Mary Ellen Snodgrass

Elizabeth George Speare

Teacher's Guide

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

An alphabetic guide to Gothic literature covers a vast array of works and writers from Britain and America, from the origins of the movement in the 18th century to contemporary times.

Encyclopedia of Gothic Literature

Anonymous

Go Ask Alice

Albert Camus

The Plague

A Literary Companion

Octavia E. Butler

Graham Greene

The Power and the Glory

Tom Stoppard

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

References to utopias and anti-utopias pervade world literature, and this reference covers many major topics on this fascinating literary subject, stressing titles, authors, characters, setting, themes, literary styles, and belief systems. Designed for high school and college students of literature, particularly those with interests in philosophy, history, and religion, it contains some 300 entries related to utopian literature from the 15th century B.C. to the present. Arranged in alphabetical order, entries include cross- references and bibliographic citations, and a number of the entries are illustrated. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Encyclopedia of Utopian Literature

Award-winning African-American playwright August Wilson created a cultural chronicle of black America through such works as Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, and Two Trains Running. The authentic ring of wit, anecdote, homily, and plaint proved that a self-educated Pittsburgh ghetto native can grow into a revered conduit for a century of black achievement. He forced readers and audiences to examine the despair generated by poverty and racism by exploring African-American heritage and experiences over the course of the twentieth century. This literary companion provides the reader with a source of basic data and analysis of characters, dates, events, allusions, staging strategies and themes from the work of one of America’s finest playwrights. The text opens with an annotated chronology of Wilson’s life and works, followed by his family tree. Each of the 166 encyclopedic entries that make up the body of the work combines insights from a variety of sources along with generous citations; each concludes with a selected bibliography on such relevant subjects as the blues, Malcolm X, irony, roosters, and Gothic mode. Charts elucidate the genealogies of Wilson’s characters, the Charles, Hedley, and Maxson families, and account for weaknesses in Wilson’s female characters. Two appendices complete the generously cross-referenced work: a timeline of events in Wilson’s life and those of his characters, and a list of 40 topics for projects, composition, and oral analysis.

August Wilson

Walter Dean Myers, preeminent author of teen fiction biography and verse, refines the image of black characters that are frequently trivialized or vilified in juvenile literature, advertising, television, and film. From his saga The Glory Field to his novel The Young Landlords, Myers’s canon surveys the complex realm of the teen years as colliding settings in home, school, and the street. This volume introduces readers to both the writer and his work, with an emphasis on the characters, dates, events, motifs, and themes from the books. Myers’s 101 A-to-Z entries offer concise, analytical discussion on all topics and include generous citations from primary and secondary sources. Each entry concludes with a selected bibliography on such subjects as segregation, Malcolm X, urbanism, writing, metafiction, drugs and alcohol, slavery, and the Vietnam War. Appendices offer a timeline of historical events in Myers’s writings and forty topics for group or individual projects, oral analysis, background material, and theme development. A map of Harlem (where many of the stories are set), genealogical diagrams for characters, and an author chronology contribute to a comprehensive presentation.

Walter Dean Myers

Avi Wortis

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

Cliffs Notes on Greek Classics is the only reference book you need to understand the ideological and literary influence of the Greek civilization. A fully-indexed guide designed for students of: English Literature World Literature Classical Literature and Languages Philosophy History Theater and Drama Women's Studies Music and Art Religion Use for concise overviews of Greek playwrights, poets, prose writers, historians and philosophers. Find term paper ideas and essay topics. Check facts, dates, spelling and pronunciation. Identify major Greek literary movements. Understand the origins of Western drama. Discover the genesis of such ideas as the Oedipus Complex, the Golden Mean, the Golden Fleece, the Trojan Horse, the Socratic Method and Platonic Love. Recognize literary allusions to people and events such as the Olympic Games, the Bronze Age, the Fates, Medea, Electra and the Muses. Comprehend, through example, such literary terms as medias res, hubris and nemesis. Place Greek authors in historical context and chronological relationship to one another. Review major events of Greek civil wars as discussed by such writers as Herodotus, Xenophon and Thucydides. Recognize the roots of Western thought and philosophy in such writers as Plato, Aristotle and Socrates. For comprehensive, in-depth treatment of the following works, see the Cliffs Notes on each title: Iliad; Odyssey; Agamemnon; Oedipus Rex; Electra & Medea; Lysistrata; Plato's Euthyphro, Apology, Crito and Phaedo; Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Ethics.

