WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

HAMLET

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, often shortened to Hamlet (/ˈhæmlɪt/), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare’s longest play. Set in Denmark, the play depicts Prince Hamlet and his attempts to exact revenge against his uncle, Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet’s father in order to seize his throne and marry Hamlet’s mother.

Hamlet is considered among the “most powerful and influential tragedies in the English language”, with a story capable of “seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others.”^[1] It is widely considered one of the greatest plays of all time.^[2] Three different early versions of the play are extant: the First Quarto (Q1, 1603); the Second Quarto (Q2, 1604); and the First Folio (F1, 1623). Each version includes lines and passages missing from the others.^[3] Many works have been pointed to as possible sources for Shakespeare’s play, from ancient Greek tragedies to Elizabethan dramas.

DOWNLOAD

CLIFFSNOTES ON SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format.

Something may be rotten in the state of Denmark, but your grades will be sweet when you rely on CliffsNotes on Hamlet as you digest Shakespeare’s tragic masterpiece. In this play, Hamlet explores the meaning of life, death, eternity, relationships, hypocrisy, truth, the existence of God, and almost anything else that concerns mankind.

Character studies shed new light on Prince Hamlet, his father King Hamlet, the malevolent Claudius, the troubled Ophelia — and the rest of the cast. You’ll also explore the life and times of William Shakespeare, and unlock the play’s themes and literary devices. Count on CliffsNotes on Hamlet for detailed summaries and commentaries on every scene to help you appreciate the complexity of the play.

Other features that help you study include

•  Character analyses of major players
• A character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the characters
• Critical essays
• A review section that tests your knowledge

Classic literature or modern modern-day treasure — you’ll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

DOWNLOAD

CLIFFSCOMPLETE WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET

In the CliffsComplete guides, the novel’s complete text and a glossary appear side-by-side with coordinating numbered lines to help you understand unusual words and phrasing. You’ll also find all the commentary and resources of a standard CliffsNotes for Literature.CliffsComplete Hamlet covers details of the most widely produced and critiqued Shakespearean play. Written in poignant language, Hamlet contains all the elements necessary for a good tragedy, including a brave and daring hero who suffers a fatal flaw.Discover what happens to the complicated cast of characters — and save valuable studying time — all at once. Enhance your reading of Hamlet with these additional features:A summary and insightful commentary for each chapterBibliography and historical background on the author, William ShakespeareA look at Early Modern England historical, intellectual, religious, and social contextInsight into the play’s classical elements and languageA character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the charactersReview questions, a quiz, discussion guide, and activity ideasA Resource Center full of books, articles, films, and Web sitesStreamline your literature study with all-in-one help from CliffsComplete guides!

DOWNLOAD

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

MACBETH

The Tragedy of Macbeth, often shortened to Macbeth (/məkˈbɛθ/), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606.^[a] It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambitions and power. It was first published in the Folio of 1623, possibly from a prompt book, and is Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy.^[1] Scholars believe Macbeth, of all the plays that Shakespeare wrote during the reign of King James I, contains the most allusions to James, patron of Shakespeare’s acting company.^[2]

In the play, a brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by his latent ambition and spurred to violence by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne for himself. Then, racked with guilt and paranoia, he commits further murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion, becoming a tyrannical ruler in the process. The violence perpetrated by the power-hungry couple leads to their insanity and finally to their deaths.

Shakespeare’s source for the story is the account of Macbeth, King of Scotland, Macduff, and Duncan in Holinshed’s Chronicles (1587), a history of England, Scotland, and Ireland familiar to Shakespeare and his contemporaries, although the events in the play differ extensively from the history of the real Macbeth.

There was a stage superstition that the name of the play should not be spoken, and that it should instead be called “The Scottish Play“. The play has attracted some of the most renowned actors to the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and has been adapted to film, television, opera, novels, comics, and other media.

DOWNLOAD

CLIFFSNOTES ON SHAKESPEARE’S MACBETH

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format.

