Professor Robson considers particular works and authors in the light of the preceding discussion of critical principles.

This is a compilation of essays born of varying impetuses and written over a number of years on the general topic of metaphor, my life obsession since my spring semester at Berry College in 1953. The generalized purpose of the following documents is to trace the path of metaphor as my thinking evolved. More importantly, it is hoped that these essaysread along with my prolix and sometimes confusing opusmy chef d oeuvre on metaphor, Metamorphosos: A Proposed Path to Independent Livingwill shed new light on some of the major philosophical conundrums perplexing the world today. Among these conundrums, the still unresolved issues growing out of Albert Einsteins relativity theoriesone of which is determinism. Are we prisoners of our particle origins, consigned to a preordained cycle of macro machinery, or free individuals equipped with the necessary tools to exercise free will and control our destinies?

This collection of essays on definitions, from Plato and Aristotle to modern times, assembles interesting, sometimes less widely known and controversial texts. They examine the subject from the point of view of philosophy which is essential for a theory of terminology seeking to establish the relationship between concepts and terms. These essays deal mainly with theoretical issues but they also consider the practice of defining and therefore serve as background to all manner of studies in terminology. In addition they form a useful complement to the better known discussions of definitions in lexicography.

How does one help undergraduate students learn quickly how to produce effectively organized, persuasive, well-reasoned essays? This book offers a straightforward, systematic introduction to some of the key elements of the construction of arguments in essay form. The focus here is on practical advice that will prove immediately useful to students—recommended procedures are emphasized, and detailed examples of academic and student writing are provided throughout. The book introduces the basics of argumentation before moving on to the structure and organization of essays. Planning and outlining the essay, writing strong thesis statements, organizing coherent paragraphs, and writing effective introductions and conclusions are among the subjects discussed. A separate section concisely explores issues specific to essays about literary works.

For over thirty years Susan Wolf has been writing about moral and nonmoral values and the relation between them. This volume collects Wolf's most important essays on the topics of morality, love, and meaning, ranging from her classic essay "Moral Saints" to her most recent "The Importance of Love." Wolf's essays warn us against the common tendency to classify values in terms of a dichotomy that contrasts the personal, self-interested, or egoistic with the impersonal, altruistic or moral. On Wolf's view, this tendency ignores or distorts the significance of such values as love, beauty, and truth, and neglects the importance of meaningfulness as a dimension of the good life. These essays show us how a self-conscious recognition of the variety of values leads to new understandings of the point, the content, and the limits of morality and to new ways of thinking about happiness and well-being.

George Orwell set out ‘to make political writing into an art’, and to a wide extent this aim shaped the future of English literature – his descriptions of authoritarian regimes helped to form a new vocabulary that is fundamental to understanding totalitarianism. While 1984 and Animal Farm are amongst the most popular classic novels in the English language, this new series of Orwell’s essays seeks to bring a wider selection of his writing on politics and literature to a new readership. In Politics and the English Language, the second in the Orwell’s Essays series, Orwell takes aim at the language used in politics, which, he says, ‘is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind’. In an age where the language used in politics is constantly under the microscope, Orwell’s Politics and the English Language is just as relevant today, and gives the reader a vital understanding of the tactics at play. 'A writer who can – and must – be rediscovered with every age.' — Irish Times

"Now, with "The making of the American essay' the editor includes selections ranging from Anne Bradstreet's secular prayers to Washington Irving's satires, Emily Dickinson's love letters to Kenneth Goldsmith's catalog's, Gertrude Stein's portraits to James Baldwin's and Norman Mailer's mediations on boxing. In this volume the editor uncovers new stories in the American essay's past and shows us that some of the most fiercely daring writers in the American literary canon have turned to the essay in order to produce some of our culture's most exhilarating art."-- book jacket.