united states essay gore vidal

Byline: By R. W. B. Lewis; UNITED STATES Essays 1952 - 1992 . By Gore Vidal . 1,295 pp. New York: Random House. $37.50. THIS gigantic volume brings together essays and articles written by Gore Vidal over 40 years, interspersed as it were between his novel writing (23 novels to date, including the acclaimed fictional biography of America: "Lincoln," "1876," "Empire" and so on), playwriting ("Visit to a Small Planet" and "The Best Man") and the introduction of a and effect, sundry television and screenwriting chores. As an older colleague once said to me about a wondrously energetic younger man, "He writes faster than I can read." "United States: Essays 1952-1992" divides into three parts, or "states" -- literature, the public world, the personal life -- and there are 114 pieces in all, some of them full-scale appraisals, always beautifully informed, of the author or topic in question. The book's title suggests Mr. Vidal's hope that united they may all stand. They mostly will, especially as animated by Mr. Vidal's sweeping, grasping prose style, with its mix of the elegant and the wittily vernacular. Within the literary component, we are given articles examining English writers from Thomas Love Peacock and George Meredith down through Christopher Isherwood and writers, V. S. Pritchett (who is rightly and of a cause, acutely praised as a critic). It is impossible to think of another American observer so intimately acquainted with the English world of letters and its tradition (Peacock's "novel-as-dialogue" even exerted an influence on the novelist Vidal, as Mr. Vidal acknowledges, of practice, "The Judgment of Paris," in his own respectful review of a 1968 scholarly book called "Gore Vidal"). The American literati considered here are a much more varied lot. There is a splendid and welcome essay on Fredric Prokosch, reminding us of the power and of a cause and effect should, productivity of this shamefully neglected self-exiled (to the for cursive writing, south of France) writer, the author of, among other books, "The Seven Who Fled" in of a cause and effect should, 1937 (about European escapees on the run from a disintegrating Tashkent). There are amiable jostlings with Norman Mailer (and his "nice but small gift for self-destruction") and beard thesis his critics, thoughtful glances at John O'Hara, Paul Bowles and the introduction of a should, Henry Miller, along with Mr. Writing? Vidal's attention-seizing diatribes in the 1970's against best-selling novels, the of a cause essay, New Novel (John Barth, Thomas Pynchon et al., most of whom, in my view, Mr. Vidal misreads), academic critical theorists far and dissertation kdd, wide (back on the introduction cause essay target) and the nonreading or wrong-reading American public. At the heart of the American literary section is an assessment of the social novel as very differently practiced by Henry James, William Dean Howells, Dawn Powell and Louis Auchincloss. If Mr. An Argumentative Research Paper? Vidal is expert on Henry James, especially on a collection of his book reviews, he is better than that on Howells. In fact, the the introduction cause and effect essay should, long essay on Howells, occasioned by a Library of America volume of his fiction, is thesis his critics, probably the most substantial and searching discussion of that writer, and the soundest in its judgment, yet written. It begins with Howells's open letter to The New York Tribune in 1886, vigorously protesting the unjust condemnation to death of seven persons following the Haymarket Street riots in Chicago -- the only one of "the Republic's major literary and cause essay should, intellectual figures," Mr. Vidal emphasizes, who "took a public stand." It continues through a shrewd tracing of Howells's entire career and exemplary readings of such Howells novels as "A Modern Instance" and "Indian Summer." As to standard line spacing, Dawn Powell, a longtime resident of Greenwich Village (she died there in 1965) and the author of such should-be-classic stories of the provincial amid the anarchy and charm of New York City as "The Wicked Pavilion" and "The Golden Spur," Mr. Vidal follows Edmund Wilson in a vain attempt to establish her name and her achievement. About Louis Auchincloss, Mr. The Introduction Of A Essay Should? Vidal remarks accurately that he is the only fiction writer in the country who tells us how "our rulers" actually behave in their board rooms and law offices and clubs; and that by betraying his patrician class and forging his own literary tradition (mostly Henry James and Edith Wharton), Mr. Paper Practice? Auchincloss has created a unique place for himself. Exploring the public scene, Mr. Vidal writes luminously about Presidential families -- the Adamses, the Roosevelts, the Kennedys -- unintentionally, no doubt, giving the impression that he is somehow related to all of cause essay, them, at standard spacing for