What makes a particular work a classic

Loman is also faced with the fact that his son, Biff, has not turned into the success Loman had hoped for. In the end, Loman commits suicide so his son can have the insurance money to jumpstart a better life.

The story follows an old man who catches a large fish, only to have it eaten by sharks before he can get it back to shore. The main character in "Flowers for Algernon" is Charlie Gordon, a man of low intelligence who becomes a genius after undergoing an experimental procedure.

The experiment has already been performed on a lab mouse named Algernon. The mouse, who Gordon remembers fondly, dies. Shakespeare wrote "Othello" in the early 17th century. The play tells the tragic story of Othello—a Moor and general in the Venetian army, and Iago—a traitorous low-ranking officer. Shakespeare tackles themes of racism, betrayal, and jealousy.

While he refers to Othello as "Black," Shakespeare most likely meant he was darker-skinned than most Englishmen at the time and not necessarily of African descent.

The story follows a group of pilgrims who tell tales during their journey from London to Canterbury Cathedral. The cast of characters—including a carpenter, cook, and knight, among others—paint a varied picture of 14th-century society.

It was written in Old English somewhere between and A. Tolkien - Score: 6, - Average rating: 4. In this prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy , readers tag along with Bilbo Baggins, an unassuming hobbit who is convinced to go on an adventure by the wizard Gandalf. Bilbo finds there is much more to himself than he thought—and he finds a certain ring, too.

The historical novel describes death and despair, but also touches on themes of redemption. Considered a classic in English literature, the novel shows readers how passionate and destructive love can be.

Joad and his family later set off for a new life in California, only to face struggles along the way. The book, which focuses on the theme of hard work, won the Pulitzer Prize for Novel now Fiction.

Mary Shelley wrote "Frankenstein," considered the formative horror text and one of the greatest horror novels of all time, when she was only The story was published in and introduced readers to Dr. Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who brings to life a creature he assembled from discarded corpse parts. Although Dr. Frankenstein is horrified by his creation and abandons it, the creature manages to educate itself and then seeks revenge on his creator. This comedy shows the events that surround the marriage of Theseus, the duke of Athens, to Hippolytus, a former Amazon queen.

The play also shares the stories of several other lovers who are influenced by the fairies who live in the forest near the wedding. The play is a favorite for actors and audiences , even today. This Charles Dickens classic tells the story of Pip, an orphan who gets a chance at a better life through an anonymous benefactor.

Many consider the novel a great masterpiece. Hinton Goodreads Author - Score: 8, - Average rating: 4. Hinton introduced readers to year-old Ponyboy Curtis in "The Outsiders," a novel she wrote when she was The plot centers around two rival gangs: the lower-class Greasers and the well-off Socials. Elie Wiesel gives a first-hand account of the atrocities experienced in German concentration camps during World War II.

Wiesel and his family were deported to Auschwitz. His mother, father, and younger sister all died. Shakespeare takes on history with "Julius Caesar," a tragic story of power and betrayal. Brutus, who worked closely with Caesar, joined his fellow conspirators to assassinate Caesar in order to save the republic from a tyrannical leader.

The play marked a political shift in Shakespeare's writing. In "Brave New World," published in , Aldous Huxley paints a picture of a dystopian future where people consume pills called soma to get a sense of instant bliss without side effects. A preordained class system is decided at the embryonic stage, with certain people getting hormones for peak mental and athletic fitness. This play is a dramatized version of the Salem witch trials of the late s.

In the novel, a group of young girls are dancing in the forest. Their lies set off witchcraft accusations throughout the town. Arthur Miller wrote "The Crucible" as a protest to the actions of Sen. Joseph McCarthy , who set up a committee to investigate and prosecute the Communists he thought had infiltrated the U.

It won the Tony Award for Best Play. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Esther Lombardi. Literature Expert. Esther Lombardi, M. Updated October 23, Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Lombardi, Esther. What Is a Modern Classic in Literature? Plot and Themes of J.

Tolkien's Book 'The Hobbit'. Books About Thanksgiving in Literature. Examples of classic. Your subscription series would be mostly comedies with a few classics, musicals, dramas, and other types of plays. From the Cambridge English Corpus. The development of electrical recording, which improved its sonic range, plus the cessation of recording abridged versions of the classics, helped their cause.

The latinised element increases notably through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, reflecting the influence and emulation of the classics. The papers are generally well written, but my judgment is that only few of them have the potential to become classics. However, it has been suggested that articles cited times or more can be regarded as "citation classics" 4. Even as she experimented with classics, with female poetry of sensibility, with male forms, with ballads for female annuals, she revised them.

Several of the chapters have become what one might term minor classics. The young composer devoted much time to re-create world repertoire classics and explore new timbres and textures generated electronically. The resultant volumes are destined to become classics as they provide a superb archive of eruptive phenomena and their consequences.

Due to a perpetuation of art that was antiquated and out of touch with the present, the classics were performed in empty opera houses. Their status as classics exempted them from more exacting scrutiny. They often conveyed their cultural interests and accomplishments : knowledge of the classics, interest in literature, the passion for music. Seen in this light, the classics may certainly be translated.

Therefore, stressing classics is intended to cultivate the fundamental and compensate the inadequate. After social psychology began to focus its interest on cognitive processes, few modern classics have been added to the canon of misbehavior. See all examples of classic. These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Translations of classic in Chinese Traditional. See more. Need a translator? Your essay has most likely treated a very specific element of the work—a single character, a small set of images, or a particular passage. In your conclusion, try to show how this narrow discussion has wider implications for the work overall. A conclusion should open up your highly specific, focused discussion, but it should do so without drawing a sweeping lesson about life or human nature.

SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. Introduction When you read for pleasure, your only goal is enjoyment. Contents 1. Ask questions 2.

Collect evidence 3. Construct a thesis 4. Develop and organize arguments 5. Write the introduction 6. Write the body paragraphs 7. Write the conclusion. Take a deep breath and start by asking yourself these questions: What struck you?

What confused you? Did you notice any patterns? Did you notice any contradictions or ironies? Frankenstein and his monster alike? Elements of Story These are the whats of the work—what happens, where it happens, and to whom it happens. Plot All of the events and actions of the work. Character The people who act and are acted upon in a literary work. The main character of a work is known as the protagonist. Conflict The central tension in the work. Setting When and where the work takes place.

Elements of setting include location, time period, time of day, weather, social atmosphere, and economic conditions. Narrator The person telling the story. The narrator may straightforwardly report what happens, convey the subjective opinions and perceptions of one or more characters, or provide commentary and opinion in his or her own voice. Themes The main ideas or messages of the work—usually abstract ideas about people, society, or life in general. A work may have many themes, which may be in tension with one another.

Elements of Style These are the hows —how the characters speak, how the story is constructed, and how language is used throughout the work. Structure and organization How the parts of the work are assembled. Some novels are narrated in a linear, chronological fashion, while others skip around in time. Some plays follow a traditional three-or five-act structure, while others are a series of loosely connected scenes. Some authors deliberately leave gaps in their works, leaving readers to puzzle out the missing information.

Point of view The perspective from which a story is told. In first-person point of view , the narrator involves him or herself in the story. In third-person point of view , the narrator does not participate in the story.

Omniscient narrators see and know all: they can witness any event in any time or place and are privy to the inner thoughts and feelings of all characters.