... left her. She eventually can't take the pressure raising four kids on her own and abandons them. * There are many other characters as the book goes along. These are brief summaries of the minor characters. * Aunt Cilla - lives in Bridgeport, CT, where the family was going to visit with t heir mother. Edie & Louis - runaway couple the children met in a park. They ... is where Dicey finds her love for sailing. Will - a circus man, befriends the children. He protects them from harm as well. SETTING: (time) - Late 1970's (place) - Connecticut & Maryland SUMMARY: The books starts out during ...

• Word Count: 980
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... . If I had a whole book of Shakespeare they could keep me in the hospital for a year." This is a wonderful memoir--a study in resiliency, a cultural primer, a testament to the human spirit. Character Summaries: Main characters: Malachy McCourt: Born in North Ireland near the turn of the century, Malachy was raised a catholic. Like his father, he was always in trouble with the English or ... ...

• Word Count: 3537
• Approx Pages: 14
• Grade Level: High School

The Joy Luck Club. Chapter Summaries. SECTION I - FEATHERS FROM A THOUSAND LI AWAY The Parable The novel opens with a parable presented by a Chinese woman living in America. While in China she had purchased a "swan" from a vendor, who ... ...

• Word Count: 6459
• Approx Pages: 26
• Grade Level: High School

... family. Once he becomes eager for success, the balance is lost. He devotes himself to studying, ignoring his family life. He finds more pleasure in reading his books than in spending time with his parents. The conversation between him and his mother, once a "flood of intimate sounds", is now a yes or no based ... he reads a book. His parents wondered: "What do you see in your books?" This question becomes a leitmotif for the essay. Books constituted the primary source for knowledge. He hoped that books would bring him the academic success he longed for. "Books were going to make me educ...

• Word Count: 2210
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

... writing from an early age I don't think I would be at the expertise level I am as of now. In "The Lonely, Good Company of Books," by Richard Rodriguez he tells about what reading has done, or hasn't accomplished for him in his past. Beginning toward the start of the essay the ... point when Rodriguez was a child he didn't generally like reading, since he was not especially great at it, but rather he soon came to understand that books could open a wide range of entryway for him, as in he could simply inundate himself in a book and disregard everything else. (Rodriguez 191) He ... (Rodrig...

• Word Count: 828
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... of reading, particularly G.A. Henty, an Englishman who wrote of wars through the nineteenth century. His work ethic was instilled by his parents. The L"Amour family library encompassed some five hundred books, among them the works of Whittier, Lowell, Longfellow, and Poe, as well as popular American and English writers. The youngest of the L"Amour children, Louie remembered reading a five-volume ... titled The Genius of Solitude. A book of natural history followed, which he tried unsuccessfully to locate years later for his children (Contemporary Authors, 25). During adolescence, L"Amou...

• Word Count: 1689
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Ecuador, so tranquil and peaceful, with little deadlines to meet as a kid and lazy summer vacations, with plenty of time to read as many books as I wanted. I will never forget the image of my grandpa's bedside table; it was never empty. Always heaping with history, religion and politics ... and told my grandma. That was the first thing I read on my own and since then I haven't stopped. I started reading everything that I could, my grandpa's books and even his office's books. I would spend entire days submerged in a book and finish it in less than 3 days, depending on the size of the book....

• Word Count: 428
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... Blume addresses in the novel play major roles in what critics think should and should not be censored in young adult literature. Alice Phoebe Naylor and Carol Wintercorn remark, "Blume's books reflect a general cultural concern with feelings about self and body, interpersonal relationships, and family problems." (Estes 33) Each of these concerns play out in the family and social settings of ... not be embarrassed about. Blume's work has frequently been the target of criticism. Classroom teachers, librarians, and parents have censored many of Blume's books. Many adults don't feel that th...

