Seeking a Job on Social Media

This resource is titled Job Seeking on Social Media: Using LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to Find Your Dream Job by Noe Spies. This book looks into all of the ways that should set up your social media page allow interviewers and jobs  to see the best version of you. This could come in the form of how you post, how you set up your page’s structure, and so on. This coaching allows for people to be able to feel confident in what they post, and not fear of how their presence on social media looks to potential jobs. I think that this is very important for English majors because it allows them to know the dos and don’ts of social media when you are using it for a job or career position. With social media being such a large part of the world today, especially in terms of how you get a job, this serves as a vital tool to all English majors. For example, one sections of this article, titled “Be Visible, Active, and Involved,” seeks to inform people of how to keep their accounts active and appropriate for potential bosses. (Spies, p.1) This art of the book is very important, because it allows readers to understand how you should post on your social media that is appropriate for the work place. This book leads to help introduce people into the different aspects that they must look at when applying for a job, and how their social media should reflect the best parts of themselves. This book’s main takeaway is the very invaluable information that it offers an English major. It allows for them to grasp the different ways that their social media can influence the people that they will be sending their applications too. It offers other tips, such as the one about networking. In the book, it states, “Once you have crated your small network, you have to maintain it! Talk to people and offer your opinion where relevant.” (Spies, p. 2) This part of the book teaches you how to manage your circle of friends, and ensure that you know how to spread the amount of people that you know. In closing, this book allows for many different types of tips and information, tips that will be very important to students who are up and coming on graduation.

Works Cited

50minutes.com. Job Seeking on Social Media: Using LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to Find      Your Dream Job. 50 Minutes, 2015. Web.

What Can You Do with a Major in English?

The book titled What Can You Do with a Major in English? Real People, Real Jobs, Real Rewards by Shelley O’Hara works as a guide for English majors that helps them pursue a career once they graduate. It gives helpful information such as how to conduct a job search, and how to find the different salary levels that people must look. This article would be beneficial to English majors because it helps them with those big questions of “What am I going to do once I am done?” and “How am I ever going to find a job?” This book purpose helps ease student’s minds by showing them that they are going to be able to find work, no matter how hard it is going to be. It can also serve as a guide for resources that they might not be able to find on their own. 

Overall, this resource can benefit English majors in terms of what they need to do to find the job that they really strive for, and how they will be able to acquire that job. This resource is valuable to English majors because it touches on the important aspects that one will face when finding a job in this career. For example, the book discusses topics such as: “Breaking into the Job Market with an English Degree,” and “Career Possibilities for an English Major.” (O’Hara) These chapters both discuss the different things that an English major can do, while all of the previous chapters discuss how one chooses where to go to school, what makes them pick English, etc. Throughout these chapters, there are also many specific things that someone going into this career field can use. In one chapter, O’Hara writes, “You can find a wealth of job-related sites on the internet.” (O’Hara, p.57) With this part of the chapter, she is describing the different methods and websites that you can use on the internet to look for and apply to jobs. This can be very valuable, because most English majors may have not ever looked into the complexities of the job market before.

Works Cited

O’Hara, Shelley. What Can You Do with a Major in English? Cliffs Notes, 2005. Web.

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The Selected Writings of Edgar Allan Poe

The Selected Writings of Edgar Allan Poe; an anthology of projects and works that this monumental writer accomplished in his life time. This first edition anthology, is a helpful guide to people studying Poe’s writing. The collection was originally published in August 2004 by Norton Critical Editions and Purdue University; edited by G.R Thompson, the book has proven the test of time to be useful in the classroom. The book features fifty-seven documents that Poe worked on during his profound career, that helped shape American Literature in the Nineteenth Century. Some of the works the editor included are: “Tamerlane”, “The Raven”, “The Cask of Amontiado”, “Hop-Frog”, etc. The editor hand-picked some of Poe’s famous works, and some lesser known works that are also profound. Another interesting thing that was included in this edition are various critiques from Poe that he wrote during his time as an editor. One of the critiques that was included critiques is Poe’s review of Nathanial Hawthorne’s work. The editor also includes a biography about Poe’s life at the beginning of the book to show case his state of mind and the time period when he wrote some of his famous pieces. 

