Bøger af Julia Straub

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2,3, University of Constance, course: British and American Studies, language: English, abstract: ¿¿Who is this Gatsby anyhow?¿ demanded Tom suddenly. ¿Some big bootlegger?¿¿ At this moment in the novel nobody would have guessed that Tom was right. During the time of Prohibition many newly rich people earned their money from the bootlegging business, selling illegal alcohol out of their back doors. And Jay Gatsby is one of them. But is Gatsby¿s economic success nevertheless a realization of the American Dream? It is important to ask that question because often The Great Gatsby is mainly associated with the American Dream and its typical lifestyle. Parties, money, expensive cars and women dressed in the typical fashion of the ¿Golden Twenties¿. But there is much more behind Jay Gatsby¿s story.How did he make his way up to the top? And how important is wealth, success and his social status really in his opinion? In the following those questions will be given a closer look at.At first a definition and the history of the American Dream will be given. Then there will be some general information about the Prohibition. The next point is about Gatsby¿s wealth and his success with a special focus on his illegal affairs. Afterwards Gatsby¿s reputation in society, also concerning his wealth and illegal means will be analysed. At the end the results will be summarized and an answer to the question whether Gatsby¿s economic success is a realization of the American Dream, will be given in the conclusion.

Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Comparative Literature, grade: 2,7, University of Constance, course: British and American Studies, language: English, abstract: This work focuses on the question of identity in the novel "Wide Sargasso Sea". Antoinette, the female protagonist of Jean Rhys¿ novel "Wide Sargasso Sea", is struggling with those questions of her identity all her life. As a Creole girl, who lives in Jamaica during post-colonialism, she finds herself caught between two identities not knowing where she belongs. On the one hand, there is the black community which she knows and grows up with, on the other hand the white community which her mother tries to be a part of and forces Antoinette to fit into as well. This life between two contrasting cultures forces Antoinette into a situation of confusion and doubt which makes her question not only where she belongs but if she belongs at all. It drives her into a crisis which she is not able to escape.Jean Rhys published her novel in 1966. "Wide Sargasso Sea" tells the story of Antoinette Cosway who is also, known under the name of Bertha, a character of Charlotte Brontë's novel "Jane Eyre". In "Wide Sargasso Sea" Rhys is giving Bertha/ Antoinette a story and a reason why she became mad in the first place. The story starts in her childhood and moves on to the marriage to Mr. Rochester. The last part is set when she is already imprisoned by her husband and is setting the house on fire which accords with the story told in "Jane Eyre". For the background of the novel it is important to know that Rhys herself grew up in a situation like Antoinette¿s. She as well had troubles with identifying herself when she grew up. So Rhys shares part of Antoinette¿s history which is probably why she was that interested in telling her story which is completely uncared-for by Brontë.

Essay from the year 2018 in the subject Literature - Comparative Literature, grade: 1,3, Cardiff University, course: German literature, language: English, abstract: ¿He had drunk only one glass of the wine. Emilia Galotti lay open on his desk¿ (Goethe 2004). When Werther commits suicide at the end of Goethe¿s novel Die Leiden des jungen Werther, Lessing¿s play Emilia Galotti lies next to him on his desk. The fact that it is opened, lets the reader assume that Werther had read the book, perhaps just moments before his suicide. It makes it seem of importance to Werther and it might have been relevant for his decision to commit suicide. But that is just one assumption which can be made. For the reader, it is interesting to know what Goethe wanted to tell us by including Lessing¿s work in his novel. It does not seem much of a coincidence that Lessing¿s work appears at the most important scene of the novel. This leads to the question this essay is concerned with. What is the relevance of Lessing¿s play for Goethe¿s novel? Did Lessing¿s play influence Goethe or is he actually criticizing Lessing by including the play in his novel? And going even further: What is the relevance of the play for the state of mind of Storm and Stress writers/artists in general? There are several possible assumptions to those two questions so some of them will be presented and analysed in this essay although not all of them can be covered.

Essay from the year 2018 in the subject Literature - Comparative Literature, grade: 2,7, Cardiff University, course: English literature, language: English, abstract: This essay will aim at answering the following questions and it will compare the different representations of African American identity in the three short stories. Is there a difference in the representation of black identity if it is contested by a white writer? The question is if Faulkner¿s representation of African American identity as a white author is more influenced by stereotypes than Wright¿s or Baldwin¿s. Or might some of these stereotypes actually be part of the black identity? For almost two centuries the short story has been part of the American literary tradition. It is one of the most essential literary genres of American culture. But it has been just as important to African American culture. Richard Wright and James Baldwin are two of the most well-known African American short story authors. They represent African American identity and culture in their short stories from the black point of view. William Faulkner, whose story will be analysed in this essay together with the ones of Wright and Baldwin, represents African American identity from a white author¿s point of view. This essay will look at a variety of ways in which African American identity is contested in three short stories by these three authors. The stories the essay will deal with are Wright¿s story The Man Who Was Almost a Man, written in 1961, Baldwin¿s Sonny¿s Blues from 1957 and William Faulkner¿s That Evening Sun which was published for the first time in 1931, but also appeared in 1950 which is the version this essay relies on. Black writers have often been "neglected or misread because of their ¿race¿", as Byerman argues, therefore it is interesting to take a look at the ways black identity is represented and contested in those stories.

Document from the year 2018 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,3, Cardiff University, course: English literature, language: English, abstract: "Brother Jacob" shows an example of the representation of sugar in a small town in Britain itself, whereas "The Journal of a West Indian Proprietor" rather represents the sugar production and life on the plantations in the colonies. This essay will look at different representations of sugar in the two works and will compare them to each other. ¿There is something about sugarcane, he isn¿t what he seem---¿ . At first sight the sweet pleasure of sugar as we know it today and as we use it in our every-day life, might seem nothing but that, an innocent pleasure. But in times of the British colonies, where the history of sugar begins, it was so much more than that. The background of sugar is marked by oppression and violence. George Eliot¿s "Brother Jacob" and Matthew Lewis¿ "Journal of a West India Proprietor" are just two examples of literature which tell us about the representation of sugar and which make it clear that sugar isn¿t what it might seem. Both books have been released in the 19th century, with one difference though. "Brother Jacob" was written after the Emancipation Act took place whereas Lewis¿ "Journal" was written years before. The two stories show different representations of sugar under the light of slavery and colonialism. Since the 17th century sugar plantations in the West Indies were the main source of work and profit. As the West Indies were British colonies, many British businessmen became plantation owners. Their slaves worked under different conditions for their masters, most of them suffering a lot. But when the sugar was imported into Great Britain nothing reminded about the brutal way in which it was produced anymore. "On July 28, 1833, the Emancipation Act was passed in England, to take effect on August 1, 1834, but it emancipated only children under six, and ¿apprenticed¿ domestic and non-field workers to their former masters for a period of four year and plantation workers for six years¿ . This was a huge step against slavery. But still the slaves had to stay on the sugar plantations and some of them still worked under bad conditions.

This monograph explores transatlantic literary culture by tracing the proliferation of 'new media,' such as the anthology, the literary history and the magazine, in the period between 1750 and 1850.