Focuses on the botanical publications of two 18th-century English women writers, Elizabeth Blackwell and Priscilla Bell Wakefield. Analyzes their books. Indicates that they contribute new perspectives and techniques to the historical tradition of botanical writing and illustrating and exhibit modern techniques for effective technical…

"Harper's Bazaar" (spelled "Bazar" before 1925) was designed for use by, as well as for, the instruction of women readers in the 19th century. In the early "Bazar," the didactic discourses of domesticity and reading sometimes intersected. Such was the case with two humorous pieces, "Mrs. Typeset's Diary"…

This essay analyzes Kenneth Burke's speech ("Revolutionary Symbolism") to the 1935 Writers Congress, a congress intended to explore the relationship between politics and art, and controlled closely by the American Communist Party. The essay maintains that Burke was prepared to offer to the Communist Party and to all…

Notes that the notion of authors consulting their audiences is an old one. Discusses how Homer, Ernest Hemingway, and James Joyce reworked their writing to suit the taste of their audiences. (RS)

Addresses the following censorship issues: (1) whether a group has the right to impose its world view on another group; (2) whether artistic visions which attack any group's values should be permitted; and (3) the limits of artistic freedom and who defines those limits. Cites examples from various plays through the years. (PA)

States that Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam relied heavily upon debate as a form of public address through which to enact and publicize confrontation with other civil rights organizations. Examines Malcolm X's first experience and training in debate as a prison inmate and later public experiences. Provides detailed accounts and analysis of his…

Recounts when the Fluxus community first became self-consciously aware of itself during early European concert tours. Provides insights into criteria that delineate European and American Fluxus performances. Discusses use of chance procedure by members of the group, their debts to John Cage, and the relationship between the audience and the…

"Dust Tracks on a Road," author Zora Neale Hurston's autobiography, is not a typical black autobiography. Hurston is a complex woman and author who addresses both black and white audiences, shifting the cadences of her voice to invoke a readership that can hear the textures of many voices and respond to an underlying call to a world…

This paper is concerned with the history of the attempt of progressive-era students at Bryn Mawr College to explore their interest in social-reform work through the writing that they did in required composition courses. In particular, the paper focuses on how these women attempted to fashion a public voice for themselves that could articulate…

Recounts the life and times of a pioneer children's theater playwright and fiction author, Nora Tully MacAlvay (1900-86). Points out that her interest in children's theater and children's literature was lifelong and intense. (PA)

Examines what caused the decline and demise of the Dallas Motion Picture Classification Board (which rated films as to objectionable content) and with it the idea of the public ordering of motion picture content. Uses "Viva Maria" and "The Front Page" as case studies. (PA)

Recalls how theater in the United States celebrated the Bicentennial by offering "Yankee Doodle" by Aurand Harris. Explains that although the characters were considered to be quite progressive, the absence of a larger female and minority contingent means that the target audience remains the white male. Concludes that it is important to…

One of the most creative, active, purposeful and successful efforts of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP), active from 1935 to 1939, was the Children's Theatre. Plays for production were selected on the basis of educational and cultural value, with special attention on sufficient realism to help children's awareness of self and place in the world.…

Anne Fisher, a pioneer in British education, was one of the few females in the 18th century to publish a significant grammatical work, one that was used widely in classrooms. This paper highlights Anne Fisher's historic achievement and argues from the discipline of the history of rhetoric that the two verbal disciplines of rhetoric and grammar are…

Recounts the life and career of Robert Lawson, an author and illustrator who is neglected today but who was responsible for three very popular children's books in the 1930s and 1940s. States that he is still the only person ever to receive both the Caldecott Award and the Newbery Medal. (PA)