• Word Count: 2389
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Both books that I've read, Angela's Ashes and The Color of Water both demonstrated behavior than can be considered dysfunctional. A dysfunctional family is one that fails to meet some or all the ... to add to that he had Presbyterian in him. Rachel was constantly critiqued by her old family friends for marrying a black man twice and raising her children Christian. In both books the children were one time embarrassed by their mother's actions, in The Color of Water when Rachel would ride her little red bicycle around the neighborhood being the only white ... upset when his mother has no choi...

• Word Count: 1273
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... and causes us to think. This is can be done through literature's timeless themes. A Northern Light and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn share the same theme: education is important. These two books include characters with a strong desire towards education for themselves and others. A Northern Light is a book about a young girl named Mattie Gokey. Mattie lives in a small town where money is scarce ... action shows that Katie is devoted to her children's education. Few parents would have kept their child in school under these circumstances. As mentioned before, literature is incredibly valuable. ...

• Word Count: 800
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... cuentos peregrinos. Bogotá: Oveja Negra, 1992. In English Leaf Storm, and Other Stories. (La hojarasca. 1955) Transl. by G. Rabassa. London: Cape, 1972; New York: Harper & Row, 1972, 1979; Pan Books, 1979. No One Writes to the Colonel. (El coronel no tiene quien le escriba. 1961.) Transl. by. S. Bernstein. London: Cape, 1971; New York: Harper & Row, 1979. An Evil Hour. (La ... .1962.) (Published with: No One Writes to the Colonel. See above.) One Hundred Years of Solitude. (Cien anos de soledad. 1967.) Transl. by G. Rabassa. New York: Harper & Row, 1970; Pan Books, 1980. Innocent Erénd...

• Word Count: 1219
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Royal Army Medical Corps. This period and time of war in his life could have influenced his writing topics of the many books he has written. The visions that he saw could have come back later and generated ideas for books. A Clockwork Orange, which was written about an extraordinary amount of violence and high technology, was most likely influenced by his past ... provide security for his wife during his final few months. The doctors had diagnosed Burgess incorrectly and he lived another 33 years sticking with his new career writing over 50 books (Morris 1-2). Anthony Burgess lived a ve...

• Word Count: 619
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... acting as if it never happened. Although both stories involve murder, the means by which the murders occur are completely different – though they do result in similar consequences. Both books have been published within the last ten years and so, follow the same recognizable current reactions in society today They demonstrate the grief that is felt and the publicity violent ... sure that his father knows that he is there for him. Additionally, the role reversal can be seen as an advantage due to the fact that both mothers in the books are detached from their families throughout and thi...

• Word Count: 1993
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club. New York: Ivy Books, 1989 [394 pp.] Amy Tan writes her books with a social communicational aim towards people. Her books become best-sellers in the New York Times for months at times. Her first book The Joy Luck Club is one of the best sellers. The Joy Luck Club is a ... ...

• Word Count: 579
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... was there for women it was not a dire necessity that they go to work in the factories. The second event that helped keep women in the home was literature and books urging women to subordinate themselves to their husbands (Epstein/Easton 93). This literature put the home at the center of a woman's life with child rearing the most important aspect of ... going to be enough (Rubin 41). Another reason was the feminist movement of the 1960s began to challenge the roles of the perfect marriage. Ironically, books had helped move the masses into the ideal marriage, and books such as the Feminin...

• Word Count: 2505
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... of different tones and emotions. Man's conversion from child to an adult can cause one to grow independent. Telemakhos clearly makes the transition from boy into man during the first books of The Odyssey. This development into a man is not so much of the body as it is of the mind. Telemakhos must mature in order to deal with the turbulence ... gathers the assembly, it becomes clear that he is taking on the obligations he has thus far neglected. During the assembly, as well as many other times in the first books, Athena assists Telemakhos by making him seem more wise or graceful. This co...