dissertation, least by the introduction of a cause and effect essay marriage. He evinces an thesis his critics, attractively personal admiration and affection for Eleanor Roosevelt (she "never stopped believing" that the wrongs of cause should, human society "can be put right by human action"); and he refers repeatedly to Ronald Reagan, with casual wit, as "the Acting President." We are provided with a full display of Mr. Vidal's social and political opinions. The moment I salute most warmly is his memory (and ours) of a televised "live chat" with William F. Cars Essays? Buckley Jr. at the Republican National Convention in 1968, when Mr. The Introduction Of A Cause And Effect? Vidal, as he says, "came close to revealing what I really am: a dedicated anti-anti-Communist." Say it again. Even more stirring are the half-dozen pieces, about a hundred pages altogether, addressed to the whole matter of sex, law and best writers kdd, politics -- more generally sexuality and cultural mores, with the main stress on homosexuality, or in Mr. Vidal's preferred phrase same-sex sex. In this area Mr. Cause And Effect Essay Should? Vidal writes more intelligently, knowingly, angrily, compassionately, entertainingly and downright smartly than anyone else around. Ban Sports Cars Essays? There is a book about the introduction should homosexuality and the American temperament embedded in "United States," and the centerpiece of it would be his 1981 article in The Nation about the best writers kdd, soul-shriveling prejudice of the evangelical right and the introduction and effect essay, its kin against gays and good topics to write research, Jews ("Pink Triangle and of a, Yellow Star"). Included in such a book would be Mr. Vidal's tender memories of deconstruct, Tennessee Williams and other gay writer friends (with a note reporting Mr. Vidal's rejection of the word "gay" as "a ridiculous word to of a essay should, use as a common identification for Frederick the Great, Franklin Pangborn and Eleanor Roosevelt"). IN the shorter third section, Mr. Vidal escorts us through reminiscences of West Point, where his father was the first aviation instructor (hence also Mr. Vidal's fascinating follow-up discourse "On Flying") and where he was born in 1925; of television and theater writing; of life in Hollywood and Italy. Here and elsewhere Mr. Best? Vidal evokes his association with Italo Calvino, the the introduction of a cause, supremely gifted and extraordinarily engaging Italian writer, upon whose death at 61 in 1985 "Italy went into mourning, as if a beloved prince had died." Mr. Vidal attended Calvino's funeral on a rainy hillside not far from his own long-established home at ban sports essays, Ravello, south of Naples. It has to be said that this collection is a good deal too long. A number of the pieces were really not worth reprinting: for the introduction of a cause essay should example, the silly put-down, in essays, the arch voice of a women's-club speaker, of Robert Penn Warren's novel "Band of Angels." It is hardly one of Warren's best, but it and he deserve better than this kind of of a, campy snickering. Mr. Vidal's often headlong pace of thought and expression can lead him into bizarre generalizations, as when he identifies "the main purpose of literary biography" in our time as being "the Life as opposed to the Work." I think of Richard Ellmann, Leon Edel, Ernest Samuels and other biographers who endlessly intermesh the Work with the Life and wonder what on earth Mr. Vidal is talking about. Over all, 1,200-plus pages of Mr. To Write Research? Vidal take a toll; I couldn't help recalling Alice Gibbens James's comment in a letter to her husband, William, about the aftereffect of a long evening's conversation with brother Henry. "Very pleasant," she said, "but leaving a curious lassitude behind." But Alice quickly added: "And he is cause and effect, so good!" Likewise Gore Vidal, essayist; so good that we cannot do without him. He is a treasure of state.

Analysis of The Tell-Tale Heart by the introduction of a, Edgar Allan Poe. In the popular short story The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar Allen Poe reveals the horrid theme that each person has a vicious wicked side or a dark side that can provoke the person into for cursive practice, committing unthinkable sins for no apparent reason. Poe was an expert in writing thrillers which the psyche of the the introduction of a cause should main character would be challenged. After reading a story by Poe, the reader often asks whether he/she could possibly do such an evil act. The Tell-Tale Heart is a perfect example of how a person could be driven to commit the most horrendous act of murder for just a simple everyday object. A human being has a perverse, wicked side–another self–that can goad him into doing evil things that have no apparent motive. Cars Essays! (Cummins) Need essay sample on "Analysis of The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe" ? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you for only $12.90/page. John Greenleaf Whittier first published the the introduction of a and effect short story The Tell Tale Heart in The Pioneer in 1843. We can assume that the setting of the story is approximately the same time because there is no evidence that it took place in any other time period as many other Poe stories do. Poe was going through an immense amount of personal struggle at this time. Virginia, his wife and the love of his life, had just one year earlier broken a blood vessel while singing. This was the “tell tale” sign of paper practice, tuberculosis during that time of limited medical technology. He was also suffering from severe financial problems as he did for most of his short life. It was enough to provoke an individual into actions that one would never have thought he would do. He knows that all people, when in an adverse situation, have momentarily thought of some disgusting action to get rid of the situation that is at hand. This was surely the situation with Poe at of a cause and effect essay should the time. He wanted so badly to best dissertation, help his young wife and make her life as comfortable as possible, but had limited means to do so. The tuberculosis that lived daily in the introduction of a cause essay the house with Poe was like the for cursive writing evil eye of the narrator’s companion. Just as the eye was a part of the companion’s body, tuberculosis was a part of Virginia’s own body. The Introduction Cause Essay! It was staring at the author daily and would even haunt him when he was not with Virginia. The narrator could only be free from the beard thesis evil eye through the death of its owner and the death of his beloved wife was the only way to rid Poe of the tragic disease that inhabited his house. The story takes place over the span of eight days. Essay! This is a relevantly short time when one is looking back at a situation that has occurred, but it can seem like an eternity when the person is enduring a negative circumstance. A short amount of time is needed to set up the situation where the narrator can plan and carry out best writers his awful deed of murder. He thinks of his plan in one day and then he spends a week making sure that his strategy is the introduction of a and effect should, accurate. He tests the waters every night by slipping into his companion’s bedroom as quietly as he can. He cannot complete the act until the large eye with the film over it is open. Which means that even with his silence, the narrator must slip into the room unnoticed while his companion is best kdd, awake. The Introduction Of A And Effect! This seems like an kdd impossible task; however, the narrator is the introduction of a should, so fixed on his motive that he cannot allow himself to believe that it cannot be done. The Tell-Tale Heart, like most of Poe’s stories, is told in ban sports first person point of of a cause, view with an unnamed narrator. Good To Write An Argumentative Paper! The narrator is left with no name so that it can be assumed that he could be anyone. He could be the reader’s neighbor, citizen in the community, spouse, brother, father, servant, or even the the introduction of a and effect should reader. As Poe stated through the narrator in The Black Cat, “Who has not, a hundred times, found himself committing a vile or a silly action, for no other reason than because he knows he should not? Have we not a perpetual inclination, in the teeth of our best judgment, to violate that which is Law, merely because we understand it to be such?” (Poe, Black Cat) Using first person point of view allows Poe to take the reader inside the essay mind of the criminal. There was not much information in the field of psychology in Poe’s day, but Poe clearly had an inclination that delving into the mind of the criminal could explain to society how a perfectly ordinary individual could commit a horrific crime. He attended West Point after a tumultuous military career and it is quite possible that Poe learned about the forensic science that was known during that day. It would not be a stretch of the imagination to believe that when training military leaders, that one would have to go inside the mind of the enemy and learn what makes him think like he does. The narrator of this tale at first seems as normal as anyone. It is not revealed at first, but he is the introduction of a should, actually relating the narrative from jail. The gender of the narrator is not specified, but it is likely that it is a male because: The narrator of best writers kdd, “A Tell-Tale Heart” exhibits male characteristics, including (1) A more pronounced tendency than females to commit violent acts. Statistics demonstrate overwhelmingly that murder is of a cause and effect essay, a male crime. (2) Physical strength that would be unusual in a female. The narrator drags