Packed with action and vivid portrayal of human relationships, Shakespeare’s Macbeth traces the bloody climb to power and tragic ruin of a fate-plagued king. Count on CliffNotes on Macbeth to carry you through the rise and fall of a cast of characters that includes a cruel and ambitious warrior, his wicked wife, and a trio of witches who have wormed their way into audiences’ hearts since William Shakespeare first presented their prophecies about 300 years ago.

Show your classmates – and your grade-granting teacher – that you’re in the know with English literature. You can’t miss with scene summaries, plot explorations, language simplification, and insights into the author’s life and times. Other features that help you study include

• A brief synopsis of the play
• A character map to help you see relationships among the characters
• Critical essays on major themes and stage productions
• An interactive quiz to test your knowledge
• Essay topics and practice projects

Classic literature or modern modern-day treasure – you’ll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

DOWNLOAD

CLIFFSCOMPLETE WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S MACBETH

In the CliffsComplete guides, the novel’s complete text and a glossary appear side-by-side with coordinating numbered lines to help you understand unusual words and phrasing. You’ll also find all the commentary and resources of a standard CliffsNotes for Literature.CliffsComplete Othello makes you familiar with one of the most staged of all of Shakespeare’s plays. Othello is a tale of love and betrayal, secrets, passion, and intrigue. Psychology and wit pit strength and virtue against jealousy and evil agendas. The results leave no winners, only tragedy in the lives of the jealous Moor, Othello, and his wife, Desdemona.Enhance your reading of Othello and save valuable studying time — all at once — with CliffsComplete Othello. Additional features include:A summary and insightful commentary for each sceneBibliography and historical background on the playwright, William ShakespeareA look at the historical context and structure of the playDiscussions on the play’s symbols and themesA character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the charactersReview questions, a quiz, discussion topics (essay questions), activity ideasA Resource Center full of books, articles, films, and Internet sitesStreamline your literature study with all-in-one help from CliffsComplete guides!

DOWNLOAD

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

OTHELLO

The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, often shortened to Othello,^[a] is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulated by his ensign, Iago, into suspecting his wife Desdemona of infidelity. Othello is widely considered one of Shakespeare’s greatest works and is usually classified among his major tragedies alongside Macbeth, King Lear, and Hamlet. Unpublished in the author’s life, the play survives in one quarto edition from 1622 and in the First Folio.

Othello has been one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays, both among playgoers and literary critics, since its first performance, spawning numerous stage, screen, and operatic adaptations. Among actors, the roles of Othello, Iago, Desdemona, and Emilia (Iago’s wife) are regarded as highly demanding and desirable. Critical attention has focused on the nature of the play’s tragedy, its unusual mechanics, its treatment of race, and on the motivations of Iago and his relationship to Othello. Originally performed by white actors in dark makeup, the role of Othello began to be played by black actors in the 19th century.

Shakespeare’s major source for the play was a novella by Cinthio, the plot of which Shakespeare borrowed and reworked substantially. Though not among Shakespeare’s longest plays, it contains two of his four longest roles in Othello and Iago.

DOWNLOAD

CLIFFSNOTES ON SHAKESPEARE’S OTHELLO

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in the series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format.

Betrayal and manipulation lie at the heart of Othello . Keep up with all the crosses and double-crosses of this tragic play with the CliffsNotes version of the play, which will help you form your own opinions about Iago’s schemes, Othello’s motives, and Desdemona’s loyalty.

Other features that help you study include

•  Background information about the life and times of William Shakespeare to help you understand his influences
• A character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the characters
• Glossaries to help you comprehend Shakespeare’s language
• Critical essays on the character pairs and major themes of the play
• A review section that tests your knowledge

Classic literature or modern modern-day treasure — you’ll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

DOWNLOAD

CLIFFSCOMPLETE WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S OTHELLO

In the CliffsComplete guides, the novel’s complete text and a glossary appear side-by-side with coordinating numbered lines to help you understand unusual words and phrasing. You’ll also find all the commentary and resources of a standard CliffsNotes for Literature.CliffsComplete Othello makes you familiar with one of the most staged of all of Shakespeare’s plays. Othello is a tale of love and betrayal, secrets, passion, and intrigue. Psychology and wit pit strength and virtue against jealousy and evil agendas. The results leave no winners, only tragedy in the lives of the jealous Moor, Othello, and his wife, Desdemona.Enhance your reading of Othello and save valuable studying time — all at once — with CliffsComplete Othello. Additional features include:A summary and insightful commentary for each sceneBibliography and historical background on the playwright, William ShakespeareA look at the historical context and structure of the playDiscussions on the play’s symbols and themesA character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the charactersReview questions, a quiz, discussion topics (essay questions), activity ideasA Resource Center full of books, articles, films, and Internet sitesStreamline your literature study with all-in-one help from CliffsComplete guides!

