Key Texts in Post-War American Literature
Beat Generation
- Jack Kerouac – On the Road
- Allen Ginsberg – Howl
New Journalism
- Tom Wolfe – The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
Surfiction
- Thomas Pynchon – The Crying of Lot 49
Postmodern Fiction
- Paul Auster – City of Glass
Postmodern Poetry
- Frank O’Hara – Lunch Poems (New York School)
- Barrett Watten – Plasma (Language Poetry)
- Lyn Hejinian–My Life– (Language Poetry)
African American Literature
- LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka)– Black Art
- Toni Cade Bambara – The Lesson
- Claudia Rankine – Citizen: An American
Jaime Gil de Biedma: War, Childhood, and Poetic Evolution
Jaime Gil de Biedma: A Life Shaped by War and Poetry
Jaime Gil de Biedma was born in 1929 into a family of Spanish gentry. He studied law in Barcelona and Salamanca. His poetry evolved from intimate early poems to social commitment. He avoided Surrealism and sought a contemporary language. His life was marked by his homosexuality, pessimism, and self-destructive intimate experiences. In 1974, he suffered a crisis that led him to withdraw from literary life. He was a leading member of the School of
Read MoreDictionary of Terms: Origins and Definitions
Nankeen
1. A sturdy yellow or buff cotton cloth.
2. A Chinese porcelain with a blue-and-white pattern.
Nantua Sauce
A cream sauce flavored with shellfish.
Nashville
The country music industry.
Neanderthal
Crude or boorish.
New England Clam Chowder
A thick soup made with clams, onions, salt pork, potatoes, and milk.
Norfolk Jacket
A belted jacket with two box pleats in front and back.
Nova
Cured and smoked salmon, especially salmon that has been cured in a mixture of salt and sugar and smoked at a low temperature.
Read MoreUnderstanding Marge Piercy’s ‘Barbie Doll’ and Its Themes
Marge Piercy: “Barbie Doll”
Marge Piercy is an American poet, novelist, and social activist. She was born on March 31, 1936, in Detroit into a family that, like many others, was affected by the Great Depression. She was the first in her family to attend college, studying at the University of Michigan. Winning a Hopwood Award for poetry and fiction in 1957 enabled her to finish college, and she also spent some time in France. Her first book of poems, “Breaking Camp,” was published in 1968.
Read MoreLiterary Giants: Authors and Their Masterpieces
H.G. WELLS: (21/9/1866-13/8/1946) (Father: Joseph Wells, mother: Sarah Neals) Last of four brothers. At 14, became a teacher’s assistant, then a journalist, and later wanted to “write novels.” In 1891, Wells married his cousin Isabel Mary Wells. Left her in 1894 for a student (Amy Catherine Robbins), whom he married in 1895. Had 2 sons: George Philip in 1901 and Frank Richard in 1903. During his marriage, he had liaisons with Margaret Sanger, Elizabeth von Armin, Amber Reeves (daughter: Anna-
Read MoreSir Walter Raleigh’s Poetic Reflection on Life as a Play
Sir Walter Raleigh wrote this poem in 1612 while imprisoned, accused of treason, and awaiting execution. Years later, he was executed after being held in the Tower of London.
The author compares life to a theatrical play. This poem explores themes of life and death.
Raleigh employs a series of metaphors and similes to construct the poem, comparing life to a play. He transitions from birth to death using a continuous structure of images.
In the first line, answering the rhetorical question ‘What is
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