In this review essay, Jeanne Connell examines the influence of pragmatic philosophy on the scholarly works of twentieth-century literary theorist and English educator Louise Rosenblatt through the lens of a recent collection of her essays originally published between 1936 and 1999. Rosenblatt grounded her transactional theory of literature in…

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…

Articles contained in this publication are (1) "Criticism in Teaching Literature" by Wayne Booth; (2) "Criticism and Literature: A Reply" (to Booth's article) by Frederick J. Hoffman; (3) "Criticism in Context" by Helen C. White; (4) "Formalist Criticism and Shakespeare" by Kester Svendsen; (5) "Grammar, History, and Criticism" by Kenneth S.…

Considers the quest for meaning to be the primary function of the rhetorical critic--meaning that goes from the text outward and that is interpreted by the reader. (RB)

Secondary student performance in the domain of reading has been a cause for concern for educators and scholars alike. To understand the demands placed on students we must first understand how reading changes within content areas and across grades. Furthermore, we must have an understanding of teachers' conceptions about the texts they teach. This…

This paper explains how first-year composition students wrote business sales letters about short fiction and then revised those letters into full-fledged literary essays that analyzed the stories. By completing these two writings back-to-back (that is, experiencing the metagenres between business writing and literary analysis), students not only…

Prior to her joining the California Writing Project's (WP) Improving Students' Academic Writing (ISA) program, the author relates how she used to get frustrated when she read her students' essays. As a result of her new understanding gained from her participation at ISA, the author boldly banished traditional literary analysis papers that asked…

This dissertation dealt with the preparation, designing, teaching, and evaluation of a course in literary theory. The course examined the following areas of literary study: definition, perception, description, explication, interpretation, and evaluation. It is centered on the following theses: (1) in literary pursuits criticism is teaching and…

Author questions assumptions about formal criticism that are made, consciously or unconsciously, by teachers of English. (Editor)

Interpretive remarks have both a subjective element and an objective element: subjective in the sense that an intelligent and full understanding of a work of literature may depend upon the reader having a certain background experience and knowledge; objective in the sense that, to be valid, an interpretation must have an objective basis in the…

Literary criticism must recognize its origins in common with rhetoric. Only through this recognition can (both) grow to show in a more full measure how literature functions to instruct, delight, express, and move. (Author)

Describes a method of teaching composition that focuses on rhetorical strategies in fiction, poetry, drama, and the essay, and by considering how these strategies are used effectively to achieve particular effects. (TO)

Outlines a methodological approach to developing bibliometric models of the sources used in different types of humanities scholarship. Identifies five types of scholarship: description of primary sources, editing of primary sources, historical studies, criticism, and theory. Illustrates the approach through an analysis of sources used in 54…