One great tool that is included in this anthology are the foot notes. These help readers understand the features included literature by citing old language or other works Poe mentions in his writing. This anthology is an essential piece for anyone who wants to learn more about Poe and his works. It includes projects that Poe works that most people have heard of such as “The Raven”, but it also includes lesser known pieces such as “Mezengerstein”. It can also be a useful tool to use as an instructor in a classroom. On the publisher’s website includes a link for educators so they can access study guides for quizzes or tests. 

The book’s inexpensiveness, and availability on several websites makes it a great

asset to students and educators. With the extra information added to the edition, it makes understanding something from a different time period easier for students. Having that extra information also helps educators, because they have reliable information with the texts. Overall this book’s a useful tool to have in a classroom, or to   gain a deeper understanding of Poe’s work.

Poe, Edgar Allan. The Select Writings of Edgar Allan Poe. W.W. Norton & Co., 2004.

Renaissance Civilization

The Renaissance: The Story of Civilization V by Will Durant is about the civilization history of Italy from 1304 to 1576. Will Durant gained popularity with his History of Philosophy. The Renaissance: The Story of Civilization V is the fifth volume in his monumental seven-part series. The Renaissance: The Story of Civilization V was published in 1953 under by Simon and Schuster located in New York.  

The purpose of this book is to aim towards the philosophical history, studies the economic basis and background, and focuses on the growth and history of the Renaissance era and the effects it had on society. Durant explains how Renaissance was presented in multiple cities in Italy and among different types of people from princes, poets, historians, scientists, etc. An example is how the “waning of the Renaissance” was popular among historic figures like Titian, Aretino, Veronese, and Benvenuto Cellini. He explores the self-emancipation of man during the Renaissance and how they had no purpose except for their happiness. Durant explains how in Italy they explored ideas in order to advance as a society but then banished these ideas.

The book is organized by book and then chapters. Book I: Prelude covers years 1300-1377.  Chapter one is about The age of petrarch and Boccaccio (1304-1375). Under each chapter there are several subheadings like The Father of the Renaissance, The Poet, Siena, etc. Chapter two covers The Popes in Avignon (1309-1377). After chapter two, Book II picks up with chapter three, and it does this with three through five as well. The book does include pictures like Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Doors of the Baptistery located in Florence and Donatello’s David bronze statue in Florence.

Works Cited

Durant, Will. The Renaissance: The Story of Civilization V. Simon and Schuster, New York: 1953.

Online Books Page

The Online Books Page is  a website with an accumulation of over 3 million free books, put together by researcher and digital library planner John Mark Ockerbloom at the University of Pennsylvania. Ockerbloom first created the OBP in 1993 while he was attending Carnegie Mellon before moving to the University of Pennsylvania in 1999. Partnering with organizations such as Project Gutenberg, HathiTrust, and the University of Florida in Baldwin’s Digital Collection of Historic Children’s Literature, the Online Books Page works to provide a large variety of books at no charge to the public. Examples of the books provided include a cookbook entitled The A & P Cook and Recipes Book by Edna Neil, published sometime in the beginning of the 20th century and the Daemonologie, a book about black magic and demons written by King James I in 1597. While it is possible to find any number of historical books, it is difficult to find modern resources due to their submission process. Before a book can be added to the OBP, it must meet a certain set of criteria. Submitted books must be “legitimately available at no charge, must contain the European alphabet, and must be a well formatted text in a standard format”( Online Books Page). Although it partners with multiple organizations,the OBP does not receive any external funding for any of its resources, technical services are provided through its residency at the University of Pennsylvania.

Works Cited

“The Online Books Page.” Edited by John Ockerbloom, The Online Books Page, 1999, onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/.

A Comic Studies Reader

A Comic Studies Reader is an edited collection of essays intended as a resource for comics scholarship. It was published in 2009 by the University Press of Mississippi, and it is available for loan by the TTU Volpe Library.

