For those people who like Cliffs Notes explanations,
but find reading the original text difficult, this
excellent idea for a duo-volume by the same Cliffs
publishers is the ideal answer.
For this volume contains both the text, in fine
readable type, along with explanatory notes in the
wide margins to the right of the text. The volume
also contains excellent photos and drawings to
complement the text.
The names, terms, or words which need further
explanation are printed in the text in darker type,
and then the explanation is found to the right of
the text in the light blue margins. Example from
the text: "The brilliancy might have befitted
ALLADIN'S PALACE [in the text it is dark bold
type, not capitalized] rather than the mansion of
a grave old Puritan ruler." Margin note: Aladdin's
palace: A boy in THE ARABIAN NIGHTS , Aladdin,
discovers a magical lamp and ring that bring him
everything he wishes for."
There are also excellent Commentaries at the end
of each chapter. There is an especially good one
at the end of "The Custom House" intro to the
novel - that commentary includes sections titled:
"Hawthorne's philosophy of writing"; "Hawthorne's
role as surveyor"; "Hawthorne's Puritan heritage";
The origins of this novel"; and "The mirror of
imagination."...

Robert Milch has authored several Cliffs Notes dealing with Greek plays besides this one looking at the "Orestia" of Aeschylus. This means that one thing all of Milch's volumes share is an excellent introductory section consisting of a Background of Greek Tagedy and Aristotle on Tragedy, which develops dozens of literary concepts using the original Greek vocabulary (e.g., protagonist, eccyclema, stasimon, harmartia, anagnorisis). Following a look at the Life of Aeschylus and his Extant Dramatic Works, Milch looks at the Mythological Background of the "Orestia" trilogy. Milch then provides an introductory note of the trilogy setting up the main idea that civil legal procedures are necessary for civilization to rise above a primitive state, after which he looks at the three plays--"Agamemnon," "The Choelphori" ("The Libation Bearers"), and "The Eumenides"--following the classical structure of Greek Tragedies he established at the start and providing Summary/Commentary for each distinct unit. Finally, he looks at the main characters of the play (Clytaemestra, Orestes, Electra, Agamemnon and Aegisthus), although you will find that the main analysis comes in looking at the specific episodes of the three plays. Because he is looking at an entire trilogy Milch has a lot of ground to cover, versus those Cliffs Notes which are devoted to a single work, but the strength of this volume is in setting up the specific elements of a Greek play and following through on it in the Summary/Commentary section. No matter what Greek tragedies you might be teaching/reading, the introductory section of Milch's books are well worth your time and lend themselves towards fascinating cookie-cutter criticism.

the book was one of the best books i've ever read! the book was great in detail

good novals have fine reputations because they teach people a true lesson

In this little yellow book with the black stripes Robert J. Milch looks at what are arguably the two most widely read plays by Euripides, "Medea" and "Electra." However, one of the things that makes this volume useful for teaching/reading any Greek tragedy is the excellent "Background of Greek Tragedy" section. Milch looks at the origins of these plays, their plots, the theaters and theatrical equipment, the function of the chorus, and the peculiar structure of the Greek plays. There is also a nice section that covers Aristotle on Tragedy from his "Poetics." I especially appreciate that Milch uses the original Greek terms such as "orchestra," "stasimon" and "mimesis," along with a dozen more key concepts.

Following a section on the life of Euripides and a listing of the playwright's extant works, Milch provides Summary/Commentary for "Electra" and "Medea" in term, making explicit use of the specific dramatic structure he established in the first part of the book. Each play is introduced by looking at the legendary background of the play, which is important because each Greek playwright put his own particular twist on the particular myth; this is most clearly scene with "Electra," where we also have versions of the same story from Sophocles and Aeschylus. Brief notes on the main characters are collected at the end of the book. I want to emphasize that the introductory material in this book is useful for studying ANY Greek tragedy.

As always, the best way to use Cliffs Notes is to read the commentary after you have read the corresponding part of the play. The character analysis provided at the end is rather brief, because the best analysis comes in the commentary sections. For this reason, understanding the peculiar structure of Greek plays in terms of episodes and stasimons is important.

