Best of
Read-For-School

1983

Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England


William Cronon - 1983
    Winner of the Francis Parkman PrizeIn this landmark work of environmental history, William Cronon offers an original and profound explanation of the effects European colonists' sense of property and their pursuit of capitalism had upon the ecosystems of New England. Reissued here with an updated afterword by the author and a new preface by the distinguished colonialist John Demos, Changes in the Land, provides a brilliant inter-disciplinary interpretation of how land and people influence one another. With its chilling closing line, "The people of plenty were a people of waste," Cronon's enduring and thought-provoking book is ethno-ecological history at its best.

Backwards and Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays


David Ball - 1983
    The text is full of tools for students and practitioners to use as they investigate plot, character, theme, exposition, imagery, motivation/obstacle/conflict, theatricality, and the other crucial parts of the superstructure of a play. He includes guides for discovering what the playwright considers the play’s most important elements, thus permitting interpretation based on the foundation of the play rather than its details.Using Hamlet as illustration, Ball assures a familiar base for illustrating script-reading techniques as well as examples of the kinds of misinterpretation readers can fall prey to by ignoring the craft of the playwright. Of immense utility to those who want to put plays on the stage (actors, directors, designers, production specialists) Backwards and Forwards is also a fine playwriting manual because the structures it describes are the primary tools of the playwright.

The Youngest Science


Lewis Thomas - 1983
    Thomas first learned about medicine by watching his father practice in an era when doctors comforted rather than healed. Looking back upon his experiences as a medical student, young doctor, and senior researcher, Thomas notes that medicine is now rich in possibility and promise.

Fallen Angels


Walter Dean Myers - 1983
    A coming-of-age tale for young adults set in the trenches of the Vietnam War in the late 1960s, this is the story of Perry, a Harlem teenager who volunteers for the service when his dream of attending college falls through. Sent to the front lines, Perry and his platoon come face-to-face with the Vietcong and the real horror of warfare. But violence and death aren't the only hardships. As Perry struggles to find virtue in himself and his comrades, he questions why black troops are given the most dangerous assignments, and why the U.S. is there at all.

In Search of April Raintree - Critical Edition


Beatrice Culleton - 1983
    Powerless to change their fortunes, they are separated, and each put into different foster homes. Yet over the years, the bond between them grows. As they each make their way in a society that is, at times, indifferent, hostile, and violent, one embraces her Métis identity, while the other tries to leave it behind. In the end, out of tragedy, comes an unexpected legacy of triumph and reclamation.In this Critical Edition, editor Cheryl Suzack has chosen ten critical essays to accompany one of the best-known texts by Canadian Aboriginal author Beatrice Culloden/Mosionier.

Happy Endings


Margaret Atwood - 1983
    The names of characters recur throughout the stories, and the stories reference each other (for example, "everything continues as in 'A'"), challenging narrative conventions. In addition, the story explores themes of domesticity, welfare, and success.

My Antonia / O Pioneers!


Willa Cather - 1983
    Together here with O Pioneers!, a classic American tale of pioneer life and the transformation of the frontier, this volume of Willa Cather’s works captures a time, a place, and a spirit that are part of our national heritage.

Night Flying Woman: An Ojibway Narrative


Ignatia Broker - 1983
    But this story also tells of her people's great strength and continuity. This popular book is also available on audiotape read by Debra Smith. An enrolled member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, she has performed her own poetry on a syndicated radio series on Native writers. Ignatia Broker, who died in 1987, was a story-teller and teacher in the Ojibway tradition. In 1984 she received a Wonder Woman Foundation award honoring her as a woman striving for peace and equality.

Unpuzzling Your Past: The Best-Selling Basic Guide to Genealogy


Emily Anne Croom - 1983
    Unpuzzling Your Past, 4th edition focuses on fundamental strategies for success, questions to ask, places for research, and interesting examples of each step along the way. Throughout, readers will find techniques and suggestions for: Taping family documents, oral tradition and memories; Exploring the vast array of U.S. public records, from newspapers and tombstones to censuses and land records; Getting the most from names, dates and handwriting of the past; Developing a first-rate and meaningful family history; Well-organized, well-written and comprehensive, this guide offers readers charts, illustrations, reference sidebars, bibliographies, a glossary, and useful, reproducible forms. Each chapter is capped with a list of Things to Do Now to encourage readers or students to apply what they have learned.

