The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, Second Edition by
The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms explores the meanings of idioms, including phrasal verbs such as "kick back", proverbs such as "too many cooks spoil the broth", interjections such as "tough beans", and figures of speech such as "elephant in the room".
The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style by
This authoritative survey of English usage, grammar, and style offers guidance on almost any writing problem imaginable. Arranged in a single, easy-to-use A-Z list, the guide's 1,500 entries include examples and quotations that show not only correct and incorrect usage but also the relative effectiveness of different expressions in context. The guide also presents the opinions of the American Heritage® Usage Panel--a group of two hundred prominent writers, scholars, and scientists--who are polled on traditional and emerging usage problems. The panel makes clear when attitudes about a word are changing, when old chestnuts have been laid to rest, and when today's innovations are likely to become tomorrow's standards. This book confronts traditional bugbears, such as disinterested and lay vs. lie, along with a variety of new challenges, such as seeking closure and begging the question. Commonly confused words, such as impinge and infringe, are teased apart. Notes on science terms explain the difference between popular and technical uses of words like relativity and exponential growth. Rulings are given for tough calls on grammatical controversies, redundancy, and parallelism, and sensible guidance is provided on punctuation, capitalization, and other conventions of style. Both readable and well researched, this book is an eminently sensible source of advice on how to use words effectively.
The Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature by
From John Smith to Jack Kerouac, Cotton Mather to Toni Morrison, Edgar Allan Poe to Stephen King, Francis Parkman to Alex Haley, the story of American literature is really many stories - of ancient indigenous peoples, early settlers, men and women enslaved and liberated, war and peace, and immigrants seeking better lives. America's multifaceted literary heritage reflects its deepest spiritual and material consciousness: rooted and rootless, rural and urban, timeless and ever-changing. Through a living literature, one comes to learn one's orientations, aspirations, and worldviews: where we have come from and where we may be going.More than ten years in the making, this comprehensive single-volume literary survey is for the student, scholar, and general reader. The Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature represents a collaborative effort, involving 300 contributors from across the United States and Canada. Composed of more than 1,100 signed biographical-critical entries, this Encyclopedia serves as both guide and companion to the study and appreciation of American literature.A special feature is the topical article. There are 70 such essays in this volume, among them: AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE, CANADA, CHILDREN'S LITERATURE, THE DETECTIVE STORY, DRAMA, THE ESSAY, EXPATRIATES, FEMINISM, FILM AND LITERATURE, GAY MALE LITERATURE, HISTORY AND LITERATURE, HUMOR, JEWISH AMERICAN LITERATURE, LATINO/A LITERATURE, LESBIAN LITERATURE, LITERARY CRITICISM (before and since 1914), LITERARY JOURNALISM, LITERARY PRIZES AND AWARDS, MODERNISM, POLITICS AND LITERATURE, RELIGION AND LITERATURE, SCIENCE FICTION, THE SHORT STORY, THE SOUTH, THE SUPERNATURAL, TRANSCENDENTALISM, UTOPIA, and YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE. Wherever possible, references to authors of merit who do not receive individual articles are incorporated into the text of the most relevant topical essay. All topical and biographical-critical entries are cross-referenced and linked to the index. Select bibliographical material is included in most articles.Through American literature, we discover the imaginative and artistic expression of a multiplicity of people united by nationality, diversified by ethnicity and cultural identity, religion, social and economic class, political conviction, region. It is hoped that this Encyclopedia serves as a useful reference work and may itself be considered a lasting contribution to the very literature it surveys.
The Continuum Encyclopedia of Children's Literature by
With 1,200 biographical-critical entries and nearly 100 topical articles all written by experts in the field, The Continuum Encyclopedia of Children's Literature is the most complete and up-to-date single-volume reference source on the subject. The work covers 150 years of children's literature in many cultures: The United States, Great Britain, Canada, continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, and Asia. Biographical-critical entries include authors as well as illustrators. A distinguished board of advisers, made up of scholars, editors, librarians, authors, and artists, has helped make this encyclopedia even more user-friendly.
A Dictionary of Literary Symbols by
This is the first dictionary of symbols to be based on literature, rather than 'universal' psychological archetypes or myths. It explains and illustrates the literary symbols that we all frequently encounter (such as swan, rose, moon, gold), and gives hundreds of cross-references and quotations. The dictionary concentrates on English literature, but its entries range widely from the Bible and classical authors to the twentieth century, taking in American and European literatures. For this new edition, Michael Ferber has included over twenty completely new entries (including bear, holly, sunflower and tower), and has added to many of the existing entries. Enlarged and enriched from the first edition, its informed style and rich references make this book an essential tool not only for literary and classical scholars, but for all students of literature.
