American Literature Commons^™

Freedom At Midday: Elements Of Existentialism In The Works Of Ambrose Bierce, Sharon A. Winn

Masters Theses

Ambrose Bierce exhibited a number of elements of existential thinking both in his life and in his writing. But he was ambivalent about his philosophical stance, and it is difficult to know whether he was the utter pessimist he has been called, or whether his attitude toward the universe admitted a certain optimism.

Much of Bierce's thought parallels modern existentialism, which has three main tenets: a belief that there is no God and the universe is, therefore, irrational; a descent into despair; and a choice of life or death.

Bierce insisted that the universe is irrational, and he repeatedly discussed …

Vol. 2, No. 4 (1982), William Boozer, Louis Daniel Brodsky, Robert W. Hamblin

Faulkner Newsletter and Yoknapatawpha Review

No abstract provided.

Vol. 2, No. 3 (1982), Paul Flowers

Faulkner Newsletter and Yoknapatawpha Review

No abstract provided.

Vol. 2, No. 2 (1982), Noel Polk, Carl Petersen, Christine Liska, Robert Liska

Faulkner Newsletter and Yoknapatawpha Review

No abstract provided.

Cover Pages, Journal Editors

Studies in English, New Series

No abstract provided.

Vol. 3 (1982): Full Issue, Journal Editors

Studies in English, New Series

No abstract provided.

Advisory Board, Journal Editors

Studies in English, New Series

No abstract provided.

Vol. 2, No. 1 (1982), William Boozer, Dean Faulkner Wells

Faulkner Newsletter and Yoknapatawpha Review

No abstract provided.

Key To Recurrent References, Journal Editors

Studies in English, New Series

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, Journal Editors

Studies in English, New Series

No abstract provided.

Mariann Russell: Melvin B. Tolson's Harlem Gallery: A Literary Analysis, Grace Farrell

English Faculty Publications

Book Review by Grace Farrell Lee.

Russell, Mariann. Melvin B. Tolson's Harlem gallery: a literary analysis. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1980.

Charles Simic: Trends Toward An International Poetry, Denise Clark

Masters Theses

In his article "Wrong Turning in American Poetry," Robert Bly believes that American poetry has been lead astray by the likes of Eliot, Pound, Moore, and Williams. He feels that the main failing of American poetry is its lack of inward, spiritual life. It is the Spanish speaking poets that Bly looks to as the true path-finders of spiritual poetry. If Bly believes that poets like Eliot and Williams were responsible for steering American poetry down the wrong path, it is a foreigner, Charles Simic, who will give American poetry the right turn it needs.

What Simic has been able …

There's No Place Like Home: The Haunted House As Literary Motif, Mary Catherine Mcdaniel

Masters Theses

This thesis traces the development of the haunted house in British and American literature and covers a time span of roughly two hundred years. Its approach is chronological: beginning with Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, it examines the use of the Bad Place as a literary motif, emphasizing the consistencies in its development while noting the inconsistencies as well. From Walpole to Stephen King, we see that the haunted house has continuously represented two things. On one hand, it may serve as a repository for unexpiated sin. The traditional haunted house, in fact, is nothing more than the …

A Room Of One's Own: The Women's Room, Lou Ellen Crawford

Masters Theses

The recent resurgence of feminism has been accompanied by the development of feminist fiction. Identifying those characteristics by which feminist fiction adds to the American novel a new and valid perspective, feminist criticism has also flourished. Feminist critics agree that fiction with a new perspective demands critical evaluation from that same perspective; and Cheri Register provides a concise, thorough list of five elements which comprise effective feminist fiction. Of Register's five criteria, Carol Heilbrun stresses the equalizing, conciliatory influence of androgyny. Recent feminist authors have written many novels which perform one or more of the functions prescribed by Register. Three …

The Pessimistic Themes Of The Mysterious Stranger As Reflected In Mark Twain's Previous Novels, Judy Dale Hill Walker

Masters Theses

The purpose of the thesis is to demonstrate that the pessimism exhibited in the themes of The Mysterious Stranger is evident in the themes of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1874-1876), The Prince and the Pauper (1877-1882), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1876-1885), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1888-1889), and Pudd'nhead Wilson (1891-1894). The thesis also demonstrates that the pessimism becomes more dominate as the novels progress chronologically through the repetition of the themes and the increasing number of themes being treated.

The introduction briefly discusses the arguments over the origins of Twain's pessimism as set forth by …

Vol. 1, No. 4 (1981), Lawrence Wells, William Boozer

Faulkner Newsletter and Yoknapatawpha Review

No abstract provided.

Vol. 1, No. 3 (1981), William Boozer, Thomas E. Lamar, Jack Ewing

Faulkner Newsletter and Yoknapatawpha Review

No abstract provided.

Vol. 1, No. 2 (1981), Phil Mullen, Howard L. Bahr, M. Thomas Inge

Faulkner Newsletter and Yoknapatawpha Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, Journal Editors

Studies in English, New Series

No abstract provided.

Cover Pages, Journal Editors

Studies in English, New Series

No abstract provided.

Vol. 1, No. 1 (1981), William Boozer, Dean Faulkner Wells, Willie Morris

Faulkner Newsletter and Yoknapatawpha Review

No abstract provided.

Advisory Board, Journal Editors

Studies in English, New Series

No abstract provided.

Hughes, The Maniac In The Cellar: Sensation Novels Of The 1860’S, Natalie Schroeder

Studies in English, New Series

No abstract provided.

Vol. 2 (1981): Full Issue, Journal Editors

Studies in English, New Series

No abstract provided.

The Endlessly Elaborating Poem: A Comparative Study Of Walt Whitman, Wallace Stevens, And The American Experimental, Long Narrative Poem, Paul Freidinger

Masters Theses

Up to the middle of the nineteenth century, British and American poetry was expected to employ rigid metrical and rhythmical patterns. Any verse that did not conform was considered devoid of aesthetic merit. In addition, some critics, Edgar Allan Poe being one of those, argued that there was no place for a long poem in poetry. Walt Whitman and Wallace Stevens, two proponents of the long narrative poem, both wrote in free verse and, thus, directly confronted these traditional theories.

This study demonstrates that the verse of Whitman and Stevens constitutes a new approach to poetic style and structure. A …

The Biblical View Of The Fall Of Man In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Marble Faun, Lois Darlene Hanson

Masters Theses

"The story of the fall of man!" One can easily tell that The Fall is the main topic in The Marble Faun. Hawthorne, in this romance, is asking whether man's fall in the Garden of Eden was for man's betterment or not. He is also asking if sin is our power of regeneration, for without the sin of Adam and Eve there would have been no need for a savior. This theory is known as the Fortunate Fall of Man.

Hawthorne is suggesting within The Marble Faun that our sin is both original and renewable--it is something that we …

The Influence Of Women In Vardis Fisher’S Western Literature, Sylvia L. Alderton

Masters Theses

Vardis Fisher, a writer who wrote about the early west, uses his life experiences and extensive historical research as a basis for his western novels. With his background in the Antelope region and his historical research, Fisher presents both women in the Antelope hills and women in the hazardous far west surroundings. He instills in the reader a panoramic view of the pioneer women as they experience life in the old west.

The Antelope women are isolated in their environment with little social contact. They are effected physically, psychologically, and economically in this remote area. Most of the women overcome …

Arlin Turner, Benjamin Franklin Fisher Iv

Studies in English, New Series

No abstract provided.

Vol. 1 (1980): Full Issue, Journal Editors

Studies in English, New Series

No abstract provided.

Some Recollections Of Jay B. Hubbell, Clarence Gohdes

Studies in English, New Series

No abstract provided.