This dissertation investigates the nuanced portrayal of higher education in superhero comic books, particularly the 13 years of publication from 1965 to 1978 when Peter Parker/Spider-Man was an undergraduate at Empire State University. Depictions of higher education and how they can influence perceptions of academia and its intersections with…

Baby Suggs's sermon in the clearing to formerly enslaved Black folx offers readers an important anecdote about living in the afterlife of white supremacy (Hartman, 2007; Sharpe, 2016). Baby Suggs seemed to understand that the priority for survival and emancipation was loving one's flesh in a world where "yonder they do not love your…

Investigates the uses of the rhetorical strategy of identification by John McPhee in his novel, "Coming into the Country." Describes the technique articulated by Kenneth Burke as identification. Identifies three of Burke's techniques in McPhee's prose. (HB)

Considers Nathaniel Hawthorne's literary technique of providing various, often conflicting, accounts of a narrative scene or event. Analyzes Hawthorne's rhetoric of rumor as featured in "The Scarlet Letter." Shows how Hawthorne tried to translate the dynamics of interpersonal communication into print in this novel. (HB)

Considers how teaching Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" creates special problems--and thus affords special opportunities--not encountered in the reading of or critical response to this text. Discusses different editions of "Frankenstein" and reasons for using them. Notes that "Frankenstein" is a story that appeals to all…

Examines how a number of modern innovative authors use chronological progression, causal connection, and narrative voice in their novels. Analyzes texts by Alain Robbe-Grillet and Jeanette Winterson, noting the areas of connection and disjunction between the theoretical claims and actual practice of experimental authors. (NH)

Intended as an examination of both the novel and the film, this study analyzes the themes and images of "Slaughterhouse-Five." The study is divided into three sections: a thematic analysis of the novel; an examination of the images and camera techniques in the film; and a discussion of similar themes in an effort to show how they are…

A course studying narrative works from eight major French novelists, and the film adaptions of these works are described. Course discussions are directed toward a deeper understanding of the novel and a comparison of the structures, techniques, and limits of the two genres. Journal availability: Literature/Film Quarterly, Salisbury State College,…

An analysis of novels within novels. (DD)

This paper describes an elective literature course that examines the cultural and historical context of Western United States literary works for insights into the whole of United States culture. From a definition of the "West" that has both geographical and mythical dimensions, the following major images emerge for study: Eden, El…

A number of arguments appeared in the late-nineteenth-century United States about "correctness" in language, arguments for and against enforcing a standard of correctness and arguments about what should count as correct in language. Insofar as knowledge about and facility with "correct" linguistic usage could affect one's standing in the social…

Reviews and explains Margaret Atwood's novel "The Handmaid's Tale." Argues that Atwood demonstrates that the right reading of her novel is within the novel itself. (MG)

Explains how the author has been driven to search out various sights, locales, or landscapes as they are described in novels, despite the fact that New Critical and Deconstructionist theory would question the worth or relevance of her outings. (TB)