Part I Reading and Writing About Literature
1. What Is Literature?
Literary Contexts: Authors Define Literature
Historical Contexts: Forms of Literature Through Time
STORIES
Charles Perrault, “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood”
§ Literary Contexts: Defining Plot
Margaret Atwood, “There was Once”
POEMS
Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Ozymandias”
Comparing Themes
Adrienne Rich, “Diving into the Wreck”
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “Constantly Risking Absurdity”
Reflecting on the Writing Process
Pre-Writing
Drafting
Revising
Assignment: Reading to Write
2 Reading and Writing: Contexts for Thinking
Active Reading
Writing About Your Reading Experience
Thinking Critically About the Text
STORY
Kate Chopin, “The Story of an Hour”
Critical Thinking Acts
Interpretation
Analysis
Argument
Comparison/Contrast
§ Literary Contexts: Making Meaning of Fiction
PLAY
Jane Martin, Beauty
§ Literary Contexts: Making Meaning of Drama
Literary Contexts: Making Meaning of Poetry
POEMS
§
Comparing Themes
Sylvia Plath, “Metaphors”
Billy Collins, “Introduction to Poetry”
Assignments: Reading to Write
Sample Student Paper: Ashley Walden, Breaking Boundaries in Chopin’s “The
Story of an Hour”
Part II Writing in Response to Literature
3 Love and Symbolism: Interpreting Themes
POEMS
Li Ho, “A Beautiful Girl Combs Her Hair”
Sir Thomas Wyatt, “I find no peace, and all my war is done”
Robert Herrick, “Upon Julia’s Clothes”
Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Indian Girl’s Song”
The Act of Interpretation
Accounting for Key Symbols and Other Elements
Taking Contexts into Account
William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 18” and “Sonnet 130”
Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Love Is Not All”
Wislawa Szymborska, “True Love”
Sharon Olds, “Sex without Love”
Beth Ann Fennelly,“Why I Can't Cook for Your Self-Centered Architect
Cousin”
STORIES
Guy DeMaupaussant, “The Necklace”
Bobbie Ann Mason, “Shiloh”
Writing an Interpretation: Reading for Meaning in Literature
Prewriting: Identifying a Topic
Forming an Interpretation: Offering a Big Idea
Bringing in Evidence: Close Reading for Textual Support
Shaping a Thesis: Constructing a Statement
Writing to Advance the Thesis: The Formal Essay
The Introduction
The Body
The Conclusion
Integrating and Citing Source Material
Revising, Editing, and Proofreading
Revising
Editing
Proofreading
Sample Student Paper: James Lewis, “Immoderate Desire” in Guy
DeMaupaussant’s “The Necklace”
4 A Study in Style: Analyzing Patterns
What does it mean when you say that a person has style?
POEMS
WilliamWordsworth, “Nuns Fret Not”
§ Literary Contexts: Stanza Lengths and Sonnets
Elizabeth Bishop, “One Art”
§ Literary Contexts: The Villanelle
The Act of Analysis
Supporting Theme through Analysis
Finding Patterns through Analysis
POEMS
e.e. cummings, “1(a”
§ Literary Contexts: Open-Form Poetry
Comparing Themes
Emily Dickinson, “Some Keep the Sabbath”
Gerard Manley Hopkins, “God’s Grandeur”
§ Critical Contexts: Formalist Criticism
Robert Frost, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"
Geraldine Brooks, “We Real Cool”
§ Literary Contexts: Scanning Lines of Poetry
PLAY
Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie
§ Literary Contexts: Realism
STORIES
Toni Cade Bambara, “The Lesson”
§ Literary Contexts: Dialogue
Don DeLillo, “Videotape”
§ Literary Contexts: Reality
Tim O’Brien, “The Things they Carried”
§ Literary Contexts: Imagery
Writing an Analysis: The Elements of Style
Moving from Free Writes to Ideas
Finding a Focus
Shaping a Thesis
Finding Significance in Small Moments and Specific Details
Writing to Advance the Thesis
Making a Plan
Developing and Supporting Your Thesis
Revising to Polish
Editing
A Lesson in Style
Style Checklist
Exercises
Proofreading
Sample Student Paper: Ashley Walden, Analyzing Stage Direction, Dialogue, and Memory in Williams’ The Glass Menagerie
5 Voice and Narration: Arguing for an Interpretation
STORIES
John Updike, “A&P”
§ Critical Contexts: You Decide
William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily”
§ Critical Contexts: A Historical/Feminist Approach to Miss Emily
The Act of Argument
The Writer: Evaluating Your Interpretation
The Text: Evaluating Your Analysis
The Readers: Evaluating Your Audience
POEMS
Robert Browning, “My Last Duchess”
§ Historical Contexts: The Duke’s Two Wives
Comparing Themes
Christina Rossetti, “In an Artist’s Studio”
Marge Piercy, “Barbie Doll”
§ Historical Contexts: Comparing the Themes
Thomas Hardy, “Channel Firing”
Randall Jarrell, “Death of a Ball Turret Gunner”
§ Historical and Literary Contexts: The Literature of War
T. S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. A. Prufrock”
§ Literary Contexts: Making Meaning of Prufrock
