Four Seasons (Haiku Poem) by Randy Yelitza Duran

Four Seasons

(Haiku)

As the buds are bloomed

In the springtime of my soul

New hopes start feeling

Promptly summertime

Appears baptizing with warm

The Earth's living things 

 

Autumn gets closer

And the color of the trees 

Gloomily changes

 

The winter spreads its

White blankett all over the

 Green and blue nature

 

By Randy Yelitza Duran

Home Burial Summary

Home Burial by Robert Frost

 

Home Burial is about a man and woman who have lost their child and bury him in the backyard. This loss is affecting their marriage. The pain is unbearable. Everytime the wife looks back at the grave of the child, it pains her. In the beggining, the husband is unable to understand what she is facing but then, he does it. The way for the man to deal with this loss and the pain is by physical working which includes digging the grave for his child. he tries to rescue their marriage, but he does not know how to do it and fails everytime. She asks herself how he can get over it and hide the pain. He asks her to express her feelings but his unability to read between the lines and to see beyond, makes the situation unfixable.

Robert Frost

 

Born on March 26, 1874, Robert Frost spent his first 40 years as an unknown. He exploded on the scene after returning from England at the beginning of WWI. Winner of four Pulitzer Prizes and a special guest at President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration, Frost became a poetic force and the unofficial "poet laureate" of the United States. He died of complications from prostate surgery on January 29, 1963.

Lives of Girls and Women Summary

Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro

 

This is the story of Del, a young girl who lives in a poor and neglected area at the end of a place called Flat Roads with her mother Addie and her father, who hate their lifestyle. She also lives with her younger brother and his dog. Her story takes place in rural Canada of 1942. The people have a lack of sophistication and spend most of their time getting drunk. Del introduces us several strange an peculiar inhabitants of Flat Roads who help to create a unique and quirky environment.

Alice Munro

 

 Born in Canada in 1931, writer Alice Munro, primarily known for her short stories, attended the University of Western Ontario. Her first collection of stories was published as Dance of the Happy Shades. In 2009, Munro won the Man Booker International Prize. That same year, she published the short-story collection Too Much Happiness. In 2013, at age 82, Munro was awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature.

The Grapes Of Wrath Summary

The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinbeck

 

The Grapes of Wrath is about an ex-convicted man named Tom Joad during America's Great Depression. He and his family are forced to leave Oklahoma and set out for California. Thousands of people are along with them in search of new jobs to survive. During the journey, some relatives such as the grand-father and the grand-mother, die on the road. Two of the family members leave the group and separate. The remaining members continue as nothing is left in Oklahoma. 

Once in California, they find a state full of abuses, exploitation and starvation. After they leave that place, they find a better one which offers them better conditions and protection, but not for all the families. 

Jim Casy, a friend of Tom and a former preacher who lost his faith, works as a labor organizer and tries to help the other inmigrants, but is involved in a violent strike in which he is fatally beaten. Tom witnesses it and kills the attacker. Tom runs away from there to avoid getting arrested.

Tom says good bye to his mother and promises to help the opressed ones. The Joad daughter, Rose of Sharon has a stillborn baby. When the family shelters in an old barn, they find a boy and his father, who is dying of starvation and Rose of Sharon feeds him with her breast milk.

John Steinbeck

 

 John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (February 27, 1902 to December 20, 1968) was a Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist and the author of Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden. Steinbeck dropped out of college and worked as a manual laborer before achieving success as a writer. His works often dealt with social and economic issues. His 1939 novel, The Grapes of Wrath, about the migration of a family from the Oklahoma Dust Bowl to California, won a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award. Steinbeck served as a war correspondent during World War II, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962.

Leaves of Grass Summary

Leaves Of Grass by Walt Whitman

Leaves of Grass is a collection of poetry in which the author expresses his thoughts on the themes about life. 

The Self talks about the man physically and spiritually. His individuality, quality and being. The Body And The Soul is about these two elements in man. The author says that the body is as sacred as the soul. Nature is about the love that the author feels for everything that inhabits the nature such as the flora, the fauna, the moon, the stars, the sea, and the other elements of nature. In Time, the poet realizes that the past, the present and the future are not disjoined, but joined. They are flowing stages and cannot be separate or distinct. Cosmic Conciousness tells that the universe has awareness. The cosmos is God and God is the cosmos. Mysticism is about the unity of God and man, man and nature. In Death, Whitman deals with it as fact of life. Trascendentalism implies that the true reality is the spirit and that it lies beyond the reach or realm of the senses. Personalism indicates the fusion of the individual with the community in an ideal harmony and democracy. In Democracy, Whitman emphazises the individual virtue, which he believed would give rise to civic virtue.

