Newest Study Guides
Each study guide includes essays, an in-depth chapter-by-chapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quiz. Study guides are available in PDF format.
Each study guide includes essays, an in-depth chapter-by-chapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quiz. Study guides are available in PDF format.
"Town and Country Lovers" and Other Stories is a 1982 collection of short fiction by South African writer and activist Nadine Gordimer. The titular short story was first published in Gordimer's 1980 collection, A Soldier's Embrace.
Gordimer's...
The 5th Wave is the first book of a science-fiction/fantasy trilogy by Rick Yancey and was published in 2013 by Penguin Group. The story is written from a first-person (diary) perspective from the viewpoint of Cassie Sullivan, the protagonist of...
The Death Cure is the last book in the Maze Runner trilogy, and the third book in the overall series. It was written by James Dashner and published on October 11, 2011, by Delacorte Press. Like the other books in the trilogy, this book will have a...
The Kill Order is the prequel to the Maze Runner series. It was published on August 14, 2012, by Delacorte Press. Like the Maze Runner trilogy, The Kill Order is set in the future. It is, however, set 13 years before the Trials with Thomas began....
We Need New Names is a coming-of-age story. A young girl named Darling lives in poverty in Zimbabwe following political unrest. She often steals guavas along with a group of other children, one of whom is pregnant, and is forced to attend church...
A tightly constructed, psychologically incisive commentary on race relations in the early decades of the 20th century, Passing (1929) is the single best-known work of African-American novelist Nella Larsen. On one level, the book is a study of a...
A 2013 poll revealed that when it comes to seeing the glass as half-full, only half of Americans are prepared to admit they are optimists. Still, the number positively dwarfed those who consider their outlook to be outright pessimistic: a mere 3%...
The Short Stories of Patricia Highsmith is a collection of short stories written by Patricia Highsmith, a widely-respected American writer. Over the course of her writing career, Highsmith has published over 20 novels and even more short stories,...
While many poets can chart the trajectory of their success or recognition along a line leading directly to winning a prestigious literary prize or award, very few go on to have their name attached to such an honor. Among that select few is...
The Scorch Trials is the second book of the Maze Runner trilogy. It was written by James Dashner soon after The Maze Runner, the first installment of the trilogy. It was published on September 18, 2010, by Delacorte Press. No one knows if it is a...
Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth is one of its author’s most beloved works. Engaging the themes of space and time, geology, travel, and discovery, it is a fantastic fusion of science and adventure. This book is part of the series...
Thomas Malthus's An Essay on the Principles of Population proposed one of the most important economic core beliefs that we hold true even today: the Iron Law of Wages, which states that when population rises and subsequently so does workforce,...
One of the first noted lesbian literature novels, Nightwood is a book written by Djuna Barnes published in 1936. It was one of the first books to explore explicit themes of homosexuality between women, and is also known for its intense, gothic,...
Absurdism’s King of Comedy, Luigi Pirandello, adapted a 1915 short story he wrote titled “Signora Frola and Signor Ponza, Her Son-in-Law” into a play two years later. Right You Are (If You Think Are) was presented in dramatic form as a “A Parable...
Does My Head Look Big in This is a Young Adult Contemporary novel written by Randa Abdel-Fattah. It was published on August 1, 2005, by Pan MacMillan Australia. Randa is an Egyptian-Palestinian author who lives in Australia and has won Kathleen...
The Madonna of Excelsior is a novel by South African writer Zakes Mda that was published in 2005. Although a work of fiction, the book deepens the reader's understanding of the complex political situation under the shadow of apartheid and also the...
Cardenio is considered a lost play. The authors are believed to be John Fletcher and William Shakespeare. The attribution is based primarily upon two 1613 performances by the King’s Men acting troupe of a play listed by either the title Cardenno...
Henry James is a large figure in the development of culture at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. He stood at the origins of modernist literature and techniques of subjective writing which later developed into the well-known “stream of...
The Witches was written in 1983 by famed children’s author Roald Dahl. At this point, Dahl had written many of his most well known works, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach. The book was dedicated to Roald Dahl...
Dorothy Wordsworth is the sister of famous English poet William Wordsworth. The Grasmere and Alfoxden Journals is exactly as titled, her two journals kept in the late 1700's through 1800's, documenting the aspects of her daily life including her...
Outliers was written by Malcolm Gladwell and published in 2008. Gladwell wrote the book to investigate the factors that lead to high levels of success; as Gladwell believes that singular and unusual things “always [make] the best stories,” his...
When The Killing's Done is a novel by T.C. Boyle that is both a drama and a book about the environmental abuse within a national park in California. The book is mainly set around the Channel Islands, specifically Santa Cruz and Anacapa, and...
The third installment in Ally Condie's Matched trilogy, Reached follows Cassia Reyes, Xander Carrow, and Ky Markham as they fight for their right to choose in the dystopian Society turned fallible Rising turned medical nightmare. The story is told...
The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia was written by Sir Philip Sidney towards the end of the Sixteenth Century. It is a long work of prose that is sometimes known by the abbreviated name of Arcadia. After finishing the first draft of his original...