Under the Tree

Roberts, Elizabeth Madox, 1881-1941Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 33K words
Chapters: 4

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.Under the Tree by Elizabeth Madox RobertsAuthor: Roberts, Elizabeth Madox, 1881-1941,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Mar 26, 2007

Editor's review

Under the Tree is a work by the American writer Elizabeth Madox Roberts (1881–1941), classified under American and Canadian literature. Roberts is known for her depictions of Kentucky rural life; this collection centers on childhood, nature, and country experience, written in a plain and delicate style that rewards quiet, slow reading. As a free Project Gutenberg e-book, it is easy to access at any time and serves as a useful supplement for American literature courses covering the early twentieth-century regionalist poetic vein. Note that the electronic edition has no modern annotations or introduction, so readers are advised to familiarize themselves with the author's Southern literary context to better appreciate the local color and emotional tone of the text.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy American regionalist literature and nature-themed poetry
Students and teachers studying early twentieth-century American Southern literature
Advanced learners who wish to practice English by slow-reading original short pieces

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer plot-driven novels and fast narrative pacing
Beginners with weak English who need sentence-by-sentence annotations

Reading tips

Read a few pieces at a time, allowing time to savor and take notes after each
Read aloud to feel the rhythm of the poetry and the flavor of rural speech
Consult background materials on Roberts's Kentucky context to understand the text's local color

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

Is this book a novel or a poetry collection?

According to the available information, the book is classified under American and Canadian literature, and the author Roberts is known for writing on rural themes. The exact genre should be confirmed against the e-book text; it is advisable to skim the table of contents before deciding how to read it.

Can I read it if my English is only average?

The text is in the original English and the language is generally plain, but it involves rural expressions and poetic rhythm. Readers with a weak foundation in English may need a dictionary or a parallel translation, while advanced learners are better suited to reading it directly.

Do I need to know the author's background?

A little background is recommended. Roberts's writing is closely tied to Kentucky rural life, and knowing this helps in understanding the nature descriptions and childhood perspective in the book, though specialized research materials are not necessary.

Comments

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About the author

Roberts, Elizabeth Madox, 1881-1941 Author · American · 1881–1941

Elizabeth Madox Roberts (1881–1941) was an American novelist and poet. Born in Kentucky, she set much of her work against the rural life of that state. Her poetry collections Under the Tree and In the Great Steep's Garden depict nature and childhood experience in delicate, fresh language with a strong sense of place. Her novel The Time of Man likewise draws on Kentucky country life, focusing on the feelings and fates of ordinary people in their daily existence, in a plain and restrained style. Roberts received some attention in her lifetime and is regarded as one of the representatives of early twentieth-century American regional literature; her work offered inspiration to later Southern writers. Public information about her is limited, and details of her life and complete bibliography await further verification; this note is based only on the two works held in the collection and the basic facts known.