DOWNLOAD

MARK TWAIN

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (also simply known as Tom Sawyer) is a novel by Mark Twain published on June 9, 1876, about a boy, Tom Sawyer, growing up along the Mississippi River. It is set in the 1830s–1840s in the town of St. Petersburg, which is based on Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain lived as a boy.^[2] In the novel, Sawyer has several adventures, often with his friend Huckleberry Finn. Originally a commercial failure, the book ended up being the best-selling of Twain’s works during his lifetime.^[3][4]

Along with its 1885 sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the book is considered by many to be a masterpiece of American literature.^[5] It was alleged by Mark Twain to be one of the first novels to be written on a typewriter.^[6]

DOWNLOAD

CLIFFSNOTES ON TWAIN’S THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format. In CliffsNotes on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, you experience the exciting adventures of a typical boy during the mid-nineteenth century. The characters — Tom himself, Becky Thatcher, Huck Finn, Injun Joe, and Aunt Polly — have become part of American heritage. Use this study guide to help you discover all of Tom’s dreams and fears — and perhaps a few of your own! You’ll also gain insight into the man behind this American classic — Mark Twain, a.k.a. Samuel Clemens. Other features that help you study include Character analyses of major players A character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the characters Critical essays A review section that tests your knowledge A Resource Center full of books, articles, films, and Internet sites Classic literature or modern modern-day treasure — you’ll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides. In this book: learn about the life and background of the author, preview an introduction to the novel, study a graphical character map, explore themes and literary devices in the critical commentaries, examine in-depth character analysis, enhance your understanding of the work with critical essays, reinforce what you learn with CliffsNotes review, find additional information to further your study in CliffNotes Resource Center and online at www.cliffnotes.com This guide to Twain’s “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” aims to help students understand the overall structure of the novel, actions and motivations of the characters, and the social and cultural perspectives of the author. Provides a summary of Twain’s life and times, an introduction to the novel, character analyses, critical…

DOWNLOAD

CHARLES DICKENS

OLIVER TWIST

Charles Dickens is perhaps the English-speaking world’s most beloved novelist—and Oliver Twist is one of his most popular works. A heartbreaking tale that portrays the cruelty of the Victorian era at its worst, it has been adapted for film, for the theatre (including the classic musical, Oliver!), and for television. Dickens’s dark and gritty story follows the adventures of an unfortunate orphan who goes from a harsh work house into to the wider, more dangerous world of the London slums. Many of the book’s characters have become household names, in particular the colorful criminals Fagin and the “Artful Dodger.” Packed with pity, suspense, humor, and vitality, Oliver Twist captures the thrilling battle of good against evil…all with an innocent young boy at its center. The world’s greatest works of literature are now available in these beautiful keepsake volumes. Bound in real cloth, and featuring gilt edges and ribbon markers, these beautifully produced books are a wonderful way to build a handsome library of classic literature. These are the essential novels that belong in every home. They’ll transport readers to imaginary worlds and provide excitement, entertainment, and enlightenment for years to come. All of these novels feature attractive illustrations and have an unequalled period feel that will grace the library, the bedside table or bureau.