Walt Whitman

 

Poet and journalist Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819 in West Hills, New York. Considered one of America's most influential poets, Whitman aimed to transcend traditional epics and eschew normal aesthetic form to mirror the potential freedoms to be found in America. In 1855 he self-published the collection Leaves of Grass; the book is now a landmark in American literature, though at the time of its publication it was considered highly controversial. Whitman later worked as a volunteer nurse during the Civil War, writing the collection Drum Taps (1865) in connection to the experiences of war-torn soldiers. Having continued to produce new editions of Leaves of Grass along with original works, Whitman died on March 26, 1892 in Camden, New Jersey.

The Catcher In The Rye Summary

The Catcher In The Rye by J. D. Salinger

 

This is the story of Holden Caulfield, a boy with a lot of attitude who has been kicked out from Pencey Prep School in Pennsylvania because he failed all of the exams, except for the English one.

He has some friends there such as Robert Ackley, Stradlater and Jane Gallagher (he has some feelings for her). Stradlater is dating her but Holden is not too excited about the idea, but despite of this, he writes an English composition for Stradlater.

This writing composition is about Holden's younger brother Allie who died of leukemia. The composition tells about Allie's left-handed baseball mitt which had green ink written poems on it in order to Allie read them while being out in the field. The night Allie died, Holden was so sad, frustrated and devastated, that he broke all the windows in the garage with his hand. That is why he is unable to make a good fist.

 Ward Stradlater and Jane Gallagher come back from their date and Holden is asking if they had any kind of intimacy. Ward Stradlater avoids to say a word, Holden tries to force him and Ward punches him in his nose. After this incident, Holden finds himself fed up with everything and everyone, and decides to leave Pencey in that right moment. He thinks about a plan for not letting his parents know that he has gotten the ax, so he goes to New York.

Once there, he gets a pretty hotel room and tries to get lucky (without succeeding). He reminds Jane, but not in sexual situations, just innocent stuff and holding hands. 

He goes to Ernie's bar, where he can drink no matter the fact that he is a minor. But leaves the place because he does not want to be in trounble with adult people. Back in his room, he is with a prostitute whose name is Sunny, but they do not have sex because Holden prefers talking. Sunny gets bored and leaves with some of the Holden's money. Soon after, she comes back with her pimp for more money and the pimp punches Holden in the stomach. 

Next morning, Holden makes a date with Sally Hayes (an old friend). When he is having breakfast, meets two nuns. He leaves and buys a record for his sister Phoebe.

After this, everything was weird, confusing, uncomfortable, frustrating and depressing for him before the appearance of Phoebe, the greatest girl in the World.

When they are talking, Holden opens up and says that he wishes to be the catcher in the rye. Phoebe tells him that he is misunderstanding that phrase that he heard from a song, actually is a poem by Robert Burns about bodies meeting bodies, not catching bodies.

J. D. Salinger

 

Born on January 1, 1919, in New York, Jerome David Salinger was a literary giant despite his slim body of work and reclusive lifestyle. His landmark novel, The Catcher in the Rye, set a new course for literature in post-WWII America and vaulted Salinger to the heights of literary fame. In 1953, Salinger moved from New York City and led a secluded life, only publishing one new story before his death.

Walden Pond Summary

Walden Pond by Henry David Thoreau

 

Walden Pond is based on the experience of Thoreau living in the cabin that he built by Walden Pond, a place near Concord, Massachusetts. He calls it ''his personal experiment''. His plan is to discover as much as he can about human nature; he thinks that is easier for him to achieve it if he does not have to deal with normal worldly concerns. 

Thoreau carefully observes the seasonal changes during the two years he stayed there. His days are filled with many amazing things, animals and plants that inhabit Walden Pond.

Sometimes, when Thoreau is not contemplating life, he invites and entertains friends at his cabin. Among his friends, we find a philosopher, a poet, various hunters, settlers, farmers and laborers who tell him stories about Walden Pond.

Thoreau takes time to explore other ponds such as Flint's Pond and White Pond. By the fall, he observes how the color of the trees have changed, and he finishes the chimney on the cabin to prepare for the winter. By the winter, he finds himself observing how everything gets frozen outside. When the spring arrives, he observes how the ice melts right before his eyes. A lot of changes come with the spring, more varieties of birds and animals, the pine trees pollinating and plants blooming.

