Looking at both mass media and high art forms, she challenges the seeming transparency and apparent apolitical innocence of our visual images and verbal stories, asserting that these construct rather than reflect or express our experience of the world.

    Examining secondary sources from the 1900s to the 1990s, this "Guide" is an indispensable resource for the study of one of Conrad's most potent works.

    In this eminently readable guide to his abiding passion, he has distilled the essense of a library's--and a lifetime's--worth of delight.The pleasures of his own verse can be found in abundance here: economy, a natural ease, and most of all, surprise. What is English poetry? Fenton argues that it includes any recited words in English that marshall rhythm for their meaning--among them prisoners's work songs, Broadway show tunes, and the cries of street vendors captured in verse. From these beginnings, Fenton describes the rudiments of--and, most important, the inspiration for--the musical verse we find in books, and concludes with an illuminating discussion of operas and songs. Fenton illustrates his comments with verse from all over the English-speaking world.Catholic in his taste, shrewd in his distinctions, and charmingly frank, Fenton is an ideal guide to everything to do with poetry, from the temperament of poets to their accomplishment, in all its variety. In all his writing, prose or verse, Fenton has always had the virtue of saying, in a way that seems effortless, precisely what lies at the heart of the matter. In this vein, An Introduction to English Poetry is one of his highest accomplishments.

    This is thefirst anthology to do full justice to the vast range of Americaninnovation in fiction writing since 1945.

    She does not know that her search will uncover secrets that will both shock and thrill her. Nor can she imagine the emotions and events which await her. Some comments from readers: We have just returned from holiday where I read this book. I must say that I really enjoyed it, and in parts I could not put it down. Lynne, Ilford, Essex I find Tainted Tree very interesting and readable. The way the plot is developed is very good, the reader can't put it down. Barbara, Haslemere, Surrey Great read - I really enjoyed it - genuinely interesting, compulsive reading and so relevant to what is happening today. Susan, Pirbright, Surrey I couldn’t put it down - it was a really interesting saga, beautifully written (a real ‘tear-jerker’ at times!) and I loved the characters, especially Addie. Joyce, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex I finished Tainted Tree and LOVED IT! Elizabeth, Illinois, USA Thoroughly enjoyed the book - I couldn't put it down and loved the ending. Celia, Pirbright, Surrey I have read Tainted Tree, despite meaning to save it for my holiday in August. I couldn't resist and read it straight away in great big chunks and really enjoyed it and the twists and turns and highs and lows of Addie's search. Maggie, Bisley, Surrey I’m just coming to the end of this book and I love it. Natasha, Zurich, Switzerland I’ve got to say - beautifully written - absolutely superb - I thoroughly enjoyed it. Mike, Pirbright, Surrey I thought the book was splendid. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Beryl, Hindringham, Norfolk I really loved it. I was absolutely riveted. Maggie, Woking, Surrey The book was excellent; made me cry near the end. Would have liked another chapter or two. Didn’t want to put it down. Theresa, Woking, Surrey I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sonia, Coulsdon, Surrey I’ve just come back from my holiday and I have been reading this book. It was very interesting and it made my holiday very enjoyable. Gillian, North London As to Tainted Tree I would absolutely recommend it. I found it a really interesting read, and after a few chapters couldn't put it down. It is an excellent study in human relationships in all their many forms, with a great feel for history, time and place. Barbara, Thames Ditton, Surrey Having just been on holiday, I took this book with me to read and I really enjoyed it. It was very good - a page turner. Beverley, Godalming, Surrey an excellent plot line … the author has spaced out her revelations to keep the interest going and the mystery developing. I wanted to know what would happen next - the pace was good, the writer’s ear for dialogue, excellent. Colin, Guildford, Surrey

    The book also provides a map of the development of cultural studies through discussion of its most influential approaches. Organized around a series of case studies, each chapter focuses on a different media form and presents a critical overview of the methodology for the actual study of popular culture. Individual chapters cover topics such as television, fiction, film, newspapers and magazines, popular music, and consumption (fan culture and shopping).For students new to the field, the book provides instantly usable theories and methods; for those more familiar with the procedures and politics of cultural studies, it provides a succinct and accessible overview.This edition has been revised, rewritten, and expanded throughout. The book now includes new sections on television audiences, reception theory, and globalization.