DOWNLOAD

CLIFFSNOTES ON DICKENS’ OLIVER TWIST

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in the series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format.In CliffsNotes on Oliver Twist, you’ll meet a dear, grateful, gentle orphan who, “instead of possessing too little feeling, possessed rather too much.” The CliffsNotes commentaries, summaries, and character analysis will show you why this sweet, sad, and moving story is considered to be one of Dickens’ greatest works (and one of his more politically-charged ones). You’ll also find Life and background of the author, Charles DickensA short introduction to the novelA list of charactersEssays about symbolism, style, setting, and moreA review section that tests your knowledgeClassic literature or modern modern-day treasure — you’ll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

DOWNLOAD

COMPLETE STORIES AND POEMS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE

Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most original writers in the history of American letters, a genius who was tragically misunderstood in his lifetime. He was a seminal figure in the development of science fiction and the detective story, and exerted a great influence on Dostoyevsky, Arthur Conan Doyle, Jules Verne, and Charles Baudelaire, who championed him long before Poe was appreciated in his own country. Baudelaire’s enthusiasm brought Poe a wide audience in Europe, and his writing came to have enormous importance for modern French literature. This edition includes his most well-known works–“The Raven,” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “Annabel Lee,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”–as well as less-familiar stories, poems, and essays.

DOWNLOAD

CHARLES DICKENS

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

A Tale of Two Cities is a historical novel published in 1859 by English author Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long imprisonment in the Bastille in Paris, and his release to live in London with his daughter Lucie whom he had never met. The story is set against the conditions that led up to the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror.

A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens’s best-known work of historical fiction, is said to be one of the best selling novels of all time.^[2][3][4] In 2003, the novel was ranked 63rd on the BBC‘s The Big Read poll.^[5] The novel has been adapted for film, television, radio, and the stage, and has continued to influence popular culture.

DOWNLOAD

CLIFFSNOTES ON DICKENS’ A TALE OF TWO CITIES

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format.

In CliffsNotes on A Tale of Two Cities, you experience one of Charles Dickens’s most important works as he recounts the horrors of the French Revolution in what amounts to a cautionary tale warning of the possibility of revolution in 18th-century England. From its first line (”It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”) to its last (”It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known”), Dickens’s novel of revolution, sacrifice, and redemption continues to captivate modern imaginations.

Chapter summaries and commentaries lead you through Dickens’s ”Tale,” and critical essays give you insight into the women of A Tale of Two Cities and the French Revolution. Other features that help you study include

• Character analyses of the main characters
• A character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the characters
• A section on the life and background of Charles Dickens
• A review section that tests your knowledge
• A Resource Center full of books, articles, films, and Internet sites

Classic literature or modern modern-day treasure — you’ll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

DOWNLOAD

J.D. SALINGER

THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

The Catcher in the Rye is a 1951 American coming-of-age novel by American author J. D. Salinger. It was partially published in serial form in 1945–46 before being novelized in 1951. Originally intended for adults, it is often read by adolescents for its themes of angst and alienation, and as a critique of superficiality in society.^[4][5] The novel also deals with themes of innocence, identity, belonging, loss, connection, sex, and depression. The main character, Holden Caulfield, has become an icon for teenage rebellion.^[6] Caulfield, nearly of age, gives his opinion on a wide variety of topics as he narrates his recent life events.

The Catcher in the Rye has been translated widely.^[7] About one million copies are sold each year, with total sales of more than 65 million books.^[8] The novel was included on Time‘s 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923,^[9] and it was named by Modern Library and its readers as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.^[10][11][12] In 2003, it was listed at number 15 on the BBC’s survey “The Big Read“.

DOWNLOAD

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Features:

