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This page contains a variety of materials for anyone interested in English Language Arts and Writing/Composition. Click on each title for more information.
eBooks: On Writing
The Poetry Handbook
AUTHOR: John Lennard
Description: The Poetry Handbook is a lucid and entertaining guide to the poet's craft, and an invaluable introduction to practical criticism for students. Chapters on each element of poetry, from metre to gender, offer a wide-ranging general account, and end by looking at two or three poems from a small group (including works by Donne, Elizabeth Bishop, Geoffrey Hill, and Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott), to build up sustained analytical readings.Thorough and compact, with notes and quotations supplemented by detailed reference to the Norton Anthology of Poetry and a companion website with texts, links, and further discussion, The Poetry Handbook is indispensable for all school and undergraduate students of English. A final chapter addresses examinations of all kinds, and sample essays by undergraduates are posted on the website. Critical and scholarly terms are italicised and clearly explained, both in the text and in acomplete glossary; the volume also includes suggestions for further reading.The first edition, widely praised by teachers and students, showed how the pleasures of poetry are heightened by rigorous understanding and made that understanding readily available. This second edition -- revised, expanded, updated, and supported by a new companion website - confirm The Poetry Handbook as the best guide to poetry available in English.
The Author's Handbook
AUTHOR: Franklynn Peterson and Judi Kesselman-Turkel
Description: Providing essential guidance for both aspiring and experienced authors, the second edition of The Author's Handbook is a valuable resource for writers of all levels. Extensively updated and expanded to account for significant changes in the publishing industry, The Author's Handbook outlines effective techniques to develop marketable book ideas, research those ideas, and write a manuscript--either fiction or nonfiction--for publication. The authors provide many tips on topics that include choosing a publisher, negotiating contracts, understanding legal matters, and promoting your work. With this guide, the reader will gain insight into virtually every aspect of publishing.
How to Write a Novel in 90 Days
AUTHOR: Conrad Jones
Description: This concise guide tells you how to write a novel by using a systematic approach to writing.This guide is written by an author not a 'guru'.A simple step by step breakdown of how to plan each day.No fillers and no theory, just the hard facts in a concise guide.There are many guides about writing novels on the market but how many of them are written by prolific published authors? The answer is ‘not many’. How can anyone write a guide unless they have been through the writing process many times before? The simple answer to this question is they can’t because they cannot feed on their own actual experiences to help another writer to avoid the mistakes and pitfalls.Most guides regurgitate information which they have picked up from creative writing books or sites.How can they give you advice when they have never sat down and focused on creating a novel which will sell, many times over?Writing a novel is the same as any other task we undertake as individuals. We have to learn how to do it in order to do it well. When you first learn to drive, you need lessons. No one walks into the kitchen and creates a gourmet dish on their first attempt. If you want a system to apply to writing a book, then you need to take advice from an ‘author’ who has taken years to develop the process via experience.
The Word Rhythm Dictionary: A Resource for Writers, Rappers, Poets, and Lyricists
AUTHOR: Timothy Polashek
Description: This new kind of dictionary reflects the use of “rhythm rhymes” by rappers, poets, and songwriters of today. Users can look up words to find collections of words that have the same rhythm as the original and are useable in ways that are familiar to us in everything from vers libre poetry to the lyrics and music of Bob Dylan and hip hop groups.
Merriam-Webster's Concise Dictionary of English Usage
AUTHOR: Merriam-Webster
Description: A handy guide to problems of confused or disputed usage based on the critically acclaimed Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage. Over 2,000 entries explain the background and basis of usage controversies and offer expert advice and recommendations. Addresses common usage issues like ‘affect’ vs. ‘effect,’ ‘less’ vs. ‘fewer,’ and the word ‘alright.’
