This study deals primarily with recent academically oriented critical material, but it also embraces the range of film criticism that has been written for the mass audience in newspapers and periodicals. The study considers eight types of critical approaches to analyzing film: the journalistic approach, which contains both a reportorial-review and…

The phenomenon of writer use of sport inferences in the literary genre of the novel is examined in the works of Updike and Mailer. Novels of both authors were reviewed in order to study the pattern of usage in each novel. From these patterns, concepts which illustrated the sport philosophies of each author were used for general comparisons of the…

From its inauspicious beginnings as a men's store giveaway and a "girlie" magazine in 1933, "Esquire" magazine quickly established a policy of literary excellence. By 1945, the magazine included the works on such major literary figures as Erskine Caldwell, John Dos Passos, Dashiell Hammett, Ernest Hemingway, Ring Lardner, James…

Through the mid-1980s, resistance to contemporary literary theory (especially Jacques Derrida's philosophy of deconstruction) took the form of a bitter debate that enlivened literary journals and Modern Language Association meetings. The debate continues even today, with traditional literary critics rejecting deconstruction as nihilistic and…

This paper contains a historical review of the literature pertaining to American popular literature and analysis of two different samples of adult fiction on best sellers, one an analysis of readability levels and one an analysis of the portrayal of female characters. In the first analysis the Fry Readability Formula was applied to each of 60…

In order to test the hypothesis that Soviet revolutionary films influenced American film makers' attitudes concerning the importance of form and structure through editing, this dissertation explores the areas of affinity and contrast between the two national cinemas during the period when Soviet silent films were originally released in the United…

Primary sources, such as public documents and personal statements, as well as periodical accounts and books, form the basis for this historical and analytical study of the National Endowment for the Arts Theatre Program. In the first chapter, the condition of professional theatre during the mid-1960s is discussed. The organization and structure of…

This study proposes a modern Aristotelian rhetorical theory--that rhetorical communication is that human communication within which persons deliberatively interact. A number of corollaries follow from the fundamental postulate and include: (1) persons function as the essential agents of the rhetorical communicative process; (2) a person's…

There has been a recent surge in the popularity of youth fantasy books; this can be partially attributed to the popularity of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. Librarians and others who recommend books to youth are having a difficult time suggesting other fantasy books to those who have read the Harry Potter series and want to read other similar…

This study examines T.S. Eliot's intentions for the staging of his plays, as revealed in the texts themselves and in related documents. His plays reflect his basically naturalistic conception of the stage environment and the acting; two of the plays, "Sweeney Agonistes," which was unfinished, and "The Family Reunion," demonstrate his inability to…

Improvisation, or creative dramatics, has come to be regarded as a learning tool in English instruction. This study provides a comparative history of informal drama as it developed in England and the United States from 1910 to 1975. Pivotal writers on improvisation were identified, compared, and contrasted, analyzing their goals and practices.…

The purpose of this study was to examine and evaluate the portrayal of death in selected fiction books for children. The sample consisted of 90 books which were listed by six authors discussing the appearance of the death theme in children's books. A method of content analysis was applied as the research design, and each book was analyzed on the…

This study deals with the policies and practices of "The Horn Book Magazine" and explores the attitudes and convictions of editors and writers who determine the magazine's content. Moreover, it attempts to assess "The Horn Book" interpretation of the function of literature, in terms of its aesthetic, cultural, educational, and…

This study compares the concept of nonviolence with traditional rhetoric because both endeavor to establish civil discourse as a standard for social and political interaction. The five chapters in the study uncover suggestions by contemporary rhetorical theorists for establishing civil discourse, trace the development of classical rhetoric and the…

This study attempts to clarify and exploit Joseph Schwab's recent and current work on "practical" and "eclectic" curriculums in a simulated deliberation about a concrete curricular question, How might "Hamlet" be taught to one group of high school juniors? By exemplifying curricular deliberation, it aims to clarify…