Series Introduction
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Research Guide to American Literature is a series of handbooks for students and
teachers that recommends strategies for studying literary topics and frequently
taught literary works and authors. The rationale for the series is that success-
ful study is predicated on asking the right questions and then devising a logical
strategy for addressing them. The process of responsible literary investigation
begins with facts and usually ends with opinions. The value of those opinions
depends on the ability of the reader to gather useful information, to consider it
in context, to interpret it logically, and finally to decide what the interpretation
means outside the confines of the literary work. Often the answers to questions a
sophisticated reader asks about a literary topic are subjective, involving a reader’s
perception of an author’s or a character’s motive; always the search for the answer
to a meaningful question involves a process of self-education and, in the best of
circumstances, self-awareness.
RGAL is intended as a resource to assist readers in identifying questions to
ask about literature. The seven volumes in this series are organized chronologi-
cally, corresponding to generally accepted literary periods. Each volume follows
this general pattern:
Part I provides the social and historical context for a literary period, explain-
ing its historical boundaries, describing the nature of the literary output of the
time, placing the literature in its social and historical contexts, identifying literary
influences, and tracing the evolution of critical approaches.
Part II comprises ten study guides on general themes or topics related to the
period, organized alphabetically. Each guide first provides necessary background
information, then suggests questions or research topics that might be fruitfully
considered, along with specific primary and secondary works that students will
find useful. Each guide also includes an annotated checklist of recommended
secondary works and capsule identifications of people mentioned.
Part III comprises some thirty study guides for particular literary works or
authors, organized alphabetically by the author’s name. Each guide begins with a
brief overview of the author’s career to provide context, and then suggests some
half a dozen topics for discussion and research, with advice about how to begin
investigating the topic. These topics are meant to facilitate classroom discussion
as well as to suggest interesting ideas for research papers. Each guide includes an
annotated checklist of recommended secondary works.
Part IV is an annotated general bibliography recommending the most useful
general works of literary history, literary criticism, and literary reference pertinent
to the period.