• illustrated with hundreds of beautiful images relating to Shakespeare’s life, locations and works
• annotated with concise introductions to the plays and other works
• images of how the plays first appeared in print, giving your Kindle a taste of the Elizabethan texts
• ALL 38 plays and each with their own contents table – navigate easily between acts and scenes – find that special quotation quickly!
• even includes 17 apocryphal plays, with mysterious works such as THE BIRTH OF MERLIN and VORTIGERN AND ROWENA, available nowhere else
• contains a special LOST PLAYS section, with concise information on Shakespeare’s lost works
• includes the special bonus play of DOUBLE FALSEHOOD, which the critic Lewis Theobald claimed was Shakespeare’s lost play in 1727. Decide for yourself – could this really be the long lost CARDENIO?
• ALL the sonnets and other poetry, with excellent formatting in their own special contents table – find that special sonnet quickly and easily!
• even includes apocryphal poems available nowhere else, presented with brief introductions
• special BONUS text of Charles and Mary Lamb’s adaptations for children, with their original Victorian artwork
• EVEN includes a special SOURCES section – spend hours exploring rare medieval texts that shaped Shakespeare’s greatest works. E.g. Thomas Kyd’s play that influenced HAMLET, Holinshed’s Chronicles that inspired history plays and the great MACBETH and many more!
• Geoffrey Chaucer’s classic works that inspired TROILUS AND CRESSIDA and TWO NOBLE KINSMEN
• boasts no less than 5 biographies – explore the bard’s mysterious life from multiple sources across history
• the SPECIAL literary criticism section boasts 11 works by writers as varied as Samuel Johnson, Coleridge, Pope, Bernard Shaw and Tolstoy
• scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres
• a front MASTER table of contents, allowing easy navigation around Shakespeare’s oeuvre
• includes a special ‘Glossary of Elizabethan Language’, which will aid your comprehension of difficult words and phrases
• UPDATED with a complete re-editing of the plays’ formatting.
  Finally, the world’s greatest writer receives the scholarly Delphi treatment. Of course, there are many Shakespeare collections available on the Kindle, which is why we have made this edition, like all our other titles, the most comprehensive and scholarly works available, with superior formatting. This incredible eBook offers every Shakespearean play, poem, apocryphal work and much, much more! Now you can truly own all of Shakespeare’s works and a wealth of BONUS material on your Kindle, and all in ONE well-organised file.
  This eBook is quite simply stunning and deserves a place in the digital library of all lovers of literature.
  The Plays
  ALL 38 PLAYS
  The Lost Plays
  with information and DOUBLE FALSEHOOD
  The Sources
  LIST OF THE PLAYS’ SOURCES
  The Apocryphal Plays
  THE BIRTH OF MERLIN
  VORTIGERN AND ROWENA and many more!
  The Adaptations
  TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE BY CHARLES AND MARY LAMB
  The Poetry
  THE SONNETS
  VENUS AND ADONIS and more
  The Apocryphal Poetry
  TO THE QUEEN and more!
  The Criticism
  PREFACE TO SHAKESPEARE AND NOTES ON PLAY BY SAMUEL JOHNSON
  ON SHAKESPEARE BY LEO TOLSTOY
  EXTRACTS FROM WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE BY VICTOR HUGO
  SHAKESPEARE’S ATTITUDE TOWARD THE WORKING CLASSES BY ERNEST CROSBY
  A LETTER BY GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
  and many more!
  The Biographies
  SOME ACCOUNT OF THE LIFE OF MR. WILLIAM SHAKESPEAR BY NICHOLAS ROWE
  SHAKESPEARE: HIS LIFE, ART, AND CHARACTERS BY HENRY NORMAN HUDSON
  LIFE OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE BY SIR SIDNEY LEE
  SHAKESPEARE’S LOST YEARS IN LONDON BY ARTHUR ACHESON
  THE PEOPLE FOR WHOM SHAKESPEARE WROTE BY CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER
  Shakespeare’s Last Will and Testament
  Glossary of Elizabethan Language

DOWNLOAD

THE OXFORD COMPANION TO SHAKESPEARE

The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare is the most comprehensive reference work available on Shakespeare’s life, times, works, and his 400-year global legacy. In addition to the authoritative A-Z entries, it includes nearly 100 illustrations, a chronology, a guide to further reading, a thematic contents list, and special feature entries on each of Shakespeare’s works. Tying in with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, this much-loved Companion has been revised and updated, reflecting developments and discoveries made in recent years and to cover the performance, interpretation, and the influence of Shakespeare’s works up to the present day.

First published in 2001, the online edition was revised in 2011, with updates to over 200 entries plus 16 new entries. These online updates appear in print for the first time in this second edition, along with a further 35,000 new and revised words. These include more than 80 new entries, ranging from important performers, directors, and scholars (such as Lucy Bailey, Samuel West, and Alfredo Michel Modenessi), to topics as diverse as Shakespeare in the digital age and the ubiquity of plants in Shakespeare’s works, to the interpretation of Shakespeare globally, from Finland to Iraq. To make information on Shakespeare’s major works easier to find, the feature entries have been grouped and placed in a centre section (fully cross-referenced from the A-Z). The thematic listing of entries – described in the press as ‘an invaluable panorama of the contents’ – has been updated to include all of the new entries. This edition contains a preface written by much-lauded Shakespearian actor Simon Russell Beale.