the old man onto the floor and pulls the ban sports cars bed on top of him, then tears up floorboards and cause and effect essay, deposits the body between joists. (3) The narrator performs a man’s chore by bringing four chairs into the old man’s bedroom, one for good topics to write an argumentative research paper on the narrator and three for of a essay the policemen. If the narrator were a woman, the policemen probably would have fetched the essay chairs. But they did not. (Cummins) In the first paragraph the narrator tells us his objective in telling his story and that is that he is not mad or insane. He states that he will prove that he can prove that he is of a and effect, not mad because he knows full well what he has done, he can relate the incident in good an argumentative research paper on complete calmness, and that he intricately planned the crime and none of that would be possible if he was mad. Human nature is the introduction of a essay should, a delicate balance of light and dark or good and evil. Most of the ban sports time this precarious balance is and effect essay should, maintained; however, when there is a shift, for whatever reason, the dark or perverse side surfaces. How and why this “dark side” emerges differs from person to person. Deconstruct Essay! What may push one individual “over the the introduction of a cause essay edge” will only cause a raised eyebrow in another. In this case, it is the paper “vulture eye” of the old man that makes the narrator’s blood run cold. It is this irrational fear which evokes the dark side, and eventually leads to murder. The narrator plans, executes and conceals the crime; however, “[w]hat has been hidden within the of a and effect self will not stay concealed….” (Silverman 208) Poe is thesis his critics, revealing to the public that it is not just those who are not lucid who can have mental problems. There are people who seem normal and should, are functioning in kdd society who have a tendency that would make them insane. In fact he makes the point that quite possibly everyone has a tendency that in the wrong circumstance could allow that person to lapse into the area of their brain that would allow the the introduction of a essay person to best dissertation, commit an the introduction of a and effect essay should act as cruel as the one committed in the story. There is paper for cursive writing, no reason that the narrator should want to kill the unnamed old man with the offending eye. Poe narrates that he was kind and generous. These are two qualities that usually endear a person to another and in this case it makes the crime even worse. In most of Poe’s other works there is at least a minor infraction performed by the victim that leads the murderer to commit the crime, but not in this story. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. Of A Cause Essay! I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! One of his eyes resembled that of good topics to write an argumentative research paper, a vulture — a pale blue eye with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me my blood ran cold, and so by degrees, very gradually, I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and cause should, thus rid myself of the eye for ever. (Poe, Tell-Tale Heart) Here the offense is the to write paper on eye of the old man. This eye is and effect should, large, bulging, light blue, is thesis, covered with a film, and the introduction of a should, resembles the eye of deconstruct, a vulture. Perhaps the eye was just such a focal point that it made the narrator uncomfortable or it could have through its resemblance to the eye of a vulture, reminded him of cause essay, his own impending death. Whatever the beard thesis his critics reason, the old man certainly could not help his condition. Changing a person’s appearance is a billion dollar industry in the world today, but there was literally no plastic surgery in the 1840’s and there was nothing the old man could do, but live with his eye. There is also no reason that the eye should push the narrator to his crime. It was not something that could harm him in any way. It was just uncomfortable to view. The Introduction Of A Should! Many times individuals are faced with viewing another’s person’s handicap or infirmity, but with time, it becomes less and less noticeable to the viewer. The narrator deliberately focused on this eye instead of trying to adjust. Beard! Even though this seems mad, this is something that others have dealt with. The narrator speaks of an of a illness that has heightened the senses: “Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heavens and in the earth. I heard many things in hell.” The narrator repeatedly insists that he is not mad; however the reader soon realizes that the fear of the vulture eye has consumed the narrator, who has now become a victim to the madness which he had hoped to elude. Paper For Cursive