Books & Literature
General
South Plainfield MIDDLE SCHOOL Reading Lists
South Plainfield HIGH SCHOOL Summer Reading Lists
All American - 'An Internet encyclopedia designed to help you find thorough, accurate information about American literature, history, and culture.' Includes quizzes, links to additional resources, and a Glossary of Literary Terms (University of North Carolina). See also Perspectives in American Literature: A Research and Reference Guide (by Paul P. Reuben, Professor Emeritus, Department of English, California State University).
Cambridge History of English and American Literature - 'Considered the most important work of literary history and criticism ever published, the Cambridge History contains over 303 chapters and 11,000 pages, with essay topics ranging from poetry, fiction, drama and essays to history, theology and political writing.' Originally published in 1921 but still in use. (Bartleby.com, commercial site)
Facts On File: Bloom's Literary Reference Online - Examines great writers, important works, memorable characters, and influential movements and events in world literature. Log on to Facts On File from our
Databases page to use Bloom's Literary Reference. You'll need to enter your library card barcode number to get started if you're logging on at home.
Gale Glossary of Literary Terms - Defines hundreds of terms, from Abstract to Zeitgeist (Thomson Corporation). See also Literary Terms & Definitions (Carson-Newman College).
Literary History - A large selection of links to free, high quality articles and essays about English and American authors, from the 16th through the 20th centuries. Also covers African American Writers, Postcolonial Literature, and Filipino American Literature as special topics. (Personal site: Donna Jan Pridmore)
Literary Hit Parade - 'Did you ever want to know who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936? What the best selling nonfiction books were in 1968?' This list of notable literary events, from 1924 to the present, organized by decades, will answer those questions and more. (Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society)
Literary Resources on the Net - Extensive listing of literary links, grouped by period or ethnicity; also searchable by keyword. Last updated January 2006, but still has many good links. (Rutgers University)
Literature Assignment Guide - Scroll down to the Literature section of this research guide to find homework help on dozens of literary works; high school and up. (Kingwood College Library)
ReadWriteThink 
- With this collection of interactive tools, students (K-12) can explore elements of books & stories; develop characters; create poems, comic strips, newspapers, flyers, & booklets; organize & outline essays; generate letters; improve vocabulary; and much more. (International Reading Association and National Council of Teachers of English)
Authors
See also:
MULTICULTURAL LITERATURE
LITERARY CRITICISM
African American Literature - A selection of websites dealing with African American literature in general, or examining the work of individual African American authors (University of North Carolina).
African American Women Writers of the 19th Century - E-texts and brief biographies for more than three dozen authors. (New York Public Library)
American Authors - An alphabetical list of American authors. Each entry gives a picture and a bibliography of works by and about the author. Many entries include a biographical essay; some also offer study questions and/or links to related websites (under 'Outside Links'), but links are not updated regularly, so some may be broken. (Part of Perspectives in American Literature website, by Paul P. Reuben, Professor Emeritus, Department of English, California State University)
American Literature Websource - Explore different literary periods or zero in on a particular author within any period. A new version of the site was launched in 2007, but the earlier version is also still available from this page. A companion site, American Passages 
includes many author biographies, a timeline, instructor guides, and other materials. (W.W. Norton & Co.)
American Writers - Companion website for C-Span's American Writers TV series takes a look at writers from the founding of the nation through the 20th century.
Black European Writers - Explores the lives and works of authors such as Alexander Pushkin, Alexandre Dumas, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and John Archer, who had a mixed European and African ancestry. (British Library)
British and Irish Authors - Links to numerous author websites, arranged by time periods. Last updated October 2008. (Nagoya University, Japan)
Celebration of Women Writers - Scroll past the introductory material to browse by author name, by century, or by country. Biographical information, with links if available, on hundreds of women writers, living and dead, from the famous to the obscure. Includes some online texts. (University of Pennsylvania)
Children / YA Author Interviews: Meet the Author (Reading Rockets) 
- Video interviews with dozens of popular authors and illustrators of books for children & young adults; authors include David Adler, Avi, Eve Bunting, Katherine Paterson, Jon Scieszka, R L Stine, Laurence Yep, and Jane Yolen. (Public Television Station WETA)
Dante Worlds
- 'A multimedia journey—combining textual commentary, artistic images, and audio recordings—through the three realms (Inferno, Purgatory, Paradise) of Dante's Divine Comedy.' Each section gives a summary analysis, brief explication of icons & allusions, illustrations, and study questions. For college and advanced high school students. (By Guy P. Raffa, Associate Professor of Italian, University of Texas)
English Literature Topics Online - Explore background material for different literary periods from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, or use the author index to find excerpts of works by an individual author (in PDF) from the Norton Anthology of English Literature. Includes quizzes, audio readings, and other resources. (W.W. Norton & Co.)
