history criticism interpretation

Literary Masterpieces is one series of the trio that makes up the Gale Study Guides to Great Literature (the others are Literary Topics and Literary Masters). Each Literary Masterpieces volume chooses a book by one of the authors covered in Literary Masters and offers a discussion of themes, characters, comparisons with social events of the era when the book was written and a critical analysis. Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie, written in 1900, broke with the tradition of the time of sentimental romance in favor of a realistic approach. The novel shocked its publisher, the critics and the public with its themes of the rejected family, the struggle against poverty, the desire for wealth, the illusion of limitless opportunity and the conflict between personal desire and conventional restraint. In many ways, Carrie's story anticipates the radical change in social values that took place in twentieth-century America.

Literary Masters is one series of the trio that makes up the Gale Study Guides to Great Literature (the others are Literary Masterpieces and Literary Topics). Each Literary Masters volume introduces a significant author and covers basic biographical information. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, born in Columbia in South America, studied law before he began his writing career as a journalist. Traveling widely through Europe, his writing reflects his travels and he is known for "magic realism", the mixture of fantasy and actuality that has made him the most widely read novelist writing in Spanish.