Research Paper on:
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
bricks and mortar, or more than the beams that hold them up. Houses become homes and take on a persona. They have an essence all their own. But a house  only derives such an essence after it is lived in for a while, and then it takes on the characteristics of its owners to some extent. Someone moves in, and  changes the color of a wall or removes old, dusty, plastic faceplates and replaces them with substantial colorful ones that match the room. The house takes on a new essence.  The house becomes important as one of the primary characters, Kathy, loses hers. She was married. She grew up and got married and owned a home with a man,  but when her husband left her, she got stuck with the bills. The story is more complex as substance abuse is involved. She loses the house ironically due to taxes  that she did not really owe, and not too much time passes before another character named Massoud -foreign to Kathy-gains access to what was once her home. In fact, an  Iranian immigrant is able to purchase this abode. Massoud has his own story. An immigrant, he tries to make a life for himself and his children and, just as  some never seem to get anywhere finically, Massoud has his problems. It seems that he is victimized by American society, as he never is able to achieve the American dream.  However, his story is not much different than most people. Sometimes, it is difficult to save for a down payment on a home, and the difficulty usually arises because one  is paying a large sum of money towards an apartment and living expenses. This was Massouds story. But while his is rather typical, he gets a break. He is able