Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice (2nd Edition)

This introduction presents the eleven basic schools of twentieth-century literary theory and criticism in their historical and philosophical contexts. Unlike other introductions, this book explicitly presents the philosophical assumptions of each school of criticism and provides a clear methodology for writing essays according to each school's beliefs and tenets. Places literary theory and criticism in historical perspective— from Plato to Stephen Greenblatt. A Comparison and Contrast Chart clearly delineates the differences and similarities among all the schools of criticism. This new edition offers a Cultural Studies chapter that explains three critical schools: Post Colonialism, Gender Studies, and African American Criticism. A newly updated glossary for all highlighted terms within the book is included. Specific Website addresses that take students directly to List Servers and Home Pages concerning literary theory and criticism is also provided.