Henry David Thoreau

 

Henry David Thoreau was born on July 12, 1817, in Concord, Massachusetts. He began writing nature poetry in the 1840s, with poet Ralph Waldo Emerson as a mentor and friend. In 1845 he began his famous two-year stay on Walden Pond, which he wrote about in his master work, Walden. He also became known for his beliefs in Transcendentalism and civil disobedience, and was a dedicated abolitionist.

The Rhodora (poem) Summary

The Rhodora by Ralph Waldo Emerson

This poem tells about a flower as beautiful as a rose, but remains humble and does not want to catch the attention. Ralph Waldo Emerson compares the Rhodora to the Christian virtue and humility. This poem shows us thoughts of Emerson on humanity's connection with the natural world. Also, the poem expresses the spiritual connection with a primitive nature and  the relashionship with God through nature. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson was born on May 25, 1803, in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1821, he took over as director of his brother’s school for girls. In 1823, he wrote the poem "Good-Bye.” In 1832, he became a Transcendentalist, leading to the later essays "Self-Reliance" and "The American Scholar." Emerson continued to write and lecture into the late 1870s. He died on April 27, 1882, in Concord, Massachusetts.

The Cider House Rules Summary

The Cider House Rules by John Irving

This novel tells the story of Homer Wells who is an orphan grown up in an orphanage. Dr. Wilbur Larch makes him into his assistant. Dr. Larch decides to give his back on sex and love after a traumatic experience with a prostitute. Larrch is aware that Homer is going to spend his entire childhood in the orphanage, so he starts training him to be an obstetrician and starts loving him like a son.

 Homer discovers that Wilbur is an abortionist and he considers it immoral.

Candy Kendall and Wally Worthington, a young couple who come for an abortion, are befriended by Homer. Wally and Homer become best friends and Homer starts having feelings for Candy which end in a romantic relationship after Wally is gone to WWII and because of an air accident, is believed dead. Candy and Homer have a baby named Angel.

Wally is found in Burma, where his plane was shot down, but he is paralyzed from the waist down. He is able to have sexual relationships, but not able to have children because of an infection caught in Burma. Both lie to their families about Angel's parentage.

Wally and Candy marry but their marriage does not last long. Candy and Homer have a secret affair that lasts approximately fifteen years.

Some years later, Angel is a teenager and falls in love with Rose who unfortunately becomes pregnant by her father and Homer performs an abortion on her. After Dr. Larch's death, Home returs to the orphanage to become the director. He dislikes the idea of abortions but he must continue with the doctor's legacy, hoping that one day, abortion become free and legal in order for him to get rid of that responsability.   

John Irving

 

  

Award-winning, bestselling American novelist John Irving is known for The Cider House Rules and The World According to Garp. Born on March 2, 1942 in Exeter, New Hampshire, John Irving pursued wrestling and worked as a teacher before shooting to fame with his best-selling 1978 novel, The World According to Garp, which won the National Book Award. For his 1985 novel The Cider House Rules, he also wrote the screenplay adaption, winning an Oscar for his efforts. He has written many other novels, including A Prayer for Owen Meany and The Fourth Hand, as well as two memoirs.

All The King's Men Summary

All The King's Men by Robert Penn Warren

This novel tells about the political rise and governorship of Willie Stark who is a cynical populist. The novel is narrated by a political reporter named Jack Burden who becomes Governor Stark's right-hand man. Jack Burden cannot sleep with Anne Stanton whom he loves, but Stark does so. When Jack discovers that Anne has an affair with his boss, he decides to go on a trip to keep the distance from them. Once he is back, his mind is different and clearer.

After this, Adam Stanton (Anne's brother) is told about his sister's affair with the Governor. This infuriates him so much. Adam, with his pride demolished sees the Governor at the Capitol and shoots him down.

Also, Jack Burden discovers that his real father is the Judge Irwin, who suicides because Stark used Jack to incriminate him.

This unfortunate events change Jack's conception of moral.

 Robert Penn Warren

Civil Rights Activist, Literary Critic, Poet (1905–1989). Poet Robert Penn Warren was one of the founders of New Criticism and is the only person to have won the Pulitzer Prize for both fiction and poetry. He is best known for his treatment of moral dilemmas in the South in his poetry and essays. He was supporter of racial integration and published a collection of interviews with black civil rights leaders including Malcolm X and Martin Luther King.

