Literature

Provides in-depth literary and historical background on the most commonly studied nonfiction essays, books, biographies, and memoirs in a streamlined, easy-to-use format. Covering 15-20 works per volume, this reference series gives high-school and undergraduate students an ideal starting point for class assignments, term papers, and special projects.

Shakespeare for Students is an attractive and accessible 3-vol. set of essential criticism to the playwright's most-popularly-studied plays and poetry in secondary schools and undergraduate curricula. The second edition contains updated entries and 4 brand new entries.  You'll find a diverse blend of criticism along with plot summaries and character profiles that help further decode these dramatic masterpieces for students.  Each detailed, illustrated entry provides an introduction that provides an overview of the play or poem; a plot summary; an annotated character list; a discussion of the play's principal themes; understandable essays on the plays construction (setting, dialogue, imagery); historical and cultural context sections that illuminate the play's role in inter-curricular studies; excerpted critical commentary on various facets of the play; extensive theme index; a chronology of Shakespeare's life, work, and times; and much more.