This volume presents over 700 traditional and contemporary critical and literary terms. The entries are arranged alphabetically, extensively cross-referenced and illustrated with hundreds of examples.

This compact guide covers a wide variety of terms commonly used in academic discussions of poetry, fiction, drama, rhetoric, and literary theory. Definitions are kept concise; examples are abundant. The coverage ranges from traditional topics through to recent scholarship, and the straightforward entries aim to enable students to learn new terms with confidence. The pocket glossary brings together entries from a variety of Broadview publications—including The Broadview Anthology of British Literature and The Broadview Anthology of Short Fiction—and adds a number of new entries.

This text defines and discusses terms, critical theories, and points of view that are commonly used to classify, analyse, interpret, and write the history of works of literature. The Glossary presents a series of essays in alphabetic order.

"Distinguished in the market by its ability to mesh accessibility and intellectual rigor, How to Interpret Literature offers a current, concise, and broad historicist survey of contemporary thinking in critical theory. Ideal for upper-level undergraduate courses in literary and critical theory, this is the only book of its kind that thoroughly merges literary studies with cultural studies, including film. Robert Dale Parker provides a critical look at the major movements in literary studies since the 1930s, including those often omitted from other texts. He includes chapters on New Criticism, Structuralism, Deconstruction, Psychoanalysis, Feminism, Queer Studies, Marxism, Historicism and Cultural Studies, Postcolonial and Race Studies, and Reader Response. Parker weaves connections among chapters, showing how these different ways of thinking respond to and build upon each other. Through these exchanges, he prepares students to join contemporary dialogues in literary and cultural studies. The text is enhanced by charts, text boxes that address frequently asked questions, photos, and a bibliography"--

"[James] is the most intelligent man of his generation." -T. S. Eliot "The economy of horror is carried to its last degree."-Edith Wharton "The most hopelessly evil story that we could have read in any literature"-The Independent Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw (1898) is one of the most gripping psychological novellas ever written; a grim tale that could equally be a tale of madness or a tale of the supernatural. The depths and meaning of this story has been one of the most fascinating literary debates in all of literature. The intriguing asymmetry of The Turn of the Screw, between the seen vs. unseen, the internal v. the external, and good vs. evil, rises this book beyond what can be described as a simple ghost story. The novella begins on Christmas Eve with the recitation of a letter. The story quickly shifts to the perspective of a governess, who is the subject of the strangely ambiguous story. She had been employed by a dashing bachelor to take care of his niece and nephew in a remote country home. To her surprise, she is requested not to reach the uncle of the children under any circumstance. She is smitten by Flora, the little girl, but receives a letter that the boy, Miles, has been expelled from his school and would not be able to return. One evening, strolling outside, the governess is shocked to see a man in the tower of the house, and later in a window. When she describes him to Mrs. Grouse, the maid, she is informed that the description matches that of a former valet, who had died. Later, while at the lake with Flora, the governess sees a second apparition, that of the governess who proceeded her. As the ghosts eventually occupy the house, the governess develops a fearful obsession of the corruption of the children by the terrifying spirits. This gripping work of the unknown and moral decline is one of the most haunting pieces of fiction in the western canon. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Turn of the Screw is both modern and readable.

This clear, succinct primer for literary theory provides students with a useful guide to contemporary theory and methodologies. Theoretical overviews summarize each literary approach for clarification and "Application Essays" by well-known scholars, on works by authors such as Shakespeare, Austen, Melville, Faulkner, and Angelou, represent the stated principles. The text helps students generate consistent, well-focused analyses based on any of ten critical methodologies, including New Criticism, Psychoanalytic Analysis, Deconstruction, Feminist Analysis, and New Historicism.