Serious Student's Guide to Western Culture

The Serious Student's Guide to Western Culture (c) is an extraordinary series of reference works designed for students and readers at any level who want to learn more about the basic concepts of literature and understand the cultural background that has influenced works of great literature during the past 2,000 years. The reference series is conveniently arranged in separate volumes so the student can focus on one particular area of study or purchase all three volumes at a discount to obtain comprehensive coverage of all areas. Please see separate listing for the combined set of three volumes to obtain the discount. The first three volumes focus on ideas in Western culture needed to understand literature. Volumes 4 and 5 focus on related areas of English composition and vocabulary building. These texts examine most of the important ideas in Western culture to allow the reader to develop a deeper understanding of the world's great literature. Each volume presents a clear, concise explanation of important concepts in Western culture and provides many examples from specific texts. Although these texts are designed primarily for the study of literature, they can be read as stand-alone texts for the enjoyment of learning new ideas. Volume 2 of this series examines the intellectual, social, economic, and historical issues that have influenced great writers of world literature. The first section presents a summary of the major periods of intellectual thought from the Middle Ages through the twentieth century. The next section presents a summary of 50 important philosophers and thinkers who have made a lasting impact on Western culture. Other sections present summaries of the most important scientists, social philosophers, political philosophers, psychologists, historians, and literary critics in Western culture. This text also includes a section on the influence of religion and science on culture and literature, especially during the nineteenth century, a time in which many controversies were examined in major works of literature. The next section presents an overview of important historical events and discoveries or inventions in science and technology. The next section presents comprehensive coverage of popular culture in the United States with an emphasis on the 1950s and 1960s. Other sections include background information on the evolution of music including classical music, opera, ballet, and musicals. This section is followed by a chapter on art and artists and motion pictures and directors. The final sections of this text include several important lists of great books in Western culture and a list of the major book awards and prizes that are presented each year including the Nobel and Pulitzer but also including many of the lesser known awards such as the Guardian, Commonwealth, Costa, and Bailey's awards.
About the Author: Dr. Richard A. Branyon has experienced a rather peripatetic career in academia, but all of his past experiences have contributed to his appreciation of literature and other disciplines in the humanities. Dr. Branyon earned his MBA from UNC-Chapel Hill during the early 1980s with a special interest in finance and new ventures. He worked as an independent management consultant for about five years and provided advice to dozens of companies in many areas of management. However, the author became disenchanted with the world of business where success is always measured in money, and he returned to academia and pursued his MA and PhD in American and British literature. During graduate school, he pursued his interests in utopian and dystopian literature, the concepts of determinism and freedom of choice, literature related to psychology, and the influence of science and ethics on literature. The author's dissertation focused on recent theories of New Historicism and the ways that readers can interpret texts through cultural background and historical events. Although he maintains an interest in these areas, in more recent years he has expanded his interests to include women's literature, Southern literature, great love stories of Western culture, the role of medicine in literature, contemporary novels, and young adult novels. During the past 20 years, Dr. Branyon has taught at several major universities in North Carolina and often works with first-year students as they make the challenging transition from high school to college. He has taught courses in the survey of literature, American and British literature, world literature, composition and rhetoric, business communication, oral communication, and several interdisciplinary courses in the humanities including his favorite: Popular Culture and Literature in the 1950s and 1960s. Dr. Branyon has taught composition to first-year students every year during the past 20 years, and he has gained a wealth of information on methods to help students develop their communication abilities. The author has also served as mentor and tutor to dozens of students in English Education and helped them prepare for the content and pedagogy sections of the Praxis exams. Also, Dr. Branyon has worked with several graduate students who used his reference texts in their preparation for comprehensive oral exams in their Master's and doctorate programs.