Intellectualism in Hesse's 'The Glass Bead Game'
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A five page paper looking at Hermann Hesse's last and most provocative novel in terms of its treatment of intellectualism in the modern world. The paper centers on the motif of the Glass Bead Game, and argues that it is impossible to play the Game as an intellectual discipline because its truths can only be glimpsed as brief snatches in the midst of real life. No additional sources.
Filename: KBhesse.rtf

Siddhartha and Govinda
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A six-page paper based on these central characters in Hermann Hesse’s classic novel Siddhartha. The paper compares these two characters in terms of their spiritual quest, concluding that there are many paths for seekers to take in attaining Nirvana. No additional sources.
Filename: KBsidd.wps

The Faustian Bargain in Classical Literature
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A five page paper looking at the way a number of classical sources treat the 'Faustian Bargain' -- the exchange of short-term gratification for long-term misery. Sources discussed are the Bible, Machiavelli's 'The Prince,' Homer's 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey,'; Aeschylus' 'Agamemnon,' Sophocles' 'Oedipus Rex,' Virgil's 'Aeneid,' Dante's 'Divine Comedy,' Cervantes' 'Don Quixote,' and Goethe's 'Faust.' No additional sources.
Filename: KBfaust2.wps

Goethe's 'Faust' / The Devil's Funnybone -- A Comic Episode
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A 5 page paper examining one episode of comic relief in Goethe's Faust. It concerns the Devil's advice to a first-year student trying to decide on a field of study, and contains considerable irony and satire. The paper concludes that the Devil's cynicism actually serves to throw Faust's sincerity into higher relief. Bibliography lists three sources.
Filename: Devilfun.wps

Goethe’s Faust – A Soul Torn Between Gretchen and Mephistopheles
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This 5 page report discusses Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s masterpiece “Faust” and whether or not Faust will give his soul over to God, to Gretchen or to Mephistopheles. Throughout the story, it could be resolved in a number of ways. However, what Faust never seems to realize is his fundamental helplessness in the face of powers much greater than his own. No bibliography.
Filename: BWfaust.rtf

Magic In Shakespeare & Goethe
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A 5 page paper that details the passage of magic, dreams, and incantations in a Midsummer Nights Dream and Goethe's Faust. The writer also examines how both works display these qualities and goes into significant plot analysis as well.
Filename: Midg.wps

Messages for Today in Goethe’s “Faust”
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A 5 page paper examining the issues Goethe raises in Faust and determining the extent to which they are relevant to our own time. The paper concludes that Faust is redeemed through not only an acknowledgment of his mistakes but an understanding of them; he is also redeemed through an increased knowledge of the importance of giving of oneself. No additional sources.
Filename: KBfaust.wps

Modernism and the Novel
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This 5 page report discusses the transformation of modernism in terms of Kafka's 'The Trial' and F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby.' The inherent differences of writers in the same modernist period but in Europe compared to America is also discussed. Bibliography lists only the two works themselves as sources.
Filename: Modno.wps

"Faust" and "Madame Bovary"
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This 9 page paper compares two classic literary works, "Faust" and "Madame Bovary" with regard to their philosophical undercurrents and the times in which they were written. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Filename: HVFauBov.rtf