To the Instructor xi
Chapter 1 Preliminary: The Process of Reading, Responding to, and Writing About Literature
What Is Literature, and Why Do We Study It?
Types of Literature: The Genres
Reading Literature and Responding to It Actively
GUY DE MAUPASSANT, The Necklace
Reading and Responding in a Notebook or Computer File
Writing Essays on Literary Topics
The Goal of Writing: To Show a Process of Thought
Three Major Stages in Thinking and Writing: Discovering Ideas, Making Initial Drafts, and Completing the Essay
Discovering Ideas ("Brainstorming")
Assembling Materials and Beginning to Write
Drafting Your Essay
Writing a First Draft
Developing an Outline
The Use of References and Quotations in Writing About Literature
Illustrative Essay (First Draft): How Setting in "The Necklace" Is Related to the Character of Mathilde
Developing and Strengthening Your Essay Through Revision
Checking Development and Organization
Using Exact, Comprehensive, and Forceful Language
Illustrative Essay (Revised Draft): How Maupassant Uses Setting in "The Necklace" to Show the Character of Mathilde
Commentary on the Essay
Essay Commentaries
Special Topics for Studying and Discussing the Writing Process
Chapter 2 Writing About a Close Reading: Analyzing Entire Short Poems or Selected Short Passages from Fiction, Longer Poems, and Plays
The Purpose and Requirements of a Close-Reading Essay
The Location of the Passage in a Longer Work
Writing About the Close Reading of a Passage in a Prose Work, Drama,or Longer Poem
Illustrative Essay: Reading a Passage in Mark Twain's"Luck"
Commentary on the Essay
Writing an Essay on the Close Reading of a Poem
Illustrative Essay: A Close Reading of Thomas Hardy's "The Man He Killed"
Commentary on the Essay
Special Topics for Studying and Discussing the Close Reading of Literary Works
Chapter 3 Writing About Character: The People in Literature
Character Traits
How Authors Disclose Character in Literature
Types of Characters: Round and Flat
Reality and Probability: Verisimilitude
Writing About Character
Illustrative Essay: The Character of Minnie Wright in Susan Glaspell's Trifles
Commentary on the Essay
Special Topics for Studying and Discussing Character
Chapter 4 Writing About Point of View: The Position or Stance of the Work's Narrator or Speaker
An Exercise in Point of View: Reporting an Accident
Conditions That Affect Point of View
Determining a Work's Point of View
Mingling Points of View
Summary: Guidelines for Point of View
Writing About Point of View
Illustrative Essay: Bierce's Control of Point of View in "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"
Commentary on the Essay
Special Topics for Studying and Discussing Point of View
Chapter 5 Writing About Plot and Structure: The Development and Organization of Narrativesand Drama
Plot: The Motivation and Causation of Narratives and Plays
Writing About the Plot of a Story or Play
Illustrative Essay (on Plot): Conflicting Values in Thomas Hardy's "The Three Strangers"
Commentary on the Essay
Structure: The Organization of Fiction, Poetry, and Drama
Formal Categories of Structure
Formal and Actual Structure
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Sonnet 73: That Time of Year Thou Mayst in Me Behold
Writing About Structure in Fiction, Poetry, and Drama
Illustrative Essay (on Structure): Conflict and Suspense in Thomas Hardy's"The Three Strangers"
Commentary on the Essay
Special Topics for Studying and Discussing Plot and Structure
Chapter 6 Writing About Setting: The Background of Place,Objects, and Culture in Literature
What Is Setting?
