Novels for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Novels Volume 35

445 Pages·2011·53.1 MB·English

by  Sara Constantakis (editor)

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( c) 2011 Cengage L earning. All Rights Reserved.
NovelsforStudents,Volume35–Finals/7/20/2010 06:48 Page1
NOVELS
for Students
( c) 2011 Cengage L earning. All Rights Reserved.
NovelsforStudents,Volume35–Finals/7/20/2010 06:48 Page2
Advisors
Erik France: Adjunct Instructor of English, Council of Teachers of English (NCTE),
MacombCommunityCollege,Warren,Mich- Teachers and Writers, and NCTE Opinion
igan. B.A. and M.S.L.S. from University of Panel. Exam Reader, Advanced Placement
North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Ph.D. from LiteratureandComposition.Poet,published
TempleUniversity. in North American Review, Nimrod, and
Michigan Quarterly Review, among other
KateHamill:Grade12EnglishTeacher,Catonsville
publications.
HighSchool,Catonsville,Maryland.
Jody Stefansson: DirectorofBoswellLibraryand
JosephMcGeary:EnglishTeacher,Germantown
Study Center and Upper School Learning
Friends School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Specialist,PolytechnicSchool,Pasadena,Cali-
Ph.D.inEnglishfromDukeUniversity.
fornia. Board member, Children’s Literature
Timothy Showalter: English Department Chair, Council of Southern California. Member of
Franklin High School, Reisterstown, Mary- American Library Association, Association
land.CertifiedteacherbytheMarylandState of Independent School Librarians, and Asso-
Department of Education. Member of the ciationofEducationalTherapists.
NationalCouncilofTeachersofEnglish.
Laura Jean Waters: Certified School Library
Amy Spade Silverman: English Department Media Specialist, Wilton High School,
Chair, Kehillah Jewish High School, Palo Wilton, Connecticut. B.A. from Fordham
Alto, California. Member of National University;M.A.fromFairfieldUniversity.
( c) 2011 Cengage L earning. All Rights Reserved.
NovelsforStudents,Volume35–Finals/7/20/2010 06:52 Page3
NOVELS
for Students
Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism
on Commonly Studied Novels
VOLUME 35
Sara Constantakis, Project Editor
Foreword by Anne Devereaux Jordan
( c) 2011 Cengage L earning. All Rights Reserved.
NovelsforStudents,Volume35–Finals/7/20/2010 06:48 Page4
NovelsforStudents,Volume35 ª2011Gale,CengageLearning
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Table of Contents
ADVISORS . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
THEINFORMEDDIALOGUE:INTERACTINGWITH
LITERATURE (byAnneDevereauxJordan) . . . ix
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . xi
LITERARY CHRONOLOGY . . . . . . . xv
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . xvii
CONTRIBUTORS . . . . . . . . . xxi
APRIL MORNING (byHowardFast). . . . . 1
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . . 2
PlotSummary. . . . . . . . . . 3
Characters . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
HistoricalContext . . . . . . . . 11
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . . 12
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
FurtherReading . . . . . . . . . 29
SuggestedSearchTerms . . . . . . 29
THE CONTENDER (byRobertLipsyte). . . . 30
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . . 31
PlotSummary. . . . . . . . . . 31
Characters . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
v
( c) 2011 Cengage L earning. All Rights Reserved.
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T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . 153
HistoricalContext . . . . . . . . 39 Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . 153
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . . 41 Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . . 42 FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 168
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 SuggestedSearchTerms . . . . . 168
FurtherReading . . . . . . . . . 57
SuggestedSearchTerms . . . . . . 58 MAUS: A SURVIVOR’S TALE
(byArtSpiegelman). . . . . . . . . 169
FEVER 1793 (byLaurieHalseAnderson). . . . 59 AuthorBiography . . . . . . . 170
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . . 59 PlotSummary. . . . . . . . . 171
PlotSummary. . . . . . . . . . 61 Characters . . . . . . . . . . 175
Characters . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
HistoricalContext . . . . . . . 181
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . 184
HistoricalContext . . . . . . . . 70
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . 184
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . . 73
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . . 73
FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 201
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
SuggestedSearchTerms . . . . . 202
FurtherReading . . . . . . . . . 87
SuggestedSearchTerms . . . . . . 87
NEVER LET ME GO (byKazuoIshiguro) . . 203
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . 204
GRACELAND (byChrisAbani) . . . . . . 88
PlotSummary. . . . . . . . . 204
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . . 89
Characters . . . . . . . . . . 209
PlotSummary. . . . . . . . . . 89
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Characters . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
HistoricalContext . . . . . . . 214
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . 215
HistoricalContext . . . . . . . . 97
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . 216
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . . 99
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . . 99
FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 231
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 112
SuggestedSearchTerms . . . . . 231
FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 112
SuggestedSearchTerms . . . . . 113
OF HUMAN BONDAGE
THE JOY LUCK CLUB. . . . . . . . 114 (byWilliamSomersetMaugham) . . . . . 232
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . 233
PlotSummary. . . . . . . . . 115
PlotSummary. . . . . . . . . 234
Characters . . . . . . . . . . 119
Characters . . . . . . . . . . 238
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
CulturalContext . . . . . . . . 125 Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . 127 HistoricalContext . . . . . . . 245
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . 127 CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . 247
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . 248
FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 139 Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 266
SuggestedSearchTerms . . . . . 140 FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 266
SuggestedSearchTerms . . . . . 267
MAKE LEMONADE
(byVirginiaEuwerWolff) . . . . . . . 141 OROONOKO; OR, THE ROYAL SLAVE: A
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . 142 TRUE HISTORY (byAphraBehn) . . . . 268
PlotSummary. . . . . . . . . 142 AuthorBiography . . . . . . . 269
Characters . . . . . . . . . . 146 PlotSummary. . . . . . . . . 269
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Characters . . . . . . . . . . 271
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 274
HistoricalContext . . . . . . . 151 Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
v i N o v e l s f o r S t u d e n t s , V o l u m e 3 5
( c) 2011 Cengage L earning. All Rights Reserved.
