverty, violence and prostitution” showed up in American slums, and the Bowery city Maggie lived in was “an assembly of criminals” (Mahma 16).
but it also must be a virtue one sees in him/herself. Similarly, the constant symbolism of nature contributes to the outlook Henry has himself, courage, and the truths of war. After battle Henry is astonished by nature’s indifference, Crane wrote, “As he gazed around him the youth felt a flash of astonishment at the blue, pure sky and the sun gleaming on the trees and fields... Nature had gone tranquilly on with her golden process in the midst of so much devilment” (Crane 38). Henry is astonished that after so much bloodshed and death nature appeared indifferent and carried on.
Maggie grew up in the Bowery of New York City where she was surrounded by abuse, poverty, and isolation which led to her suicide at the end of the novella. It has been discussed that Maggie may have been murdered by a “huge fat man in torn and greasy garments…” but other sources in the text say differently (Crane 743). Maggie committed suicide to get out of her bad habits just like Edna did. She became a prostitute because her mother and brother kicked her out of the house and her boyfriend cheated on her. Her life had always not been the best, but from that point on it slowly crumbled apart.
After finally leaving the hotel he heads to a saloon in the town behind the hotel, Romper, where he is stabbed by the Gambler and meets his final resting place. This whole situation is ironic as if he was not paranoid of being killed nothing after would have occurred and there could have been a good chance the Swede was not going to be killed. This situation helps support the idea that the quote describing Stephen Crane applies to the story as it shows how the story itself is an