The Fast Sooner Hound


Book Description

Chagrined that the hound Sooner continually outruns his trains, the roadmaster pits his speed against that of his fastest train, the Cannon Ball.




The American People


Book Description

This stimulating anthology, prepared by the great folklorist, B.A. Botkin, is comprised of the traditional songs, stories, customs, and beliefs which have been handed down, by word of mouth, for so long that they seem to have a life of their own. For Botkin, they are at the core of peoplehood. When one thinks of American folklore one thinks not only of the folklore of American life, the traditions that have sprung up on American soil, but also of the literature of folklore, the migratory traditions that have found a home in the New World.




Encyclopedia of American Humorists


Book Description

First published in 1988, this book contains entries on famous American Humorists. Humor has been present in American literature, from the beginning, and has developed characteristics that reflect the American character, both regional and national. Although American literature was, in the past, treated as inferior to British literature, there has always been a large popular audience for the genre, which this book shows. The figures with entries in this encyclopedia not only amuse in their writing, but also aim to enlighten- setting out to expose the foibles and foolishness of society and the individuals who compose it. It is the manner in which these authors try to accomplish this end that determines whether they appear in the volume. Indeed, the book will demonstrate that the best humor has at its base, a ready understanding of human nature.




The Continuum Encyclopedia of Children's Literature


Book Description

Provides articles covering children's literature from around the world as well as biographical and critical reviews of authors including Avi, C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling, and Anno Mitsumasa.




Making Americans


Book Description

Making Americans is a study of a time when the authors and illustrators of children's books consciously set their eyes on national and international sights, with the hope of bringing the next generation into a full sense of citizenship. Schmidt examines the literature for young people published during a momentous period in our nation's past, and documents in detail its role as an instrument of nation-building and social reform. A thought-provoking contribution to our understanding of children's books as cultural transmitters and transformers.




American Folklore


Book Description

Contains over 500 articles Ranging over foodways and folksongs, quiltmaking and computer lore, Pecos Bill, Butch Cassidy, and Elvis sightings, more than 500 articles spotlight folk literature, music, and crafts; sports and holidays; tall tales and legendary figures; genres and forms; scholarly approaches and theories; regions and ethnic groups; performers and collectors; writers and scholars; religious beliefs and practices. The alphabetically arranged entries vary from concise definitions to detailed surveys, each accompanied by a brief, up-to-date bibliography. Special features *More than 2000 contributors *Over 500 articles spotlight folk literature, music, crafts, and more *Alphabetically arranged *Entries accompanied by up-to-date bibliographies *Edited by America's best-known folklore authority




The Muse in Bronzeville


Book Description

The Muse in Bronzeville, a dynamic reappraisal of a neglected period in African American cultural history, is the first comprehensive critical study of the creative awakening that occurred on Chicago's South Side from the early 1930s to the cold war. Coming of age during the hard Depression years and in the wake of the Great Migration, this generation of Black creative artists produced works of literature, music, and visual art fully comparable in distinction and scope to the achievements of the Harlem Renaissance. This highly informative and accessible work, enhanced with reproductions of paintings of the same period, examines Black Chicago's "Renaissance" through richly anecdotal profiles of such figures as Richard Wright, Gwendolyn Brooks, Margaret Walker, Charles White, Gordon Parks, Horace Cayton, Muddy Waters, Mahalia Jackson, and Katherine Dunham. Robert Bone and Richard A. Courage make a powerful case for moving Chicago's Bronzeville, long overshadowed by New York's Harlem, from a peripheral to a central position within African American and American studies.




The Richard Wright Encyclopedia


Book Description

Richard Wright is one of the most important African American writers. He is also one of the most prolific. Best known as the author of Native Son, he wrote 7 novels; 2 collections of short fiction; an autobiography; more than 250 newspaper articles, book reviews, and occasional essays; some 4,000 verses; a photo-documentary; and 3 travel books. By attacking the taboos and hypocrisy that other writers had failed to address, he revolutionized American literature and created a disturbing and realistic portrait of the African American experience. This encyclopedia is a guide to his vast and influential body of works.




Alternative Rhetorics


Book Description

Challenges the traditional rhetorical canon.




Survey of Media


Book Description

An accessible and exciting new textbook that provides students with an in-depth historical and conceptual understanding of the nature and function of media in society. Stacey O. Irwin contextualizes media objects and experiences – including cinema, TV, phones, gaming, radio and podcasting, journalism, publishing, advertising, and more – into three descriptive sections: screens, sounds, and synergies. The text examines how technology is enfolded into the cultural process of contemporary media experience, exploring topics such as social media, augmented reality and other trends from the metaverse. It also reflects on the impact of legacy media and highlights instrumental moments in media history along the way. By examining media history from the perspective of future decision-making, this textbook explores how media technologies have a positive and negative sociocultural impact. This provides students with a more accessible entry point to the topic, and readers are left with a well-rounded understanding of media and the interplay between media, culture, technology, and society. Each chapter concludes with things to consider and additional takeaways to enhance student learning. This is an essential text for students taking classes such as Introduction to Mass Media, Survey of Media, Media History, Media and Society, and Media Culture.