Dictionary of Shakespeare by
This is a reference about Shakespeare's plays, characters, productions and themes. It includes over 1500 entries that should help explain all the terms used in Sheakespeare's texts and in their execution.
The Encyclopedia of African-American Writing by
A timely survey of an important sector of American letters, The Encyclopedia of African-American Writing covers the role and influence of African American cultural leaders, from all walks of life, from the 18th century to the present. Readers will explore what inspired various African-American writers to create poems, plays, short stories, novels, essays, opinion pieces and numerous other works, and how those writings contributed to culture in America today.
Encyclopedia of American Literature by
Susan Clair Imbarrato, Carol Berkin, Brett Barney, Lisa Paddock, Matthew J. Bruccoli, George Parker Anderson, Judith S. Baughman, Carl Rollyson, and Marshall BoswellAdvisory Board:Emory Elliott, University of California, Irvine; Wendy Martin, Harvey Mudd Graduate College; Sandra Adell, University of Wisconsin; Matthew J. Bruccoli, University of South Carolina; Richard Layman, Bruccoli Clark Layman Publishers and Manly, Inc.; and Park Bucker, University of South Carolina-SumterPraise for the print edition:Booklist/RBB Editors' Choice Reference Source...an excellent source for students...and its chronological arrangement offers a different slant. Recommended...--BooklistThe articles are well-written and provide readers with a clear understanding of the topic.--School Library JournalThe writing is clear and direct...useful...--ChoiceAn Extensive Reference That Spans the Entire Scope of American LiteratureEncyclopedia of American Literature, Third Edition is an extensive reference work that spans the entire scope of American literature, from the colonial period to the present. This updated and comprehensive encyclopedia includes entries on writers, works, literary movements, and a variety of other topics.Regionally and culturally inclusive, entries on writers describe key life events, provide thumbnail descriptions of and critical reactions to their works, and discuss the writer's significance in the literary period. Volume I: Settlement to the New Republic, 1607-1815Explores America's literary beginnings and the connections between early American history and the nation's emerging literary tradition--covering the Puritans and their Bay Psalm Book, the Federalists and the United States Constitution, Benjamin Franklin, Phillis Wheatley, and more.Volume II: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, 1816-1895Discusses the writers, works, genres, literary movements, and related historical events of 19th-century America, from the romanticism of Walt Whitman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Ralph Waldo Emerson to the realism of Mark Twain, Henry James, and William Dean Howells.Volume III: Into the Modern, 1896-1945Defines the evolution of a new American sensibility and brings the modern literary world alive, with entries on Frank Norris; Stephen Crane; Booker T. Washington; F. Scott Fitzgerald; Zora Neale Hurston; The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains; Absalom, Absalom!; and The Waste Land.Volume IV: The Contemporary World, 1946 to the PresentExamines the emergence of new writers and voices and describes the evolving movements that encompass today's literary history--covering Deconstruction, the Beats, Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, gay and lesbian literature, New Journalism, science fiction and fantasy, and more.
Encyclopedia of American Poetry: the Twentieth Century by
The Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Twentieth Century contains over 400 entries that treat a broad range of individual poets and poems, along with many articles devoted to topics, schools, or periods of American verse in the century. Entries fall into three main categories: poet entries, which provide biographical and cultural contexts for the author's career; entries on individual works, which offer closer explication of the most resonant poems in the 20th-century canon; and topical entries, which offer analyses of a given period of literary production, school, thematically constructed category, or other verse tradition that historically has been in dialogue with the poetry of the United States.
The Encyclopedia of Literary and Cultural Theory, 3 Volume Set by
This is the first comprehensive multi-volume encyclopedia of literary and cultural theory. Arranged in three volumes covering Literary Theory from 1900 to 1966, Literary Theory from 1966 to the present, and Cultural Theory, this encyclopedia provides accessible entries on the important concepts, theorists and trends in post-1900 literary and cultural theory. With explanations of complex terms and important theoretical concepts, and summaries of the work and ideas of key figures, it is a highly informative reference work for a multi-disciplinary readership Part of the Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Literature Contains over 300 entries of 1000-7000 words written by an international cast of nearly 300 leading scholars in literary and cultural theory Provides explanations of complex terms, important theoretical concepts, and tools for critical analysis Provides summaries of the work and ideas of key figures such as Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, and Slavoj Žižek, and many more Online version provides students and researchers with 24/7 access to authoritative reference and powerful searching, browsing and cross-referencing capabilities Special introductory price available