One of the most widely discussed and renowned twentieth-century authors, D. H. Lawrence remains intriguing and problematic in terms of his biography, his writings, and his prophetic role. In his relatively short life, he was a prolific aut...

D. M. Thomas is widely known for his novel The White Hotel, which quickly rose to the top of the best-seller lists after its American publication in the spring of 1981. Yet, he is also an accomplished poet. In his poetry, as well as in his...

In Dan Browns new book entitled, "The Da Vinci Code," he presents a strong idea that in order to understand a religion one needs a strong base of knowledge on that religion. This theme is present throughout the entire book in many ways. T...

Plath's poem "Daddy" describes feelings of oppression from childhood and conjures up the struggle many women face in a male-dominated society. The conflict of this poem is male authority versus the right of a female to control her own life...

Dairy foods include milk and products made from milk, such as: yogurt and different kinds of cheeses. Milk being called almost a perfect food, provides essential nutrients such as riboflavin, Vitamin B2, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and z...

James' manipulation of appearances in Daisy Miller as well as other character's notions of these appearances provides us with a novella of enigmatic and fascinating characters. Daisy, the most complicated of these ambiguities, is as myster...

Though he experienced success as a novelist and a screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo (1905-1976) is best known as a member of a group he would have preferred never existed-the "Hollywood Ten." After refusing to cooperate during the House Committe...

SOURCE: Winter, Douglas E. “Nowhere Land: The Damnation Game (1985).” In Clive Barker: The Dark Fantastic. 2001. Reprint, pp. 172-87. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2002. In the following essay, Winter analyzes the Faustian influen...

Dubbed a "new master of smart thrills" by Samantha Miller in People magazine, Dan Brown broke into the realms of bestsellerdom with his fourth novel, The Da Vinci Code, a "riddle-filled, code-breaking, exhilaratingly brainy thriller," as J...

the movement of the body in a rhythmic way, usually to music and within a given space, for the purpose of expressing an idea or emotion, releasing energy, or simply taking delight in the movement itself. Dance is a powerful impulse, but th...

SOURCE: Fitz, Brewster E. “Ethnocentric Guilt in Tony Hillerman's Dance Hall of the Dead.” MELUS 22, no. 2 (summer 1997): 92-103. In the following essay, Fitz examines the anthropological and ethnocentric themes in Dance Hall of the Dea...

SOURCE: Wright, Derek. “The Festive Year: Wole Soyinka's Annus Mirabilis.” Journal of Modern African Studies 28, no. 3 (September 1990): 511-19. In the following essay, Wright investigates Soyinka's 1960 Rockefeller Foundation scholarsh...

Anyone wanting to give a general idea of Anthony Powell's novels will find himself talking pretty soon about an easily recognised prose style and a steady concern with the well-born, well-off and well-educated. As it happens, the writing ch...

Dancers in Mourning, like The Case of the Late Pig published in 1937, was the author's finest achievement up to that time, and it remains a classic of the genre. A superlatively subtle book, fraught with complicated tensions and crowded wit...

SOURCE: Review of Dancing at Lughnasa, in Financial Times, 27 April 1990, p. 25. In mid-April 1990, Dancing at Lughnasa premiered at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. In the review below, Armistead finds the play "[rich with atmosphere, redolent...

The book Danger on Panther Peak is a very good book. Its about a boy who lives on a ranch and he doesnt have much money. The boy Tom has moved to his grandfathers ranch and he doesnt have any friends except Justin. Then his gran...

In the story "A Secret between Friends" a young girl's parents get divorced and they are forced to move to Seattle. When in Seattle Lexi thinks she is fat and her mother tells her that she has gained some weight but that it would come off...

Hailed as the "king of alternative comics" by Newsweek contributor Sarah van Boven, Daniel Clowes has fashioned a retro, tongue-in-cheek look at 1950s and '60s culture. In his graphic novels, all of which are compilations of issues of his ...

SOURCE: “Nations and Novels: Disraeli, George Eliot, and Orientalism,” in Victorian Studies, Vol. 35, No. 3, Spring, 1992, pp. 255-75. In the following essay, Brantlinger discusses the ways in which George Eliot's Daniel Deronda and Ben...

Daniel Hoffman was born in New York City. He served in the U.S. Army Air Force from 1943 to 1946 and was decorated with the Legion of Merit. He was educated at Columbia University, receiving his B.A. (Phi Beta Kappa) in 1947, his M.A. in 1...

Daniel Martin is a love story that might take place anywhere: indeed, it mostly takes place in circumstances which liberate hero and heroine from any involvement in society, politics, or ideology, on a trip to Egypt, the Nile, Abu Simbel, P...

"Rudy", set in 1975 is an award winning drama in which years of effort are rewarded by a brief moment of glory. The movie is based on the true story of Daniel Ruttiger, but was also known as Rudy among his family and friends. Rudy...

Daniel Webster (1782-1852), a notable orator and leading constitutional lawyer, was a major congressional spokesman for the Northern Whigs during his 20 years in the U.S. Senate. Daniel Webster was born in Salisbury, New Hampshire, on Janu...

SOURCE: Rossel, Sven H. “Ole Hyltoft and the Neorealistic Trends in Contemporary Danish Literature.” World Literature Today 57, no. 1 (winter 1983): 17-21. In the following essay, Rossell argues that the poetry of Ole Hyltoft is marked ...

The Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) wrote "The Divine Comedy," the greatest poetic composition of the Christian Middle Ages and the first masterpiece of world literature written in a modern European vernacular. Dante lived in a re...