SCRIPTORIUM
AMERICAN
QUICK SUMMARIES
The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger
Holden Caulfield is expelled from Pencey Prep and aimlessly wanders the streets of New York. Sick of the "phonies" and Pencey, he struggles to overcome the death of his brother, tries to stop the exploitation of youth, and navigates his life through pretentiousness.
Moby Dick
Herman Melville
Ishmael boards the Pequod with his friend, Queequeg, where they encounter the disillusioned Captain Ahab. Ahab devotes his life to killing the sperm whale, Moby Dick.
The Raven
Edgar Allan Poe
While visited by a mysterious raven that only responds “Nevermore,” a sorrowful narrator mourns the loss of his beloved Lenore, descending deeper into despair with each unanswered question.
A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry
The Younger family, a Black family in Chicago in the 1950s receives a $10,000 life insurance payout and face conflict on how they will use the money. Mama wishes to buy a home, Walter Lee wishes to invest in a liquor store, and Beneatha wants to attend medical school. They eventually buy a home in Clybourne Park, a white Chicago neighborhood, even through pervasive racism.
The Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Hester Prynne is condemned for adultery in Puritan Boston and is forced to wear the titual "A" on her chest. Her husband, Roger Chillingworth, returns under a false identity as a doctor and torments her secret lover, Arthur Dimmesdale.
A Streetcar Named Desire
Tennessee Williams
Former Southern belle Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister Stella and Stella’s husband Stanley Kowalski in New Orleans. Blanche’s illusions clash with Stanley’s brutality, leading to conflict, exposure of her troubled past, and her eventual mental breakdown.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain
Huck Finn escapes his abusive father and teams up with Jim, a runaway slave, on a raft down the Mississippi River. Along the way, they encounter con men like the Duke and Dauphin, survive a deadly family feud, and face Huck’s growing conflict over helping Jim gain freedom. After Tom Sawyer joins them for a risky rescue, it’s revealed Jim was freed all along, and Huck decides to head west to escape being civilized.
Death of a Salesman
Arthur Miller
Willy Loman reflects on his failed career as a salesman and poor relationship with his sons, Biff and Happy, and his wife, Linda. He concludes that his life failures were redeemed by suicide, and hopes that his $20,000 insurance payout will provide Biff the financial security to succeed. The play ends with a requiem, where the family mourns his death at his funeral while Happy remains determined to fulfill Willy's version of the American Dream.
Babbitt
Sinclair Lewis
George F. Babbitt, a middle-aged real estate broker in the fictional midwestern city of Zenith is deeply dissatisfied with his life despite his wealth. Fueled by his friend, Paul Riesling, he desires for change and a more meaningful life.
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Edward Albee
A volatile couple, George and Martha, use Nick and Honey to engage in a night of verbal arguments and manipulation games. The night concludes with George and Martha confronting the secrets of their marriage, including their fictitious son, and acknowledging their fear of living without illusion.
Howl
Allen Ginsberg
Beat Generation epic lamenting the destruction of visionary youth in postwar America, opening with, “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked.” The poem portrays a cityscape of “supernatural darkness of cold-water flats” and critiques cultural repression including imagery such as Moloch as “a sphinx of cement and aluminum”, repeated refrains of “Holy! Holy! Holy!”, and the line “I’m with you in Rockland” addressing Carl Solomon.
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets
Stephen Crane
Maggie Johnson, a naïve and hopeful girl from New York City’s Bowery, is seduced by Pete, and abandoned after leaving her dysfunctional family, including her drunken mother Mary and cynical brother Jimmie. Maggie descends into poverty and prostitution, ultimately dying alone, while her family stages a hypocritical mourning and Mary bitterly declaring, “I’ll fergive her!”
Slaughterhouse Five
Kurt Vonnegut
Billy Pilgrim becomes “unstuck in time,” experiencing his life out of order, from his ordinary youth in Ilium, New York, to WWII, where he survives the firebombing of Dresden while imprisoned in a slaughterhouse. He is abducted by Tralfamadorians, two-foot-tall aliens whose philosophy is summarized in the novel’s recurring refrain: “So it goes.” Billy’s postwar suburban life, punctuated by trauma, mental breakdowns, and the accidental death of his wife Valencia, is influenced by Tralfamadorian philosophy and the surreal observation of Montana Wildhack in a zoo.
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Ernest Hemingway
Robert Jordan, a young American fighting with Republican guerrillas in the Spanish Civil War, is tasked with blowing up a strategic bridge near Segovia. Amid the mission, he forms a deep bond with Maria and navigates tensions within the guerrilla band, including Pablo and Pilar.