Perspective

Peter Barry is the author of "Beginning Theory" and English Professor at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth, Wales, UK where he teaches several theory courses. Barry receives no coursework in literary theory in his undergraduate work at London University in the 1960s. His first exposure to literary theory is in 1981. This book is first published in 1995 as an apparent way to cure a deficiency he recalls from his undergraduate studies. Barry's first exposure to literature begins with an introductory course named "Beowulf to Virginia Woolf." This book is written to close that gap for new students of literature.

As a result, the author's approach to this introductory book is based on student learning needs rather than novelists' writing styles. Specifically, it is assumed his undergraduate study of the "wolves" left him uninspired but aware there is more to a study of literature than reading "novelist's writing." This...