Primary Speech


Ann Belford Ulanov - 1983
    It is our personal and most private act of devotion. Words cannot do justice to the feelings, wishes, terrors, pains, or pleasures that we exchange with God. This book sets out to define prayer as both a means of drawing nearer to God everyday and as a coping tool that people can use in order to achieve harmony, balance, and satisfaction in their in their lives.

Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Architecture


Cyril M. Harris - 1983
    Harris offers a unique tour through the entire history of architecture: an extraordinary compendium of clear, concise definitions for over 5,000 important terms. This thoroughly accurate and comprehensive gathering of architectural knowledge is complemented by an unprecedented collection of over 2,000 line drawings that richly illustrate significant aspects of architectural styles. Unusual cutaway views, close-ups of intricate details, and precisely rendered plans show many of the greatest architectural achievements of all time.From ancient ruins to twentieth-century Modernism, the Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Architecture covers the full spectrum of architecture's rise and development. Subject areas include the following periods: Ancient, Islamic, Greek and Hellenistic, Mesoamerican, Roman, Romanesque, Early Christian, Gothic, Renaissance, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Modern. This volume is an important research tool that places particular emphasis on clarity and accuracy. For the architect, artist, historian, student, teacher, or architecture enthusiast, this valuable guide offers indispensable information and lucid illustrations covering the whole of architecture.

The Boy in the Alamo


Margaret Cousins - 1983
    Originally published in 1958, thousands of children each year enjoy this story from the unique point of view of twelve-year old Billy Campbell.

Biogeography


Mark V. Lomolino - 1983
    Starting from simple facts and principles and assuming only a rudimentary knowledge of biology, geography, and Earth history, the updated and revised text explains the relationships between geographic variation in biodiversity and the geological, ecological, and evolutionary processes that have produced them.

Hallucination Orbit: Psychology in Science Fiction


Isaac Asimov - 1983
    Includes a brief analysis of each story.

Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self


Alice Walker - 1983
    "Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self." 1983. The Norton Reader: An Anthology of Nonfiction. Ed. Melissa A. Goldthwaite et al. 14th ed. New York: Norton, 2016. 74-79. Print.

Stings: Original Drafts of the Dreams of the Poem Facsimile Reproduced from the Sylvia Plath Collection at Smith College


Sylvia Plath - 1983
    

Feminist Frontiers


Verta Taylor - 1983
    With classic and contemporary readings that cut across disciplines and generational lines, "Feminist Frontiers" presents the full diversity of women's issues and experiences, exploring their similarities as well as their interconnected differences. "Feminist Frontiers" offers analyses of the causes and consequences of gender inequality in a global context and introduces students to feminist theory and methodology. A sociological analysis opens each of the four parts and eleven sections of the book. Boxed inserts featuring personal stories, news articles, and other items from popular culture complement the readings.

Forgotten Algebra


Barbara Lee Bleau - 1983
    Set up as a workbook, Forgotten Algebra is divided into 31 units, starting with signed numbers, symbols, and first-degree equations, and progressing to include logarithms and right triangles. Each unit provides explanations and includes numerous examples, problems, and exercises with detailed solutions to facilitate self-study. Optional sections introduce the use of graphing calculators. Units conclude with exercises, their answers given at the back of the book. Systematic presentation of subject matter is easy to follow, but contains all the algebraic information learners need for mastery of this subject.

On the Art of the No Drama: The Major Treatises of Zeami


Zeami Motokiyo - 1983
    Zeami, who transformed the No from a country entertainment into a vehicle for profound theatrical and philosophical experience, was a brilliant actor himself, and his treatises touch on every aspect of the theater of his time. His theories, mixing philosophical and practical insights, often seem strikingly contemporary. Since their discovery early in this century. these secret treatises have been considered among the most valuable and representative documents in the history of Japanese aesthetics. They discuss subjects from the art of the playwright to the reciprocal nature of the relationship between performer and audience.