Recently, genre studies have become increasingly important in the area of rhetorical criticism. This method of analysis is based on the assumption that rhetorics vary situationally, like situations will produce like rhetorics, antecedent rhetorical events significantly affect the creative product, and analogy is more important than anomaly when…

Investigates the interrelation of the histories of rhetoric and literary studies by examining in detail the writings of Victorian sage Walter Pater. (SR)

When teachers base classroom discussion of literature, particularly poetry, on the authors' manuscripts, notebooks, and letters, they allow students to watch writers write and to appreciate the craft involved in creative writing. Watching the writer at work--examining the drafts and correspondence for such poems as Blake's "London" or Keats'"To…

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…

Examines the roots of the modern language arts curriculum in Canada. Claims it is based on nineteenth-century interdependence of studies in rhetoric, history of the English language, and literature. And asserts that this curriculum was designed to develop rhetorical and critical sophistication. (JK)

Presents a brief history of "Cabaret" and analyzes the cinematic version for character changes which differ from the story originally written by Christopher Isherwood. (RB)

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

Studies the fifty year period of the Benedictine Revival (970-1020) focusing on the sources and manuscripts available to Aelfric, a leading prose writer of the time. (MH)

Discusses the importance of accuracy and verifiable authenticity of filmographies, specifically those on Shakespeare. (RB)

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)

Discusses the idea of national literature, contemporary problems with its definition, and its history. Discusses various models of national literature. (PRA)

Argues that when a body of theory ceases to be in crisis and no longer has to struggle to define its enterprise, it is no longer theory. Discusses the status of theory in the field of English. (SRT)

Distressing the classics can be avoided by avoiding three biases in the most commonly taught research program for literary historiography: (1) the bias of bibliography; (2) the bias of antiquarianism; and (3) the bias against social and behavioral sciences. Successful interpretation of text is possible when recognized as being context-dependent,…