This study aims to show the fictional and philosophical engagement of Aldous Huxley and Somerset Maugham in unveiling human behavior in relation to capital. Huxley in his sarcastic essay Selected Snobberies has described the nature, utility, types and sources of snobbish attitude in people. Most often snobbery stems out from an individual’s socio-economic situation and his consumerist nature. In the short story The Ant and the Grasshopper, Somerset Maugham has deconstructed the age old story of Aesop that is universally used worldwide to teach children the basic morality and work ethics. He reveals the peculiar desire of human beings to indulge in consumption in contrast with learned behavior of self-denial. This study focuses on the degenerative tendency that is outgrown in human nature through the analysis of George Ramsay from Maugham’s The Ant and the Grasshopper. In addition, this study analyses the changing nature of the idealistic tenets pertaining to the changing mode of time and situation. The binary existence of ethical tenets and the allurement of the consumerist world leads to question the value of its palpability, its effect on making people happy or snobbish. Now the fundamental question is how far a human being is capable of learning self-denial. Considering the reality of truth as not one and universal but multifaceted as Chakraborty (2020) claims, both Huxley and Maugham in these two literary pieces are interestingly inquisitive of the modernist ethics and redefine the means of success.

Doctorow – IntrosAccording to Neil Gaiman, the moral of 95 percent of Astounding Science Fiction stories could be reduced to: people are smart.ATrueBFalse

Read the following description:A scientist agrees to work for a weapons manufacturer whose work she disagrees with, because doing so will pay her enough money to fund her research into a rare disease. She feels guilty about working with the company and resents the other employees there. Eventually, she learns that there are many other people at the company who disagree with its work but use it as a means to other ends.What are two literary themes that can be determined from the above description?A.It is important to live honestly, and it is best not to play God.B.Don't prejudge others, and moral decisions are not always clear.C.Progress is not always black and white, and it is more important to work for society than for oneself.D.A person can find meaning in a variety of ways, and it is important to be fulfilled by one's work.SUBMITarrow_backPREVIOUS

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes: Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe, was published in two volumes in 1852.Stowe’s novel helped shape attitudes toward slavery by exposing the horrors of the chattel system.In 1938, Richard Wright published a collection of novellas titled Uncle Tom’s Children.Wright’s book is a response to some of the stereotypes about African Americans in Uncle Tom’s Cabin.Wright later admitted that he was unsatisfied with the collection for being too sympathetic. The student wants to emphasize how Wright's book draws on the subject matter of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?Richard Wright’s Uncle Tom’s Children responds to some of the stereotypes about African Americans presented in Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin.eliminateUncle Tom’s Cabin, which is the novel Richard Wright references in Uncle Tom’s Children, was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe and published in 1852.eliminateUncle Tom’s Children responds to Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, which was published as an antislavery novel in 1852.eliminateWright admitted being unsatisfied with his 1938 collection Uncle Tom’s Children, which discussed stereotypes about African Americans.

which is a central theme in dystopian works

Read the following summary:A young student in a tough neighborhood is gifted intellectually but must shun the dangerous streets of his neighborhood in order to achieve academically. This results in his being lonely throughout school. He goes to college, but his social life has suffered, and he has few friends from his own neighborhood.Based on this passage, a reader is most likely to come to what conclusion about the story's themes?A.The author believes that human nature makes people social, and that only strong minds can overcome this natural instinct.B.The author believes that all achievement requires sacrifice, and that these sacrifices can be incredibly difficult.C.The author believes that achievement by an individual is good, but only if it is accompanied by social progress.D.The author believes that achievement made dishonestly is never satisfying, and that envy is a matter of perspective.