Abstract of a thesis is the brief and accurate representation of the thesis, with the important function of persuading readers to read on the thesis. So how the writer constructs the abstract and wins readers' recognition is our main focus. On the basis of Burke's Identification Theory, this paper analyzed 10 abstracts from "Nature" from…

Discusses H.D.'s influence on Adrienne Rich in the context of Rich's vision of female literary tradition as a "family" model of influence in which mothers and daughters, represented by past and present authors, seek to transcend the divisive attitudes of patriarchy (in contrast to Bloom's theory of literary, oedipal rivalry). (ML)

Examines the poetics of Richard Hugo, William Stafford, Donald Hall, and Robert Bly. Proposes that these poets are associated more with European and South American literature than with the poetry previously written in the United States and England. Discusses what these poets tell others about language and about writing poetry. (RL)

This paper argues that, although T. S. Eliot's "Four Quartets" provoke comparisons with the late quartets of Beethoven, an analysis of Four Quartets and Bela Bartok's Fourth and Fifth String Quartets produces a clearer understanding of the formal structures in the poetry and music. Symmetries offset asymmetries. (Author/KC)

This paper carefully examines the literary elements Scott O'Dell uses in his children's novel "The Captive," that so successfully engage even a reluctant reader. The paper explores the writer's style and subtle use of detail and foreshadowing. Quoting specific examples, the paper points out O'Dell's imaginative syntax and his ability to…

Generally accepted interpretations and criticisms of Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" since the 1920s are chronicled and critiqued from the point of view of an admitted "Finnophile". (MSE)

Considers the state of the art of literary criticism; evaluates and compares seven books of criticism. (RL)

Submits that Martin Luther King's persuasiveness in his writings may be attributed not only to his structure, logic, and ethos, but even more to his creative, eloquent, and commanding use of the English language. Supports this argument with examples from King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail." (RL)

The purpose of this paper is to describe some general relationships between the concepts of literary genre and writing style. The discussion concentrates on the following topics: (1) possible classification schemes for genres, including stylistic aspects associated with each scheme; (2) concepts from literary criticsm that are related to both…

Suggests that a poetic writing of traits, inviting readers to seek meaning in a poem's visual form, rests on a myth of the portrait in which marks of a written language are drawn directly from nature. (DF)

Describes and presents examples of work from the Western Michigan school of bad versemakers, a group of nineteenth century poets who strove to give their frontier experiences high seriousness, but achieved, at best, unintentional humor. (MM)

Examines both ineffective and effective fiction about adolescent runaways. (RL)

Focusing on the natural world, the use of myth and ritual in the novel, and the formal design of the work, symposium papers present and analyze crucial themes and forms in Leslie Marmon Silko's "Ceremony," a novel distinctively Indian in narrative technique, thematic content, and structure. (CM)

Some modern scholars feel that Washington Irving vacillated between romanticism and realism in his literary treatment of the American Indian. However, a study of all his works dealing with Indians, placed in context with his non-Indian works, reveals that his attitude towards Indians was intelligent and enlightened for his time. (CM)

This exploration of the two leading varieties of nonsense literature defines strict nonsense as that in which the laws of nature are suspended and replaced by new laws which the author decrees, and loose nonsense as usually comic writing about a singular unlikely event. Examples of these two types of verse in children's literature are cited. (22…