During the eighteenth century, amateurs as well as philosophers ventured critical commentary on the arts. Talk concerning taste or beauty or the sublime was so much a part of general discourse that even novelists of that era incorporated such subjects in their work. So it would not be surprising to find that perspectives on aesthetics are…

This talk delivered at the "Focus '86...The Curriculum and You" Conference by an author of books for young adults, focuses on the problem of teenage suicide. The characters and situations of three books are described with emphasis on the need for human values within the community. (CLB)

Examines religious values in children's fiction since 1790 as a means of placing the present and contemporary anxieties in the perspective of a tradition of anxiety and failure. (SRT)

Examines autobiographical fiction written for children in which the stories of ordinary lives are recorded and passed on to children, who, in turn, are affected by and affect the values and assumptions of their culture. (HOD)

Argues that the three beliefs that govern the formation of characters in American fiction generally identify the greatest dangers to moral and spiritual health and how they can be avoided. Discusses the belief in the danger of a dissolution of relations with nature, the problem of conflicting values, and the failure of experiences to be…