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The databases below can help you critique poems, short stories, and plays.
The above library databases contain plot summaries, synopses and work overviews, articles of literary criticism, author biographies,; full text of literary journals,; book reviews, classic & contemporary poems, classic & contemporary short stories, full text of classic novels, author interviews, and images of key literary figures.
The Postmodern Short Story
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This book examines postmodern forms and characteristic themes by analyzing a group of short stories that make use of postmodern narrative strategies, including nonfictional fiction, gender profiling, and death as an image. The volume begins with a discussion of the blurred lines between fiction and nonfiction in the short story and imaginative personal essay. It then looks at the role of women in works by such authors as Sandra Cisneros, Leslie Marmon Silko, Joyce Carol Oates, and Lorrie Moore. This is followed by a section of chapters on postmodern masculinity and short fiction. The next section focuses on death as an image and theme in works by Richard Ford, Richard Brautigan, and James Joyce.
A Companion to Modernist Poetry
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Offering a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of the field, A Companion to Modernist Poetry provides readers with detailed discussions of individual poets, schools and movements within modernist poetry, and the cultural and historical context of the modernist period. Provides an in-depth and accessible summary of the latest trends in the study of modernist poetry Balances discussion of individual poets, schools , and movements with in-depth literary and historical context Brings recent scholarship to bear on the subject of modernist poetry while also providing guidance on poets who are historically important Edited by highly respected and notable critics in the field who have a broad knowledge of current debates and of rising and senior scholars in the field
Masterpieces of 20th-Century American Drama
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American playwrights have made enormous contributions to world drama during the last century, and their works are widely read and performed. This reference conveniently introduces 10 of the most important modern American plays read by students. An introductory essay concisely overviews modern American drama, and each of the chapters that follow examines a particular play. Among the plays discussed are Thornton Wilder's "Our Town," Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman," Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun," and August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Each chapter includes a biography, a plot summary, an analysis of the play's themes, characters, and dramatic art, and a review of its historical background and reception. Chapters list works for further reading, and the volume closes with a selected, general bibliography.