The Importance of Setting in Literature
Writing About Setting
Illustrative Essay: Poe's Use of Interior Setting to Augment the Eeriness of "The Masque of the Red Death"
Commentary on the Essay
Special Topics for Studying and Discussing Setting
Chapter 7 Writing About an Idea or a Theme: The Meanings and the Messages in Literature
Ideas and Assertions
Ideas and Values
The Place of Ideas in Literature
How to Find Ideas
Writing About a Major Idea in Literature
Illustrative Essay: The Idea of Love's Power in Chekhov's The Bear
Commentary on the Essay
Special Topics for Studying and Discussing Ideas
Chapter 8 Writing About Imagery: The Literary Work's Link to the Senses
Responses and the Writer's Use of Detail
The Relationship of Imagery to Ideas and Attitudes
Types of Imagery
Writing About Imagery
Illustrative Essay: The Images of Masefield's "Cargoes"
Commentary on the Essay
Special Topics for Studying and Discussing Literary Imagery
Chapter 9 Writing About Metaphor and Simile: A Source of Depth and Range in Literature
Metaphors and Similes: The Major Figures of Speech
Characteristics of Metaphors and Similes
JOHN KEATS, On First Looking into Chapman's Homer
Writing About Metaphors and Similes
Illustrative Essay: Shakespeare's Metaphors in "Sonnet 30: When to the Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought"
Commentary on the Essay
Special Topics for Studying and Discussing Metaphors and Similes
Chapter 10 Writing About Symbolism and Allegory:
Keys to Extended Meaning
Symbolism
Allegory
Fable, Parable, and Myth
Allusion in Symbolism and Allegory
Writing About Symbolism and Allegory
Illustrative Essay: Symbolism in William Butler Yeats's "The Second Coming"
Commentary on the Essay
Illustrative Essay: The Allegory of Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown"
Commentary on the Essay
Special Topics for Studying and Discussing Symbolism and Allegory
Chapter 11 Writing About Tone: The Writer's Control over Attitudes and Feelings Tone and Attitudes
Tone and Humor
Tone and Irony
Writing About Tone
Illustrative Essay: The Confident Tone of "Theme for English B" by Langston Hughes
Commentary on the Essay
Special Topics for Studying and Discussing Tone
Chapter 12 Writing About a Problem: Challenges to Overcome in Reading
Strategies for Developing an Essay About a Problem
Writing About a Problem
Illustrative Essay: The Problem of Frost's Use of the Term "Desert Places" in the Poem "Desert Places"
Commentary on the Essay
Special Topics for Studying and Discussing Literary Problems
Chapter 13 Writing About Prosody: Sound, Rhythm,and Rhyme in Poetry
Important Definitions for Studying Prosody
Segments: Individually Meaningful Sounds
Poetic Rhythm
The Major Metrical Feet
Substitution
Accentual, Strong-Stress, and "Sprung" Rhythms
The Caesura: The Pause Creating Variety and Natural Rhythms in Poetry
Segmental Poetic Devices
Rhyme: The Duplication and Similarity of Sounds
Rhyme and Meter
Rhyme Schemes
Writing About Prosody
Illustrative Essay: Rhythm, Sound, and Rhyme in Robert Browning's"Porphyria's Lover"
Commentary on the Essay
Special Topics for Studying and Discussing Rhythm and Rhyme in Poetry
Chapter 14 Writing Essays of Comparison-Contrast and Extended Comparison-Contrast: Learningby Seeing Literary Works Together
Guidelines for the Comparison-Contrast Method
The Extended Comparison-Contrast Essay
Writing a Comparison-Contrast Essay
Illustrative Essay (Comparing and Contrasting Two Works): The Implication of "Westward" in Wordsworth's "Stepping Westward" and Donne's"Good Friday, 1613, Riding Westward"
Commentary on the Essay
Illustrative Essay (Extended Comparison-Contrast): Literary Treatments of Conflicts Between Private and Public Life
Commentary on the Essay
Special Topics for Studying and Discussing Comparison and Contrast
Chapter 15 Writing a Review Essay: Developing Ideas and Evaluating Literary Works for General or Particular Audiences
Writing a Review Essay