 

The Bell Jar Summary

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

This is a semi-autobiographical novel about a young woman named Esther Greenwood who gains an internship at a prominent magazine in New York. There she meets her adventurous friend Doreen, the goody-goody Betsy and Philomena Guinea, a fiction writer, who will later pay some of Esther's hospital expenses. 

After she finishes the internship, she is back in her hometown, Massachusetts with low spirits and wishing to gain another scholarship. She hears about a writing course taught by a famous writer and applies for it, but her mother breaks the news and tells her that she was not accepted there. She spends the summer writing a novel but she has a lack of experience and imagination which frustrates her.

She becomes depressed and is not able to sleep. Her mother forces her to see a shrink named Dr. Gordon who she does not trust. He prescribes ECT, but she tells her mom that she will never go back there.

Her mental state gets worse and after trying to suicide several times, she is sent to a mental hospital where she meet the female therapist Dr. Nolan who ensures that the shock treatments that she is receiving are being properly administrated. Esther feels that the shocks are setting her free from the methaphorical bell jar in which she is trapped.

Esther tells Dr. Nolan how worried she is about sex, pregnancy and marriage. Dr. Nolan who refers her to another doctor for a diafragm. After this, she feels free and confident with her sanity back.

Sylvia Plath

 

Sylvia Plath was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 27, 1932. Plath met and married British poet Ted Hughes, although the two later split. The depressive Plath committed suicide in 1963, garnering accolades after her death for the novel The Bell Jar, and the poetry collections The Colossus and Ariel. In 1982, Plath became the first person to win a posthumous Pulitzer Prize.

The Tropic Of Capricorn Summary

The Tropic Of Capricorn by Henry Miller

This is a semi-autobiographical novel which tells about Henry Miller's inhability and refusal to accept what he sees as America's hostile environment. The novel tells a little about Miller's adolescent adventures in Brooklyn, his first love Una Gifford, a love affair with his piano teacher who was way older than him, his unhappy marriage with his first wife Beatrice, his years working at The Cosmodemonic Telegraph and his fateful meeting with his second wife Mara who he credits with changing his life and making him into a writer.

Henry Miller

 

American writer Henry Miller, born in Brooklyn, New York, is known for several 20th century works that reflect his own personal experiences, including Tropic of Cancer (1934), Black Spring (1936) and The Rosy Crucifixion Trilogy (1965). Miller's explicit and often obscene content led the way for a new generation of American writers. He died on June 7, 1980, in Pacific Palisades, California.

Look Homeward, Angel: A Story Of The Buried Life Summary

Look Homeward, Angel: A Story Of The Buried Life by Thomas Wolfe

 

This is the story of Eugene Gant who wondered the origins of his parents; William Oliver Gant and Eliza Pentland. His father's ancestors settled in Pennsylvania, he was apprentice of the stonecutter's trade. After two marriages, he met Eliza and married her, and had children. 

At the age of six, Eugene was able to recall the colors of the autumn days. He was aware of the smells of different foods, wood and leather. All of his senses were completely alive. Once he learned to read, he developed a great love for reading books, tales and stories.

When he was a young man, he fell in love with Laura who tells him that she is engaged to be married to another man. Eugene was devastated. His father became seriously ill, too.

No matter his family issues, he could succeed when he was in UNC. He got involved in a lot of academic achievements. His mentor convinced him to apply for Harvard, he agreed and was able to get in.

His mom tried to convince him to remain in North Carolina, but he refused and told her that his destiny was beyond a small mountain town in North Carolina.

Thomas Wolfe

 

Thomas Wolfe was born in October 1900 in Asheville, North Carolina. He first attended the University of North Carolina and then Harvard University before moving to New York City in 1923. It was there that he wrote his most popular work, Look Homeward, Angel (1929), an autobiographical piece centering on his alter ego, Eugene Gant. Wolfe followed with four novels over the following eight years and had more than 10 works published after his untimely death in 1938.

 

A Dark Brown Dog Summary

A Dark Brown Dog by Stephen Crane

 

This is the sad but powerful story of an abused dog which finds a friend in a very young child who protects it and start a nice friend relashionship. They meet while the young boy is leaning a fence and the dark brown dog walks along the sidewalk. After playing with the dog, the boy leaves it there, but the dog follows him. The boy adopts the dog and takes it home. The boy is also abused in his household by the parents. The story ends tragically when the father of the boy kills the dog.

 

Stephen Crane

 

One of America's most influential realist writers, Stephen Crane, born in New Jersey on November 1st, 1871, produced works that have been credited with establishing the foundations of modern American naturalism. His Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage (1895) realistically depicts the psychological complexities of battlefield emotion and has become a literary classic. He is also known for authoring Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. He died at the age of 28 on June 5, 1900 in Germany.

