Print ISBN: 978-1-4298-3731-6
# of Pages: 300
# of Volumes: 1
Print List Price: $105
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Critical Insights: Coming of Age

Editor: Kent Baxter, California State University
September 2012

Tags: 4 Critical Context Essays11 Critical Reading EssaysCurrent Critical Analysis by Top Literary ScholarsIntroductory Essay by the EditorAdditional Works on ThemeDetailed Bio of the EditorGeneral BibliographyGeneral Subject Index

Download: Table of Contents Sample Pages
This volume in the Critical Insights series presents a variety of new essays on the perennial theme.

Coming of age has been one of the great themes of literature for over two thousand years. From the maturation of Telemachus in The Odyssey to the stunted adolescence of Holden Caufield in The Catcher in the Rye, it has spanned eras, countries, and cultures. It is the theme of every young person's life, and adolescence a time many adults look back on as one of the most formative periods of their lives.

Critical Contexts
For readers who are studying it for the first time, a four essays survey the critical conversation regarding the theme, explore its cultural and historical contexts, and offer close and comparative readings of key texts in the genre.

Critical Readings
Readers seeking a deeper understanding of the theme can then move on to other essays that explore it in depth through a variety of critical approaches. Works discussed include Romeo and Juliet; Little Women; The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man; …and the earth did not devour him; Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian; Jane Eyre; The Catcher in the Rye; and The Odyssesy. Among the contributors are Vincent Cheng, Gregory Eiselein, Jane Hedley, Heather James, and Steven Mintz.

Each essay is 2,500 to 5,000 words in length, and all essays conclude with a list of "Works Cited," along with endnotes.

Resources

  • Additional Works on Coming of Age
  • Bibliography
  • Contributors
  • About the Editor
  • Index

View a Full List of Literature Titles

Additional Titles of Interest

September 2011

Critical Insights: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Joyce's life had a strong impact on this early novel. Biographical information informs the reader about that impact. Essays also survey the spectrum of critical evaluations, explanations and appreciations of the book, revealing a kaleidoscope of fruitful approaches to which readers now have access and to which more insights can and will be added.

January 2014

Critical Insights: Jane Eyre

Critical Insights: Jane Eyre presents a variety of new essays on Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, considered by many to have revolutionized the art of fiction. Many agree that Bronte was ahead of her time as she explored the individualistic character of Jane, and topics such as classism, sexuality, religion and issues of gender.

September 2011

Critical Insights: The Catcher in the Rye

For more than fifty years, Catcher fans have found a friend in the lonely misfit Holden Caulfield. The essays in this volume offer an examination of the novel's impact over time, and include discussions of the reach of Salinger's influence, Catcher's tumultuous history, and the culture and politics of the post-war era.