This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 25 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the integrated short story collection as a genre; (2) lyric definition; (3) trope density in Newbery Award winning books and selected Children's Choices from 1975 to 1981; (4) a folklore dramatics-based approach to the teaching of literature; (5) the politics of storytelling; (6) the response of primary grade children to picture books; (7) how children's responses to historical fiction are reflected in their writing; (8) the effects of bibliotherapy on anomia and life satisfaction of the elderly; (9) divorce as portrayed in selected young adult fiction published in the United States between 1947 and 1977; (10) the use of stories to promote figurative language in children; (11) the school administrator as portrayed in the American novel; (12) the effect of the traditional folk fairy tale and "issue specific" imaginative literature on self-esteem, hostile attitudes, and the behavior of children; (13) the image of whites in fiction for children and young adults written by black writers from 1945 to 1975; and (14) values in four British novels commonly read in American secondary schools. (FL)