The second entry in an ongoing series, ""Prospects for the Study of American Literature (II)"" brings together concentrated overviews of past scholarship with ideas for new and rewarding avenues of research on a diverse group of American literary figures. This unique combination of backwards glances and forward thinking makes Kopley and Cantalupo's collection valuable to an unusually wide audience. Undergraduate literature students can find accessible and clearly written introductions to criticism as well as ideas for focused research papers. Graduate students beginning to home in on their areas of specialization will be able to place their interests in the context of the existing literature. And established scholars looking to branch out from their specific area can gain a quick foothold in unfamiliar territory. Some of these essays have been commissioned especially for this volume, while others originally appeared in the 'Prospects' section of ""Resources for American Literary Study"". All of them are by leading scholars, and all have them have been updated, when necessary, to reflect the most recent trends in their fields. As James L. Harner recently wrote of the first edition of ""Prospects in the MLA's Literary Research Guide"" (5th edition, 2008), 'these essays offer invaluable guides for graduate students searching for dissertation topics and for junior faculty members ready to move beyond a dissertation; as a whole ""Prospects for the Study of American Literature"" serves as an admirable model for such collections on American and British writers'.