LibGuides: Queens: English Courses

English as a Second Language

English Classes Through the Queens Public Library:
English Classes Through the NYPL:
English Vocabulary Practice Online:
English as a second language
New York City Department of Education adult education program

Short Stories & Essays

The Best American Essays 2006,2007,2 008 by Adam Gopnik; Robert Atwan
ISBN: 9780618983223
Here you will find the finest essays "judiciously selected from countless publications , ranging from The New Yorker and Harper's to Swink and Pinch.

Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief
Based on interviews of 200+ Scientologists, a deep-dive into the history, people, and practices that call into question if this is a religion, business, or cult. Free on Internet Archive.

The Best American Essays of the Century by Joyce Carol Oates
ISBN: 9780618155873
Joyce Carol Oates has collected a group of works that are both intimate and important, essays that move from personal experience to larger significance without severing the connection between speaker and audience.
The Best American Short Stories by Junot Díaz; Heidi Pitlor
ISBN: 9780544582897
This book' features twenty outstanding examples of the best of the best in American short stories.
Great American Short Stories by Corinne Demas
ISBN: 9781593083380
Great American Short Stories: From Hawthorne to Hemingway
Heart of Darkness and Selected Short Fiction by Joseph Conrad
ISBN: 9781593083267
Heart of Darkness and Selected Short Fiction, by Joseph Conrad, includes new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras.
Literature by R. S. Gwynn
ISBN: 9780205032198
Short story authors in this collection include Tobias Wolff, Helen Simpson, and Susan Perabo.
Literature by X. J. Kennedy; Dana Gioia
ISBN: 9780321226013
This book is really four interlocking volumes sharing one cover. Each of the first three sections is devoted to one of the major literary forms - fiction, poetry, and drama.
The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Volume C, D, E by Nina Baym
ISBN: 9780393927412
A selection of American literature drawn from throughout history. Includes a time line, color plates, and bibliographies
The Norton Anthology of English literature. Volumes D, E, F, by Stephen Greenblatt
ISBN: 9780393912531
The Norton Anthology of English literature provides students with access to a widely trusted and comprehensive collection of works penned by English (British) authors
The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction by Richard Bausch
ISBN: 9780393937763
The Norton Anthology features 73 works--by 69 authors, offering a broad collection of short stories with annotations .With a new "Authors in Depth" feature, an extensive Reviews and Commentaries section, and expanded coverage of Writers on Writing,
The Norton Anthology of World Literature Volume C, D, E by Sarah N. Lawall
ISBN: 9780393924572
The anthology is a compact library of world literature, offering complete works, prose works, lyric poems, and plays.
The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway by Ernest Hemingway
ISBN: 9780684843322
The complete, authoritative collection of Ernest Hemingway's short fiction, including classic stories like "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber," along with seven previously unpublished stories.
The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald by F. Scott Fitzgerald
ISBN: 9780684842509
In The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Matthew J. Bruccoli,assembles a sparkling collection that encompasses the full scope of Fitzgerald's short fiction. The forty-three masterpieces range from early stories that capture the fashion of the times to later ones written after the author's fabled crack-up, which are sober reflections on his own youthful excesses.
Essays and Sketches of Mark Twain by Mark Twain;
ISBN: 9781566198790
A collection of fifty-two essays and sketches by Mark Twain

True Crime

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness, at the Fair that Changed America
This is the true story of H.H. Holmes and the victims he lured to his mysterious and secretive "murder mansion," during the historical Chicago World's Fair of 1893. Free on Internet Archive.
The Gangs of New York
Written in 1928, this is an evocative account of the gangsters and crimes that inspired the modern Mafia. Free on Internet Archive.
In Cold Blood
Truman Capote's masterful retelling of the events and plans leading to the 1959 annihilation of the Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas. Free on Internet Archive.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
A Southern Gothic true crime about the murder of marginalized Danny Hansford at the hands of his boss, a wealthy antiques dealer. Free on Internet Archive.
The Stranger Beside Me
Beginning with their time working together in a crisis center, Ann Rule describes her relationship with - and creeping suspicions about - one of America's most well-known serial killers. Free on Internet Archive.