Full of both entertaining trivia and scholarly detail, this authoritative Companion will delight the browser and reward students, academics, as well as anyone wanting to know more about Shakespeare.

DOWNLOAD

MARK TWAIN

THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a picaresque novel by American author Mark Twain that was first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. It is commonly named among the Great American Novels, and it is among the first in major American literature to be written throughout in vernacular English, characterized by local color regionalism. Being the direct sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, it is told in the first person by Huckleberry “Huck” Finn, the narrator of two other later Twain novels (Tom Sawyer Abroad and Tom Sawyer, Detective) and a friend of Tom Sawyer.

The book is noted for “changing the course of children’s literature” in the United States for the “deeply felt portrayal of boyhood”.^[2] It is also known for its colorful description of people and places along the Mississippi River. Set in a Southern antebellum society that had ceased to exist over 20 years before the work was published, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an often scathing satire on entrenched attitudes, particularly racism.

Perennially popular with readers, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has also been the continued object of study by literary critics since its publication. The book was widely criticized upon release because of its extensive use of coarse language and racial epithets. Throughout the 20th century, and despite arguments that the protagonist and the tenor of the book are anti-racist,^[3][4] criticism of the book continued due to both its perceived use of racial stereotypes and its frequent use of the racial slur “nigger“.

DOWNLOAD

CLIFFSNOTES ON TWAIN’S HUCKLEBERRY FINN

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer expert commentary on major themes, plots, characters, literary devices, and historical background. The latest generation of titles in this series also feature glossaries and visual elements that complement the classic, familiar format.

In CliffsNotes on Huckleberry Finn, you follow the Mississippi River adventures of Mark Twain’s mischief-making protagonist Huck Finn and the runaway slave Jim.

Just like Huck’s makeshift raft, this study guide carries you along on his incredible journey by providing chapter summaries and critical analyses on life in the late-19th-century American south. You’ll also gain insight into the man behind this American classic — Mark Twain, a.k.a. Samuel Clemens. Other features that help you study include

• Character analyses of major players
• A character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the characters
• Critical essays
• A review section that tests your knowledge
• A Resource Center full of books, articles, films, and Internet sites

Classic literature or modern modern-day treasure — you’ll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

DOWNLOAD

CLIFFSCOMPLETE MARK TWAIN’S ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN

In the CliffsComplete guides, the novel’s complete text and a glossary appear side-by-side with coordinating numbered lines to help you understand unusual words and phrasing. You’ll also find all the commentary and resources of a standard CliffsNotes for Literature.

CliffsComplete Adventures of Huckleberry Finn offers insight and information into a work that’s rich both dramatically and thematically. Every generation since its publication has been able to identify with some of the novel’s themes, including freedom, society versus conscience, and greed.

Follow the Mississippi River adventures of this mischief-making Huck Finn and the runaway slave Jim — and save valuable studying time — all at once. Enhance your reading of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with these additional features:

• A summary and insightful commentary for each chapter
• Bibliography and historical background on the author, Mark Twain
• A look at 18th-century life and society
• Coverage of Twain’s writing and the reaction to the novel
• A character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the characters
• Review questions, a quiz, discussion guide, and activity ideas
• A Resource Center full of books, articles, films, and Web sites

Streamline your literature study with all-in-one help from CliffsComplete guides!

DOWNLOAD

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

KING HENRY IV PART 1

Henry IV, Part 1 is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in the mid-1590s and first published in quarto in 1598. It was composed in the later years of the reign of Elizabeth I, when questions of succession and political stability were prominent. Set in England in the early 1400s during the reign of Henry IV, the play depicts rebellion against the crown alongside the development of Prince Hal, the future Henry V, and examines themes of leadership and the formation of the heir apparent.

The play was among Shakespeare’s most popular works in his own time, as indicated by multiple early printings and the success of the character John Falstaff.^[1] It has remained one of his most frequently performed plays, noted for its combination of political drama and comic scenes and for its treatment of leadership and public identity.

