Extremists, whether formalists of the New Criticism or of the humanist-moralist tradition, are taken to task in this attempt to combine elements of both in a more pluralistic approach to literary criticism. An analysis of a Frost poem, "Stopping by Woods", is attempted as an illustration of a kind of criticism that seeks to clarify the parts of…

A comparison between composition and literature is presented in Harriet Malinowitz's "Business, Pleasure, and the Personal Essay". The importance of praising and analyzing various interpretations of a text to English studies is emphasized.

Compares the character from popular medieval tales to that of Celie in Alice Walker's novel. (FL)

Attempts to show how each of three influential critical theories--deconstructionism, reader response criticism, and authorial intention--implies a particular view of how literary discourse is or should be processed and indicates that each view is in part justified, but not to the extent claimed by the critics themselves. (CRH)