death in literature

Provides in-depth analysis of the literary work As I Lay Dying, as well as its importance and critical reception. Includes a chronology of the life and works of the author.

"From essays about the Salem witch trials to literary uses of ghosts by Twain, Wharton, and Bierce to the cinematic blockbuster "The Sixth Sense", this book is the first to survey the importance of ghosts and hauntings in American culture across time. From the Puritans' conviction that a thousand preternatural beings appear every day before our eyes, to today's resurgence of spirits in fiction and film, the culture of the United States has been obsessed with ghosts. this book asserts that ghosts, whether in oral tradition, literature, or such modern forms as cinema have always been constructions embedded in specific historical ontexts and invoked for explicit purposes, often poitical in nature"--Adapted from publisher description.

Provides a collection of critical essays on Markus Zusak's The book thief.

"Explores death poetry, including famous American and European poets and their poems, as well as literary criticism, poetic technique, explication, and prompts for further study"--Provided by publisher.

Examines the final books of Sylvia Plath, Wallace Stevens, Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Bishop, and James Merrill in an attempt to understand how they expressed the crisis of death.

Discusses the theme of death in the poetry of Emily Dickinson.