Thomas Hardy's Far from the Maddening Crowd (Literature Made Easy Series)

Volumes in this recently developed series for middle school and high school students analyze major literary works in terms that help students understand them for higher grades on tests and written reports. More than mere plot summaries, Literature Made Easy books describe classic novels and plays by explaining themes, analyzing characters, and discussing each author's unique style, mastery of language, and point of view. Imaginative and instructive use of graphics help make each book in this series livlier, easier, and more profitable to use than ordinary plot summaries. Books also feature "Mind Maps" diagrams that summarize a literary work's most important details, as a way of helping students focus their ideas for exams and term papers.