Mary Ellen Snodgrass

"The zodiacal signs impact art, advertising, literature, history, mythology, psychology, health, and language with their evocative imagery, symbols, and scientific and religious lore. This fact-filled reference guide pulls together applications of the zodiacal signs in those fields and others. Each sign is explicated in a separate chapter which discusses its origin and importance in diverse cultures, including its history, artistic applications, traditions, literary and religious interpretations, psychological significance, and application to notable historical and contemporary figures. An organized overview with cross-references and indexing allows the zodiac to be studied from numerous points of view. Artistic representations of each of the twelve houses accompany the text."--BOOK JACKET.

"Award-winning African-American playwright August Wilson has 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. He forces 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 on 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 and includes suggestions for further reading. Appendices provide a timeline of events in Wilson's life and those of his characters, and a list of forty topics for projects, composition, and oral analysis."--BOOK JACKET.

Discusses the different types of air pollution and how they can be stopped or reduced.

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format. In CliffsNotes on The Handmaid's Tale, you come to realize that for every utopia, there's a corresponding dystopia. This tale of a bleak future depicts a time where women are valued only for their reproductive capacities. While this cautionary tale of repression and totalitarianism is horrifying, there are moments of poetic warmth and humor. It is a brilliant satire. This concise supplement to Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale helps you understand the overall structure of the novel, actions and motivations of the characters, and the social and cultural perspectives of the author. Features that help you study include Chapter-by-chapter summarie...

"Ranging over the incredible diversity of American religious expression, Religious Sites in America: A Reference Guide explores more than 160 worship groups as representative examples of individual beliefs and practices. It covers active religious centers in all 50 states, from cathedrals to store-front capitals, including the location, origin, and history of a site, its size and accessibility, and its purpose and influence.". "Entries examine uniquely American worship: Navajo sand painting, Harvest Ministries, Inc. evangelism, Messianic Judaism, ki healing, annual pilgrimages to Idaho's Old Mission, a passion play enacted by the Hermanos Penitentes, high holy days celebrated over the Internet, and peyotism, one of the oldest worship practices indigenous to the continent. Because all sites are active religious centers, entries detail site supervision, location, and layout and include telephone and fax numbers and e-mail and Web addresses. In addition to a site's significance, history, and architecture, the coverage also summarizes its religious activities and outreach programs. A detailed timeline charts the growth of widespread religious expression in America. There is a glossary, an extensive bibliography, a subject index, and illustrations."--BOOK JACKET.

The chronological entries of this book provide a record of the impact upon human culture of epidemic illness and death throughout history. From the bone deposits suggesting yaws bacteria on a femur from 498,000 B.C., to an outbreak of sudden acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003, the work covers demographics, symptoms, community health, nursing, study, prevention, treatment, and disease control since ancient times. Biographical information highlights notables who identified and battled disease such as Galen and Benjamin Rush. Enhancing the historical data are a map of resurgent vector-borne diseases and comparative charts of types of infection, results of scourges, and rough estimates of people affected by each event. A glossary clarifies 106 crucial terms. Appendix A lists diseases by both proper and informal names, Latinate names of pathogens, dates and places of early outbreaks of each disease, and the manner of their infection. Three additional appendices present historic writings on disease. Two bibliographies (general resources; specific diseases) of major works, histories of medicine, health journals, and web sites on the history of contagion, and a generously cross-referenced index complete the work.

These two longer short stories deal with men in commerce on Wall Street and men at sea, both involved in struggles for power and the creation of a livable ethic.

Focuses on the ever-growing problem of managing the many types of solid waste and the hazards they pose to people and the environment. Readers learn how they can help in waste reduction efforts.

xii, 308 p. : 26 cm