The emergence and spread of literacy in ancient human society an important topic for all who study the ancient world, and the development of written Chinese is of particular interest, as modern Chinese orthography preserves logographic principles shared by its most ancient forms, making it unique among all present-day writing systems. In the past three decades, the discovery of previously unknown texts dating to the third century BCE and earlier, as well as older versions of known texts, has revolutionized the study of early Chinese writing. The long-term continuity and stability of the Chinese written language allow for this detailed study of the role literacy played in early civilization. The contributors to Writing and Literacy in Early China inquire into modes of manuscript production, the purposes for which texts were produced, and the ways in which they were actually used. By carefully evaluating current evidence and offering groundbreaking new interpretations, the book illuminates the nature of literacy for scribes and readers.

Drawing on texts written by and about European and Euro-American captives in a variety of languages and genres, Lisa Voigt explores the role of captivity in the production of knowledge, identity, and authority in the early modern imperial world. The pr

George Orwell set out ‘to make political writing into an art’, and to a wide extent this aim shaped the future of English literature – his descriptions of authoritarian regimes helped to form a new vocabulary that is fundamental to understanding totalitarianism. While 1984 and Animal Farm are amongst the most popular classic novels in the English language, this new series of Orwell’s essays seeks to bring a wider selection of his writing on politics and literature to a new readership. In Why I Write, the first in the Orwell’s Essays series, Orwell describes his journey to becoming a writer, and his movement from writing poems to short stories to the essays, fiction and non-fiction we remember him for. He also discusses what he sees as the ‘four great motives for writing’ – ‘sheer egoism’, ‘aesthetic enthusiasm’, ‘historical impulse’ and ‘political purpose’ – and considers the importance of keeping these in balance. Why I Write is a unique opportunity to look into Orwell’s mind, and it grants the reader an entirely different vantage point from which to consider the rest of the great writer’s oeuvre. 'A writer who can – and must – be rediscovered with every age.' — Irish Times

Brings a new approach to the interpretation of the sources used to study the Early Christian era - reading history backwards. This book will interest teachers and students of New Testament studies from around the world of any denomination, and readers of early Christianity and Patristics.

Contains six previously published titles brought together in a single volume.

In Early Negro Writing, first published in 1971, Dorothy Porter presents a rare and indispensable collection of writings of literary, social, and historical importance. Most of the writings contained in this collection are no longer in print. In some cases, only one or two original copies are known to exist. Early Negro Writing is rich with narratives, poems, essays, and public addresses by many of Americas's early Black literary pioneers and champions of racial equality. Represented in this work are poems by Jupiter Hammon and Phillis Wheatley and a spiritual song by Richard Allen, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal church. The essays in this collection document the fact that from the earliest days of this country, Black Americans have voiced their concerns on the subject of freedom, slavery, politics, morals, religion, education, emigration, and other issues. Confronted by an often hostile social environment Blacks learned quickly the value of mutual aid and fraternal organizations. Addresses by Masonic organizer and abolitionist Prince Hall and others highlight the importance of these early self-help efforts.

This book contains expansive, multifaceted narrative of British women's literary and textual production from the Reformation to the Restoration.

This landmark book of essays examines the development of women's letter writing from the late fifteenth to the early eighteen century. It is the first book to deal comprehensively with women's letter writing during the Late Medieval and Early Modern period and shows that this was a larger and more socially diversified area of female activity than has generally been assumed. The essays, contributed by many of the leading researchers active in the field, illustrate women's engagement in various activities, both literary and political, social and religious.

This essential text for primary trainees and teachers examines the key skill of writing beyond the earliest school years. Teaching writing involves much more than simply teaching the mechanics of spelling, grammar and punctuation, important though these are. There are particular issues around writing in school, including the fact that children’s writing consistently lags behind their reading in external tests such as SATs, boys’ relative lack of success and teachers’ lack of confidence in modelling writing. This book addresses these topics as well as focusing on other pertinent practice issues such as working with proficient writers, engaging disengaged writers and working with children who have EAL and SEN.