Anna Christie Summary

Anna Christie by Eugene O' Neill

 

This is the story of a former prostitute named Anna Christie with a sad background. 

The coal-barge captain, Chris Christipherson, receives a letter from his daughter, Anna, who he has not seen since she was five years old. They meet at a bar and she agrees to go with him to the coal-barge. Once there, the crew rescues Matt Burke and other four men from a shipwreck. Matt and Anna meet each other and after not getting along at first, they fall in love.

Matt wants to marry Anna, but Chris does not want his daughter to marry a sailor. This infuriates Anna. Soon after, she confesses her background as a prostitute and that she was raped when she was a child. Matt gets furious and Chris, too.

After this, they talk, Matt forgives her, she promises to abandon prostitution and forgives Chris for not being part of her childhood. Her father agrees with their marriage.

Matt and Chris must go to South Africa but they promise to return after the trip.

Eugene O' Neill

 

Famed playwright Eugene O'Neill was born on October 16, 1888, in New York City. His masterpiece, Long Day's Journey into Night (produced posthumously 1957), is at the apex of a long string of great plays, including Beyond the Horizon (1920), Anna Christie (1922), Strange Interlude (1928), Ah! Wilderness (1933) and The Iceman Cometh (1946). O'Neill died on November 27, 1953, in Boston, Massachusetts.

 

Factotum (novel) Summary

Factotum by Charles Bukowski

 

Factotum is a novel, set in the 1940's. The alter-ego of Bukowski, Henry Chinaski; an unemployed and alcoholic man who has been rejected from the draft of World War II. He is searching for a job in the streets of Los Angeles. His passion is writing, but the publishing house, the one he wants to work for, always reject him. He is completely sure that he can do it better than the other authors they publish. 

Chinaski beggins to sleeping with barfly Jan, a friend he met while getting drunk in a bar. He has been abandoned by the only woman he can be related to. He starts and affair with a gold digger named Laura, but once more, he finds himself in a state of bad mood, drunkenness and unmeployment.

Charles Bukowski

 

  Charles Bukowski was born on August 16, 1920, in Andernach, Germany. In America, Bukowski worked odd jobs to support himself while writing. He published his first story at 24, and started writing poetry when he was 35. In 1959, he published his first poetry book. Bukowski went on to write more than 45 books—including poetry, short stories and novels. He died March 9, 1994, in San Pedro, California.

 

Julia Bride Summary

Julia Bride by Henry James

 

Julia Bride is a beautiful young American lady who has chequered past. The son of a wealthy and traditional New York family, named Basil French is courting her. He wants to know more about her background, but she shows reluctant. She does not want people know that her mother has been married twice and almost three times. Also, Julia has been engaged six times, which is embarrasing. 

She asks Mr. Pitman, her mother's second husband, for helping her out of her social dilemma. In the other hand, Mr. Pitman wants her to help him in a similar situation with a wealthy widow. Julia wants to seem appropiated and innocent in front of Basil's eyes.

She helps Pitman and he gives her the idea of contacting Murray Brush, one of her ex-fiancées, to ask him to annouce that they are just good friends, and that he is going to marry Mary Lindeck. Apparently, everything is going well, but Murray is interested in taking advantage of the rich Basil. When Julia realises, she feels devastated. She will naver gain Basil French.

Henry James

 Born on April 15, 1843, in New York City, Henry James became one of his generation's most well-known writers and remains so to this day for such works as The Portrait of a Lady and The Turn of the Screw. Having lived in England for 40 years, James became a British subject in 1915, the year before his death. He died on February 28, 1916, in London, England.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Summary

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

 

This famous story takes place in 1790 in a glen called Sleepy Hollow. This place is known for its haunting atmosphere and creepy legends. The most popular and famous spectre is the Headless Horseman. The legend says that he lost his head during the American Revolutionary War by a stray cannonball. He rides in Sleepy Hollow looking for his head. 

Ichabod Crane is a supersticious schoolmaster from Connecticut, who competes with Brom Bones for the hand of Katrina Van Tassel, who is the only one child of a wealthy farmer, named Baltus Van Tassel. One night, he attends a harvest party at the Van Tassel's Homestead. He sees Brom Bones and Katrina flirting with each other. 