Facts On File: Bloom's Literary Reference Online - Examines great writers, important works, memorable characters, and influential movements and events in world literature. Log on to Facts On File from our
Databases page to use Bloom's Literary Reference. You'll need to enter your library card barcode number to get started if you're logging on at home.
Literary History - A large selection of links to free, high quality articles and essays about English and American authors, from the 16th through the 20th centuries. Also covers African American Writers, Postcolonial Literature, and Filipino American Literature as special topics.
LitLinks - A large, A to Z collection of short author biographies with picture and annotated links; multicultural. This site must be viewed with a screen resolution of at least 1024 X 768, and the search function does not work. (Bedford / St. Martin's Press)
Luminarium - Life, works, and analysis of Medieval, Renaissance, and 17th century English authors, including Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, and many others. (Personal / commercial site: Anniina Jokinen)
Milton's Paradise Lost: Darkness Visible - Many helpful study resources for Milton's epic poem, including a plot summary, character descriptions, background essays on Milton's life & times, and a gallery of illustrations, including some interactive images. 'Darkness Visible was put together specifically for those attempting their first or second reading of Paradise Lost... to enable those new to Milton to familiarize themselves with the poet, his work, and his themes, but without patronizing the reader or shying away from more difficult ideas.' High school and up. (By members of Christ's College, Cambridge, UK)
Paris Review Interviews - Contemporary authors such as Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, T.S. Eliot, William Faulkner, E.M. Forster, Ernest Hemingway, Jack Kerouac, Arthur Miller, and many others are interviewed about their careers, writing styles, and methods of work. Browse by period (beginning with the 1950s) or alphabetically. (PDF documents, no audio.)
Playwrights and Their Plays: Study Guides - Summaries of dozens of plays, plus playwright biographies, character lists, and more. The plays, by American, British, and international playwrights, range from the 16th century to the present era. Includes Shakespeare. (Utah Shakespearean Festival)
Voices from the Gaps - Biographical, critical and bibliographical information about women writers and artists of color. (University of Minnesota)
Literary Criticism
See also:
AUTHORS
Facts On File: Bloom's Literary Reference Online - Examines great writers, important works, memorable characters, and influential movements and events in world literature. Log on to Facts On File from our
Databases page to use Bloom's Literary Reference. You'll need to enter your library card barcode number to get started if you're logging on at home.
IPL Online Literary Criticism Collection - A large collection of critical and biographical websites about authors and their works. Browse by author, title, nationality, or literary period. For additional resources, see IPL's Literature Page.
Penguin Classics Reading Guides - Introductions to more than two dozen classic works of literature, placing them in historical and literary context. Includes brief author biographies and discussion questions. For additional titles, see Penguin's Great Books Discussion Guides (Penguin Group Inc.).
Spark Notes - A large collection of detailed, printable study guides for many classic literary works (commercial site, Barnes & Noble). See also Cliffs Notes (commercial site, Yahoo.com) and Cummings Study Guides, which covers dozens of plays, poetry, short stories, and novels (personal site, by author / editor Michael J. Cummings).
How to Write a Paper and Cite Sources
See also:
ENGLISH & OTHER LANGUAGES
HOW TO USE THE WEB
Assembling a List of Works Cited - Easy-to-use instructions for citing magazine articles, books, websites, and other sources in your term paper bibliography. (Duke University)
Citation Machine - An easy way to create your list of 'Works Cited.' On the left-hand menu, click on a citation style (APA, MLA, etc.), and then on the type of work you are citing (e.g., book, article, web page), fill in the online form with the author, title, etc., and the Citation Machine will show you exactly how your citation should look in both MLA and APA formats; however, you will need to properly capitalize entries yourself (Landmark Project; commercial site). If you don't know which style to use, see Citation Style for Research Papers, below.
Citation Style for Research Papers - A brief guide to choosing a citation guide for your paper, plus examples of correct citation formats for different documents. Includes the MLA (Modern Language Association), APA (American Psychological Association), AMA (American Medical Association), Turabian, and Chicago formats (Long Island University). See also Citing Resources (University of Texas) and printable (PDF) Style Sheets for Citing Resources (Print & Electronic) (University of California).
