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.
A Rumor of War is Philip Caputo’s 1977 memoir focused on his experiences during the Vietnam War. Caputo serves as a Marine Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps and was a member of the “first ground combat unit deployed to Vietnam.” His unit reached...
Darren Aronofsky is an American filmmaker born on February 12, 1969 in Brooklyn, New York. After graduating from Edward R. Murrow High School, a school with an arts-focused curriculum, he attended Harvard University to study anthropology and...
Sir Ridley Scott began plannng a prequel to his 1979 blockbuster hit, Alieneven as early as 2000, and discussed the project extensively with James Cameron. Ultimately, though, Alien vs. Predatorbecame the project they worked on, leaving Scott to...
Though not one of Hardy's best-known novels, The Return of the Native remains firmly of his canon, and is a dense summation of the preoccupations that run through all of his work.
The Return of the Native was first printed as serial fiction in ...
There is a legend Gabriel Garcia Marquez likes to tell about the writing of his most famous novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude. He claims that he wrote the book barricaded in his study in Mexico, after receiving a vision. One day, while he and...
Cloud Atlas was written by British novelist David Mitchell and published in the United Kingdom by Sceptre, an imprint of Hodder and Stoughton in 2004. The novel was released the same year in the United States by Random House.
Cloud Atlas consists...
The Russian Debutante's Handbook is a novel written by Gary Shteyngart and was published by Riverhead publishing company in 2002. Shteyngart himself is a Russian-American and integrated aspects from his initial life in Leningrad into this novel.
...
Published in 2010, Super Sad True Love Story is a novel written by Gary Shteyngart. The novel takes place in New York City, where everyone is completely consumed by the media and consumer goods. Interestingly, this book takes place in the near...
Island of the Blue Dolphins was published in 1960. At the time, author Scott O'Dell had only written books for adults, but this novel became his most famous and enduring. It has won the Newbery Medal, has been adapted into film, has inspired a...
"Have A Little Faith" is the second non-fiction book written by Mitch Albom, whose first memoir, "Tuesdays With Morrie", was among the the best-selling memoirs of all time. "Have A Little Faith" is the story of an eight year journey undertaken by...
Italian author Italo Calvino's "Marcovaldo" is a collection of short stories that takes us on a tour of Italy from bust to boom; the first, set in the mid 1950s portrays a poor Italy, and the last, a 1960s Italy that is experiencing the joys of...
Luis Alberto Urrea’s 2009 novel Into the Beautiful North is set in Mexico and United States. The novel follows Nayeli, a nineteen year old girl living in a small Mexican village Tres Camarones. Confronted by the possibility of bandidos taking over...
True Grit is a novel written by Charles Portis that was published in 1968. Charles Portis is an American author most known for his Western books. During the Korean War, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, and when he returned he got a degree in...
When the Emperor Was Divine is a non-fiction narrative published in 2002 by Alfred A. Knopf and written by Julie Otsuka. The novel is set in America during the Second World War and the events described in the novel were inspired by the events...
Dinaw Mengestu is an author from Ethiopia. His three novels have all been published in the U.S., including How to Read the Air and All Our Names. Additionally, he has been published in notable outlets such as The Wall Street Journal and Rolling...
A Wizard Of Earthsea is a fantasy novel written for young adults by American author Ursula K. Le Guin. It was first published in 1968 by a small publishing house called Parnassus. Early concepts for the book were explored in two short stories,...
Ntozake Shange's choreopoem, for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf debuted in 1975. It is a combination of drama, music, dance, and poetry meant to be performed by seven actresses. It has since become a cornerstone...
W. H. Auden is considered one of the finest English or American poets and one of the best poets of the 20th century. He is an exemplar of modernism along with T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, but his later poetry differs vastly from his earlier work;...
The Italian title of a book of Petrarch’s sonnets is "Canzoniere" (literally "Songbook."). The poet worked on it for many years starting in 1336. Its final edition (1373) was entitled in Latin "Rerum vulgarium fragmenta" ("Excerpts in the...
Published in 2008, The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur is a memoir by Daoud Hari that recounts the author's experiences during the genocide in Darfur by the Sudanese government and affiliated militia groups (specifically made up of...
"Quo vadis" is a historical novel written by Polish writer Henryk Sienkiewicz.
The novel has been written from 1894 to 1896, upon completion of certain parts they were published in the periodical press. In 1896, the novel was released as a...
Nice Work is a novel written by David Lodge in 1988. The story mainly revolves around Robyn Penrose, who is a feminist university lecturer and specializes in women's writing. She meets Vic Wilcox, who is the manager of an engineering firm. The...
“The Letter” is a short story published as part of Somerset Maugham’s 1926 collection, The Casuarina Tree. Like many of Maugham’s tales, this fictional story was inspired by a rea life event. Maugham came to know the details of the murder that...
Of Human Bondage is one of the most famous novels of English writer William Somerset Maugham. The novel was written in 1915. The protagonist – Philip Carey, is an orphan and is born with a lame leg, which makes his life very difficult.
The novel...