He decides to ride home. He feels crestfallen and disappointed. While he is riding, he starts imagining creepy things. When suddenly appears a a rider in an intersection and he realizes that he does not have a head on his shoulders, he starts riding faster to save his life. The Headless Horseman pursues Ichabod. The Horseman hurls his severed head into Ichabod's face. 

Ichabod is vanished and Katrina marries Brom. Soon after, people starts rumors about Crane's disappearance. Some inhabitants say they have seen Ichabod's spirit flying around.

Washington Irving

Author Washington Irving was born in New York City in 1783. He achieved international fame for the fictional stories "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," as well as for such biographical works as A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus. Irving also served as the U.S. ambassador to Spain in the 1840s, and pushed for stronger copyright laws before his death in 1859.

The Crucible Summary

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

 

The Crucible is a play which takes place in New England town of Salem, Massachusetts. The Reverend Parris sees and catches a group of girls dancing in the forest with Tituba, a black slave. Betty, who is one of those girls and also Parris daughter, falls into a coma-like state. Parris starts questioning Abigail, the queen bee of the group, about what they were doing in the forest. She aswers that they were just dancing. 

Rumors of witchcraft beggin to appear in the town. Abigail tells the girls not to say the truth. A local farmer named John Proctor enters and talks to Abigail. They engaged in an affair despite of the fact that he is married. Abigail still desires him.

When Betty wakes up from her coma-like state, she starts screaming. The people say she is bewitched. Reverend Hale questions Abigail about the things they were doing in the forest. He forces Tituba to speak and she ''breaks the silence''. Tituba confesses communing with the devil and accuses some townsfolks of conspiring with the devil. Abigail and Betty start naming ''witches''.

John and Elizabeth, his wife, try to figure out the way to denounce Abigail as fraud. John shows reluctant about it. Elizabeth accuses him of still holding an affair with her. He denies. One of the members of Abigail's circle, Mary Warren, brings them the news that Elizabeth has been accused of witchcraft. Hale goes to visit them. Giles Corey and Francis Nurse come to John and Elizabeth's house with the news that their wives have been accused and arrested. Suddenly, some officers appear and arrest Elizabeth, too. Ater this, John insists that Mary must expose Abigail and her group.

Mary goes to the court and testifies against Abigail and her circle. The girls turn the tables by accusing her of witchcraft. John gets so angry that he confesses his affair with Abigail and that she wants conspires against his wife because she is jealous. Elizabeth lies to protect John's honor by saying that he has not been unfaithful to her, but she makes things worse. Abigail and her circle make people think that Mary is bewitching them and for this reason Mary breaks down and accuses Proctor of witchcraft. This infuriates John and the officers arrest him.

After summer, Abigail runs away from Salem with the money of Reverend Parris. The witchcraft accused ones are advised to confess falsely for saving their lives, but they refuse. Elizabeth convinces John to confess falsely to save his live and he agrees. The court members insist that his confession must be in public. John infuriates and retracts his admission. Unfortunatelly, John Proctor goes to the gallows with the other accused ones.

Arthur Miller

 

 Born in Harlem, New York, in 1915, Arthur Miller attended the University of Michigan before moving back East to write dramas for the stage. He earned widespread praise for Death of a Salesman, which opened on Broadway in 1949 and won the Pulitzer Prize along with multiple Tonys. He received more acclaim for his award-winning follow-up, The Crucible, which reflected his unwavering refusal to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee. Miller's public life was painted in part by his rocky marriage to Hollywood sex symbol Marilyn Monroe. The playwright died in 2005 at the age of 89, leaving a body of work that continues to be re-staged internationally and adapted for the screen.

Salem's Lot Summary

Salem's Lot by Stephen King

 

  

This novel is about Ben Mears, a young writer who has been out of the town for twenty-five years, has returned. He makes a new friend named Matt Burke, who is a teacher and starts a romantic relationship with a young woman named Susan Norton.

As a writer, he starts writing about the Marsten House, an abandoned house which has a lot of history. An Austrian inmigrant named Kurt Barlow has purchased the house with the intention of opening a store in the town. 

The disappearance of a boy named Ralphy and the death of his brother Danny, coincides with Barlow's arrival. Danny becomes the first vampire in town and starts infecting a lot of people. He tries, without success, to infect Mark Petrie, a young man. 

Ben, Susan, Matt, his doctor Jimmy Cody, Mark and the priest Father Callahan form a team to stop and defeat Barlow. Barlow captures Susan and makes her into a vampire. Ben kills her. Mark and the priest try to warn Mark's parents, but Barlow does not allow it. Barlow kills Mark's parents and forces the priest Father Callahan to drink his vampire blood to make him unclean. Callahan is unable to enter the church anymore because of it. Barlow's vampires kill Jimmy Cody.

