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Mitchell, Joni

(Encyclopedia)Mitchell, Joni, 1943–, Canadian-American songwriter, singer, guitarist, poet, and painter, b. MacLeod (now Fort Macleod), Alta., as Roberta Joan Ander...

Ackroyd, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Ackroyd, Peter, 1949–, British author, b. London; studied Clare College, Cambridge (M.A., 1971) and Yale. A literary journalist, he wrote for the Spectator (1973–82), where he was literary and the...

party, political

(Encyclopedia)party, political, organization whose aim is to gain control of the government apparatus, usually through the election of its candidates to public office. Political parties take many forms, but their m...

Simon, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Simon, Paul, 1941–, American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, b. Newark, N.J. A polished and intelligent folk-rock lyricist and performer, he first gained fame as half of Simon and Garfunkel (with...

Kuhnau, Johann

(Encyclopedia)Kuhnau, Johann yōˈhän ko͞oˈnou [key], 1660–1722, German composer and performer. Kuhnau was J. S. Bach's predecessor as organist and cantor at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. He wrote various trea...

Eliot, George

(Encyclopedia)Eliot, George, pseud. of Mary Ann or Marian Evans, 1819–80, English novelist, b. Arbury, Warwickshire. One of the great English novelists, she was reared in a strict atmosphere of evangelical Protes...

student movements

(Encyclopedia)student movements, designation given to the ideas and activities of student groups involved in social protest. Historically, student movements have been in existence almost as long as universities the...

pragmatism

(Encyclopedia)pragmatism prăgˈmətĭzəm [key], method of philosophy in which the truth of a proposition is measured by its correspondence with experimental results and by its practical outcome. Thought is consid...

belief

(Encyclopedia)belief, in philosophy, commitment to something, involving intellectual assent. Philosophers have disagreed as to whether belief is active or passive; René Descartes held that it is a matter of will, ...

Field, Cyrus West

(Encyclopedia)Field, Cyrus West, 1819–92, American merchant, promoter of the first Atlantic cable, b. Stockbridge, Mass.; brother of David Dudley Field and Stephen J. Field. As head of a paper business, he accumu...