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.
Juno and the Paycock is the second of three O’Casey plays in what is known as the “Dublin trilogy,” set in the tumultuous years of 1916-1923. During Easter Week in 1916, Irish nationalists rose against the United Kingdom in an attempt to secede...
Though he could hardly have expected it during his lifetime, since his work was roundly condemned by the conservative commentators of hisday, John Keats becameone of the most revered English poets of the Romantic period within a few decades of his...
First published in 1926, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is one of the most celebrated and controversial detective novels of all time. The novel features one of Christie’s most beloved characters, the detective Hercule Poirot, who himself appears in...
Originally released in 1984, Love Medicine is Louise Erdrich's first published novel. Initially, Erdrich wrote "The World's Greatest Fisherman" after she earned her master's degree in creative writing, and this short story later became the basis...
Arthur C. Clarke published “If I Forget Thee, O Earth” in Future magazine in 1951. Two years later it was republished as part of Clarke’s Expedition to Earth and thus expanded its readership significantly. The story proved particularly resonant...
The Complete Short Stories of Saki is a comprehensive collection of the short fiction published by the writer born as Hector Hugh Munro. Writing under the pen name Saki, the British writer published the first of what would come to be known as “...
Ihimaera published “The Whale Rider” in 1978 to critical acclaim. He wrote it in the earlier portion of his writing career, having only penned three other novels prior to it. In the introduction to the book, he explains his inspiration: his two...
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic is Alison Bechdel's first graphic memoir. Bechdel, who has been working as acartoonist since the 1980s, took seven years to completeFun Home. Itspublication in 2006 brought her wide literary renown.
Bechdel used Adobe...
Roots: The Saga of an American Family was published in 1976 after Alex Haley spent 12 years researching his family's origins. Haley grew up hearing oral traditions passed down through his family, describing the experiences of his maternal...
The Narrow Road to the Deep North is a novel written by Richard Flanagan and was published on 23 September 2013.
The novel details the life of war hero and doctor, Dorrigo Evans, who embarks in affair with his uncle’s wife. The guilt of this...
The Power and the Glory is considered by some to be the finest novel written by Graham Greene, author of Brighton Rock, The End of the Affair and both the novella and subsequent acclaimed screenplay for The Third Man. Published in 1940, the novel...
"Dreams" is a short story published in Storm Glass, a collection of virtuous short stories and the first publication by Jane Urquhart. It was originally published in 1987 and later in 2000 by Emblem Editions. Since then, the collection has seen...
Aimee Bender first published her short story “The Rememberer” in the Missouri Review in 1997 and a year later it was republished in her first collection of short stories, The Girl in the Flammable Skirt. The story is striking and memorable by...
The Tin Drum is a novel written by Gunter Grass and published in 1959. The protagonist of the novel is named Oskar Matzerath, who is telling the readers the story of his life from a mental institution. The novel is set mostly in Danzig, Poland,...
"Hercules" or "Hercules in madness" is a tragedy of an ancient Greek playwright Euripides. Date of writing is not known, but by the stylistic features researchers attribute this piece to the end of 420's or early 410's BC.
The name "Hercules"...
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a product of three different eras of black history. The injustices portrayed in the book have their roots in the era of slavery which lasted until the Civil War and which, shamefully, continues to influence racial...
A memoir by Mishna Wolff, I’m Down is one of the most eclectic and thought-provoking works to have been released in recent times. This text was published by St. Martin's Press (2009). The author narrates the unique experience of being white while...
In His Steps is a religious book written by Charles Monroe Sheldon and first published in 1896. The story mainly revolves around the character Reverend Henry Maxwell, who is the pastor of the First Church of Raymond. He challenges his congregation...
First published in 2003, The First Stone is a novel about a troubled boy and a grieving girl, both running their own course to heal their broken pasts. Reef, the main character, cannot contain his anger after his grandmother’s passing - the only...
This 1952 adaption is largely considered to be the most faithful as well as rendition of Oscar Wilde's classic play. The film was nominated for a BAFTA for Most Promising newcomer. The movie is adapted by Anthony Asquith, a leading English film...
Fernando Pessoa is the author of The Book of Disquiet, which was first published during 1913 and was later published during 2002 by Penguins Classics. This literary treasure stems from a neglected trunk filled with incomplete and unpublished...
A Storm of Swords is the third book in the series written by J.R.R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire. It is the longest book in the series and because of this it appears sometimes in two volumes and even under a different name. The book is a...
A clash of Kings is the second novel from the series A song of Ice and Fire by J.R.R. Martin. The novel was published in 1998 and won the Locus award in the same year. The novel focuses on the civil war in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros and a part...
Published in 1996, A Game of Thronesquickly became a world-wide phenomenon. The book is the first in the epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fireinspired by the The War of the Rosesand Ivanhoe.The book focuses on the struggle for power that...