Crash Course AP Literature

Song of Solomon
by Toni Morrison,
published 1977

Main characters: Milkman Dead, Pilate Dead, Macon Jr.

Main Plot/Idea/Concept: Milkman Dead tries to leave the confinement of his

parents’ home to become independent. However, restrictions of wealth and

class, as well as ignorance of his family history, become impediments.

Tags: adventure, magical realism, allusion (Biblical), racism

Anna Karenina by
Leo Tolstoy,
published 1873–
1877 (serial
publication)

Genre: novel

Setting: 1870s, primarily Russia, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the

provinces

Main characters: Anna Karenina; Konstantin Levin, Vronsky

Main Plot/Idea/Concept: Anna’s battle is between her passion for Vronsky

and her desire for independence and her marital duty, social convention, and

maternal love.

Tags: adultery, psychological novel, tragedy, self determination

Antigone by
Sophocles, written
c. 441 BCE

Genre: drama, tragedy

Setting: ancient Greece, Thebes

Main characters: Antigone

Main Plot/Idea/Concept: The major conflict is between Creon and Antigone.

Creon has declared that the body of Polynices may not be given a proper burial

because he led the forces that invaded Thebes. Nevertheless, Antigone wishes

to give her brother a proper burial.

Tags: individual vs society, tragedy, feminism

Bless Me, Ultima
by Rudolfo Anaya,
published 1972

Genre: novel

Setting: New Mexico in the 1940s, during and after World War II

Main characters: Antonio (first person narrator)

Main Plot/Idea/Concept: This is the story of Antonio’s growth from child to

adolescent. Cultural traditions and his own family’s expectations sometimes

conflict with his own desire to be independent.

Tags: Bildungsroman (coming-of-age story); magical realism

Genre: play

Setting: 1940s, Brooklyn, New York, New York City, and Boston