It was edited by Jeet Heer and Kent Worcester, and the former wrote for many publications, and worked with the latter on Arguing Comics: Literary Masters on a Popular Medium.  Kent Worcester published a multitude of works regarding comics, and frequently writes for The Comics Journal even into 2019. The other contributors consist of professors, editors, and publishers.

This collection also has the goal to answer leading questions and showcase the richness in comics scholarship, paraphrased from the introduction. The range of content in this journal is represented and categorized in each chapter. These chapters are: “Historical Considerations”; “Craft, Art, Form”; “Culture Narrative, Identity”; and “Scrutiny and Evaluation”. Each section has 6 to 8 essays each, and example essays from each chapter are: “The Comics Debates Internationally”, “The Construction of Space in Comics”, “Ally Sloper: The First Comics Superstar?”, and “History and Graphic Representation in Maus“. The journal focuses on western comics, but does feature three articles on Japanese Manga too.

Overall, A Comic Studies Reader carries a focus on the background of comics as a form of entertainment as shown through important events, the artistry, and canonical works of the medium. While limited to a physical printed release, the content within provides a useful resource for comics scholarship.

Works Cited

Heer, et al. A Comics Studies Reader. University Press of Mississippi, 2009.

Worcester, Kent. “Donald Rooum: April 20, 1928-August 31, 2019.” The Comics Journal, Fantagraphics Books Inc., 13 Sept. 2019, http://www.tcj.com/donald-rooum-april-20-1928-august-31-2019/.

The Collins Complete Works of Oscar Wilde

Along with seemingly containing the entire life’s work of the Irish-born wit, The Collins Complete Works of Oscar Wilde includes photos of the author and his family, and a chronology of his life. This particular edition is Collin’s fifth of this title, which was published in 2003. And incidentally, as the text notes on its back cover, Harper Collins has published iterations of Oscar Wilde’s complete works since 1948. Interestingly, this edition also contains introductions each by Vyvyan and Merlin Holland—who are, respectively, the son and grandson of Wilde. For scholars, these paternally-proximate preludes may proffer personal insights into the oeuvre of the anthologized author.

The Collins text also includes a partial Wilde bibliography, which features major works, like De Profundis and The Importance of Being Earnest, along with their initial publication dates, houses of publication, and the number of copies first printed—often with ancillary details concerning the context of publication. What’s more, this text includes a seemingly comprehensive bibliography of scholarly articles and books written about Wilde and his works, which might prove useful to scholars of literature, who are seeking secondary sources. Along with the works mentioned in this bibliography, like E.H. Mikhail’s Oscar Wilde: An Annotated Bibliography of Criticism, the Collins edition includes editorial descriptions. Intriguingly, this often includes qualifications on the validity of the sources included. For example, under the entry for Thomas A. Mikolyzk’s Oscar Wilde: An Annotated Bibliography, the Collins editors conclude that the source is “More comprehensive than Mikhail but packed with errors,” (1262).

This resource is available for students of English at Tennessee Tech, from the front desk of the Volpe Library, under “Two-Hour Course Reserves” whenever they take English 3820—a currently-required course for all English majors at this institution.

Work Cited

Wilde, Oscar. The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde, Fifth Edition. Harper Collins, 2003.

Great Shakespeareans

Great Shakespeareans is an eighteen volume book set that contains information on how different scholars and authors contributed to all things Shakespeare. Set one contains volumes I-IV; set two contains volumes V-IX; set three contains volumes X-XIII. Each author writes about different aspects of Shakespeare’s works. For example, some of the authors focus on his poetry, or they focus on things like new ways to look at Shakespeare’s work that had not been thought about before. Some of the volumes feature famous authors like T.S. Eliot, Charles Dickens, and Sigmund Freud. These sets are all available on Tennessee Tech’s library website for free for all Tech students. The library website, however, does not offer volumes XIV-XVIII. Each volume has different editors, and each series has shares the same editors, Adrian Poole and Peter Holland. 