Literature Databases

ProQuest's Research Library: Literature & Language
Gale Literature Resource Center
Short Introduction Series
Oxford's Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects - from Public Health to Buddhist Ethics, Soft Matter to Classics, and Art History to Globalization. Each volume provides an authoritative and engaging assessment of a concept, field, or body of work, drawing out the central ideas, themes, and approaches. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, new insights, and enthusiasm to make often challenging topics highly readable to develop your core knowledge.
Literature e-book collection from Gale
Collection includes literary criticism and classic works.
ProQuest Ebook Literature Collection
Includes books on literary criticism and classic titles
Open Library
The Internet Archive and participating libraries have selected digitized books from their collections that are available to be borrowed by one patron at a time from anywhere in the world for free. These books are available in BookReader format and usually in PDF and ePub formats.
Graphic Medicine
Graphic Medicine is a field that explores and supports the interaction between the medium of comics and the discourse of healthcare.the discipline could include graphic memoirs of illness, educational comics for both students and patients, academic papers and books, gag strips about healthcare, graphic reportage and therapeutic workshops involving comic making, as well as many other practices and source material, both fictional and non-fictional.

Writing Resouces

Excelsior OWL
Excelsior College's comprehensive online writing and reading lab.
Essay Writing
All types of Essays
Excelsior OWL - Nursing Writing Lab
Discipline specific writing resources for nurses. With video tutorials for writing:
Care Plans
Community Health Literature
SOAP Notes
Health Professions Writing Lab
Case Analysis in Health Sciences
Literature Review in Health Sciences
Health Policy Statements
Patient Education Literature

E-Books

Developing Research Questions
Question Formulation Technique (QFT), a protocol that teaches all people how to ask, work with, and pursue their own questions. Viewers will explore how the QFT can be flexibly applied to support students, clients, library patrons, and others to develop research questions that align with their personal needs with more confidence.

English Composition and Style by Shelley Evans-Marshall
ISBN: 9781423222873
Publication Date: 2014-05-31
6 page guide includes: Purpose or Reason for Writing Defining the Audience Establishing Clarity Organizing for Unity Integrating Ideas for Coherence Composing an Essay: Analyze the Prompt/Assignment/Writing Task & Choose a Focus Create a Working Thesis or Claim Construct an Outline Writing a Draft Peer or Instructor Reading & Conference Revising the Draft Edit the Final Draft Review an Example of a Model Essay

College Research Paper Checklist

Writing Guides

Grammar and sentence Guide
from Walden University
Sentence Structure: Learn the Rules for Every Sentence Type

Writing for Health Professionals

Writing Basics for the Healthcare Professional by Michele Benjamin Lesmeister
ISBN: 9780835953191
Publication Date: 2006-06-01
Writing Basics for the Healthcare Professional is based on the writing needs of students in allied health fields. A wide variety of students will benefit from the "can do" approach of this worktext. The answers for most of the exercises are at the end of the text. Proofreading and revision exercises help develop critical thinking skills in writing and a keen eye for written work.
Writing for the Health Professions by Karl J. Terryberry
ISBN: 9781401841928
Publication Date: 2004-05-04
Writing for the Health Professions teaches the principles of writing, writing for academic purposes and writing to help healthcare professionals in practice. Designed for those with a firm grasp of basic grammar, it leads the reader through the fundamentals of writing papers, documentation and writing research grants. This book can be used in a writing class for health care students, a reference for the student to use during their academic years or as reference for the practicing professional.

Cliff Notes
Writing The writing you're required to do in your lifetime varies—for example, timed writings and essay questions on exams; autobiographical essays for college applications; high‐school and college papers on a variety of subjects; and business letters, proposals, memos, and reports related to your work. Use this book to help you get started.

Poetry Resources

Bellevue Literary Review
Bellevue Literary Review is an award-winning independent literary journal that probes the nuances of our lives in illness and in health. BLR publishes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that brings together the perspectives of patients, caregivers, family members, students, healthcare professionals, and the general public.
Bellevue Literary Review Reading Guides
These reading guides provide a framework for encountering illness from a variety of perspectives and are useful teaching tools for instructors of literature, ethics, and medicine/nursing, social workers, and health care professionals, as well as for adult continuing education courses, general reading groups or book clubs, and individuals looking for deeper ethical, social, and literary readings of the experience of illness.
Poetry Foundation
A database for all things poetry: poems, poetry guides, poet biographies, and other poetry resources. Search by poem or poet for information