Library Research Guide - A step-by-step guide to research, from choosing a topic through citing sources; college level. (Duke University)
Paradigm Online Writing Assistant - 'An interactive, menu-driven, online writer's guide and handbook.' Explains how to find a topic, organize your essay, revise and edit your writing, and document your sources. (By Chuck Guilford, Boise State University; commercial site)
Plagiarism Is No Big Deal, Is It? - This guide explains what plagiarism is and how to avoid it (Gananda NY School District). See also Avoiding Plagiarism (Purdue University).
Writer's Handbook - An excellent step-by-step guide for writing research papers; for high school and college students (University of Wisconsin). Younger students will find advice on how to do research, choose resources, find information, take notes, cite sources, and more, in the Oregon School Library Information System's Guides for
Elementary School students and Middle & High School students; both guides include an automatic 'citation maker'. NOTE: For access to premium research sources mentioned in these guides, such as EbscoHost, Student Research Center, and Searchasaurus, go to our
ONLINE DATABASES page. Links to more term paper guides may be found at Guides to Writing a Term Paper & Designing a Research Project (New Jersey Digital Highway).
Writing Guides [UPDATED LINK!] - A collection of online college-level writing guides and links on a variety of topics, including Academic Essays, Avoiding Plagiarism, Critical Thinking, Reading, and Study Strategies, The Writing Process, Writing Your Research, Citing and Documenting Your Sources, Grammar and Usage, Personal and Professional Writing, Theses and Dissertations, and more. (University of Kentucky Writing Center)
Writing Handouts - Advice on organizing an essay, using quotations, paraphrase & summary, passive voice, and related subjects, plus lists of Books on Writing about Literature and Web Sites on Writing about Literature. (University of Toronto)
Creative Writing & Storytelling
See also:
Poetry
Teen Zone: WRITER'S CORNER
Elements of a Story
- This multimedia presentation uses the classic tale of Cinderella to explore the different parts of a story: setting, characters, sequence, exposition, conflict, climax, and resolution. For elementary and middle school students. (Annenberg Media)
Short Stories: 10 Tips for Creative Writers - Explains what a short story is and how it should be structured. Covers topics such as writing a catchy opening, developing characters, creating conflict & tension, and more. High school and up. (Dennis G. Jerz, associate professor of English at Seton Hill University)
Multicultural Literature
See also:
AUTHORS
ETHNIC / MULTICULTURAL RESOURCES
INDIAN TRIBES & NATIVE PEOPLES
Multicultural Literature in the United States Today - Distinguished American writers from various ethnic backgrounds offer tales of their native lands and their experiences as Americans. Can be read on the website, or downloaded as a PDF file. (A U.S. Department of State publication)
Recommended Literature Search - Use this site to find recommended books for a specific age group (grades K-12), about a specific culture, in a specific genre (i.e., mystery, humor, fantasy, etc.) and/or in a specific language. (California Department of Education)
Voice of the Shuttle: Minority Literatures - Extensive collection of links on African American, Asian American, Chicano/Latino, Jewish, Native American, and other minority literatures. Includes links on many individual authors. (University of California)
Voices from the Gaps - Biographical, critical and bibliographical information about women writers and artists of color. (University of Minnesota)
Voices of Slavery & Freedom - A series of short articles about African American literature from the slave period to the present, written for middle school students; some content is available only to paid subscribers (World Book).
Poetry
See also:
Teen Zone: WRITER'S CORNER
Fooling with Words - Readings by about 20 contemporary poets such as Amiri Baraka, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Lucille Clifton, Galway Kinnell, Stanley Kunitz, and Robert Pinsky, plus biographies, interviews, and links to additional poetry resources. See also Poetry Everywhere (PBS). For more readings by contemporary writers, see
PENNSound (University of Pennsylvania).
Handbook of Terms for Discussing Poetry - Explains various terms used in discussing language, meter, genres and forms of poetry (By Harry Rusche, Professor of English, Emory University). You can find a more extensive glossary of poetry terms at Poetry Archive.