On Creative Writing
AUTHOR: Prof. Graeme Harper
Description: What is Creative Writing? Millions of people do it, but how do we do it, really? What evidence of its human undertaking does Creative Writing produce? How do we explore Creative Writing, as both an art form and a mode of communication? How do we come to understand Creative Writing, creatively and critically? Posing questions about the nature of Creative Writing, On Creative Writing asks us to consider what Creative Writing actually is, and in doing so encourages us to reflect on how our knowledge of Creative Writing can be increased. Emphasizing Creative Writing as an act and actions, On Creative Writing considers what lies at the core of the activity called Creative Writing.
The Grammar Crammer: How to Write Perfect Sentences
AUTHORS: Judi Kesselman-Turkel and Franklynn Peterson
Description: The Grammar Crammer is a concise, sensible grammar handbook that explains lucidly how to remember correct word forms and sentence structures. Useful as a reference tool for high school and beyond, it packs an entire grammar encyclopedia into just over a hundred pages.
eBooks: Reading Companions
The Cambridge Introduction to the Short Story in English
AUTHOR: Adrian Hunter
Description: The short story has become an increasingly important genre since the mid-nineteenth century. Complementing The Cambridge Introduction to the American Short Story, this book examines the development of the short story in Britain and other English-language literatures. It considers issues of form and style alongside - and often as part of - a broader discussion of publishing history and the cultural contexts in which the short story has flourished and continues to flourish. In its structure the book provides a chronological survey of the form, usefully grouping writers to show the development of the genre over time. Starting with Dickens and Kipling, the chapters cover key authors from the past two centuries and up to the present day. The focus on form, literary history, and cultural context, together with the highlighting of the greatest short stories and their authors, make this a stimulating and informative overview for all students of English literature.
A Dictionary of Literary Symbols
AUTHOR: Michael Ferber
Description: This is the first dictionary of symbols to be based on literature, rather than 'universal' psychological archetypes, myths, or esoterica. Michael Ferber has assembled nearly two hundred entries clearly explaining and illustrating the literary symbols that we all encounter (such as swan, rose, moon, gold), along with hundreds of cross-references and quotations. The Dictionary concentrates on English literature, but its entries range widely from the Bible and classical authors to the twentieth century, taking in American and European literatures. Its informed style and rich references will make this book an essential tool not only for literary and classical scholars, but for all students of literature.
A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory
AUTHOR: J. A. Cuddon
Description: With new entries and sensitive edits, this fifth edition places J.A. Cuddon's indispensable dictionary firmly in the 21st Century. Written in a clear and highly readable style Comprehensive historical coverage extending from ancient times to the present day Broad intellectual and cultural range Expands on the previous edition to incorporate the most recent literary terminology New material is particularly focused in areas such as gender studies and queer theory, post-colonial theory, post-structuralism, post-modernism, narrative theory, and cultural studies. Existing entries have been edited to ensure that topics receive balanced treatment
A Companion to Latin American Literature and Culture
EDITOR: Sara Castro-Klaren
Description: A Companion to Latin American Literature and Culture reflects the changes that have taken place in cultural theory and literary criticism since the latter part of the twentieth century. Written by more than thirty experts in cultural theory, literary history, and literary criticism, this authoritative and up-to-date reference places major authors in the complex cultural and historical contexts that have compelled their distinctive fiction, essays, and poetry. This text provides the historical background to help the reader understand the people and culture that have defined Latin American literature and its reception. Each chapter also includes short selected bibliographic guides and recommendations for further reading.