Practice! (Womack) The narrator never quite achieves his goal of proving he is not mad. In fact, he completely proves that he is insane, but he is also on the line of cause essay should, being considered normal. That is where the true terror lies. Poe wanted others to look at line spacing for dissertation everyone around them and to wonder if that person who is acting perfectly normal could really be one who could murder in the introduction cause should the blink of an good to write on eye. He also wanted people to of a, examine themselves and be terror stricken at standard what they too may have the capability of the introduction and effect essay, committing. The narrator not only smothers his victim, but he also cuts him up so that he can get rid of the body. The Tell-Tale Heart’ concerns the murder of an old man, the careful, almost ritualistic dismembering of his corpse, and its concealment between the floor boards. (Giddings p 48) He takes great care to practice each night on just how quiet he can maneuver in the room of his companion, but on the night of the deconstruct essay murder, he makes a serious mistake which awakens the old man. It is easy to the introduction of a cause and effect should, contemplate the idea that if the old man had not wakened, would he ever have killed him. The manner in standard line spacing which the narrator kills his companion is equally gruesome. Once the narrator has been heard by of a and effect should, the old man, he could still act as if he had come into his room for dissertation writers kdd something else. Instead, he stands completely still for a long time while his victim is left in terror at the thought of an intruder violating the privacy of his room. Of A Essay! He is extremely still so that his head is hidden in the shadows of the door. This would have taken quite a bit of skill to deconstruct, be still and quiet for that amount of time. The Introduction Should! When he is finally able to writing, see what he perceives as the evil eye, he smothers his victim as the old man fights for his life in innocence. Of A And Effect Essay Should! This seems like the perfect example of paper practice, madness and perverseness. After he reassures the servants in the house that everything is of a and effect essay, fine, he jumps to the process of concealing the body. If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence. I took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited all between the scantlings. Good Topics Research On! I then replaced the boards so cleverly so cunningly, that no human eye — not even his — could have detected anything wrong. There was nothing to the introduction of a cause and effect should, wash out thesis — no stain of any kind — no blood-spot whatever. I had been too wary for that. (Poe, Tell-Tale Heart) This also points to the theme of an individual being goaded to do unspeakable things in the introduction the event of something quite simple. Deconstruct Essay! The narrator very quickly comes up with a plan to conceal his dastardly deed. Of A Cause And Effect Essay! Poe wants to make the ban sports readers think about the times between their actions and their being caught. He wants them to remember the kinds of things that occurred to the introduction cause and effect should, them before they were faced with punishment for their actions. He wants to prove his point that everyone is capable of doing what it takes to conceal their wrongdoings. Once the body is concealed, the narrator must deal with the police. He thought he had been so careful to be quiet, but at this he was unsuccessful. A neighbor has heard the suspicious noises that had come from the house. Those noises would have had to have been quite loud, if a neighbor had heard them through the walls of two houses. The neighbor had apparently not trusted the narrator because the neighbor did not feel comfortable to go to deconstruct, the house and check on its occupants. This neighbor had obviously seen or heard enough from the the introduction cause should narrator to make him/her believe that he needed reporting to the police even though the narrator believes that he acts completely normal. This was another way that Poe wanted readers to paper for cursive practice, examine themselves. One perhaps thinks that his/her behavior is perceived as normal when in reality it is not. The Introduction Cause Essay Should! Hence anyone walking around thinking that he/she is normal, may not really be. Once the narrator receives a visit from the good an argumentative paper on police, it is seen how he was not a complete evil person. The police arrive, and the narrator does not flinch at first. He knows that he has taken the greatest of care to conceal his horrendous act and of that he is confident. He invites the police, who are apparently suspicious of the narrator already, to have a seat in the very room in which the murder has taken place and the narrator places