IPL Online Literary Criticism Collection - A large collection of critical and biographical websites about authors (including poets) and their works. Browse by author, title, nationality, or literary period. For additional resources, see IPL's Literature Page. (Internet Public Library)
Poetry - Poetry news & events, Webcasts, resources for students & teachers, and more. (Library of Congress)
Poetry Archive - Audio recordings of poems, with background material on the poets to help you understand the context for their work. Includes filmed interviews with some poets, speaking about their writing lives. You can browse poems by title, poet, theme, poetic terms or form. (Non-profit site)
Poetry Archives @ eMule.com - Text of thousands of classic poems, arranged alphabetically by poet's last name; also searchable by title or first line keyword. (Commercial site)
Poetry Explications - 'A poetry explication is a relatively short analysis which describes the possible meanings and relationships of the words, images, and other small units that make up a poem... This handout reviews some of the important techniques of approaching and writing a poetry explication, and includes parts of two sample explications.' High school and up (University of North Carolina). See also
Writing About Poetry (Purdue University).
Poetry Magic - Advice on writing poetry for the beginner or more experienced poet. (Personal / commercial site; by C. John Holcombe and Patricia Contreras Torres)
Poetry Online - Full text of more than 2500 classic and contemporary poems. You can search by poet's name, poem title, first line of poem, or keyword. Also provides a glossary, timeline, and writings on poetry, including some criticism (University of Toronto).
Poetry Tool - An easily searchable database of poems and poets, which allows you to search for poems by category, occasion, title, or first line, and to search for poets by name, era, or region. Also offers podcasts, articles, and a special section of poetry for children, arranged by age groups or category. The
Poetry Guidebook explains 'How to Read a Poem (and Fall in Love with Poetry)'. (Poetry Foundation)
Poets & Poetry - From the lefthand menu, use the 'Find a Poem or Poet' feature to find biographies, photos, and other information on hundreds of poets, or search for poem texts by title or first line. Now includes more than 150 audio clips of poems read aloud. (Academy of American Poets; formerly Online Poetry Classroom)
Read Any Great Books Lately?
See also:
Useful Websites: BOOKS, READING, & LIBRARIES
Teen Zone: LIBRARY
South Plainfield MIDDLE SCHOOL Reading Lists
South Plainfield HIGH SCHOOL Summer Reading Lists
Bartleby - A full-text, searchable database of reference books and classic works of fiction, nonfiction, and verse. Includes all the Harvard Classics. (Commercial site)
Best Books for Young Adults - Yearly recommendations of the best fiction and nonfiction for teens. The page includes links to many additional Young Adult Book Awards and Booklists (American Library Association).
Classics E-Texts: PROJECT GUTENBERG - Are all the copies of The Great Gatsby checked out at the library? Project Gutenberg has the oldest and largest collection of free electronic books on the Internet. E-texts of more than 20,000 titles, produced by hundreds of volunteers (non-commercial site). See also Online Books Page (Penn State University), Great Books Index (personal site, not updated regularly), and Free Web Books (University of Adelaide Library). The Electronic Literature Foundation Library offers advanced searching options for over 100 classic texts (commercial site). Penn State University's Electronic Classics page provides a variety of selected PDF e-texts, with links to additional information on the authors included. Arthur's Classic Novels includes some hard-to-find classic titles (personal site).
Classic Short Stories - E-texts of classic short stories by dozens of writers including Wharton, Twain, Hawthorne, Poe, Mansfield, de Maupassant, Kipling, Saki, Garcia Marquez, Chekhov and others. (Commercial site)
Favorite Teenage Angst Books - Reviews of books for teens in categories like mixed-up families, awakenings, healing, fitting in, pressure, etc., along with author interviews, and links to book, author, writing, and 'zine sites.
Feedbooks - A universal e-reading platform compatible with all mobile devices, and free downloads of thousands of public domain e-books. Works with Amazon Kindle, iPod / iPhone, SmartPhones / PDA and more; see main Help page for more information. Some features require free registration. Feedbooks' search function is poor; if you want to search for a specific author or title, use Google's Advanced Search to search within the site.
Just for Kids Who Love Books - Book reviews by kids, for kids; ages 8-14. (By a retired school librarian)
Kids' Reads - Reviews of books for kids, with author interviews, games, series lists, and more. (Commercial site: The Book Report Network)
Lit to Go - 'A free online collection of stories and poems in Mp3 (audiobook) format. You can download the files to your Mp3 player and listen on the go, listen to the Mp3 files on your computer, view the text on a webpage and read along as you listen, or print out the stories and poems to make your own book.' Recordings range from short poems to full-length novels (University of South Florida). For more audiobooks you can download free, check out our Listen NJ Audiobook Downloads page.
