Traditional psychology has long been concerned with cognition, motivation, emotion, and the mind in general?the mind being held responsible for individual behavior in society?and scholars of social and cultural psychology have worked in relative isolation. Meaning in Action is a bold departure as it places culture at the center of human functioning and posits that it is not the independent mind that gives rise to human action but participation in a world of socially created meanings.
Questions of Possibility: Contemporary Poetry and Poetic Form
Questions of Possibility examines the particular forms that contemporary American poets favor and those they neglect. The poets' choices reveal both their ambitions and their limitations, the new possibilities they discover and the traditions they find unimaginable.
The most beloved humorist of his day, Mark Twain is today considered one of the greatest authors the United States has ever produced. Born Samuel Clemens, a poor boy hailing from the humble frontier town of Hannibal, Missouri, Twain delighted readers throughout the 19th century with his observations about the best and worst in the American character. Mark Twain explores how Clemens, using his famous pen name, drew from his life experiences to create his best-known works, including 'The Innocents Abroad', 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court', and 'The Adventures of 'Tom Sawyer', and pays special attention to his masterpiece, 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'.
The Road to Hel - A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature
This book is a classic and for good reason. Dr Ellis carefully examines archaeology and textual sources in turn, looking at a wide range of topics regarding burial practices and views of the afterlife. Her discussion of funerary human sacrifice is very important, as is her discussion of cremation vs burial. While her book leaves a lot of avenues for further research (for example concerning Valkyries, or Norse views of necromancy), Dr Ellis has shown herself to be a giant on whose shoulders every future scholar in this area will have to stand.
J. K. Rowling is one of the most popular authors of all time. Her Harry Potter books are beloved by millions of children and respected by critics of both children's and adult literature. On the other hand, these same books have aroused controversy regarding their literary merits and moral messages. Critical Companion to J. K. Rowling seeks to educate readers about these debates and encourages them to think about Rowling's novels thoughtfully while understanding the context in which they were written.
