Kategoria BISAC: Juvenile Nonfiction >> Reference - General

The trickster, whether in the form of a benign practical joker or an evil charlatan, has been a popular literary character for centuries. This volume examines the role of the trickster in works such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Hamlet, Love Medicine, and many other works frequently studied by high school students.

From a Polynesian word meaning "prohibition," a taboo is a social more that should never be broken. This volume discusses the role of the taboo in "Howl," Lolita, Lord of the Flies, "The Miller's Tale," and many more works.

The technique of dark humor seeks to create comedy through the use of satirical wit and grotesque situations. This thematic technique can be found in Catch-22, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," A Modest Proposal, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and many other literary works, as examined by this new volume.

The role of civil disobedience, the act of defying society for the greater good, is examined in 1984, Antigone, The Crucible, Fahrenheit-451, and many more works.

This title examines the theme of enslavement and emancipation in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, and many other notable works.

Franz Kafka's visionary fiction offers an unforgettable rendering of the anxiety and alienation prevalent in 20th-century Western society. The Trial and The Metamorphosis are among the works discussed in this new collection of contemporary critical commentary on the author. This new offering from Bloom's Modern Critical Views includes an introductory essay from esteemed scholar Harold Bloom, a bibliography, a chronology of the author's life, and an index for quick reference.

A prolific novelist and poet, Thomas Hardy bridged the late Victorian period and the early modern age. He is best known for his novels of tragic intensity, works that have become the staple of high school and college literature courses: Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Jude the Obscure, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Far from the Madding Crowd, and The Return of the Native. Students of literature will find a new selection of critical essays focusing on Hardy and his works, complete with an introduction from master scholar Harold Bloom, a bibliography, a chronology of Hardy's life, and an index for...

Joseph Conrad's novels and short stories explore the nature of narrative, reality, and competing notions of truth. This new volume offers a new selection of contemporary critical commentary on the author of such classic works as Lord Jim, Nostromo, and Heart of Darkness. This new edition also contains an introduction penned by literary scholar Harold Bloom, a bibliography, a chronology of the author's life, and an index for reference.

This volume examines contemporary African-American poets from Robert Hayden to Rita Dove to the new voices establishing themselves at the beginning of the 21st century. This new edition offers a selection of contemporary critical commentary on this proud and enduring poetic tradition and features an introductory essay by literary scholar Harold Bloom, an index for quick reference, a bibliography, and a chronology.