Sample of Literature Essay on Linguistics

On the American Dead in Spain by Ernest Hemingway. Linguistic Analysis.

The text is a short story by Ernest Hemingway, American author belonging to the “Lost Generation”. He is known for his “telegraphic style”, preferring short, simple sentences devoid of picturesque epithets and metaphors. He avoids synonyms, generally using one word for every single notion throughout the text, creating the effect of repetition and emphasizing the meaning of that notion. This text is a characteristic example of Hemingway’s prose. It can be roughly divided into three parts.

In the first one, the author describes the graveyard of American volunteers who died during the Spanish Civil War, concentrating on the landscape, the river, the forest with the imprint of war on them (lower branches were cut to cover tanks), and the earth itself. What is most important, it is winter: the coldness of death is paralleled by the coldness of physical temperature.

The third paragraph has transitional character: In the first two paragraphs only Present and Past tenses are used, while in the third one Future tenses are prevalent, indicating more hopeful and cheerful notes. The tone of narration, as well as physical background, changes: it is spring, the earth comes back to life and, the author stresses, the dead feel it, because they have become one with the earth of Spain, and the earth can never die.

The author’s intonation, already optimistic in the second part, grows steadily more and more solemnly joyous in the third one. Hemingway uses oxymoron to emphasize the importance of what he says: “as long as all our dead live in the Spanish earth… no system of tyranny ever will prevail”. He believes that these deaths have not been in vain, that the American dead sleeping in Spain will forever serve as the sign of struggle and will lead the Spanish to victory. The final words of the text reflect the very first phrase – that the dead sleep. In the end Hemingway says that those who died there have achieved immortality, contraposing these two opposite notions: death and immortality.

It is characteristic of Hemingway to repeat the words that carry considerable symbolic meaning many times. In this text these words are “dead” and “earth”. It becomes even more interesting when we understand that finally the two become one, acquiring some new quality. The earth is not really the earth without the flesh of heroes strengthening it; and the dead do not achieve immortality unless they are unified with the earth by dying for it.

In order to find out how to write literature essay – view our Literature essay section.

If you want to get better idea of what the peculiarities of writing in this subject field are, feel free to consult our Social sciences section.

Writing Help
chat pass this quiz pass this quiz pass this quiz

Answer a few simple questions. It may take under 2 minutes

START
questionNo1 questionNo1 questionNo1
Highschool

High school

College

College

University

University

PursuingPhD

Pursuing PhD

questionNo2 questionNo2 questionNo2
Essay

Essay

Assignment

Assignment

Dissertation

Dissertation

Other type of papers

Other

questionNo3 questionNo3 questionNo3
Qualityofwriting

Quality of writing

Reasonableprice

Reasonable price

Adherence To Instructions

Adherence to instructions

Friendly support

Friendly support

questionNo4 questionNo4 questionNo4
Phone

Phone

chat

Chat

Messenger

Messenger

Alloptionsarefine

All options are fine

questionNo5 questionNo5 questionNo5
USA

USA

UK

UK

Australia

Australia

Other

Other

High Quality WritingLast High Quality WritingLastp High Quality WritingLastm
Base
PH

PaperHelp

Leam More

Base1
MAE

MyAdmissionsEssay

Leam More

Base2
WP

WePapers

Leam More Vector Small

CPB

CyberPaperBoy

Leam More Vector Small