Ben and Mark fight against Barlow and destroy him. Luckily, they get out of the town alive and move to a seaside town in Mexico.

One year later, they return to town and start a fire for destroying all the vampires.

Stephen King

Stephen King was born on September 21, 1947, in Portland, Maine. He graduated from the University of Maine and later worked as a teacher while establishing himself as a writer. Having also published work under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, King's first horror novel, Carrie, was a huge success. Over the years, King has become known for titles that are both commercially successful and sometimes critically acclaimed. His books have sold more than 350 million copies worldwide and been adapted into numerous successful films

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof Summary

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams

 

 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is the story of a family in crisis, especially the wife Maggie ''the Cat'' and the husband Brick. Both are invited by Brick's family to Mississippi to celebrate the patriarch's birthday. Every member of the family, except Big Daddy and Big Mama, are aware that Big Daddy is dying of cancer. The other family members have decides to lie to them because they do not want Big Daddy and Big Mama to suffer. 

Maggie is a beautiful woman who comes from a childhood of extreme poverty and has married the wealthy Brick Pollitts. Every member of the family knows that Brick has not slept with Maggie for a long time, which is ruinning their marriage. Maggie wants to secure Brick's inheritance from Gooper and his wife Mae who want to inherit everything. Brick does not show any shadow of interest and this infuriates Maggie.

Brick has become an alcoholic since his friend Skipper suicided after confessing Brick his love for him. Brick tells Big Daddy the truth about his health condition and the family gather gets uncomfortable. Big Mama is devastated.

Big Daddy tells them that he wants to die peacefully. He promises to secure Brick's inheritance. Maggie says that she is pregnant, but Gooper and Mae say that she is lying. On the other hand, Big Daddy and Big Mama trust her. She tells Brick that she will make the lie true when they are alone.

Tennessee Williams

 

 Playwright Tennessee Williams was born on March 26, 1911, in Columbus, Mississippi. After college, he moved to New Orleans, a city that would inspire much of his writing. On March 31, 1945, his play, The Glass Menagerie, opened on Broadway and two years later A Streetcar Named Desire earned Williams his first Pulitzer Prize. Many of Williams' plays have been adapted to film starring screen greats like Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor. Williams died in 1983.

Gerontion (poem) Summary

Gerontion by T. S. Eliot

 

Gerontion is a dramatic monologue-like poem.The poem relates what it is in an elder man's mind. He describes Europe after World War I. This man has lived a lot of experiences, he has lived the majority of his life in the 19th century. He talks and discusses about several general topics, such as religion and sexuality. The narrator refers to Jesus as "Christ the tiger", which emphasizes judgment rather than compassion. The narrator discusses sexuality throughout the text, spending several lines:

I have lost my passion: why should I need to keep it. Since what is kept must be adulterated? I have lost my sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch: How should I use them for your closer contact?

Thomas Stearns ''T.S.'' Eliot

 

  T.S. Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1888. He published his first poetic masterpiece, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," in 1915. In 1921, he wrote the poem "The Waste Land" while recovering from exhaustion. The dense, allusion-heavy poem went on to redefine the genre and become one of the most talked about poems in literary history. For his lifetime of poetic innovation, Eliot won the Order of Merit and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. Part of the ex-pat community of the 1920s, he spent most of his life in Europe, dying in London, England, in 1965.

A Bird Came Down The Walk (poem) Summary

A Bird Came Down The Walk by Emily Dickinson

A Bird Came Down The Walk is a short poem in which the poet tells us her experience when she encounters a bird on the walk eating an angle worm, drinking a dew from the grass and stepping aside for letting a beetle pass by. The bird seems to be frightened. The poet tries to give the bird a crumb but the bird flies away from there. The poet says that the flight of the bird is ´´softer than that of a boat being rowed on the water or that of butterflies plunging soundlessly into space´´.

Emily Dickinson

Born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts, Emily Dickinson left school as a teenager, eventually living a reclusive life on the family homestead. There, she secretly created bundles of poetry and wrote hundreds of letters. Due to a discovery by sister Lavinia, Dickinson's remarkable work was published after her death—on May 15, 1886, in Amherst—and she is now considered one of the towering figures of American literature.