Fowles is under-rated. The French Lieutenant's Woman is insightful, thought-provoking, exciting and well-written. Should be read by all.

hi i am 13 years old and i live in california and just finished reading this wonderful and suspensful book. i love the dog and there is a man that seems suspisous when he is trying to take a cat into the car. at the beginning though the girl really wants a dog when she finds one and tries to explain and prove that she is capable of taking care of the dog. if you are a dog lover you're sure to love this book and even if you're not like me you'll sure to become one. the girl is a great independent person who saves a dog and seeks a suspicous man of what he is doing with animals i wont tell you the best part because i want you to read it too and enjoy it as much as i did!

I did my dissertation on the Scopes "Monkey" Trial, with one chapter focusing on "Inherit the Wind," a play in which I once had the role of Reverend Brown. Consequently, if you are using the play or either one of the available film versions, I can strongly recommend Suzanne Pavlos' CliffsNotes for Lawrence and Lee's "Inherit the Wind."

Pavlos begins with the life and background of the playwrights, looking at themes in their other works such as "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail" and the influence of Maxwell Anderson's play "Winterset" dealing with the Sacco-Vanzetti trial. The introduction to the play section is especially strong as she covers both the passage of Tennessee's Butler Act in 1925 and the ACLU's test case in the Scopes Trial. More importantly, she specifically details the major differences between the play and the history. Despite Lawrence and Lee's insistence their play "is not history," I can tell you that there are a lot of history textbooks and reference works that have confused the two. I would not like to think that this play is being taught without students understanding the differences. After all, Lawrence and Lee were concerned more with McCarthyism than the teaching of evolution in public schools. This section also includes a synopsis of the play, a list of characters and a detailed character map.

Of course there are critical commentaries (with glossaries) reflecting the five act/scene divisions of "Inherit the Wind" as well as Character Analyses of Brady, Drummond, Hornbeck, Cates and Rachel. The Critical Essays cover dramatic conventions and devices such as the chorus character and dialect, themes including freedom of thought, external and internal conflicts, and a note on proverbs. The book ends with the traditional review section and a resource center that covers both tradtiional and on-line reference materials.

A final note: if by chance you screen the Stanley Kramer film version, please be aware that the screenplay worked in several elements from the actual Scopes Trial, specifically the exchange in which Darrow/Drummond is cited for contempt of court and the speech of forgiveness given by the presiding judge. Also: "Inherit the Wind" was not only the longest running drama in American history when it closed on Broadway in 1957, the 1960 film was the first "in-flight" movie used by TWA to lure first-class passengers.

James Vickers' Cliffs Notes for Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" begins with a short biography of the Bard that focuses on what little the historical record tells us about the man. A Brief Synopsis of the Play is followed by a List of Characters that not only tells us who they are but their primary roles in the play. The Summary and Commentary section of the volume breaks down the play scene by scene, and the best way of using this or any other little yellow book with the black stripes is to read the commentary after you have read each scene of the play. This is especially important with Shakespeare because the dialogue is so important and Vickers does not work in as many choice lines as some of the other Cliffs Notes for Shakespeare plays. You cannot deal with Shakespeare if you do not know the key lines. The last section dealing with Character Analyses looks as Caesar, Antony, Octavius, Brutus and Cassius, referring back to the analysis already established regarding the individual scenes. What you will not get from this volume if you are teaching/reading "Julius Caesar" is how the play touches upon the political realities of Elizabethean England. But Vickers does an excellent job throughout of capturing how Shakespeare uses the play to manipulate the audience. Remember, the celebrated funeral oration by Marc Antony is being listened to on stage by a Roman mob that is being watched by an audience of Londoners in the theater. This is one of the better jobs at capturing how Shakespeare constructed a play.

I could not stand reading or watching anything about Vietnam for about 10 years. I eventually watched the movie " Apocalypse Now" I found it interesting but it did not relate to anything in the central highlands. Later I saw "Pork Lips Now" and could relate this to the movie. Finally someone told me that the whole thing was based on "Heart of Darkness " ISBN: 0486264645. So I decided to read the book. I found it fascinating and much better than the movie. However I could not see the forest of the trees and needed some help in showing me what I was looking at. Because I was not in some school class, I turned to the "Cliffs Notes" Of course my views don't match the notes exactly but they gave me some questions to ask and showed me the forest. The notes include:

· Life of the Author

· Introductions to the Novel

· Lists of Characters

· Brief Plot Synopses

· Summaries & Critical Commentaries

· Critical Essay

· Suggested Essay Topics

· Selected Bibliography

Later I found a movie that was much closer to the original story,

"Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death" (1988)