Summary
The unique Bloom's How to Write about Literature series is designed to inspire students to write compelling essays on great authors and their works. Written by established scholars and edited by the venerable Harold Bloom, each invaluable title will encourage students' academic inquisitiveness and sharpen their critical-thinking skills.
Each title features:
- An introductory chapter that provides detailed instructions on how to compose an effective essay-including how to find a thesis; how to develop an outline; how to write a good introduction, body text, and conclusions; how to cite sources; and more
- A succinct overview of the issues involved in writing about that particular author
- Useful suggestions for paper topics
- Coverage of the author's major works
- An introduction by Harold Bloom, meditating on the challenges and rewards of writing about the volume's subject author.
The paper topics suggested within each book are open-ended, and the brief strategies provided are designed to give students a push forward on the writing process rather than a roadmap to success. The aim of the books is to pose questions, not answer them-many different kinds of papers could result from each topic. As always, the success of each paper will depend completely on the writer's skill and imagination. Bloom's How to Write about Literature series is an essential tool for all students and a useful aid for teachers.
About the Author(s)
Harold Bloom is Sterling Professor of the Humanities at Yale University. Educated at Cornell and Yale universities, he is the author of 30 books, including Shelley's Mythmaking (1959), The Visionary Company (1961), Blake's Apocalypse (1963), Yeats (1970), A Map of Misreading (1975), Kabbalah and Criticism (1975), Agon: Toward a Theory of Revisionism (1982), The American Religion (1992), The Western Canon (1994), Omens of Millennium: The Gnosis of Angels, Dreams, and Resurrection (1996), and Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human (1998), a 1998 National Book Award finalist. The Anxiety of Influence (1973) sets forth Professor Bloom's provocative theory of the literary relationships between the great writers and their predecessors. His most recent books include How to Read and Why (2000), Genius: A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds (2002), Hamlet: Poem Unlimited (2003), Where Shall Wisdom Be Found? (2004), Jesus and Yahweh: The Names Divine (2005), and The Anatomy of Influence (2011). In addition, he is the author of hundreds of articles, reviews, and editorial introductions. In 1999, Professor Bloom received the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Criticism. He has also received the International Prize of Catalonia, the Alfonso Reyes Prize of Mexico, and the Hans Christian Andersen Bicentennial Prize of Denmark.