No Flying, No Tights - Reviews of graphic novels, with sections for each genre (superheroes, fantasy, sf, historical, mystery, horror, romance, etc.), plus indexes of creators, titles, and publishers, and e-mail updates. Starred titles are particularly recommended for younger teens (by a group of graphic novel enthusiasts and library staffpeople). See also About Graphic Novels (Cincinnati Public Library) and South Plainfield Library Graphic Novels Collection.
Outstanding Books for the College Bound - Recommended reading in fiction, nonfiction, biography, drama, and poetry; updated every five years. For additional recommended books for teens, see Booklists & Book Awards. (American Library Association)
Rare Book Room - High-resolution digital images of the rare originals of hundreds of the world's great books, including books by Galileo, Newton, Copernicus, Kepler, Einstein, Darwin and others, Shakespeare Quartos and the First Folio from the Folger Shakespeare Library, Poor Richard's Almanac by Benjaman Franklin, Gutenberg's Bible of 1455, the first printing of the Bill of Rights, and the Magna Carta. (From publisher Octavo.com)
Recommended Literature Search - Use this site to find recommended books for a specific age group (grades K-12), about a specific culture, in a specific genre (i.e., mystery, humor, fantasy, etc.) and/or in a specific language. (California Department of Education)
Series & Sequels - A database containing thousands of books in series titles, for elementary through high school students. Indexed by series title, series subject, book title, and author. Just lists, no descriptions (Mid-Continent Public Library). See also Young Adult Books in Series and Sequels (Bettendorf Public Library, IA)
Summer Reading - Annual Summer Reading Lists designed to introduce new students to the intellectual life of a university. Not 'official reading lists' but a wide range of personal recommendations from faculty and staff members at University of California at Berkeley. There is a different theme for each year's list.
Teen Reads - Reviews of books for teens, often including excerpts and/or author interviews. (The Book Report Network)
Young Adult Booklists - Links to lists of recommended books for teens on a wide variety of themes. (Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh)
Shakespeare
See also:
ARTS & MUSIC: Theater
100 Best Shakespeare Sources - A bibliography of the best books on Shakespeare's work, life, and times, as well as a selection of the best online resources. (©2007, Random House Publishing Group)
Complete Works of William Shakespeare - The complete text of all the plays and poems, searchable by keyword (Bartleby.com; commercial site). See also The Plays of William Shakespeare (Electronic Literature Foundation) which offers advanced searching options (now includes the sonnets, too!), and Shakespeare Searched, a search engine designed to provide quick access to passages from Shakespeare's plays and sonnets, with search results grouped by topic, work, and character (Clusty.com).
Discover Shakespeare - Background materials on Shakespeare's life, work, and theater. (NOTE: If you go to the Plays page, be sure to use the links in the left-hand menu to select a play; the links listed below the text don't work.) Also includes a separate section on Shakespeare for Kids. (Folger Library)
Encyclopedia Brittanica's Guide to Shakespeare - 'Why does Shakespeare stand out so far among his contemporaries? What makes his speech so compelling? Where did he obtain his depth of understanding, his wit? Who was he exactly?' This guide examines Shakespeare's life & works, the Elizabethan world and the Elizabethan theatre, with short plot summaries, essays, learning activities, multimedia files, and more. For high school students. (Commercial site)
In Search of Shakespeare - 'Explore the events that shaped the man behind the words. Find out more about the people he knew and the world that he lived in...' Includes timeline, biographies, interactive game, glossary, plot summaries, links, and an audio interview. (PBS)
Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet - Information on the work, life, and times of Shakespeare, plus criticism on each of the plays as well as sonnets and poetry. (Personal site, by Terry A. Gray)
Royal Shakespeare Company - Plot summaries (synopses), games, video clips, and other resources for exploring Shakespeare.
Shakespeare and His World Learning Center - Free online seminars, articles, features, lectures, reference entries, book recommendations and links to further resources on Shakespeare. College level. (Fathom Knowledge Network)
Shakespeare: Criticism & Study - Links to many critical essays on Shakespeare; includes essays on specific plays. Links may not appear in some older browsers. (University of Victoria, Canada)
Shakespeare on Film - A 'filmography' of all the movie adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, with brief plot outlines, links to reviews, credits, and more; many include a clip or trailer. In chronological order. (IMDB.com; commercial site)
