Cliff's notes

As Faulkner matured, his vision was colored by optimism, where the world was capable of decent and worthwhile values. This collection presents stories of difficulty for both white and black people, yet the tone is one of compassion, not despair.

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...

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 Sound and the Fury, you explore what is considered to be one of William Faulkner's greatest novels. The Sound and the Fury tells the story of the decline of the once-aristocratic Compson family of Yoknapatawpha County, in northern Mississippi , as told in stream of consciousness by three brothers -- Benjamin, Quentin, and Jason. Summaries and commentaries guide you through each section of the novel, and critical essays help you understand the origin of the book's title, the structure of the book, and Faulkner's stream of consciousness style of writing. Other features that help you study include A section on the life and background of William Faulkner A special guide to the Benjy section -- the most difficult section of the novel Analyses of the major characters An additional critical essay on meaning through motif in the novel Review questions and essay topics Classic literature or modern modern-day treasure -- you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

A failed revolutionary attempt drives the hero of Hudson's novel to seek refuge in the primeval forests of south-western Venezuela. There, in the "green mansions" of the title, Abel encounters the wood-nymph Rima, the last survivor of a mysterious aboriginal race. The love that flowers between them is soon overshadowed by cruelty and sorrow. - Back cover.

With rare honesty and acuity, James examines the mythologies of American life by putting Yanks in European society and letting them sink or swim. This tale of an innocent woman abroad adds to the wealth and richness of James's contribution to literature.

Bunyan's allegory uses the everyday world of common experience as a metaphor for the spiritual journey of the soul toward God. The hero, Christian, encounters many obstacles in his quest: the Valley of the Shadow of Death, Vanity Fair, Doubting Castle, the Wicket Gate, as well as those who tempt him from his path (e.g., Talkative, Mr. Worldly Wiseman, the Giant Despair). But in the end he reaches Beulah Land, where he awaits the crossing of the river of death and his entry into the heavenly city. "Pilgrim's Progress" was enormously influential not only as a best-selling inspirational tract in the late 17th century, but as an ancestor of the 18th-century English novel, and many of its themes and ideas have entered permanently into Western culture.

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. CliffsNotes on As I Lay Dying takes you into the lives of not one, but several narrators in this novel about the value of life. The central problem of the novel involves the reasons for Addie's request to be buried and why her family defies fire and water to fulfill it. This study guide will guide you through the plot of the novel and through the process of analyzing each character's problems and motivations. Other features that help you study include Information on the life and background of William Faulkner A character list to help clarify relationships among the many narrators Analysis and commentary on each section of the book Critical essays In-depth character analyses Review questions and suggested essay topics Classic literature or modern modern-day treasure -- you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

The story of Thomas Sutpen, an enigmatic stranger who came to Jefferson in the early 1830s to wrest his mansion out of the muddy bottoms of the north Mississippi wilderness. He was a man, Faulkner said, "who wanted sons and the sons destroyed him." Faulkner's classic story of Thomas Sutpen, an enigmatic stranger who came to Jefferson in the early 1830s to wrest his mansion out of the muddy bottoms of the north Mississippi wilderness, is now available in a corrected text Vintage Edition.

"I am a sick man . . . I am a spiteful man," the irascible voice of a nameless narrator cries out. And so, from underground, emerge the passionate confessions of a suffering man; the brutal self-examination of a tormented soul; the bristling scorn and iconoclasm of alienated individual who has become one of the greatest antiheroes in all literature. Notes From Underground, published in 1864, marks a turning point in Dostoevsky's writing: it announces the moral political, and social ideas he will treat on a monumental scale in Crime And Punishment, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov.

This sweeping survey of ancient Greek culture covers the greatest works of Greek poets, dramatists, philosophers, writers, and historians. These writings are the foundation of the way we think and act and are important to the student of the human condition.

Tells of the exciting adventures of d'Artagnan after he leaves home to become a musketeer -- one of King Louis' expert swordsmen -- in Paris. D'Artagnan becomes an inseparable friend of the three dashing musketeers Athos, Porthos and Aramis, and with them lives by their motto, 'All for one and one for all'.