DOWNLOAD

CLIFFSNOTES ON SHAKESPEARE’S KING HENRY IV PART 1

This popular play entertains and inspires in alternating comic scenes and serious ones and is the birthplace of one of the theater’s greatest characters, Sir John Falstaff. Young Prince Hal rebels against his father the king until he must go to the king’s aid to stamp out the rebellion of nobles.

DOWNLOAD

CLIFFSCOMPLETE WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S KING HENRY IV, PART 1

In the CliffsComplete guides, the novel’s complete text and a glossary appear side-by-side with coordinating numbered lines to help you understand unusual words and phrasing. You’ll also find all the commentary and resources of a standard CliffsNotes for Literature.CliffsComplete King Henry IV, Part 1 follows the play’s alternating comic and serious scenes as a young prince rebels against his father, who happens to be king, until he must go to the king’s aid to stamp out the rebellion of nobles. Discover a story of self-sacrifice and meet one of the theatre’s most enduring comic characters, Falstaff — and save valuable studying time — all at once. Enhance your reading of King Henry IV with these additional features:A summary and insightful commentary for each chapterBibliography and historical background on the author, William ShakespeareA look at Early Modern England intellectual, religious, political, and social contextCoverage of key themes and use of language within the workA character map that graphically illustrates the relationships among the charactersReview questions, a quiz, discussion guide, and activity ideasA Resource Center full of books, articles, films, and Web sitesStreamline your literature study with all-in-one help from CliffsComplete guides!

DOWNLOAD

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

WALDEN

Walden (/ˈwɔːldən/; first published as Walden; or, Life in the Woods) is an 1854 book by American transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author’s simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and—to some degree—a manual for self-reliance.^[2]

Walden details Thoreau’s experiences over the course of two years, two months, and two days in a cabin he built near Walden Pond amidst woodland owned by his friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson, near Concord, Massachusetts.

Thoreau makes precise scientific observations of nature as well as metaphorical and poetic uses of natural phenomena. He identifies many plants and animals by both their popular and scientific names, records in detail the color and clarity of different bodies of water, precisely dates and describes the freezing and thawing of the pond, and recounts his experiments to measure the depth and shape of the bottom of the supposedly “bottomless” Walden Pond.

DOWNLOAD

COMPLETE WORKS OF MARK TWAIN

The novelist, humorist and reporter Mark Twain acquired international fame for his travel narratives and adventure stories of boyhood, which are now celebrated classics of American literature. A gifted raconteur, distinctive humorist and irascible moralist, he became a popular public figure and one of America’s best and most beloved writers. This comprehensive eBook presents Twain’s complete works, with numerous illustrations, rare texts appearing in digital print for the first time, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material.

DOWNLOAD

THE OXFORD COMPANION TO MARK TWAIN

For what scandalous reason was the original publication of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn delayed? What were the names of Samuel Clemens pets? How are his attitudes towards politics and religion revealed in his work? Find the answers to these questions and many more in The Oxford
Companion to Mark Twain, which encapsulates the most important scholarship on Twain’s life, his works, and his times.
Organized in an A-Z format, the volume contains entries on all of his works, people and places related to his biography, and analyses of Twain’s takes on a variety of topics, from confidence games to slavery. It also features five essays by major Mark Twain scholars on important aspects of his life
and work, and interspersed throughout are essays on selected Twain classics by such literary luminaries as Arthur Miller, Frederick Pohl, and Nat Hentoff.
Featuring an extensive bibliography, a comprehensive index, a chronology of Twain’s works, and over forty illustrations,The Oxford Companion to Mark Twain is the most authoritative and complete reference work available and is perfect for student and fan alike.

