Questions the notion that William Blake's epic poem "The Four Zoas" is simply a manuscript--it is a part of Blake's working through the problems of publication during the reign of a conservative, nationalistic government at war with France. Suggests that Blake's construction of the text makes the act of reading "both traitorous and…

Considers the significance of the disappearance of close reading. Looks briefly at the devastation wrought by certain "gangster theories"--indeterminacy, misreading, and the idea that people all tell stories (all knowledge is determined by the situation in which people find themselves). Suggests that close reading and close observation…

Discusses external and internal influences, such as pressure from critics and drive for financial reward, which must be eradicated for a writer of children's literature to remain focused on the primary task of writing to entertain, enchant, and inform young readers. (NH)

Offers an overview of contrasts and similarities in various approaches to Shakespeare studies. Discusses how a shift in perspectives from grappling with tragic moral themes to examining aesthetic and semantic complexity represents a productive way to respond to Shakespeare. (NH)

Presents annotations of nine books (or sets of books) published between 1990 and 1997 that look at ways in which Shakespeare can be presented and explored in English or Drama classes. (NH)

Claims "rhetorical eavesdropping" may make possible moments of convergence in order to effect personal and cultural change. Redefines eavesdropping as an ethical rhetorical tactic and argues that within the United States the dysfunctions of whiteness have remade rhetorical theory in ways that circumscribe available agencies. (NH)

Suggests that Jane Smiley's "A Thousand Acres" is a faithful and a "profoundly subversive" revision of Shakespeare's "King Lear." Argues that the terms in which the novel have been most frequently praised, no less than the case made for banning it, raise important questions about the relationship between the novel's…

Examines representatives of the story cycle genre--Louise Erdrich's "Love Medicine" and Gloria Naylor's "The Women of Brewster Place." Examines a revisionary episode from each text to situate story cycles in a frame that embraces both Western and non-Western traditions. Suggests that scholars, teachers, and students see and…

Examines Cornell Woolrich's 1940 novel, "The Bride Wore Black," which Francois Truffaut scripted and adapted for the screen in 1967. Pursues the focus on audience receptivity, where an adaptation faces its ultimate test. Analyzes the novel from a reader response perspective, then moves to the film as Truffaut sought to…

Suggests that doing literary criticism is how teachers and students hear other voices as they read, instead of projections of themselves. Espouses the study of style as the vehicle of literary criticism. Proposes a definition of style. (RS)

Suggests that major works of orally grounded literature, like "Beowulf," are the result of collective engagement with the question of what wisdom is. Claims "Beowulf" is the result of a set of cultural transformations and a means by which such transformations took place. Suggests it speaks to traditional verse's role in the consolidation of new…

Focuses on the female characters that mark Brazilian literature to elaborate a study about the condition of women, which is expressed by those characters' reading behavior. (PA)

Discusses the life and decades-long literary oblivion of Zora Neale Hurston, a leading black novelist who opposed the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Included is an examination of her writings in juxtaposition to racial attitudes of the day and black stereotyping. (GR)

Outlines a framework which uses the rhetorical approach of generic criticism for the analysis of issues-management campaigns (instances of public relations discourse in which an organization makes explicit efforts to influence public policy). Outlines organizing principles, situational requirements, and substantive and stylistic characteristics.…

Contributes to scholarship on rhetorical criticism, political science, and feminism by examining one aspect of the 1992 campaign year known as the "Year of the Woman." Discusses how the mass-mediated discursive formation positioned five female Senate candidates outside of perceived mainstream cultural beliefs. Investigates ways the…