Short Story Collections

+ The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan

+Winesburg, Ohio, by Anderson, Sherwood

Modernism & Post Modernism

Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes both a set of cultural tendencies and an array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Modernism rejected the lingering certainty of Enlightenment thinking, and also that of the existence of a compassionate, all-powerful Creator.
Modernism:
+ The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Following the chaos of WW1, American society enjoyed unprecedented levels of prosperity during the 1920s as the economy soared. At the same time, prohibition, the ban on the sale and manufacture of alcohol as mandated by the 18th Amendment, made millionares out of bootlegers and led to an increase in organized crime.
+ The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner
The four parts of the novel relate many of the same episodes, each from a different point of view and therefore with emphasis on different themes and events. This interweaving and nonlinear structure makes any true synopsis of the novel difficult, especially since the narrators are all unreliable in their own way, making their accounts not necessarily trustworthy at all times.
+ Black Boy, Richard Wright
Richard Wright grew up in the woods of Mississippi, with poverty, hunger, fear, and hatred. He lied, stole, and raged at those around him; at six he was a "drunkard," hanging about taverns. Surly, brutal, cold, suspicious, and self-pitying, he was surrounded on one side by whites who were either indifferent to him, pitying, or cruel, and on the other by blacks who resented anyone trying to rise above the common lot. This is Wright's powerful account of his journey from innocence to experience in the Jim Crow South. It is at once an unashamed confession and a profound indictment—a poignant and disturbing record of social injustice and human suffering.
+ The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemmingway
Jake is in love with Lady Brett Ashley, but they cannot maintain a relationship because he was rendered impotent by a war wound. Jake loses numerous friendships and has his life repeatedly disrupted because of his loyalty to Brett, who has a destructive series of love affairs with other men.

Postmodernism focuses on social and political outworkings and innovations globally, especially since the 1960s in the West.
Post Modernism:
+ The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan
The Chinese mothers strive to instill their American-born daughters with an understanding of their heritage, yet also attempt to save them the pain they felt as girls growing up in China. The daughters, on the other hand, often see their mothers’ attempts at guidance as a form of hypercritical meddling, or as a failure to understand American culture. The daughters thus respond by attempting to further their mothers’ assimilation. Both the mothers and the daughters struggle with issues of identity: the mothers try to reconcile their Chinese pasts with their American presents; the daughters attempt to find a balance between independence and loyalty to their heritage.

Sports

Sports literature comes in the form of biographies and autobiographies from athletes and coaches, but also in the form of fictional works supported by a sport setting or goal.

General
-Slot Machine, Chris Lynch
Elvin Bishop goes to camp for his new private school in order to find the perfect "slot" (sport). In the course of a couple of weeks, poor Elvin is bounced around from football to baseball to track, until he finds his perfect place

Baseball/softball
+The Natural, Bernard Malamud
follows the career of baseball player Roy Hobbs from his first false start to his Final failure. The story is divided into two parts, the first recounting an event during Roy's nineteenth year, and the second picking up the story some fifteen years later.

-Far from Xanadu, Julie Anne Peters
Mary Elizabeth (or Mike) is the star of her school's softball team, but because of problems stemming from her father's suicide, she has convinced herself she can't go far. She also falls in love with the new girl, the manipulative and straight Xanadu.

-Extra Innings, Robert Newton Peck
After a tragic accident kills his parents and seriously injures him, Tate goes to live with his great grandfather and Vidalia. Vidalia's stories about traveling with a Negro League baseball team insipre Tate to once again take the pitcher's mound, despite his grief and injury.

Basketball
-SLAM, Walter Dean Myers
Greg "Slam" Harris can do it all on the basketball court. He knows he could be one of the lucky ones, making it all the way to the top. But what if his luck runs out? His grades aren't so hot. His teachers are starting to catch on and his temper is always on the verge of exploding. Slam's going one-on-one with his future, and it's a showdown he can't afford to lose.

