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Annotated Bibliography for Albert Camas’ The Stranger

“Albert Camus” Youtube. Pub. By ponnchoe. 19 April 2010. 15. Dec. 2010.

Summary:

This video was a visual version of Albert Camus’ biography. The narrator presents
Camus’ life simply. For example, his school, his career, and some of the significant
events that had been happen among his life.

Important Quote:

“Albert Camus also develop his philosophy of observe. A major component of

philosophy was culminate ___ that life had irrational and ___ meaning.”(1:05)

Purpose:

The main theme of the novel was the irrationality universe. The idea of irrationality is the
main idea because during Camus’ college life, his major, philosophy has impact him a
lot, that’s why the idea in the book might slightly difference from some general
definition.

"Camus, Albert." Merriam Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature. Springfield, MA: Merriam-

Webster, 1995. Literature Resource Center. Web. 14 Dec. 2010.

Summary:

This biographical displayed the whole life of the author of “The Stranger”, Camus
Albert. Camus was born in 1913 and died in 1960. Camus was a French novelist,
essayist, and playwright. Camus has been published lots of work, and he had also
received the 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Important Quote:

“French novelist, essayist, and playwright who addressed the isolation of the individual in
an alien universe, the estrangement of the individual from himself, the problem of evil,
and the inescapable finality of death, reflecting the anomie of the postwar
intellectual.”(par1)

Purpose:

To know more about the author’s background could help the audience to understand the
literature more. And if the audiences are able to make a connection or any form of
empathy with the author, the whole literature will become more visualize. Base on
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Camus’ believe, and with his sympathy, when he work on “The Stranger”, his sense of
the ‘absurd’ was actually fit into one of the theme of this novel- The irrationality of the
Universe.

"Chinese Author Pens 'A Good Fall'." Tell Me More 21 Dec. 2009. Gale World History In
Context. Web. 10 Dec. 2010.
Summary:

This essay explores an immigrant’s personal feeling about leaving their homeland to U.S.
Their experiences were presented as well. Also this interviewee had express that why he
never feel U.S is his home.

Important Quote:

“The hardest things are really to face your own life and be able to take that road. That’s
the hardest part because it’s a lonely road very often. Freedom also means uncertainty
and a lot of people who grew up in a different kind of a social environment very often can
be frightened, intimidated by freedom.”

Purpose:

In the novel, author had simply expressed the experience of an immigrant. This interview
is useful because as the audience know more about the immigrant’s personal idea and
experience, then the scene that been mentioned in the “The Stranger” will become more
visualized.

Colley, David P. "How World War II Wasn't Won." New York Times 23 Nov. 2009: A27(L).
Gale World History In Context. Web. 9 Dec. 2010.

Summary:

This essay response to the debate that why people consider that the World War II wasn’t
winning. Also in the essay the Sixth Army Group is mentioned, for example, how did
they contribute during the war, and the role that they play. Also, the Devers are
mentioned as well.

Important quotes:

“The Sixth Army Group had assembled bridging equipment, amphibious trucks and
assault boats. Seven crossing sites along the upper Rhine were evaluated and intelligence
gathered. The Seventh Army could cross north of Strasbourg at Rastatt, Germany,
advance north along the Rhine Valley to Karlsruhe, and swing west to come in behind the
German First Army, which was blocking Patton's Third Army in Lorraine. The enemy
would face annihilation, and the Third and Seventh Armies could break loose and drive
into Germany. The war might end quickly.” (par.4)
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Purpose:

Since the novel, “The Stranger” was take place during the World War II, that’s why if
the audience could know more about the of the War, once they get into the book, the
audience could come up a better understanding of the context.

MARTIN, V. M. "Absurdity." New Catholic Encyclopedia. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2003.
48-49. Gale World History In Context. Web. 15 Dec. 2010.

Summary:

This essay explains that in general, what does people think about the word, absurdity.
The absurd is a situation, a thing, or an event that really is, but for which no explanation
is possible. However, the author of “The Stranger”, Camus gives a different meaning,
and he expresses his idea through his publication.

Important Quote:

“Camus gives a different meaning. Admitting that there are scientific explanations for
thevarious parts of the universe, Camus denies that there is any ultimately reason for the
whole. Absurdity is a feeling that arises from the confrontation between man, who is
looking for a unified explanation of all things, and a world that has no basic
meaning.”(par3)

Purpose:

One of them theme for the novel, is the irrationality of universe. Camus expresses his
own idea about the definition of the word, ‘absurdity’ through the novel.

Poe, Edgar. “Alone” Poetry Out Loud. 10 Dec. 2010.

Summary:

Poe explored the dark inner working of the mind. He digging deep into his childhood, in
which he was unique and outcaste, and mixing those feelings with those of
abandonment by his parents when they died.

Important Quote:

“From the thunder, and the storm-

And the cloud that took that form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view-” (line20)

Purpose:
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People usually blocked their eyes by all negative stuffs. Even though thing around them
is good, they will still blocked by the bad. Since base on the human nature, people used to
manages to see the darkness. Living underneath the depressing mode for a long period,
people would soon lose their hope on their future. And furthermore, people would feel
that the human life was basically meaningless.

ROYAL, DEREK PARKER. "Camusian Existentialism in Arthur Miller's After the Fall."
Modern Drama 43.2 (2000): 192. Literature Resource Center. Web. 14 Dec. 2010.

Summary:

In the literati, Arthur Miller was a representative of existentialism, but a more appropriate
way to read Miller’s work is through the publication by Albert Camus.

Important Quote:

“Camus brings home the political necessity of the existential rebel. The desire for self-
definition and idealization is vital, but not at the expense of an awareness of other
consciousnesses. When you enact your own visions of justice, what are the consequences
on the others surrounding you? Are their lived and desires merely clumped under
categorization of “the right thing to do”? If so, how does the “right thing” manifest itself?
These are the questions that Camus asks time and time again.” (par8)

Purpose:

Existentialism was one of the major themes that of the novel, “The Stranger”. This essay
has explained the definition of existentialism in detail; therefore, it could help the
audience to understand the novel more.

"Surprisingly Sensitive Soul." Time 5 Mar. 1951: 108. Gale World History In Context. Web. 9
Dec. 2010.

Summary:

This is a story about the Algerians who live during the World War II. And in fact, parts of
the World War II were actually taking place in Algiers.

Important Quote:

“Novelist Sykes's hero is Lieut. Colonel Harlan Childress, engineer by trade and artist by
instinct, who finds himself commanding an Army post in Algiers at the end of World
War II. Like many American before him, he has fallen in love with the Old World. To
his French and Arab friends, who look upon Americans as Roman-style imperialists
come to organize and barbarize their cultivated Greek-style world, Childress is "the nice
American," a surprisingly sensitive soul.” (Par.2-3)
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Purpose:

As the novel was happen during the World War II, and it does actually took place in
Algiers, therefore, it’s good to know more about the point of view over the Algerians.