Salem Press

Masterplots II:
African American Literature, Revised
Authoritative analysis of the important works of African American writers of all genres-long fiction, short fiction, poetry, drama and nonfiction.

Masterplots II: African American Literature offers essays on individual titles by great novelists, playwrights, memoirists, historians, and critics as well as the bodies of work of major poets, short-story writers, essayists, and orators. Students, librarians, and teachers can explore the rich literary canon of African American writings, from colonial America to the twenty-first century.

The set includes new and revised essays, along with complete updates on existing material. The addition of 101 new essays brings the total number of essays to 367. New essays include memoirs by Maya Angelou, Jamaica Kincaid, and Audre Lorde; novels by Toni Cade Bambara, Octavia E. Butler, Bebe Moore Campbell, Edwidge Danticat, Ralph Ellison, Percival Everett, Edward P. Jones, Terry McMillan, Paule Marshall, Toni Morrison, and Walter Mosley; poetry by Cornelius Eady; criticism by Kwame Anthony Appiah, Bell Hooks, and Cornel West; plays by Suzan-Lori Parks, August Wilson, and George C. Wolfe; and young adult literature by Gwendolyn Brooks, Walter Dean Myers, Mildred D. Taylor, and Jacqueline Woodson.

Each volume has a distinct cover. Above: the other three.

In addition, 20 overviews on the essays or poetry of select writers were updated from the previous edition. Two annotated appendixes, a General Bibliography and a list of Electronic Resources, were added, as well as a Chronological List of Titles covered in the set.

Every essay begins with useful ready-reference information about the literary work, including; title, subtitle, author's name and birth/death dates, type of work, type of plot (if applicable), time of plot or work (if applicable), locale (if applicable), first produced date for plays, first published date, and a list of principal characters or personages with brief descriptors. The main text of each essay is divided into several sections, depending on the type of work. Works of fiction-novels, short-story collections, plays, and poetry collections-feature a first section called "The Novel," "The Stories," "The Play," or "The Poems," which describes the events or contents of the work, and a section called "Themes and Meanings," which addresses its broader implications. Essays on novels and short-story collections also include the heading "The Characters," which offers in-depth discussion of one or more main characters. Nonfiction works feature the sections "Form and Content" and "Analysis." All essays end with "Critical Context," which discusses the circumstances surrounding the writing and/or publication of the work, including such topics as its influences, reception, and place in the canon of African American literature and literature in general.

SPECIAL FEATURES
Three appendixes round out the set:

Bibliography (secondary sources on African American literature)

Electronic Resources (subscription databases and Web sites)

Chronological List of Titles (works arranged by publication date)

Three indexes provide finding aids for a variety of categories:

Type of Work Index

Title Index

Author Index