Adds to the growing dialogue on diaspora literature in relation to women's writings. Examines Anglophone West African, African-American, and Caribbean women writers for hidden and not so hidden commonalities in their works. (RS)

Argues that the clarity of Ishmael Reed's later novels is part of a complex and innovative style that is "rhetorical" in the broadest sense. Notes that his narrative strategies are constructed primarily on the way the audience will read and even misread the novel. Explores the rhetorical workings in Reed's novel "Reckless…

Discusses the poststructural impulse to displace authority over texts and their meanings from the author. Questions whether poststructuralists practice an anti-intentionalist impersonalism regarding their own writings. Describes the reactions of Jacques Derrida to readings of his own work by other critics. (HB)

Considers the recent flood of anthologies of literary criticism and theory as exemplifications of the confluence of pedagogical concerns, economics of publishing, and other historical factors. Looks specifically at how these anthologies present theory. Cites problems with their formatting theory and proposes alternative ways of organizing theory…

Argues that Anne Bronte, through her novel "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," demonstrates an understanding of the unequal positions of men and women during the 19th century. Suggests that her narrative silences focus the reader's attention on questions of gender, particularly on the manner in which white male authority shapes women's lives.…

By reading negative criticisms of assigned books and stories, students may gain a better command of those works and of the processes of talking and writing about literature. (JH)

Presently, transformational grammar has more harm than good to offer literary criticism. (JH)

In judging poetry, even trained readers are influenced by the name and reputation of the poet. (JH)

Examines the past editorial policies of "College English," the types of articles that were commonly accepted for publication in its history, and the changes in that policy. Offers current statistics concerning the frequency of acceptance for various types of articles. (JC)

Goes beyond N. Auerbach's interpretation--"primacy of the sisterhood"--of the first part of "Little Women" to point out that Alcott creates in the novel's second half a balance for the female ambitions expressed and sought after in the first and gives the males in the family the opportunity to participate in a new, expanded…

Describes how Bakhtin's insights can heighten the reader's ability to experience verbal and written expression in a rich and complex way, thus serving as an anecdote to a simplified, exclusive concern with purely formal aspects of writing instruction. (EL)

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)

Suggests that the field of literary criticism must be expanded and the responsibility for class discussion must be distributed among the students if the human spirit is to be liberated in the classroom. (TO)

Describes a college program inaugurated at Yale University in 1972 entitled The Literature Major'' in which literature is studied as a process. (RB)