Now at seventy-three volumes, this popular MLA series (ISSN 10591133) addresses a broad range of literary texts. Each volume surveys teaching aids and critical material and brings together essays that apply a variety of perspectives to teaching the text. Upper-level undergraduate and graduate students, student teachers, education specialists, and teachers in all humanities disciplines will find these volumes particularly helpful.

An Afro-Americanist, Ana M Fraile currently teaches postcolonial literatures at the University of Salamanca, Spain. Her more recent publications include the book Planteamientos esteticos y politicos en la obra de Zora Neale Hurston (2003); chapters about Zora Neale Hurston, Gayl Jones, Alice Walker and Joy Kogawa in the Rodopi series Perspectives on Modern Literature, edited by Michael Meyer; and journal articles on African American women writers such as Toni Morrison. She is also the editor of bilingual (English/ Spanish) editions on the works of Jacob A. Riis, Como vive la otra mitad, Langston Hughes, Oscuridad en Espana, and Zora Neale Hurston, Mi gente Mi gente , and the co-editor of The Impact of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms(1982-2002): European Perspectives. She has been the recepient of numerous grants and scholarships, among which are the Fulbright research grant, and several scholarships granted by the Canadian Government in the framework of the Foreign Affairs Faculty Enrichment Program.

Right from the start, Bigger Thomas had been headed for jail. It could have been for assault or petty larceny; by chance, it was for murder and rape. Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic. Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Wright's powerful novel is an unsparing reflection on the poverty and feelings of hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and of what it means to be black in America.

Richard Wright is one of the greatest African-American writers of the 20th century. His masterpiece Native Son is analyzed in this volume of essays.

Sea of Troubles has been designed for classroom teachers struggling to address the overwhelming issues facing our world today. By embracing the Common Core’s emphasis on the inclusion of more nonfiction, informational texts, the authors have demonstrated how to incorporate meaningful informational texts into their favorite units of literature. Sea of Troubles shows teachers how literature and informational texts can work together, to enhance each other, and, by extension, enhance student’s abilities to critically think and respond to the sea of troubles that pervades society.

This book is ideal for the thousands of teachers who entered the profession in the last ten years and taught prescribed curriculum geared toward end of year bubble testing. Its intent is to empower districts and their teachers to create their own (free!) curriculum that will exceed the expectations of Common Core assessments, as well as create life-long learners that are college and career ready. By employing inquiry based units of study that insist on the use of iconic literature at the center, students will be more prepared for what awaits them with Common Core exams.