his chair over the exact spot where the body is the introduction, concealed. Poe was brilliant to use this technique in 1843. It has been learned in modern psychology that a killer, arsonist, and etc. get an absolute thrill when he returns to the scene of his crime. It is a rush of adrenaline that is for dissertation, intoxicating to them and drives them to do more of the and effect essay same. However, the serial criminal will feel an ultimate satisfaction in this concealment, but the narrator is filled with an incredible sense of guilt instead. Essay! He possibly did have a little bit of a sense of decency. Of A And Effect Essay Should! He starts to hear the heart beat of his companion. It grows louder and louder as the conversation with the police continued. The expression on the face of the narrator can only be imagined as he was convinced that the sounds of the heart beat were echoing in through the room. He grew furious at the police because he thought that they mocked him. Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God! – no, no? They heard! – they suspected! – they KNEW! – they were making a mockery of writing, my horror! – this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! – and now – again – hark! louder! louder! louder! LOUDER! – “Villains!” I shrieked, “dissemble no more! I admit the deed! – tear up the planks! – here, here! – it is the the introduction of a cause essay should beating of his hideous heart!” (Poe Tell-Tale Heart) The narrator told on himself. The heart beat that he had heard was his own. Best Writers Kdd! He was struggling with the guilt over committing what he knew was a senseless crime. Now he was sitting over the dismembered corpse of a man who had not deserved the of a essay should violation that was done to him. Poe leaves the paper writing practice readers with the thoughts of the times that they have unjustly done a mean or cruel act to another. He even knew that the old man deserved kindness and in the last week of the gentleman’s life for his own benefit the narrator was kind back. “I was never kinder to the old man than during the whole week before I killed him.” (Poe, The Tell-Tale Heart) The heart that had told on the narrator was his own. All of this happened because of the dreaded evil eye of the old man. The belief in the evil eye dates back to ancient times, and even today, is fairly common in India and the countries bordering the the introduction of a essay should Mediterranean Sea. The belief centers around the idea that those who possess the evil eye have the beard thesis power to harm people or their possessions by merely looking at them. To protect oneself from the power of the the introduction cause should eye, certain measures can be taken. In Muslim areas, the color blue is painted on the shutters of the houses, and found on beads worn by both children and good topics to write research paper on, animals. There is also a specific hand gesture named the “Hand of Fatima,” named after the daughter of Mohammed. This name is also given to the introduction of a should, an amulet in the shape of hand that is worn around the neck for protection In extreme cases, the eye, whether voluntarily or not, must be destroyed. Would Poe have had knowledge of this rather strange belief? It is altogether possible that he would have, which creates another interesting twist to good to write an argumentative research paper, this story. Maybe the narrator who tries to convince us that madness is not really the issue, is telling the truth. The Introduction Cause And Effect! Maybe this vile act is necessary in order to destroy the power of the beard old man’s evil eye! (Womack) Over the years many have enjoyed the short story The Tell-Tale Heart for cause and effect essay should its spooky terrifying sensations as entertainment. Edgar Allan Poe did not intend for this to line for dissertation, be the soul purpose of the and effect should story. He was happy when he could make enough money to make Virginia’s life a little more tolerable, so it was just fine with him that people purchased it. However, he left to society a work that would not only excite and thrill it, but one that would leave it with questions about the sanity of others and ourselves. Cummins, Michael J. Line Spacing! The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. 2005. 12, July 2007, Giddings, Robert. “Poe: Rituals of the introduction cause and effect should, Life and Death.” Ed. Brian Docherty. American Horror Fiction: From Brockden Brown to Stephen King. New York: St. Martins Press, 1990. 46-56. Poe, Edgar Allen. The Black Cat. Poe Stories.Com. 1845. 12, July 2007, Poe, Edgar Allan. Cars Essays! The Tell-Tale Heart. 1843. University of Virginia. 11, July 2007, Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-Ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1991. Womack, Martha. Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart. 11, July 2007,