Showing results for "The Great State" in World Literature

Across the nation’s history, American writers have produced a compelling and diverse body of literary expression, which joins the great literatures of other cultures to create unique perspectives on human life flowing from America’s trailblazing political system, innovative spirit, and history of immigration. In A Literary Tour of the United States, you’ll take an epic excursion across America, from the wide expanse of the continental states to Alaska, Hawaii, and beyond, delving into the jewels of writing that distinguish our nation’s literature across three centuries.

Here are some of the finest poems by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), a unique voice in American poetry. She is known for her short poems, full of acute observations, and deft use of language. This careful but imaginative selection shows the remarkable variety she produced, despite the miniature nature of her medium.

Samuel Clemens, the man known to history as Mark Twain, was more than one of America's greatest writers. He was our first true celebrity, one of the most photographed faces of the 19th and 20th centuries. This series of 24 lectures by an acclaimed teacher and scholar explores Twain's dual identities-as one of our classical authors and as an almost mythical presence in our nation's cultural life. The lectures are a gateway to both appreciating Twain's literary achievements and to understanding his life, highlighting seven of his major works-Innocents Abroad, Roughing It, "Old Times on the Mississippi," The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson-each replete with the issues that most interested and concerned Twain over the course of that life.But you also learn that there are even deeper depths to explore. Though Twain may have died a widely beloved figure, he himself once wrote: "Everyone is a moon and has a dark side that he never shows to anybody."Professor Railton shows you that in his private life, Samuel Clemens struggled with doubt, disappointment, despair, and an increasing misanthropy that was greater than any contained in his most sarcastic satires. Even his closest friends almost lost patience with his rantings on how to exterminate what he called "the damned human race."Dr. Railton also explores in some detail the unpublished manuscripts, discovered after his death, that reveal this dark and despairing side of Mark Twain. They include such partly completed works as The Enchanted Sea Wilderness, The Great Dark, and Three Thousand Years Among the Microbes.

The first time Piper Preach died he was 10 years old. But the Anishnaabe spirits thought otherwise. Now, six year later, Piper struggles with the hard realities of life in a big city. The ancient ways of his people are a distant memory. But the spirits aren't done with him. Pulled into their bizarre world, the place the Anishnaabe call The Great Sky, he's plunged into the middle of a brutal war raging just a step away from reality. And this time there may be no escaping death - or even worse.

Tras un proceso de selección en apariencia sencillo, Diego Pirita comienza a trabajar como recepcionista en un hotel de paso. Las primeras instrucciones que recibe dejan una cosa en claro: sin importar lo que ocurra, una de las habitaciones debe mantenerse siempre desocupada para recibir a un cliente distinguido. Podría llegar en los próximos minutos o podría llegar dentro de muchos años. Lo único seguro es que no avisará.