Books with title The Awakening: Literary Touchstone Classic

This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classic includes a glossary and notes to help the modern reader contend with Kate Chopin's themes and language. As the title suggests, The Awakening, published in 1899, tells the story of one woman's emergence from the conventional Victorian role of wife and mother to face the social consequences of seeking personal fulfillment. More than a mere argument in support of freedom and equality for women, it is a compelling depiction of the subtle burdens that had been traditionally borne by women and the awareness that perhaps there are options.

This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classic includes a glossary and notes to help the modern reader appreciate The Iliad's vocabulary and references to Greek mythology. SO BEGINS THE ILIAD, Homer's epic tale about the Trojan War. Meet the gods and heroes of Greek and Roman myth and legend-the all-powerful Jove, Venus, goddess of love, swift Mercury, as well as the impulsive Paris, heroic Ajax, and the supposedly invincible Achilles. See these characters as the ancients understood them-capable of great valor and incredible pettiness, as ready to fight for sex as for the preservation of a culture. The gods, sometimes little more than a scheming, squabbling family, are the stuff of tabloid journalism, but it is the warriors who provide the action. Famous for some of the bloodiest, most graphic battle scenes in literature, The Iliad is more than a "prequel" to the better-known Odyssey. It is the genesis of an entire body of Western literature and the poetic record of a culture whose influence continues to this day.

This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classic includes a glossary, notes, and reading pointers for sharper insights to help the modern reader appreciate Twain's perspectives, allusions, and language. After the young Prince Edward VI of England and a peasant boy switch places, the "little king" tries to escape from a world in which he must beg for food, sleep with rodents, face ridicule, and avoid assassination. Meanwhile, the peasant, who is now the prince, dreads exposure and possible execution; members of the Court believe he has gone mad. As a result of the swap, both boys learn that social class, like so much of life, is determined by chance and random circumstance. Originally published in 1881, The Prince and the Pauper is one of Mark Twain's earliest social satires. With his caustic wit and biting irony, Twain satirizes the power of the monarchy, unjust laws and barbaric punishments, superstitions, and religious intolerance. Although usually viewed as a child's story, The Prince and the Pauper offers adults critical insight into a people and time period not really all that different from our own.