-Maravich, Wayne Federman, Marshall Terrill, Jackie Maravich
Gaining access to personal letters, albums and scrapbooks, plus spending hours with family members among some 300 interviews, has allowed the authors to craft the definitive biography of one of the most remarkable basketball stories in history. They reveal new facts and provide startling insight into Pistol Pete Maravich, who lived a life of triumph and tragedy before finding happiness in religion in the years before his death at age 40.

-Rebound, Bob Krech
Raymond Wisniewski loves playing basketball. But in his town, the Polish kids all wrestle, and the black kids play basketball. Rayis cut the first two years he tries out, but continues to better his game. The third year Ray is one of two white kids who make the team. This isn’t just about the underdog making the team. Ray learns about how prejudice isn’t predictable, good friends can become mean people, the loveliest girl can be nasty ugly inside, and your worst enemy can be an unlikely savior.

Boxing
-The Contender, Robert Lipstyle
Alfred doesn't want to live his life on the streets and end up like his best friend who has been caught up with drugs and violence. He begins to go to Donatelli's Gym to learn boxing.

Cheerleading
-Dreamland, Sarah Dessen
Caitlin's perfect sister, Cass, has run away. Caitlin, trying to get away from her sister's shadow, joins the cheerleading squad, and later becomes involved in an abusive relationship.

Football
-Roughnecks, Thomas Cochran
In a small Louisiana town, senior Travis Cody prepares for his state championship football game.
Skiing
-Slalom, R.L. Rottman
Sandro is an avid skier and works with his single mother at a Colorado ski resort. His life takes an interesting turn when a man, claiming to be his father, arrives.

Swimming/Diving
-Heat, Michael Cadnum
Bonnie is terrified to return to diving after hitting her head on the diving board. On top of that, her lawyer father has just been accused of stealing money from his clients.

-Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, Chris Crutcher
High school swimmer, Eric ("Moby") discusses his friendship with Sarah Byrnes, who was severely burned as a child and who now lives in a psychriatic hospital.

Tennis
-Fifteen Love, Robert Corbet
Do tennis players Will and Mia like each other? Will they ever get together? In the meantime, Mia must deal with her father's infidelity and Will bonds with his newly disabled brother.

-Mixed up Doubles, Elana Yates Eulo
Hank, Jerome, and Sarah move with their father after their mother decides to focus more on her tennis career.

Cylving
-It's Not About the Bike, Lance Armstrong & Sally Jenkins
An autobiography exlaining the life of Lance Armstrong from his youth, through 3 forms of cancer, to his legendary status as a Tour de France champion.

Science Fiction

Fantastic works about imaginary possibilities of science fall under the category of Science Fiction.
+ Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
The book opens with one of several letters from from a sea captain encouraging his sister to share his enthusiasm about his journey to the North Pole. His last letter tells the startling story of his having seen a being of gigantic stature shaped like a man, fleeing across the ice which is threatening to enclose the ship. The next day another sled appears, carrying the wasted and maddened Victor Frankenstein, who is pursuing the giant and gets taken aboard. Frankenstein tells his story of how once he began in earnest to know all that could be known.

+ Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
The book opens in the year 2495 at the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, a research facility and factory that mass-produces and then socially-conditions test-tube babies. Such a factory is a fitting place to begin the story of mass-produced characters in a techno-futurist dystopia, a world society gone mad for pleasure, order, and conformity. The date is A.F. 632, A.F.—After Ford—being a notation based on the birth year (1863) of Henry Ford, the famous automobile manufacturer and assembly line innovator who is worshipped as a god in Huxley’s fictional society.

+ Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
As Mike learns about human society, he comes to see that much of his Martian wisdom could be used to help alleviate the sufferings of mankind, but society's institutions are not designed to resist new and radical teachings like Mike's.

+ On the Beach, Nevil Shute
The characters cope with the reality that they're among the few people in the world left alive after a catastrophic nuclear war, and that within several months they too will inevitably die from radiation sickness.