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T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s
HistoricalContext . . . . . . . 277 PlotSummary. . . . . . . . . 347
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . 279 Characters . . . . . . . . . . 351
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . 280 Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 297 Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 297 HistoricalContext . . . . . . . 356
SuggestedSearchTerms . . . . . 298 CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . 357
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . 358
THE OUTSIDERS . . . . . . . . . 299 Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 371
PlotSummary. . . . . . . . . 300 FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 372
Characters . . . . . . . . . . 304 SuggestedSearchTerms . . . . . 372
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
WICKED: THE LIFE AND TIMES
CulturalContext . . . . . . . . 310
OF THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . 312
(byGregoryMaguire) . . . . . . . . 373
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . 313
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . 374
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 318
PlotSummary. . . . . . . . . 375
FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 319
Characters . . . . . . . . . . 379
SuggestedSearchTerms . . . . . 319
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 382
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
THE SEA-WOLF (byJackLondon) . . . . 320
HistoricalContext . . . . . . . 386
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . 321
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . 388
PlotSummary. . . . . . . . . 321
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . 389
Characters . . . . . . . . . . 324
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 396
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 329 FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 397
HistoricalContext . . . . . . . 329 SuggestedSearchTerms . . . . . 397
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . 331
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . 332 GLOSSARY OF LITERARY TERMS. . . . 399
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 344
FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 344 CUMULATIVE AUTHOR/TITLE INDEX. . . 411
SuggestedSearchTerms . . . . . 345
CUMULATIVE NATIONALITY/
SHABANU: DAUGHTER OF THE WIND ETHNICITY INDEX . . . . . . . . 421
(bySuzanneFisherStaples). . . . . . . 346
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . 347 SUBJECT/THEME INDEX . . . . . . 429
N o v e l s f o r S t u d e n t s , V o l u m e 3 5 v i i
( c) 2011 Cengage L earning. All Rights Reserved.
NovelsforStudents,Volume35–Finals/7/20/2010 06:49 Page9
The Informed Dialogue:
Interacting with Literature
Whenwepickupabook,weusuallydosowith ‘‘Hurray,hurray,’’criedthefunnylittleclown
the anticipation of pleasure. We hope that by andallthedollsandtoys.‘‘Thegoodlittleboys
entering the time and place of the novel and andgirlsinthecitywillbehappybecauseyou
helpedus,kind,LittleBlueEngine.’’
sharing the thoughts and actions of the charac-
ters,wewillfindenjoyment.Unfortunately,this In picture books, messages are often blatant
isoftennotthecase;wearedisappointed.Butwe and simple, the dialogue between the author and
shouldask,hastheauthorfailedus,orhavewe reader one-sided. Young children are concerned
failedtheauthor? with the end result of a book—the enjoyment
gained,thelessonlearned—ratherthanwithhow
Weestablishadialoguewiththeauthor,the
that result was obtained. As we grow older and
book, and with ourselves when we read.
read further, however, we question more. We
Consciously and unconsciously, we ask ques- come to expect that the world within the book
tions: ‘‘Why did the author write this book?’’ will closely mirror the concerns of our world,
‘‘Whydidtheauthorchoosethattime,place,or and that the author will show these through the
character?’’ ‘‘How did the author achieve that events,descriptions,andconversationswithinthe
effect?’’ ‘‘Why did the character act that way?’’ story, rather than telling of them. We are now
‘‘WouldIactinthesameway?’’Theanswerswe expected to do the interpreting, carry on our
receive depend upon how much information share of the dialogue with the book and author,
andgleannotonlytheauthor’smessage,butcom-
aboutliteratureingeneralandaboutthatbook
prehendhowthatmessageandtheoverallaffectof
specificallyweourselvesbringtoourreading.
thebookwereachieved.Sometimes,however,we
Youngchildrenhavelimitedlifeandliterary need help to do these things. Novels for Students
experiences.Beingyoung,childrenfrequentlydo providesthathelp.
notknowhowtogoaboutexploringabook,nor
Anovelismadeupofmanypartsinteracting
sometimes,evenknowthequestionstoaskofa
tocreateacoherentwhole.Inreadinganovel,the
book. The books they read help them answer
more obvious features can be easily spotted—
questions, the author often coming right out
theme, characters, plot—but we may overlook
and telling young readers the things they are
the more subtle elements that greatly influence
learningorareexpectedtolearn.Theperennial how the novel is perceived by the reader: view-
classic, The Little Engine That Could, tells its point, mood and tone, symbolism, or the use of
readers that, among other things, it is good to humor. By focusing on both the obvious and
helpothersandbringshappiness: more subtle literary elements within a novel,
i x
( c) 2011 Cengage L earning. All Rights Reserved.
