Two recent, highly rated movies depict central characters who are involved in killing members of groups despised in their societies. In "Milk" and "The Reader," the characters of Dan White and Hanna Schmitz, respectively, are treated with empathy and a search for understanding. Their personal sufferings and confusions are highlighted, and the…

People speculate with the fantastic. Fantasy is a celebrity and money-making machine. As a module in people's brains, it has the capacity to transform plain junk into gold that glitters. Fantasy mobilizes and instrumentalizes the fantastic to form and celebrate spectacles that exist and have always existed--illusions of social relations of…

Teaching literature from a psychological perspective provides a basis for the study and analysis of human motivation and behavior, as psychology and literature make mutual contributions to the study of both disciplines. Melancholia is a recurring theme in the novels of Dick Francis, and the first-person accounts of despair and depression are…

Examination of a subset of books popular with young adults--problem novels or young adult realism--is based on deductions concerning nature of reading response that text invites. Young adult realism as formula of popular culture, changes in conventions, narrators and narratees, and identification and distance are discussed. (34 references) (EJS)

Describes the novels of Chris Crutcher--vital works which deal with young men, sports, and growing up. Points out the connections between Crutcher's background and his work. (ARH)

This document discusses the treatment of Arabs in the western media. The main portion concentrates on the image of Arabs presented in American novels. Because television and films present visual images that communicate a powerful message in a matter of seconds, stereotyping appears as a shorthand form of communication and is, to a certain extent,…

Suggests that popular fiction has a greater impact on who people are and what they become than do the classics. Describes four programs based on this hypothesis. (TJ)

The first publication in the Viewpoint Series of the Center for the Book, this booklet contains the first lecture commemorating Luise Sillcox. The booklet includes a preface by John Y. Cole, Executive Director of the Center for the Book, and an introduction by John Hersey, President of the Authors League of America. The lecture presented in the…

Defends Blume's works by presenting internal evidence displaying the honesty and lack of exaggeration that make her books popular with adolescents and unpopular with critics. (CRH)

Uses a sociological perspective to examine the work of Sax Rohmer (creator of the Fu Manchu mystery novels) and discuss how popular culture is shaped by and acts to shape public and professional opinions about current events. Demonstrates how Rohmer's novels reflect White supremacist and ethnocentric attitudes. (ML)

Situates the mid-nineteenth century feminine romance within its social, political, and historical context in order to reveal the cultural authority for its existence. Focuses on "The Lamplighter" by Maria Cummins as an archetypal novel representative of its genre. (SRT)

The essays in this book focus on the role of the reader in textual interpretation. Specifically, they examine "open" and "closed" texts. The three essays in Part I deal with both verbal and nonverbal texts. The first considers musical compositions that leave considerable autonomy to the individual performer and also discusses…

Suggests that films, television, and textbooks have misrepresented American history. Focuses on the author's struggles in writing two novels about the American Old West. Argues that the role of historical fiction is not to impress moral values, but rather to contemplate the central humanity of each character. (SG)

Marking "Writer's Digest"'s upcoming 75th anniversary, this book presents a collection of the best writing instruction, advice, and inspiration written by famous and not-so-famous writers and published in the magazine from the 1920s to the 1990s. The 49 selections in the book are arranged chronologically and address: (1) selecting an…

Advocates the effective use of videotapes of classic novels in the English classroom to stimulate interest, motivate learning, and enrich curriculum. Since only a limited number of full-length novels can be read in a survey course, some can be viewed instead, and the number of novels studied can be increased in this way. (NKA)