Gothic

Gothic literature combines elements of both horror and romance.

+ The Picture of Dorian Gray*, Oscar Wilde
This book tells of a young man named Dorian Gray, the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Basil is impressed by Dorian's beauty and becomes infatuated with him, believing his beauty is responsible for a new mode in his art. Talking in Basil's garden, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, a friend of Basil's, and becomes enthralled by Lord Henry's world view.

+ Frankenstein*, Mary Shelley
The book opens with one of several letters from from a sea captain encouraging his sister to share his enthusiasm about his journey to the North Pole. His last letter tells the startling story of his having seen a being of gigantic stature shaped like a man, fleeing across the ice which is threatening to enclose the ship. The next day another sled appears, carrying the wasted and maddened Victor Frankenstein, who is pursuing the giant and gets taken aboard. Frankenstein tells his story of how once he began in earnest to know all that could be known.

+ Jane Eyre*, Charlotte Brontë
When Jane returns to Thornfield, the houseguests have left. Rochester tells Jane he will soon marry Blanche, so she and Adèle will need to leave Thornfield. In the middle of this charade, Jane reveals her love for him, and the two end up engaged. Jane is happy to be marrying the man she loves, but during the month before the wedding she is plagued by strange dreams of a destroyed Thornfield and a wailing infant. Two nights before the wedding, a frightening, dark-haired woman enters her room and rips her wedding veil in two.

+ The Turn of the Screw*, Henry James
A narrator listens to a male friend reading a manuscript written by a former governess whom the latter claims to have known and who is now dead. It tells how the young governess is hired by a man who has found himself responsible for his niece & nephew after the death of their parents. He has no interest in raising the children. The boy, is attending a boarding school whilst his sister is living at the country home. She is currently being cared for by the housekeeper, Mrs. Grose. The governess's new employer gives her full charge of the children and explicitly states that she is not to bother him with communications of any sort. The governess travels to her new employer's country house and begins her duties.

+ Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde*, Robert Louis Stevenson
Jekyll attempts to keep his dark half, Edward Hyde, under control and then to prevent himself from becoming Hyde permanently.

+ Wuthering Heights*, Emily Brontë
Heathcliff’s great natural abilities, strength of character, and love for Catherine Earnshaw all enable him to raise himself from humble beginnings to the status of a wealthy gentleman, but his need to revenge himself for Hindley’s abuse and Catherine’s betrayal leads him into a twisted life of cruelty and hatred; Catherine is torn between her love for Heathcliff and her desire to be a gentlewoman, and her decision to marry the genteel Edgar Linton drags almost all of the novel’s characters into conflict with Heathcliff.

Autobiographies, Semibiographies and Autobiographical Ficiton

Autobiographies, Semi-Autobiographis and Autobiographical Fiction stories all relay their message from the first person perspective.

+ Black Boy, Richard Wright
Wright grew up in the woods of Mississippi, with poverty, hunger, fear, and hatred. He lied, stole, and raged at those around him; at six he was a "drunkard," hanging about taverns. Surly, brutal, cold, suspicious, and self-pitying, he was surrounded on one side by whites who were either indifferent to him, pitying, or cruel, and on the other by blacks who resented anyone trying to rise above the common lot. This is Wright's powerful account of his journey from innocence to experience in the Jim Crow South. It is at once an unashamed confession and a profound indictment—a poignant and disturbing record of social injustice

-It's Not About the Bike, Lance Armstrong & Sally Jenkins

An autobiography exlaining the life of Lance Armstrong from his youth, through 3 forms of cancer, to his legendary status as a Tour de France champion.

+ Walden, Henry David Thoreau
Thoreau lived mostly in solitude for over 2 years and 2 months in a cab in at Walden Pond. In his disconnection with general society he learned new motivations and methods for living deliberately.

- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Alexie, Sherman

Sherman Alexie tells the heartbreaking, hilarious, and beautifully written story of a young Native American teen as he attempts to break free from the life he was destined to live.

+ Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Billy struggles to make sense out of a life forever marked by the firsthand experience of war’s tragedy.

+ The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
Esther struggles against her oppressive environment and encroaching madness.

+ The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston

Kingston reconciles her Chinese cultural heritage with her emerging sense of herself as an American. The autobiography relays stories of her mother Brave Orchid, aunts Moon Orchid and "No Name Woman," and of her childhood heroine Fa Mu Lan — a legendary woman warrior. Each recollection explores the many forms of adversity that women face in the physical and emotional struggle in the search for one's own, personal voice.

+ Black Boy, Richard Wright

Wright's early life in the South from 1912 to 1927. This autobiography begins when 4-year-old Richard sets ablaze his grandmother's house and is nearly beaten to death by his mother. The punishment teaches Richard to survive any circumstance. Richard grows and observes his family members humiliating themselves in front of whites, while seeing opportunities for breaking out of stereotypes to become what he wants to be, a writer.

+ I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou

The book follows Marguerite's (later called Maya) young life in the segregated South. Abandoned by their parents at an early age, she and her older brother Bailey move in with their grandmother and crippled uncle in Stamps, Arkansas. Angelou's autobiography explores how her blossoming character helped her cope with rape, sexism, society's prejudices, and the isolation and loneliness she faced growing up.

Drama

Most drama stories are intended for performance and envolve strong emotional elements.

+ Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Raskolnikov, a drop-out student, lives in a tiny, rented room and refuses all help. He plans to murder and rob an unpleasant elderly money-lender, Alëna—his motivation, whether personal or ideological, remains unclear. When Raskolnikov kills Alëna, however, he is also forced to kill her half-sister, Lizaveta, as well. After the murders, he becomes feverish and behaves as though he wishes to betray himself. The detective Porfiry begins to suspect him on psychological grounds. At the same time, a chaste relationship develops between Raskolnikov and a prostitute full of Christian virtue, driven into the profession by the habits of her father.

+ A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen
Nora’s struggle with Krogstad, who threatens to tell her husband about her past crime, incites Nora’s journey of self-discovery and provides much of the play’s dramatic suspense. Nora’s primary struggle, however, is against the selfish, stifling, and oppressive attitudes of her husband, Torvald, and of the society that he represents.

+ The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams
Tom’s fear of working in a dead-end job for decades drives him to work hard creating poetry, which he finds more fulfilling. Amanda’s disappointment at the fading of her glory motivates her attempts to make her daughter, Laura, more popular and social. Laura’s extreme fear of seeing Jim O’Connor reveals her underlying concern about her physical appearance and about her inability to integrate herself successfully into society.

+ The Stranger, Albert Camus
After committing murder, Meursault struggles against society’s attempts to manufacture and impose rational explanations for his attitudes and actions. This struggle is embodied by his battle with the legal system that prosecutes him.

+ Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan Paton
Stephen Kumalo struggles against the forces (white oppression, the corrupting influences of city life) that destroy his family and his country

+ To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
The childhood innocence with which Scout and Jem begin the novel is threatened by numerous incidents that expose the evil sode of human nature. Most notably Tom Robinson's guiltand Bob Ewell's vengefulness. As the novel progresses, Scout and Jem struggle to maintain faith in the human capacity for good in light of these recurring instances of human evil.

+ Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller
Miller seems to say with this play that any man can have as great a fall and be as great a tragedy as a king or some other famous person. Just because people are common does not mean that their falls are to them less steep. Also one must find oneself to be successful in life.

+ A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry
The Youngers, a working-class black family, struggle against economic hardship and racial prejudice.

+ Snow Falling on Cedars, David Peterson

Kabuo Miyamoto stands trial for the murder of Carl Heine, while Ishmael Chambers struggles to overcome his emotionally and physically shattered past.