The series of essays that comprise The Federalist constitutes one of the key texts of the American Revolution and the democratic system created in the wake of independence. Written in 1787 and 1788 by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay to promote the ratification of the proposed Constitution, these papers stand as perhaps the most eloquent testimonial to democracy that exists. They describe the ideas behind the American system of government: the separation of powers; the organization of Congress; the respective positions of the executive, legislative, and judiciary; and much more. The Federalist remains essential reading for anyone interested in politics and government, and indeed for anyone seeking a foundational statement about democracy and America.

This modern American play watches an evening with two couples and the lies they fabricate about themselves to keep on living. It is a vicious and haunting drama.

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in the series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format. Edgar Allan Poe is celebrated as the genius of the gothic horror story. Emphasizing the grotesque, the mysterious, the desolate, and the horrible, he arouses fear in readers. He is the champion of storytelling that gives us a nervous sense of the ghostly and the supernatural. CliffsNotes on Poe's Short Stories takes you inside the mind of this one-of-a-kind American author. Consider his place in the Romantic movement and examine his critical theories with the insightful essays in this book. In-depth critical commentaries cover the following stories and more: "The Fall of the House of Usher" "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer a look into critical elements and ideas within classic works of literature. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format. CliffsNotes on Crime and Punishment takes you into a masterpiece of Russian literature, a work published during the time the western world was moving away from romanticism and into a new realistic approach to writing. Following the story of an impoverished young man who expects to enrich humanity by rising to a level above the law, this study guide provides a character list, character map, and character analyses to explore the personalities within Fyodor Dostoevsky's masterpiece. Other features that help you figure out this important work include Life and background of the author Introduction to and brief synopsis of the novel Summaries and expert commentaries for each chapter within the book Essays that explore aspects of the author's characters and theories A review section that tests your knowledge and suggests essay topics and practice projects A Resource Center full of books, publications, films, and Internet resources Classic literature or modern-day treasure -- you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

A landmark in American fiction, Light in August published in 1932, explores Faulkner's central theme: the nature of evil. Joe Christmas-a man doomed, deracinated and alone-wanders the Deep South in search of an identity, and a place in society. After killing his perverted God-fearing lover, it becomes inevitable that he is pursued by a lynch-hungry mob. Yet after the sacrifice, there is new life, a determined ray of light in Faulkner's complex and tragic world. In a loose, unstructured modernist narrative style that draws from Christian allegory and oral storytelling, Faulkner explores themes of race, sex, class and religion in the American South. By focusing on characters that are misfits, outcasts, or are otherwise marginalized in their community, he portrays the clash of alienated individuals against a Puritanical, prejudiced rural society. Early reception of the novel was mixed, with some reviewers critical of Faulkner's style and subject matter. However, over time, the novel has come to be considered one of the most important literary works by Faulkner and one of the best English-language novels of the 20th century.

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background -- all to help you gain greater insight into great works you're bound to study for school or pleasure. In CliffsNotes on Sartre's No Exit & The Flies, you examine two well-known plays by Jean-Baptiste Sartre and discover how Sartre uses his work to put forth his philosophy of existentialism. Both plays were written during the Nazi occupation of France in WWII and deal with the central of theme of freedom, which is a hallmark of Sartre's existential philosophy. In this study guide, you'll find Life of the Author, as well as detailed Summaries and Commentaries of both plays. You'll also find critical essays on the following topics: Sartrean existentialism: Principles and philosophies, existentialism before Sartre, an overview of existentialism, and Sartre's specific principles of existentialism Sartre's political ideas Sartre's dramatic formula Plus suggested essay topics and a selected bibliography Classic literature or modern-day treasure -- you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

This Middle-English poem about the moral testing of a young hero is commonly described as the greatest Arthurian romance in our literary tradition. It is a question still as to who the author is, but this poet is considered second only to Chaucer.