Literary Terms and Criticism
Paperback
£12.99
ISBN: 0-333-96258-3
Buy this book

This book has long been established as the best-selling guide to the study of English literature. It offers a comprehensive introduction to English poetry, drama and the novel, complete with practical advice on how to analyse texts. Many students have described past editions of Literary Terms and Criticism as the single most useful book they have ever bought. This new edition, which contains updated material, additional discussion of critical terms and approaches and a revised further reading list, remains the indispensable guide to the subject.

Contents  
Preface
How to Use This Guide
English, American and Postcolonial Literature: a Brief Survey
Poetry
Drama
The Novel
Critical Concepts
Critical Positions and Perspectives
Further Reading
Author Index
Subject Index

Sample Literary Terms
Imagery  
The most convenient way of describing the key words in a poem is to use the term 'imagery': imagery covers every concrete object, action and feeling in a poem and also the use of metaphors and similes.

Metaphor

A figure of speech in which one thing is described in terms of another (e.g. wafer thin).

A simile is very nearly the same thing, but whereas metaphor identifies one thing with another, a simile involves the notion of similarity, using the words 'like' or 'as' (e.g. as think as a rake).

Oxymoron

Like a paradox. A self-contradictory statement.

Symbol

An object which stands for something else (e.g. a dove symbolises peace). In a poem it is a word which, while signifying something specific, also signifies something beyond itself. Students are often unclear about the differences between an image and a symbol. The difference is that what an image is associated with is stated in the poem, but with a symbol we have to infer the meaning and associations.

Lecturers - adding this book to your reading list?
Tell us - we use this information to make sure your bookshop has enough stock to meet the demand from your students.