• Word Count: 1185
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... a part of his life, Confucius devoted most of his life to studying and interpreting ancient records, which he then organized into five books, the last book being called "The Autumn and Spring Annals". When Confucius died, he gave the books to his followers and students. His followers and students put a book together called "The Analects of Confucius", containing Confucius's wise sayings. In ... all of these writings, Confucius went through all the disciplines and behavior of what he called the superior individual. However, he seemed to avoid the topic of religion. In his books, we canno...

• Word Count: 534
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The imagery found in both The Stranger and The Metamorphosis was family, room, light, the window, and the boss. The two books had a lot in common only that Meursault chose to act in a certain way, while Gregor was forced into a certain predicament. The first image I noticed immediately was family. It was used ... and it would be a loss because then the family would know for sure that the roach really was Gregor the whole time. The last image that was mutual between the books was the image of the boss. He was the authoritative figure and was a symbol of integrity and authority, like a role m...

• Word Count: 1690
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... Quran and hadith are seen as sacred objects because it tells the Islamic people what happened and how things in their religion became to be. The Quran and hadith are books of myths that connect the reader to the religion and furthers their understanding. These texts are often consulted by Many Kurds and Muslims across the globe as texts that contain ... helps people with this. If your entire family was killed by mustard gas by the Iraqi government it can leave you wondering what life is even for. When people read books such as the Quran it can give them hope and tell them how they can l...

• Word Count: 5728
• Approx Pages: 23
• Grade Level: High School

... know how my parents are. I received the highest grades I could and excelled on the field hockey field. I did all this while reading myself to sleep, or finishing three or more books a day that my teachers recommended. Once high school rolled around, when other kids complained about reading stories, I secretly delighted in the task. I would read ahead in classes just for fun ... , while swapping books among friends. At my most stressful time of exams or standardized test, I found comfort in a book. During the start of my senior year, my Nana had a stroke in October; it ... ...

• Word Count: 582
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... relationships Premature termination of dependency relationship with parent Intergenerational crime and incarceration Source: Adapted from Katherine Gabel and Denise Johnston, Children of Incarcerated Parents (New York: Lexington Books, 1997), with permission from Lexington Books. After analyzing this table, there are no good effects that can come from parents being taken to jail and children being left behind. Depending on the child's understanding ... ...

• Word Count: 2078
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... writing a formal letter to the Vietnam government. The Vietnam government banned this book from the country because of the all encompassing political aspects included in the book. In the authors books all of the aspects of life are demonstrated and the total view was an unattractive image for the leaders. This book was banned because it went against what a government hopes ... of communists on the people such as the land reform act, and Ratification of Errors. The large political attraction and its effect on the people are a large part of her books but the cultural aspects are also prom...

• Word Count: 1212
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... many others around America. Sinclair illustrates the way bribery controlled many parts of the government. He points out that capitalists have money, property, and power. Upton Sinclair wrote dozens of books, pamphlets, and plays. He was born on September 20, 1878 in Baltimore. His family was poor. Because of his father's drinking Sinclair grew up to hate drinking as illustrated in ... many of his books. He received his bachelor's degree from CCNY. He wrote a few novels before he wrote The Jungle. He had problems getting The Jungle published in book form. He decided to publish ... ...

• Word Count: 1116
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... glowering beams"(Fitch 4). It is hard to believe that such a new author is good at sensory detail, because many of the books that are written by new authors are manly based on different types of writing. There are a lot of books that are good because of the metaphor or because of the imagery, but what really made this novel stand out was ... ...

• Word Count: 1075
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... the small town of Ohakune, he is a mayor and writes full time. He is a former principal and schoolteacher of twenty-five years. He is known for writing several young adult books, including The Worst Soccer Team Ever, and Break a Leg (Reed Methuen). A nineteenth century based novel, Paradise Lane, introduces two very memorable characters and their romance through hard times. No one ... first kiss. Though recognized in New Zealand, this novel is what caused William to be known and beloved in the United States. As a former principle and schoolteacher, most of his books reflect on teenagers...

• Word Count: 594
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School