First Illustrative Essay (A Review for General Readers): Hawthorne's Story"Young Goodman Brown": A View of Mistaken Zeal
Commentary on the Essay
Second Illustrative Essay (Designed for a Particular Group; Here, a Religious Group): Religious Intolerance and Hawthorne's Story "Young Goodman Brown"
Commentary on the Essay
Third Illustrative Essay (A Personal Review for a General Audience): Security and Hawthorne's Story "Young Goodman Brown"
Commentary on the Essay
Special Topics for Studying and Discussing the Writing of Reviews
Chapter 16 Writing About a Work in Its Historical, Intellectual, and Cultural Context
History, Culture, and Multiculturalism
Literature in Its Time and Place
Writing About a Work in Its Historical and Cultural Context
Illustrative Essay: Hughes's References to Black Servitude and Black Pride in "Negro"
Commentary on the Essay
Special Topics for Studying and Discussing Works in Their Historical, Intellectual, and Cultural Context
Chapter 17 Writing About Film: Drama on the Silver Screen,Television Set, and Computer Monitor
A Thumbnail History of Film
Stage Plays and Film
The Aesthetics of Film
The Techniques of Film
Editing or Montage Is the Assembling of a Film out of Separate Parts
Writing About Film
Illustrative Essay: Welles's Citizen Kane: Whittling a Giant Down to Size
Commentary on the Essay
Special Topics for Studying and Discussing Film
Chapter 18 Writing and Documenting the Research Essay: Using Extra Resources for Understanding
Selecting a Topic
Setting up a Bibliography
Online Library Services
Taking Notes
Documenting Your Work
Strategies for Organizing Ideas in Your Research Essay
Illustrative Research Essay: The Structure of Mansfield's "Miss Brill"
Commentary on the Essay
Special Topics for Studying and Discussing How to Undertake Research Essays
Chapter 19 Writing Examinations on Literature
Answer the Questions That Are Asked
Systematic Preparation
Two Basic Types of Questions About Literature
Appendix A Critical Approaches Important in the Study of Literature
Appendix B MLA Recommendations for Documenting Electronic Sources
Appendix C Works Used for References and Illustrative Essays
Stories
AMBROSE BIERCE, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
KATE CHOPIN, The Story of an Hour
ANITA SCOTT COLEMAN, Unfinished Masterpieces
THOMAS HARDY, The Three Strangers
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE, Young Goodman Brown
KATHERINE MANSFIELD, Miss Brill
GUY DE MAUPASSANT, The Necklace [in Chapter 1]
FRANK O'CONNOR, First Confession
EDGAR ALLAN POE, The Masque of the Red Death
MARK TWAIN, Luck
Poems
MATTHEW ARNOLD, Dover Beach
WILLIAM BLAKE, The Tyger
GWENDOLYN BROOKS, We Real Cool
ROBERT BROWNING, My Last Duchess
ROBERT BROWNING, Porphyria's Lover
SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE, Kubla Khan 3
JOHN DONNE, Good Friday, Riding Westward
ROBERT FROST, Desert Places
ROBERT FROST, The Road Not Taken
THOMAS HARDY, Channel Firing
THOMAS HARDY, The Man He Killed
LANGSTON HUGHES, Negro
LANGSTON HUGHES, Theme for English B
JOHN KEATS, Bright Star
JOHN KEATS, On First Looking into Chapman's Homer [in Chapter 9]
IRVING LAYTON, Rhine Boat Trip
AMY LOWELL, Patterns
JOHN MASEFIELD, Cargoes
WILFRED OWEN, Anthem for Doomed Youth
DUDLEY RANDALL, Ballad of Birmingham
CHRISTINA ROSSETTI, Echo
LUIS OMAR SALINAS, In a Farmhouse
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Sonnet 30: When to the Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Sonnet 73: That Time of Year Thou Mayst in Me Behold [in Chapter 5]
SHELLYWAGNER, The Boxes
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, Lines Written in Early Spring
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, Stepping Westward
WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS, The Second Coming
Plays
ANTON CHEKHOV, The Bear
SUSAN GLASPELL, Trifles
A Glossary of Important Literary Terms
Acknowledgments
Index of Authors and Titles, Topics, Directors, Producers, and Chapter Titles