NovelsforStudents,Volume35–Finals/7/20/2010 06:49 Page10
T h e I n f o r m e d D i a l o g u e : I n t e r a c t i n g w i t h L i t e r a t u r e
NovelsforStudentsaidsreadersinbothanalyzing born and raised in Monroeville, Alabama, and
for message and in determining how and why that her father was a lawyer. Readers can now
thatmessageiscommunicated.Inthediscussion see why she chose the south as a setting for her
on HarperLee’s ToKilla Mockingbird (Vol. 2), novel—it is the place with which she was most
for example, the mockingbird as a symbol of familiar—andstarttocomprehendhercharacters
innocence is dealt with, among other things, as andtheiractions.
is the importance of Lee’s use of humor which
Novels for Students helps readers find the
‘‘enlivens a serious plot, adds depth to the char-
answerstheyseekwhentheyestablishadialogue
acterization, and creates a sense of familiarity
withaparticularnovel.Italsoaidsintheposing
and universality.’’ The reader comes to under-
ofquestionsbyprovidingtheopinionsandinter-
stand the internal elements of each novel
pretationsofvariouscriticsandreviewers,broad-
discussed—as well as the external influences
eningthatdialogue.SomereviewersofToKillA
thathelpshapeit.
Mockingbird, for example, ‘‘faulted the novel’s
‘‘Thedesiretowritegreatly,’’HaroldBloom climax as melodramatic.’’ This statement leads
ofYaleUniversitysays,‘‘isthedesiretobeelse- readerstoask,‘‘Isit,indeed,melodramatic?’’‘‘If
where, in a time and place of one’s own, in an not,whydidsomereviewersseeitassuch?’’‘‘Ifit
originality that must compound with inheri- is,whydidLeechoosetomakeitmelodramatic?’’
tance, with an anxiety of influence.’’ A writer ‘‘Is melodrama ever justified?’’ By being spurred
seeks to create a unique world within a story,
to ask these questions, readers not only learn
but although it is unique, it is not disconnected
more about the book and its writer, but about
from our own world. It speaks to us because of
thenatureofwritingitself.
what the writer brings to the writing from our
The literature included for discussion in
world: how he or she was raised and educated;
Novels for Students has been chosen because it
hisorherlikesanddislikes;theeventsoccurring
has something vital to say to us. Of Mice and
in the real world atthe time ofthe writing, and
Men,Catch-22,TheJoyLuckClub,MyAntonia,
while the author was growing up. When we
ASeparatePeaceandtheothernovelsherespeak
know what an author has broughttohisor her
oflifeandmodernsensibility.Inadditiontotheir
work, we gain a greater insight into both the
individual,specificmessagesofprejudice,power,
‘‘originality’’ (the world of the book), and the
things that ‘‘compound’’ it. This insight enables loveorhate,livinganddying,however,theyand
us to question that created world and find all great literature also share a common intent.
answers more readily. By informing ourselves, Theyforceustothink—aboutlife,literature,and
weareabletoestablishamoreeffectivedialogue aboutothers,notjustaboutourselves.Theypry
withbothbookandauthor. us from the narrow confines of our minds and
thrustusoutwardtoconfronttheworldofbooks
NovelsforStudents,inadditiontoprovidinga
andthelarger,realworldweallshare.Novelsfor
plotsummaryanddescriptivelistofcharacters—
Studentshelpsusinthisconfrontationbyprovid-
to remind readers of what they have read—also
ingthemeansofenrichingourconversationwith
explores the external influences that shaped each
literatureandtheworld,bycreatinganinformed
book. Each entry includes a discussion of the
dialogue, one that brings true pleasure to the
author’s background, and the historical context
personalactofreading.
in which the novel was written. It is vital to
know,forinstance,thatwhenRayBradburywas
Sources
writingFahrenheit451(Vol.1),thethreatofNazi
HaroldBloom,TheWesternCanon,TheBooksand
dominationhadrecentlyendedinEurope,andthe
SchooloftheAges,RiverheadBooks,1994.
McCarthy hearings were taking place in
Washington, D.C. This information goes far in WattyPiper,TheLittleEngineThatCould,Platt&
answering the question, ‘‘Why did he write a Munk,1930.
storyofoppressivegovernmentcontrolandbook AnneDevereauxJordan
burning?’’ Similarly, it is important to know that SeniorEditor,TALL(Teachingand
HarperLee,authorofToKillaMockingbird,was LearningLiterature)
x N o v e l s f o r S t u d e n t s , V o l u m e 3 5
( c) 2011 Cengage L earning. All Rights Reserved.