On Distance by Alexander Long
Call Number: PS 3612 O487 O6 2018
ISBN: 9781622882212
Long's poems are riveting and bring up questions regarding humanity. The collection itself is divided into four distinct sections that each deal with their own humanitarian concern: returning home and the nostalgia that finds you; the downfall and heartbreak of humanity; hard, unspoken questions about society; and the wake of heartbreak left behind by the suicide of a close friend.
Somebody Blew up America and Other Poems by Amiri Baraka
ISBN: 9780913441619
The publication of Amiri Baraka's SOMEBODY BLEW UP AMERICA AND OTHER POEMS makes one more mark in the development in modern Black radical & revolutionary cultural reconstruction
Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters
ISBN: 9780252063633
Spoon River Anthology probes the social background of the small-town world that Edgar Lee Masters loved and hated--and finally transmuted into powerful literary art.
The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson
Call Number: PS 1541 A128 2004
ISBN: 9781593080501
This selection brings together over 500 of Dickinson's nearly 1,800 poems.
Prison Poems by Mahvash Sábet
Call Number: PK 6562.29 A24 A2 2013
ISBN: 9780853985693
Adapted from the Persian , these poems testify to the courage and the despair, the misery and the hopes of thousands of Iranians struggling to survive conditions of extreme oppression.
Poems by Maya Angelou
Call Number: PS 3551 N464 1993
ISBN: 9780553255768
In this moving volume of poetry, we hear the multi-faceted voice of one of the most powerful and vibrant writers of our time.
The Vintage Book of African American Poetry by Michael S. Harper; Anthony Walton (Editor)
Call Number: PS 591 N4 V56 2000
ISBN: 9780375703003
Editors Michael S. Harper and Anthony Walton present the definitive collection of black verse in the United States--200 years of vision, struggle, power, beauty, and triumph from 52 outstanding poets.
The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde by Oscar. Wilde
ISBN: 9781443441940
Featuring the entirety of Oscar Wilde's collected poetry, prose, and dramatic works, this collection demonstrates the author's wide range, unerring wit, and unique perspective. Bringing together Wilde's most famous works, including The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Lady Windermere's Fan, t
Early Poems of Robert Frost by Robert Frost
ISBN: 9780517350577
Approximately 60 poems from the great American poet, including many previously unpublished. Includes landmark poems such as The Pasture, After Apple-Picking and The Wood Pile.
The Poetry of Robert Frost by Robert Frost
ISBN: 9780030725357
The definitive volume of the complete poetic works of Frost.
Robert Frost's Poems by Robert Frost;
Call Number: PS 3511 R94 A6 1971
ISBN: 9780312983321
Robert Frost's Poems is a celebration of the New England countryside, Frost's appreciation of common folk, and his wonderful understanding of the human condition.
When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple by Sandra H. Martz
ISBN: 9780918949165
Sandra Martz's anthology series on ageing features the best-loved excerpts of poetry, prose and photographs .
I Am Becoming the Woman I've Wanted by Sandra H. Martz
Call Number: PS 509 W6 I13 1994
ISBN: 9780918949493
I Am Becoming the Woman I've Wanted, delves into the sometimes hidden and always powerful feelings that women have about their bodies, this book explores coming of age, sexuality, child-birth, physical power, menopause, aging, and much more.
If I Had My Life to Live Over by Sandra Martz
Call Number: PS 509 W6 I41992
ISBN: 9780918949240
This companion volume to When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple, illuminates the experiences of women, young and old, reflecting on the choices they have made.
Wade in the Water by Tracy K. Smith
ISBN: 9781555978365
A collection of poemsTracy K. Smith, the Poet Laureate of the United States
The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats by William Butler. Yeats
Call Number: PR 5900 A3 1996
ISBN: 9780684807317
This Collection encompasses Yeats career, from luminous reworkings of ancient Irish myths & legends to passionate meditations on the demands and rewards of youth & old age, from exquisite, occasionally whimsical songs of love, nature,& art to somber & angry poems of life in a nation torn by war & uprising.
The Poems by William Shakespeare
Call Number: PR2841 B48 1988
ISBN: 9780553213096
Publication Date: 1988-01-01
Shakespeare's greatest achievement in nondramatic verse was his collection of 154 magnificent sonnets that portray a tumultuous world of love, rivalry, and conflict among a poet, an aristocratic young man, a rival poet, and a mysterious "dark lady."
Selected Poetry by William Wordsworth
Call Number: PR 5852 .V3 1950
ISBN: 9780199536887
This selection includes all Wordsworth's finest lyrics, and a large sample of The Prelude (1805), his extraordinary autobiographical poem in blank verse and the first truly great achievement of a new era in English poetry.