A Wicked Woman Summary

A Wicked Woman by Jack London

A Wicked Woman is the short story of a unsullied, innocent, ingenuous and delicate young woman who has just broken off with her boyfriend Billy. She feels upset and cannot stop crying. Her sister and her husband, whom she lives with, decide to send her for a visit to the house of Mrs. Hemingway who is a family friend, and her husband.

The Hemingways decide to help her and being her mentors. Soon after, she starts blooming and acquiring more confidence. The Hemingways invite Ned Bashford, a young and attractive man. Loretta feels comfortable with Ned and he is very pleased with her.

Loretta uses to receive letters from her ex-boyfriend, but she overlooks them all until one day. When she starts reading one of them, she feels so upset that her face turns tragical. The letter says that as she allowed Billy to kiss her, she must marry him. That is what makes her a wicked woman. Loretta tells Ned, he is shocked because of it. He gathers her in his arms and kisses her, and proposes her to marry him.

Jack London

Jack London was born John Griffith Chaney on January 12, 1876, in San Francisco, California. After working in the Klondike, London returned home and began publishing stories. His novels, including The Call of the Wild, White Fang and Martin Eden, placed London among the most popular American authors of his time. London, who was also a journalist and an outspoken socialist, died in 1916.

Bernice Bobs Her Hair Summary

Bernice Bobs Her Hair by F. Scott K. Fitzgerald.

Bernice is a wealthy young girl from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, who, according to her cousin Marjorie, is a disaster on her social life, and none of the men pay attention to her.

She goes to visit Marjorie and one day she hears a conversation between her and her mother criticizing her and complaining about her lack of feminine charm. Bernice gets angry because of it and threatens to leave the town, but Marjorie convinces her of turning her into a flirty and charming girl, able to catch every man´s attention.

Marjorie teaches Bernice how to dance, how to flirt, how to be more desirable and how to hold an interesting conversation with any man. Bernice is a complete success in town, specially with Warren, the boy who Marjorie falls for. When Marjorie realizes, she starts humilliating Bernice in front of the people. One day, to make things worse, Marjorie tricks Bernice into going through with bobbing her hair at the barber shop. When she comes out of the barber shop, her hair looks weird, unattractive and flat. Quickly, she notices that all the men are overlooking her and that they have lost interest in her. She realizes that was tricked by Marjorie. She decides to leave the town, but before leaving, one night, she cuts Marjorie´s long braids and takes them with her to throw them onto Warren´s front porch.

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (better known as F. Scott Fitzgerald) was a short story writer and novelist considered one of the greatest authors in the history of American literature due almost entirely to the enormous posthumous success of his third book, The Great Gatsby. Perhaps the quintessential American novel, as well as a definitive social history of the Jazz Age, The Great Gatsby has become required reading for virtually every American high school student and has had a transportive effect on generation after generation of readers. At the age of 24, the success of his first novel, This Side of Paradise, made Fitzgerald famous. One week later, he married the woman he loved and his muse, Zelda Sayre. However by the end of the 1920s Fitzgerald descended into drinking, and Zelda had a mental breakdown. Following the unsuccessful Tender Is the Night, Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood and became a scriptwriter. He died of a heart attack in 1940, at age 44, his final novel only half completed.

The Capital of the World Summary

The Capital of the World by Ernest Hemingway

This short story beggins in Pension Luarca Hotel in San Jeronimo Street, Madrid, Spain. The main customers of the cheap hotel are a group of bullfighters who used to be great at that but for some circumstances, not anymore. The main characters are a banderillero, two picadors, three matadors, three waiters and the dish washer Enrique.

Each one of them has a back story which are told one by one. Paco, the waiter apprentice, with his head ´´full of illusions´´ wants to be a bullfighter. Paco is waiting anxiously for the people to leave in order to him and Enrique prove that he is absolutely able to be a bullfighter. Enrique tries to convince Paco about how dangerous it is b ut Paco insists in proving it. Enrique takes a chair and puts some knives on it  to use it for charging Paco as a bull. Paco is able to dodge the knives several times, but the last one he is unable to skip it. A knive cuts the femoral artery which causes his death.

Ernest Hemingway

Born on July 21, 1899, in Cicero (now in Oak Park), Illinois, Ernest Hemingway served in World War I and worked in journalism before publishing his story collection In Our Time. He was renowned for novels like The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and The Old Man and the Sea, which won the 1953 Pulitzer. In 1954, Hemingway won the Nobel Prize. He committed suicide on July 2, 1961, in Ketchum, Idaho. Hemingway left behind an impressive body of work and an iconic style that still influences writers today. His personality and constant pursuit of adventure loomed almost as large as his creative talent.