Literary Criticism An Autopsy Mark Bauerlein "It's later than you think Literary critics, practicing and prospective, had better take a close look at Mark Bauerlein's mordant and humorous 'autopsy.'"--Frederick Crews, editor, Unauthorized Freud: Doubters Confront a Legend "There isn't another book like this: a primer and a polemic on the jargon of literary study, impressive in its range of examples and uncompromising in its critique. Bauerlein describes the motives of several prospering forms of contemporary obscurantism, analyzes the conditions in which they arose, and maps the...

From the author team of the discipline's most widely used literature anthology, this accessible and instructive guide introduces students to the language of literary study.

Featuring an engaging and accessible writing style, this supplemental reference manual for the introductory student has over 400 entries and serves to demystify literature and the terms, techniques, and analysis tools that literary scholars use.

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In 1987, Allan Bloom s The Closing of the American Mind was published; a wildly popular book that drew attention to the shift in American culture away from the tenants that made America and Americans unique. Bloom focused on a breakdown in the American curriculum, but many sensed that the issue affected more than education. The very essence of what it meant to be an American was disappearing.
That was over twenty years ago. Since then, the United States has experienced unprecedented wealth, more youth enrolling in higher education than ever before, and technology advancements far...