 | The Scarlet Letter is
the classic tale of a lover's triangle. It was written in the 1860s
by Nathaniel Hawthorne, but is set in the mid 1600s. Hester Prynne
is forced to wear the scarlet A, in retribution for her sin of adultery.
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| The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn is one of the most controversial novels in all of history.
Mark Twain wrote this novel in the 1880s, even though it is set before the
advent of the Civil War. Huck and Jim, an escaped slave, travel along
the Mississippi River, having numerous adventures as Huck matures.
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F. Scott Fitzgerald's magnum opus,
The Great Gatsby, is set during the Roaring 20s.
Through Nick Carraway's eyes, we see the pros and cons of living in New
York during this opulent period. |
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| Written in the epistolary (letter) form,
The Color Purple explores the growth of Celie
through the travails of life in the early 1900s. This Pulitzer Prize
winner was made into a movie, featuring Oprah as Celie.
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| Published in 1969,
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
by Maya Angelou is the first of five autobiographical works which explore
Maya Angelou's extraordinary life. She was one of the women honored
at Oprah's Legend's Ball. |
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| Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize winning novel,
Beloved, reveals the lasting impact of
the ravages of slavery. Set outside of Cincinnati, Ohio in the late
1800s, Sethe, Denver, and Paul D. merge past and literary present in
this unusual tale. |
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| Maxine Hong Kingston is noted as the first
celebrated Chinese-American author. Woman
Warrior is the first in her semi-autobiographical series.
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| Published in 2001,
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn breaks many of the conventions
established by other writers. It's a lipogrammatic, epistolary tale.
Truly word candy from the title to the conclusion. |
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| As I Lay Dying, by
William Faulkner is a classic of American Literature. It is a most
noteworthy novel because of Faulkner's use of multiple narrators.
His use of symbolism in this novel is particularly interesting too.
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| Though published in 1997, Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier explores the physical and
psychological journey of two
characters, Inman and Ada, during the Civil War. Learn about
Southern culture as well as 1860s history as you travel to the world of
Frazier's great-grandfather. |
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After perusing the pages about each of these novels, see
how well you remember the details:
Take a
practice quiz. |
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