The Shadow

Ovington, Mary White, 1865-1951Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 570K words
Chapters: 57

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Shadow by Mary White OvingtonAuthor: Ovington, Mary White, 1865-1951,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jul 6, 2010

Editor's review

The Shadow is a work by the American author and social activist Mary White Ovington (1865–1951), prepared by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain English ebook and classified under American and Canadian literature. Ovington is known for her advocacy of racial equality and social reform, and her writing often carries a distinct social concern—a background that offers an important key to reading this book. The work is short and belongs to the public-domain literary corpus; it serves well as an entry point for understanding American social-issue writing from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century. Its value for readers lies in this: it can be observed as a literary work in terms of narrative and character handling, and it can also be examined as a historical text for the social ideas and discursive modes of its time. Because the electronic edition usually contains no modern introduction or annotations, readers need to supplement the author's biography and historical context on their own. It suits readers interested in American literature, social history, and reform-movement writing; it does not suit readers seeking light entertainment or a complete Chinese translation. Reading it alongside biographical materials on Ovington and relevant historical background is recommended.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Scholars and students studying American literature and social-reform writing
Nonfiction readers interested in the historical development of racial-equality issues
Advanced English learners who wish to practice reading with public-domain English texts
Readers interested in American social history from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century

Not a good fit for

General readers who want only a Chinese translation and are unwilling to read the English original
Casual readers expecting a strongly plotted, fast-paced genre novel
Beginners who need full scholarly annotations and an introduction to enter the text

Reading tips

First learn about Ovington's background in social activism, then read the main text; this will better capture the work's real-world orientation.
The English original can be read in short sessions; when encountering historical proper names and institutional terms, look them up and take notes as you go.
Read it alongside other American social-issue writing from the same period to observe different authors' positions and styles.
After reading, revisit the character arrangement and narrative perspective, and consider how the work presents social relations and power structures.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What is the author's background?

Mary White Ovington (1865–1951) was an American author and social activist who long focused on issues of racial equality and social reform. Understanding this background helps in grasping the book's social concerns and writing stance, but specific biographical details should be based on reliable biographical sources.

Is this book a novel or social commentary?

The book is classified under American and Canadian literature and is a literary text. Its specific form should be judged by the main text; readers may read it both as literature and as social-history material, but should not assume it is a systematic work of social commentary.

How difficult is the English, and what level of reader is it suitable for?

The work is English writing from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, with syntax and wording characteristic of the period; overall difficulty is above average. It is relatively suitable for those with college-level English reading ability or equivalent, and advanced learners can work through it chapter by chapter with a dictionary.

Does the electronic edition include annotations and an introduction?

Public-domain ebooks provided by Project Gutenberg usually contain only the main text and basic bibliographic information, and generally do not include modern scholarly annotations, introductions, or references. Readers who need background knowledge should supplement the author's biography and period materials on their own.

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About the author

Ovington, Mary White, 1865-1951 Author

Mary White Ovington (1865–1951) was an American writer and social activist whose writing focused largely on the social condition of Black Americans and the organizational history of the civil rights movement. Three of her works are held here: the social investigation Half a Man: The Status of the Negro in New York, which examines the living conditions of Black New Yorkers under racial discrimination; How the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Began, an account of the founding of the NAACP; and The Shadow, a literary piece. Grounded in social reality, her writing combines documentary observation with clear argument, using concrete circumstances to reveal institutional inequality and offering a firsthand perspective on early twentieth-century American race relations and the origins of civil rights organizing. Because public information is limited, biographical details are not elaborated here; this note centers on the themes and qualities of her work.