The Columbia Guide to Contemporary African American Fiction
AUTHOR: Darryl Dickson-Carr
Description: From Ishmael Reed and Toni Morrison to Colson Whitehead and Terry McMillan, Darryl Dickson-Carr offers a definitive guide to contemporary African American literature. This volume-the only reference work devoted exclusively to African American fiction of the last thirty-five years-presents a wealth of factual and interpretive information about the major authors, texts, movements, and ideas that have shaped contemporary African American fiction. In more than 160 concise entries, arranged alphabetically, Dickson-Carr discusses the careers, works, and critical receptions of Alice Walker, Gloria Naylor, Jamaica Kincaid, Charles Johnson, John Edgar Wideman, Leon Forrest, as well as other prominent and lesser-known authors. Each entry presents ways of reading the author's works, identifies key themes and influences, assesses the writer's overarching significance, and includes sources for further research. Dickson-Carr addresses the influence of a variety of literary movements, critical theories, and publishers of African American work. Topics discussed include the Black Arts Movement, African American postmodernism, feminism, and the influence of hip-hop, the blues, and jazz on African American novelists. In tracing these developments, Dickson-Carr examines the multitude of ways authors have portrayed the diverse experiences of African Americans. The Columbia Guide to Contemporary African American Fiction situates African American fiction in the social, political, and cultural contexts of post-Civil Rights era America: the drug epidemics of the 1980s and 1990s and the concomitant "war on drugs," the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement, the struggle for gay rights, feminism, the rise of HIV/AIDS, and racism's continuing effects on African American communities. Dickson-Carr also discusses the debates and controversies regarding the role of literature in African American life. The volume concludes with an extensive annotated bibliography of African American fiction and criticism.
Historical Dictionary of the Beat Movement
AUTHOR: Paul Varner
Description: The Beat Movement was one of the most radical and innovative literary and arts movements of the 20th century, and the history of the Beat Movement is still being written in the early years of the 21st century. Unlike other kinds of literary and artistic movements, the Beat Movement is self-perpetuating. After the 1950s generation, headlined by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs, a new generation arose in the 1960s led by writers such as Diane Wakoski, Anne Waldman, and poets from the East Side Scene. In the 1970s and 1980s writers from the Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church and contributors to World magazine continued the movement. The 1980s and 1990s Language Movement saw itself as an outgrowth and progression of previous Beat aesthetics. Today poets and writers in San Francisco still gather at City Lights Bookstore and in Boulder at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics and continue the movement. It is now a postmodern movement and probably would be unrecognizable to the earliest Beats. It may even be in the process of finally shedding the name Beat. But the Movement continues. The Historical Dictionary of the Beat Movement covers the movement’s history through a chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries on significant people, themes, critical issues, and the most significant novels, poems, and volumes of poetry and prose that have formed the Beat canon. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Beat Movement.
The Evolution of American Investigative Journalism
AUTHOR: James L. Aucoin
Description: Beginning with America's first newspaper, investigative reporting has provided journalism with its most significant achievements and challenging controversies. Yet it was an ill-defined practice until the 1960s when it emerged as a potent voice in newspapers and on television news programs. In The Evolution of American Investigative Journalism, James L. Aucoin provides readers with the first comprehensive history of investigative journalism, including a thorough account of the founding and achievements of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE). Aucoin begins by discussing in detail the tradition of investigative journalism from the colonial era through the golden age of muckraking in the 1900s, and into the 1960s. Subsequent chapters examine the genre's critical period from 1960 to 1975 and the founding of IRE by a group of journalists in the 1970s to promote investigative journalism and training methods. Through the organization's efforts, investigative journalism has evolved into a distinct practice, with defined standards and values. Aucoin applies the social-moral development theory of Alasdair MacIntyre--who has explored the function, development, and value of social practices--to explain how IRE contributed to the evolution of American investigative journalism. Also included is a thorough account of IRE's role in the controversial Arizona Project. After Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles (a founding member of IRE) was murdered while investigating land fraud, scores of reporters from around the country descended on the area to continue his work. The Arizona Project brought national attention and stature to the fledgling IRE and was integral to its continuing survival. Emerging investigative reporters and editors, as well as students and scholars of journalism history, will benefit from the detailed presentation and insightful discussion provided in this book.
Digital Magazines
Poets & Writers
Publisher: Poets & Writers, Incorporated
Full text coverage: Jan/Feb 2004 (Vol. 32, no. 1) - present
Description: Poets & Writers Magazine is the leading publication of its kind. From its earliest days as a quarterly newsletter with a distribution of a few hundred copies, Poets & Writers Magazine has addressed issues of importance to creative writers, from finding an agent to promoting one’s book. The bimonthly magazine publishes essays on the literary life, profiles of contemporary authors, and the most comprehensive listing of literary grants and awards, deadlines, and prize winners available in print. Each issue reaches more than 100,000 writers.
