Examines the difficulty an aspiring poet faces in publishing, and by reprinting an example, praises poetry as a refining of raw experience and exhorts all poets to continue writing. (CRH)

Relates how nursery rhymes have the enduring power to amuse and comfort both adult and child audiences. (HOD)

Explores the mythic and fairy tale parallels in Cynthia Voigt's "The Homecoming." (HOD)

Reviews Robert Newton Peck's "A Day No Pigs Would Die," pointing out the values of a courageous display of duty to others and to tasks at hand, and a vision that appreciates the natural order of life. (EL)

Argues the usefulness of the New Rhetorical method epitomized by the critical work of Kenneth Burke utilizing two concepts from communication theory. Specifically, demonstrates how the method can guide readers methodically to insights that make sense of apparent anomalies in "Dracula" and call attention to major features of the text that…

Examines the difficulties of applying structural theory to poetry. Discusses issues of intention, meaning, and privilege. Summarizes conclusions about the nature of a poem gained from observing the struggles of structuralist critics and discusses what structural theories have indirectly taught us. (EL)

Examines the way Roald Dahl's adventure story provides children with a framework to work through their regressive fantasies. (HOD)

Presents a rationale for teaching "Catch-22" in the 1980s. (DF)

Synthesizes four major conceptual approaches to persuasion theory and suggests implications for business communication. (PD)

Suggests that a poetic writing of traits, inviting readers to seek meaning in a poem's visual form, rests on a myth of the portrait in which marks of a written language are drawn directly from nature. (DF)

Critically examines Dilsey Gibson, one of William Faulkner's archetypical Black mammies, who appears in "The Sound and the Fury." Contrasts Gibson's two mothering styles in dealing with her Black and White families as well as their treatment of her. Comments on other critics' reaction to the portrayal of Gibson. (ML)

Presents a criticism of Evan Carton's description of a writing assignment, noting the contradiction between the assignment's real purpose and the rigid writing restrictions inherent in the assignment that preclude the purpose. Presents Carton's response. (HTH)

Suggests that the theme of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" is an oxymoron linking the two apparently contradictory ideas of death and sexual love. (RBW)

Examines how movies have formed history by (1) analyzing theories of history; (2) comparing historical perspectives in certain films; and (3) exploring how film language and techniques reflect history. Focuses on films from the United States, Europe, Japan, or Brazil. (PD)

Considers the importance of textual studies to literature study, the expanded canon of contemporary criticism, and the anti-intuitive bias of contemporary literary theory. (CRH)