The problems created by the competing claims of various schools of criticism for a unified view of meaning are examined in this book. Chapters deal with the following topics: the problem of the plurality of modes, Ronald Crane and the pluralism of discrete modes, Kenneth Burke's multiplication of perspectives, history as criticism and the…

Reacting to the tradition which has reduced rhetorics to summaries of rules and principles, this book presupposes that Plato's "Phaedrus," Aristotle's "Rhetoric," and Cicero's "De Oratore" cannot be reduced to summary information or pedagogical advice. The book considers that these works, on the contrary, along with…

The theme of the doctoral honors seminar reported here was the reappraisal of rhetorical research. After a preface and the seminar's keynote address about the ten negative commandments for the rhetorical historian, abstracts of seminar presentations are grouped under the headings rhetoric and culture, rhetoric and philosophy, and discourse…

Contends that arguments against New Criticism should place the movement in historical context. Suggests that historians of American criticism rethink the institutionalization of New Criticism as the work of both liberal intellectuals and pragmatic neoconservatives for whom both traditional liberalism and right-wing ideology were part of the…

Considers concepts of death and the afterlife presented in children's literature of previous centuries and in several recent books for children, including "The Farthest Shore" by Ursula Le Guin, "The Brothers Lionheart" by Astrid Lindgren, and "Song of the Pearl" by Ruth Nichols. (GT)

Explores selected aspects of the work of the "Yale School" literary critics, particularly Jacques Derrida and Geoffrey Hartman. (JT)

Claims that Quebec writers in the 1960s-80s, buoyed by nationalist and separatist aims, created alternative "Marias" who write out of their language, dreams, and bodies, and who are trying to effect a further liberation. Asks where future trajectories invented by Quebec writers will propel their readers next. (RAE)

Compares the publishing industry of forty years ago to that of today, noting that the earlier market was less demanding and allowed the pursuit of excellence as well as the backlisting of high quality books. (ARH)

Argues that the works of G.A. Henty are a phenomenon worthy of study for the literary historian and examines some of the main reactions to his work at and since his time. (HOD)

Examines trends and forms of myth and fantasy in children's literature during the past decade. (HOD)

Describes a number of techniques employed by the Greek mythographers in the reconstruction of ancient myths to appear as if the male Olympian deities and the patriarchal social order that they modeled were both of vast antiquity, even autochthonic. (HOD)

Argues for the pervasive intervention of the Vietnam War in the cultural production of U.S. poetry. Questions the academic canon of post-World War II poetry and criticizes anthologies for ignoring Vietnam War poetry. Suggests why Vietnam War poetry has remained such an avoided subject. Lists anthologies including such poetry. (HB)

Presents an exchange between two English professors who offer opposing perspectives on the profession of English. Covers arguments on the understanding of theory, literary history, reading, curricular design, and pedagogy through the examination of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil." (MM)

Describes and recommends Cicero's ironic approach to understanding competing theories of genre as a paradigm for the study of rhetorical theory. (MS)

Examines how the accounts of the lives of intrepid missionaries were offered as inspiration to young readers into the early twentieth century. (HOD)