About Edward Bellamy
Franklin, J.H. "Edward Bellamy and the Nationalist Movement," The New England Quarterly, Vol. 11 (December 1938), pp. 739-772.
Gutek, G. "Analysis of Formal Education In Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward." In History of Education Quarterly. Volume IV. Number 1. March 1964.
Gwartney, J. D. and Richard L. Stroup ed., Economics: Private and Public Choice. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1995.
Morgan, A. E.. The Philosophy of Edward Bellamy. New York: King's Crown Press, 1945.
Patai, D. ed., Looking Backward 1988-1888: Essays on Edward Bellamy. Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press, 1988.
Thomas, J. L. Alternative America: Henry George, Edward Bellamy, Henry Demarest Lloyd & the Adversary Tradition. Harvard University Press. 1983
Widdicombe, R. T. Edward Bellamy: An Annotated Bibliography of Secondary Criticism. Garland Reference Library of the Humanities,
Vol. 827, 1988.
Suggested Readings for Pairing with Looking Backward
These novels could be paired with Bellamy's novel for enrichment and discussions about varying perspectives on the future. Various versions of utopia or dystopia could be explored with engaged students.
Adams, Douglas. A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Harmony, 1979.
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Ballantine, 1987
Lowry, Lois. The Giver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 1993.
Twain, Mark. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Signet Classic, 1990.
Wells, H. G. The Time Machine. Ace Books, 1988.
More, Thomas. Utopia. Penguin, 1965.
O'Brien, Robert C. Z for Zachariah. Atheneum, 1973.
Suggested Movies for Pairing with Looking Backward
For students who wish to explore the themes of man's follies and the impact they will have on future societies, teachers may wish to show one of the following movies to advance discussions.
Blade Runner (1982). Ridley Scott, director. Blade Runner Partnership and the Ladd Company.
Planet of the Apes (1968). Franklin J. Schaffner, director. 20th Century Fox.
Soylent Green (1973). Richard Fleischer, director. MGM pictures.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986). Leonard Nimoy, director. Paramount.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Stanley Kubrick, director.
ABOUT THE GUIDE AUTHOR
Chandra Adkins, English teacher and department chair at Washington-Wilkes Comprehensive High School in Washington, Georgia, received her B.S.Ed, M.Ed., and Ph.D. in English Education at the University of Georgia. She has taught English at the high school and college level for nineteen years. Her research interests include critical literacy development in less traditionally successful high school students and issues of authenticity in historical fiction. She is also the busy mother of three daughters. This is her first guide for Signet Classics.
ABOUT THE GUIDE EDITORS
Arthea (Charlie) J. S. Reed, Ph.D. is a former president of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of NCTE (ALAN). She is the author of three books in the fields of literature and teaching: Reaching Adolescents: The Young Adult Book and the School, Comics to Classics: A Guide to Books for Teens and Preteens, and Presenting Harry Mazer. In addition, she is the author or co-author of numerous books in the fields of foundations of education and teaching methods. She was editor of The ALAN Review for six years and has co-edited the Signet Classic teacher's guide series
since 1988.
In May 1996, Dr. Reed retired after 17 years as a professor of education and six years as chairperson of education at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. After nearly 30 years in teaching at the elementary, secondary, and college/university level, she is now pursuing a new career in education as Executive Director of Development and Education for Northwestern Mutual Life in Asheville, N.C. Dr. Reed and her husband Don live with their two dogs and a cat on a mountain top in Fairview, N.C.
W. Geiger (Guy) Ellis, Professor Emeritus, University of Georgia, received his A.B. and M.Ed. degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his Ed.D. from the University of Virginia. For most of his career, Guy has been active in teaching adolescent literature, having introduced the first courses on the subject at both the University of Virginia and
the University of Georgia. He developed and edited The ALAN Review from 1978 to 1984, changing its focus from a newsleeter to a referred journal. His research has had heavy emphasis on the content of literature instruction.
