Introduction to Literary Context: American Post-Modernist Novels (PDF)

This new series – Introduction to Literary Context -- provides richly detailed essays on significant American post-modernist novels that are studied by upper high school and undergraduate college students. It includes post-modern works by both American and Canadian authors. This volume includes discussion of 36 novels, including: How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent (Julia Alverez); Libra (Don DeLillo); Girl, Interrupted (Susana Kaysan); The Red Tent (Anita Diamant); The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood); Neruomancer (William Gibson); The Naked and the Dead (Norman Mailer); Beloved (Toni Morrison); Zombie (Joyce Carol Oates); Rabbit Run (John Updike); and Jailbird (Kurt Vonnegut). Each essay examines these novels through the following categories: Content Synopsis; Societal Context; Scientific & Technological Context; and Biographical Context. Designed to introduce high school and undergraduate students to these literary concepts, this volume is a valuable forerunner to the more rigorous critical analysis provided in Salem’s Critical Insights series. Indeed, many of the novels, authors, and themes covered in Introduction to Literary Context have a companion Critical Insight volume for continued study.

The essays in Introduction to Literary Context: American Post-Modernist Novels also include a list of Complementary Texts, Discussion Questions, and Essay Questions to help students get the most out of their study of these novels.