DOWNLOAD

EPIC OF GILGAMESH

The Epic of Gilgamesh (/ˈɡɪlɡəmɛʃ/)^[2] is an epic from ancient Mesopotamia. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh (the variant “Bilgames” was once thought to be the earlier Sumerian form^[3]), king of Uruk, some of which may date back to the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2100 BCE).^[1] These independent stories were later used as source material for a combined epic in Akkadian. The first surviving version of this combined epic, known as the “Old Babylonian” version, dates back to the 18th century BCE and is titled after its incipit, Shūtur eli sharrī (“Surpassing All Other Kings”). Only a few tablets of it have survived. The later Standard Babylonian version compiled by Sîn-lēqi-unninni dates to somewhere between the 13th and 10th centuries BCE and bears the incipit Sha naqba īmuru^{[note 1]} (“He Who Saw the Deep(s)”, lit. ”He Who Sees the Unknown”). About two-thirds of this longer, 12-tablet version have been recovered. Some of the best copies were discovered in the library ruins of the 7th-century BCE Assyrian King Ashurbanipal.

The first part of the story discusses Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, and Enkidu, a wild man created by the gods to stop Gilgamesh from oppressing his people. After Enkidu becomes civilized through sexual initiation with Shamhat, he travels to Uruk, where he challenges Gilgamesh to a test of strength. Gilgamesh wins the contest; nonetheless, the two become friends. Together, they make a six-day journey to the legendary Cedar Forest, where they ultimately slay its guardian, Humbaba, and cut down the sacred cedar.^[5] The goddess Ishtar sends the Bull of Heaven to punish Gilgamesh for spurning her advances. Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill it, insulting Ishtar in the process. The gods decide to sentence Enkidu to death by giving him a fatal illness.

In the second part of the epic, distress over Enkidu’s death causes Gilgamesh to undertake a long and perilous journey to discover the secret of eternal life. Finally, he meets Utnapishtim and his wife, the only humans to survive the flood triggered by the gods (cf. Athra-Hasis). Gilgamesh learns from him that “Life, which you look for, you will never find. For when the gods created man, they let death be his share, and life withheld in their own hands”.^[6][7]

The epic is regarded as a foundational work in religion and the tradition of heroic sagas, with Gilgamesh forming the prototype for later heroes such as Heracles (Hercules) and the epic itself serving as an influence for Homeric epics.^[8] It has been translated into many languages and is featured in several works of popular fiction.

DOWNLOAD

HOMER

THE ILIAD

The Iliad (/ˈɪliəd/ ^ⓘ;^[2] Ancient Greek: Ἰλιάς, romanized: Iliás, [iːli’as]; lit. '[a poem] about Ilion (Troy)‘) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. Like the Odyssey, the poem is divided into 24 books and was written in dactylic hexameter. It contains 15,693 lines in its standard edition. The Iliad is often regarded as the first substantial piece of European literature and is a central part of the Epic Cycle.^[3]

Set toward the end of the Trojan War, a 10-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Mycenaean Greek states, the poem depicts significant events in the war’s final weeks. In particular, it traces the anger (μῆνις) of Achilles, a celebrated warrior, from a fierce quarrel between him and King Agamemnon, to the death of the Trojan prince Hector.^[4][5] The narrative moves between wide battleground scenes and more personal interactions.

The Iliad and the Odyssey were likely composed in Homeric Greek, a literary mixture of Ionic Greek and other dialects, around the mid 7th century BCE (according to the most up to date consensus).^[1] Although the poem’s composition has been extensively debated in contemporary scholarship, involving debates such as whether the Iliad and the Odyssey were composed independently, and whether they survived via an oral or also written tradition.^[6] The poem was performed by professional reciters of Homer known as rhapsodes at Greek festivals such as The Great Panathenaia.^[7][8]

Critical themes in the poem include kleos (glory), pride, fate, and wrath.^[9] Despite being predominantly known for its tragic and serious themes, the poem also contains instances of comedy and laughter.^[10] The poem is frequently described as a “heroic” epic, centred around issues such as war, violence, and the heroic code. It contains detailed descriptions of ancient warfare, including battle tactics and equipment. However, it also explores the social and domestic side of ancient culture in scenes behind the walls of Troy and in the Greek camp. Additionally, the Olympian gods play a major role in the poem, aiding their favoured warriors on the battlefield and intervening in personal disputes.^[11] Their anthropomorphic characterisation in the poem humanised them for Ancient Greek audiences, giving a concrete sense of their cultural and religious tradition. In terms of formal style, the poem’s formulae, use of similes, and epithets are often explored by scholars.^[12]

DOWNLOAD