The purpose of this book is restore the centrality of pedagogy in governing the ways literary texts are received, experienced, and interpreted by students in the classroom. Utilizing a method of pedagogical criticism, it provides an account of core approaches to teaching literature that have emerged across history and the conceptual values…

This volume applies critical literary standards to the field of children's literature in a long-range effort to improve its quality and teaching. Contributors and editors represent international scholarship in all of the humanities, as well as in the specific area of children's literature. Articles span topics from European children's literature…

Language arts are at the forefront of education these days. Instructors at all levels are being encouraged to teach writing in their courses, even if those courses cover subjects other than English. Literature instructors have long used fiction to teach composition. But because the novel reflects a broad range of human experiences and historical…

This book is designed as an introduction to John Wolcot's works for the general reader, the college student, and the college teacher. Wolcot, whose pen name was Peter Pindar, wrote topical satire on public personalities of the eighteenth century, and his methods of criticism are the motif which guides each chapter and which unites all the satires…

A collection of five essays (plus preface and afterword) by noted feminist critics, this book provides an overview of the existing body of feminist literary criticism in order to promote an understanding of the issues feminist critics are currently discussing among themselves and with other critics. A theoretical framework for understanding this…

This book is designed as an introduction to Christopher Smart's poetry for the general reader, the college student, and the college teacher. The political, social, and literary background of eighteenth-century England is examined in the first part of this volume. The second part concerns itself with Smart's life and the factors affecting his…

Immediately popular when published over a century and a half ago, the novel "Jane Eyre" has continued to find appreciative audiences ever since. This student casebook offers an interdisciplinary approach to the study of Charlotte Bronte's landmark novel. While the casebook gives literary analysis, it also contextualizes the novel in…

More than 100 years after being written, "Great Expectations" is still one of the most widely studied works of fiction. This casebook of historical documents, collateral readings and essays brings to life both Charles Dickens' masterpiece and the social issues surrounding his work. The interdisciplinary approach in the casebook offers…

A seemingly simple tale of schoolboys marooned on an island, the novel "Lord of the Flies" is an enigmatic and provocative piece of literature. This casebook probes the many layers of meaning in the novel, examining its literary, philosophical, historical, scientific, and religious significance. The casebook integrates analysis and…

The first section of this book contains an interview with Isaac Bashevis Singer on writing for children, an eighteenth century fairy tale by Samuel Johnson with an accompanying critique, three articles about illustrators of children's books, a discussion of two British classics in children's literature, and essays on historical periods of…

The purposes of this collection of 15 essays on specific works of fiction for children and adolescents are threefold: to explore some of the similarities and differences in fiction for children in England and the United States; to point out some of the qualities of American literature that are of particular interest to children in England and to…

"Animal Farm" is a political allegory of the USSR written in the form of a fable. Its stinging moral warning against the abuse of power is demonstrated in this casebook through a wide variety of historical, political, and literary documents that are directly applicable to George Orwell's novel. Included in the casebook are passages from…

Charles Dickens' novel, "A Tale of Two Cities," does not waste a word in telling a touching, suspenseful tale set against the background of one of the bloodiest events in history, the French Revolution. This casebook's collection of historical documents, collateral readings, and commentary will promote interdisciplinary study of the…

Although "Othello" has been one of William Shakespeare's most popular plays, its performance history has been marked with risk and tension because of the play's focus on racial prejudice, gender conflict, and sexuality. The controversies surrounding conflicting attitudes toward race and religion, love and marriage, and war and the…

This book, the first full-length treatment of women's literary partnerships, goes to the heart of issues surrounding authorial identity. Questions the book addresses are: What is an author? Which forms of authorship are sanctioned and which forms marginalized? and Which of these forms have particularly attracted women? Such questions are central…