CliffsNotes on Greek Classics

This companion, appropriate for the lay reader and researcher alike, provides analysis of characters, plots, humor, symbols, philosophies, and classic themes from the writings and tellings of Leslie Marmon Silko, the celebrated novelist, poet, memoirist and Native American wisewoman. The text opens with an annotated chronology of Silko’s multiracial heritage, life and works, followed by a family tree of the Leslie-Marmon families that clarifies relationships of the people who fill her autobiographical musings. In the main text, 87 A-to-Z entries combine literary and cultural commentary with generous citations from primary and secondary sources and comparisons to classic and popular literature. Back matter includes a glossary of Pueblo terms and a list of 43 questions for research, writing projects, and discussion. This much-needed text will aid both scholars and casual readers interested in the work and career of the first internationally-acclaimed native woman author in the United States.

Leslie Marmon Silko

Lists religious centers and holy places throughout the United States, giving location, origin, history, size, accessibility, purpose, and influence, and covers beliefs ranging from Native American religions to modern evangelism.

A Dictionary

Religious Sites in America

In the mid–1980s, Amy Tan was a successful but unhappy corporate speechwriter. By the end of the decade, she was perched firmly atop the best-seller lists with The Joy Luck Club, with more popular novels to follow. Tan’s work—once pigeonholed as ethnic literature—resonates with universal themes that cross cultural and ideological boundaries, and prove wildly successful with readers of all stripes. Tender, sincere, complex, honest and uncompromising in its portrayal of Chinese culture and its affect on women, Amy Tan’s work earned her both praise and excoriation from critics, adoration from fans, and a place as one of America’s most notable modern writers. This reference work introduces and summarizes Amy Tan’s life, her body of literature, and her characters. The main text is comprised of entries covering characters, dates, historical figures and events, allusions, motifs and themes from her works. The entries combine critical insights with generous citations from primary and secondary sources. Each entry concludes with a selected bibliography. There is also a chronology of Tan’s family history and her life. Appendices provide an overlapping timeline of historical and fictional events in Tan’s work; a glossary of foreign terms found in her writing; and a list of related writing and research topics. An extensive bibliography and a comprehensive index accompany the text.

Amy Tan

Norton Juster

The Phantom Tollbooth

With novels like Ellen Foster and A Virtuous Woman, award-winning writer Kaye Gibbons has gained both critical acclaim and a large, devoted following among readers. This literary companion equips the reader with information about characters, plots, dates, allusions, literary motifs, and themes from the bestselling author’s works. After an annotated chronology of Gibbons’ life, the work presents 103 A-Z entries that include Snodgrass’s analysis, cover the writings of reviewers and critics, and provide selected bibliographies. Appendices offer an historical timeline with references to corresponding historical events from Gibbons’ novels, along with a list of 42 topics for group or individual research projects.

Kaye Gibbons

O. B. Emerson

Includes the life and background of Herman Melville, a brief synopses, a list of characters, summaries and commentaries, a critical analyses and more.

Notes

Billy Budd & Typee

Explore two lively classic tales of adventure on the high seas with CliffsNotes Billy Budd & Typee, the study guide that can raise your insight as well as your test scores! Meet Billy Budd, the sailor that everyone likes . . . or do they? And then set sail through the wild side of the South Seas in Typee. You’ll be up to speed on all the plot details and more with in-depth character analysis, critical essays, and insight into the novel's literary devices. You'll also discover background information on the life of Herman Melville and his place in American literature.

Mary Ellen Snodgrass

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