All of the volumes contain a variety of information on everything Shakespeare. These could be used among English majors to help get different information about Shakespeare’s works, whether it be the dating of his plays, new ways to look at his works, or even psychoanalysis of his works. This could be very helpful in providing background on Shakespeare’s works for a paper or just for personal knowledge. The editors of the series also include notes on the contributors which gives information on where each of the authors are professors and other works they have written. This could also help an English major find other resources that could go more in depth on a certain topic if they needed more information outside of Great Shakespeareans. This resource would only be helpful for people that are writing, or learning, about Shakespeare’s works, or anyone that is interested in Shakespeare. 

Works Cited 

Great Shakespeareans Set I. Continuum, 2011. 

Great Shakespeareans Set II. Continuum, 2011. 

Great Shakespeareans Set III. The Arden Shakespeare, 2012.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A Biography

Paula J. Rodriguez

Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A Biography is a book that is meant to be read by secondary students to assist when writing about the author. Gabriel Garcia Marquez hails from Columbia and is “an international best-selling author and a master of “magic realism”.” (2009, Pelayo). Gabriel Garcia Marquez has won the Felix Varela Medal from Cuba, the Novel Prize for Literature, and the Aztec Eagle Medal from Mexico. Included amongst his best works are 100 Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A Biography includes an explanation of the format that is followed and how it can be used in conjunction with other titles when writing research papers. This book is part of a biographical series that was published by Greenwood Press and was written with “feedback from librarians and educators. Consideration was given to both curriculum relevance and inherent interest.” (Pelayo, 2009).

The biography was written by Ruben Pelayo, Professor Emeritus of Latin American Literature at Southern Connecticut State University. The format of the biography includes a series forward, acknowledgements, and an introduction that explains the basic format of the book. There is a timeline showing events as they occurred throughout Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s life from his birth through 2007. The chapters are formatted to cover one decade at a time and the author included notes at the end of each chapter showing his sources. There is also a “CODA” (Pelayo, 2009) in each chapter that shows what was happening politically at that point in the author’s life.

There are a few photographs and a bibliography at the end of the book that covers all the sources cited from Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s own work within this book. This book is comprehensive but would be a good resource to start with when writing about Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Not only does the bibliography include the sources it also shows which sources were translated from the original. I believe this biography could be used both in literature and history classes to teach about Gabriel Garcia Marquez and the political climate he lived through when writing and publishing his writing.

WORKS CITED

Pelayo Rubén. Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A Biography. Greenwood Press, 2009.

Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg is an online resource that contains over sixty thousand eBooks. Project Gutenberg and all of its contents are completely free and accessible through any internet browser. The website is easy to navigate and is organized by categories and subcategories. Additionally, a user can also browse the catalogue by author, title, language, or the recently posted tab. Project Gutenberg’s database contains books from numerous time periods and of every genre. For example, a user can find anything from the King James version of The Bible to Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein. Another interesting feature of Project Gutenberg is the format in which it makes books available. Yes, all sixty thousand eBooks are available as just that, digital books, but a great number of those books are also available as audiobooks. 

The founder, Michael Hart, started Project Gutenberg in 1971 when he was given $100,000,000 worth of computer time to do with as he pleased by the Xerox Sigma V mainframe operators at the University of Illinois’ Materials Research Lab. Hart decided that he would create a database that would “make information, books and other materials available to the general public in forms a vast majority of the computers, programs and people can easily read, use, quote, and search” (Hart). Upon creating Project Gutenberg, Hart decided that “[all] Etexts should cost so little that no one will really care how much they cost. They should be a general size that fits on the standard media of the time … [and] the Project Gutenberg Etexts should be so easily used that no one should ever have to care about how to use, read, quote and search them …” (Hart). 

Works Cited

Project Gutenberg. 17 Sept. 2019, http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page.

Hart, Michael. “The History and Philosophy of Project Gutenberg.” Project Gutenberg, 1992, http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:The_History_and_ Philosophy_of_Project_Gutenberg_by_Michael_Hart.