Anita Desai/In Custody
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A 4 page essay that examines Anita Desai's novel In Custody. The writer argues that the author addresses the construction of Indian nationality and how this perception is influenced by the past while affecting the present. In so doing, Desai addresses literary and academic illusions. Desai's protagonist, Deven, is a professor of Hindi, who idealizes the Indian past. He projects his idealized version of what India once was onto the person of a renowned poet, whom he does not live up to his expectations. Desai shows how Desai's projections and the failure of these projections provide a scathing critique of patriarchal Indian society. No additional sources cited.
Filename: khdesai.rtf

Anton Chekhov's 'The Cherry Orchard': Productions
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8 pages in length. Myriad productions have been created that revolved around Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard; however, time after time each rendering failed to present the play in the comedic style that Chekhov had originally intended. Curiously, even the playwright's own wife did not detect the comedic air to her husband's tale, noting only that she expressed her delight at the play and the tears it evoked. Amazed at how she and all other members of the company could not experience the intended farce, Chekhov finally relinquished his struggle to maintain The Cherry Orchard as a comedy. As such, Stanislavsky's production – the first of its kind – presented a melancholy version. The writer compares Stanislavsky's production with those of Andrei Serban, Peter Brook and Lucian Pintilie. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Filename: TLCchekh.wps

Anzia Yezierska's "Bread Givers"
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5 pages in length. Anzia Yezierska's Bread Givers attacks several social norms of both her traditional Polish homeland and the American life her protagonist has come to know. Clearly autobiographical, Bread Givers boldly questions why certain social and religious traditions continue throughout the centuries without the slightest consideration for an individual's interests or desires. Sara's traditional Jewish upbringing exposed her to a life dominated by patriarchal control; when she arrived in New York to seek out the American Dream, she found that once again her gender would stand in the way of such desires. No additional sources cited.
Filename: TLCbread.wps

Arch and Martin Flanagan: “The Line”
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This 3 page paper discusses the book “The Line” by Arch and Martin Flanagan and considers the statement: “It is not the conflict that is important but how people respond to it that matters.” Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Filename: HVlnefln.rtf

Ariel Dorfman; The Conveyance of Messages and Emotion Through Writing
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This five page paper looks at a piece of autobiographical writing by Ariel Dorfman about his love for Angelica and his time in Chile. Analysing this piece of writing, which was supplied by the student, we can see how style can dictate feelings and determine the passage of time in literary terms.
Filename: TEaredor.wps

August Strindberg and “The Stronger”
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This 5 page report discusses who is the stronger character in Strindberg’s play “The Stronger.” “The Stronger” is a three-character one-act in which the central character never appears, and one of the two female rivals for his love says nothing. The entire action of the play takes place over only a 15-minute period. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Filename: BWstrind.wps

Barriers Between Readers and the Other
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This 3 page paper discusses the way in which the myth of the Other keeps readers from learning everything about other people, cultures and societies too quickly. Bibliography lists 6 sources.
Filename: HVmthoth.rtf

Bharati Mukherjee’s “Jasmine” -- Twenty Years after the Novel Ended
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This 5 page report is written as a letter from Jyoti/Jasmine/Jane to her now-adult daughter. Her daughter has asked her why she left Bud (the daughter’s biological father) and what the various aspects of her mother’s heritage, experience, and attitudes led her to make the decisions she made. Bibliography lists one source.
Filename: BWjasmin.wps

Book Report on Isabel Allende’s Daughter of Fortune
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In three pages this book report on Isabel Allende’s Daughter of Fortune includes background information on the author, the novel’s historical context, book summary, and writer’s personal recommendation. There are no additional sources listed in the bibliography.
Filename: TGdaughfor.rtf