    However, Burke's analysis of the relationship between emotion, beauty, and art form is now recognized as not only an important and influential work of aesthetic theory, but also one of the first major works in European literature on the Sublime, a subject that has fascinated thinkers from Kant and Coleridge to the philosophers and critics of today.

    Long celebrated as a pathbreaking achievement in the social history of the ancient world, M.I. Finley's brilliant study remains, as classicist Bernard Knox notes in his introduction to this new edition, "as indispensable to the professional as it is accessible to the general reader"--a fundamental companion for students of Homer and Homeric Greece.

    The author also considers the stories of nations and how these may affect the way a national identity can emerge from stories. He looks at the stories of Romulus and Remus in the founding of Rome, the hidden agenda of stories in the antagonism between Britain and Ireland and how stories of alienation in film such as Aliens and Men in Black reveal often disturbing narratives at work in projections of North American national identity. Throughout, On Stories stresses that far from heralding the demise of the story, the digital and supposedly postmodern era opens up powerful new ways of thinking about narrative.

    The close relationship between theater and society during the period continues to be the focus of Contexts. The editor offers contemporary discussions of the following topics: On Wit, Humour, and Laughter: 1660 1775, The Collier Controversy: 1698, Steele and Dennis: On The Man of Mode and The Conscious Lovers, and Stages, Actors, and Audiences. Criticism has been revised to reflect approaches in scholarly interpretations. Two seminal essays from the First Edition have been retained Charles Lamb s appreciation of the period s comedy and L. C. Knights s condemnation of it. New essays by Jocelyn Powell, Harriet Hawkins, Elin Diamond, Martin Price, and Laura Brown have been added."

    The text also contains 11 complete works such as Oroonoko, Jane Eyre, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, The Awakening and Caryl Churchill's play, Top Girls.

    Uses of Literature bridges the gap between literary theory and common-sense beliefs about why we read literature.Explores the diverse motives and mysteries of why we readOffers four different ways of thinking about why we read literature: for recognition, enchantment, knowledge, and shockArgues for a new "phenomenology" in literary studies that incorporates the historical and social dimensions of readingIncludes examples of literature from a wide range of national literary traditions

    This second edition reflects how the field is rapidly changing in both its practice and its critical reception. With an entirely new conclusion and all other chapters fully reworked and updated, this volume includes:a concise history of science fiction and the ways in which the genre has been used and defined explanations of key concepts in Science Fiction criticism and theory through chapters such as Gender, Race, Technology and Metaphor examines the interactions between Science Fiction and Science Fact anchors each chapter with a case study drawn from short story, book or film, from Frank Herbert's Dune to Star Wars, from The Left Hand of Darkness to Neuromancer.Introducing the reader to nineteenth-century, Pulp, Golden Age, New Wave, Feminist and Cyberpunk science fictions, this is the essential contemporary guide to a major cultural movement.

     Provides an overview of the most significant issues and debates in Gothic studies. Explains the origins and development of the term Gothic. Explores the evolution of the Gothic in both literary and non-literary forms, including art, architecture and film. Features authoritative readings of key works, ranging from Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto to Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho. Considers recurrent concerns of the Gothic such as persecution and paranoia, key motifs such as the haunted castle, and figures such as the vampire and the monster. Includes a chronology of key Gothic texts, including fiction and film from the 1760s to the present day, and a comprehensive bibliography.

    But there is much more to the book than that. In Why Kerouac Matters, John Leland embarks on a wry, insightful, and playful discussion of the novel, arguing that it still matters because it lays out an alternative road map to growing up. Along the way, Leland overturns many misconceptions about On the Road as he examines the lessons that Kerouac's alter ego, Sal Paradise, absorbs and dispenses on his novelistic journey to manhood, and how those lessons, about work and money, love and sex, art and holiness, still reverberate today.He shows how On the Road is a primer for male friendship and the cultivation of traditional family values, and contends that the stereotype of the two wild and crazy guys obscures the novel's core themes of the search for atonement, redemption, and divine revelation. Why Kerouac Matters offers a new take on Kerouac's famous novel, overturning many misconceptions about it and making clear the themes Kerouac was trying to impart.