Poetry
Publisher: Poetry Foundation
Full text coverage: Jan 1998 (Vol. 171, no. 3) - present
Description: Poetry has been published in Chicago since 1912. It is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Founded by Harriet Monroe, it is now published by the Poetry Foundation.
The American Poetry Review
Publisher: World Poetry, Incorporated
Full text coverage: Jan 1995 (Vol. 24, no. 1) - present
Description: The American Poetry Review is an American poetry magazine printed every other month on tabloid-sized newsprint. Founded in 1972 by Stephen Berg and Stephen Parker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
New York Times Book Review
Publisher: New York Times Company
Full text coverage: Jan 24, 1988 - present
Description: The New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York City.
Ploughshares
Publisher: Ploughshares
Full text coverage: Spring 1994 (Vol. 20, no. 1) - present
Description: Ploughshares has published quality literature since 1971. Our award-winning literary journal is published four times a year; our lively literary blog publishes new writing daily. Since 1989, we have been based at Emerson College in downtown Boston.
Academic Journals
English Journal, High school edition
Publisher: National Council of Teachers of English
Peer reviewed.
Full text coverage: Jan 1988 (Vol. 77, no. 1) - present
Description: English Journal is NCTE’s award-winning journal of ideas for English language arts teachers in junior and senior high schools and middle schools. It presents information on the teaching of writing and reading, literature, and language, and includes information on how teachers are applying practices, research, and multimodal literacies in their classrooms. (Published September, November, January, March, May, and July.)
English Language and Linguistics
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Peer reviewed.
Full text coverage: May 2001 (Vol. 5, no. 1) - present (delayed 1 year)
Description: English Language and Linguistics, published four times a year, is an international journal which focuses on the description of the English language within the framework of contemporary linguistics. The journal is concerned equally with the synchronic and the diachronic aspects of English language studies and publishes articles of the highest quality which make a substantial contribution to our understanding of the structure and development of the English language and which are informed by a knowledge and appreciation of linguistic theory. English Language and Linguistics carries articles and short discussion papers or squibs on all core aspects of English, from its beginnings to the present day, including syntax, morphology, phonology, semantics, pragmatics, corpus linguistics and lexis. There is also a major review section including, from time to time, articles that give an overview of current research in particular specialist areas. Occasional issues are devoted to a special topic, when a guest editor is invited to commission articles from leading specialists in the field.
English Today
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Peer reviewed.
Full text coverage: Jan 2001 (Vol. 17, no. 1) - present (delayed 1 year)
Description: English Today provides accessible cutting-edge reports on all aspects of the language, including style, usage, dictionaries, literary language, Plain English, the Internet and language teaching, in terms of British, American and the world’s many other Englishes. Its global readership includes linguists, journalists, broadcasters, writers, publishers, teachers, advanced students of the language and others with a professional or personal interest in communication. Its debates are vigorous and it is noted for its reader involvement. Now in its fourth decade, English Today, remains unique in its scope and style.
Language Arts
Publisher: National Council of Teachers of English
Peer reviewed.
Full text coverage: Jan 1989 (Vol. 66, no. 1) - present
Description: Language Arts provides a forum for discussions on all aspects of language arts learning and teaching, primarily as they relate to children in pre-kindergarten through the eighth grade. Issues discuss both theory and classroom practice, highlight current research, and review children’s and young adolescent literature, as well as classroom and professional materials of interest to language arts educators. (Published September, November, January, March, May, and July)
Database Resources
Websites
ACLS Humanities E-Book: "ACLS Humanities E-Book (HEB) is a digital collection of over 5,400 seminal books in the humanities and related social sciences."
Purdue OWL: The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.
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