Arguing an Interpretation
Using Visual Techniques to Discover Ideas
Clustering
Jot Listing
Shaping a Persuasive Thesis
Exercises
Writing to Advance the Thesis
Support Your Interpretation through Analysis
Support Your Argument by Addressing Counter-Arguments
Revising with Your Audience in Mind
Write the Introduction and Conclusion
Strengthen Weaker Paragraphs
Arrange Your Paragraphs
Decide Where to Handle Other Interpretations
Editing and Proofreading Your Argument
Sample Student Paper: Erin Christian, Effects of the Social Environment on
Emily Grierson in “A Rose for Emily”
6 Families and Their Characters: Comparing Works of Literature
STORIES
Flannery O’Connor, “Everything that Rises Must Converge”
§ Literary Contexts: Regionalism and the Grotesque
Comparing Themes: Identity
Alice Walker, “Everyday Use”
Amy Tan, “Two Kinds”
§ Critical Contexts: Assimilation versus Acculturation
The Act of Comparison
Choosing Two Texts to Compare
Charting Similarities and Differences
Analyzing and Interpreting the Comparisons
POEMS
Comparing Themes: Growing
Rita Dove, “Adolescence I” and “Adolescence III”
Comparing Themes: Fathers
Judith Cofer, “Common Ground”
Robert Hayden, “Those Winter Sundays”
Lucille Clifton, “forgiving my father”
Sylvia Plath, “Daddy”
Theodore Roethke, “My Papa’s Waltz”
Writing a Comparison and Contrast Essay
Discovering Similarities and Differences
Focusing on What Is Revealed
Shaping a Thesis
A Thesis Focused on Similarities
A Thesis Focused on Differences
Writing to Advance the Thesis
Revising for Coherence
Editing and Proofreading
Integrating Text from a Reading into Your Writing
Summary
Paraphrase
Direct Quotation
Student Sample: Stephanie Roberts, Structure and Style in Lucille Clifton’s
“forgiving my father” and Plath’s “Daddy”: Renaming and Reclaiming
7 Oppression and Social Change: Using Critical Tools for Analytical Arguments
STORIES
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “Yellow Wallpaper”
Critical Contexts: Feminist Criticism
Jamaica Kincaid, “Girl”
Ursula LeGuin “The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas”
The Act of Seeing Through a Critical Perspective
POEMS
Comparing Themes
Anne Bradstreet, “The Author to Her Book”
Langston Hughes, “Theme for English B”
Wole Soyinka, “Telephone Conversation”
Julio Marzan “Ethnic Poetry”
PLAYS
Susan Glaspell, Trifles
Writing an Analytical Argument from a Critical Perspective
Considering Different Critical Perspectives
Rereading the Work in Light of the Perspective
Shaping a Thesis: Establishing the Critical Context
Writing to Advance the Thesis
Integrating and Citing Source Material
Revising, Editing, and Proofreading
Sample Student Paper: Stephanie Roberts, Policing Domesticity: Cultural Surveillance in Susan Glaspell’s Trifles
Part III Experiencing Contemporary Literature
8 Laughing Out Loud: Getting to Know Comic Literature
From Someone Who Knows: Dave Barry on Being Funny
Bryan Curtis, "On Dave Barry: Elegy for the Humorist"
A Genre You Know: Stand-Up Comedy
A Genre You Might Like to Know: Comic Essays
David Sedaris, “The Drama Bug”
Sarah Vowell, "Shooting Dad"
Knowing Where We Came From: Comedy in the Theatre
§ Want to Know More? The Language of Comedy
Writing About Your Experience with Literature
9 Viewing Words and Reading Pictures: Getting to Know Graphic Novels
From Someone Who Knows: Scott McCloud on Understanding Comics
Excerpt from Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics
§ Want to Know More? Graphic Novels versus Literature
A Genre You Know: Comic Strips
Charles Schulz, Snoopy
Aaron McGruder, The Boondocks
A Genre You Might Like to Know: The Superhero Graphic Novel
Excerpt from Alan Moore and David Lloyd, V for Vendetta
Another Kind of Graphic Novel: A Memoir
Excerpt from Art Speigelman, Maus: A Survivor’s Tale
Knowing Where We Come From: The Evolution of Comics
Writing About Your Experience with Literature
10 Thrilled and Chilled: Getting to Know Horror in Literature
From Someone Who Knows: Stephen King on Horror
Stephen King, "Why We Crave Horror Stories"
A Genre You Know: Stephen King stories
A Horror Story You Might Like: A Real-Life Devil
Joyce Carol Oates, “Where are you going, where have you been?”
§ Want to Know More? Source Material for Oates' Story
Excerpt from Don Moser, “The Pied Piper of Tuscon”
Bob Dylan, “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”
Knowing Where We Come From: Edgar Allan Poe
Writing About Your Experience with Literature
11 Listening to Music: Experiencing Stories in Rhythm
From Someone Who Knows: Paul Simon on Songwriting
Richard Harrington, "Music, Lyrics in Their Best Order"
A Genre You Know: Songs
The Zombies, “A Rose for Emily”
Fiona Apple, “Sleep to Dream”
The Magnetic Fields, “ I Don’t Want to Get Over You”
Arctic Monkeys, “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor”
The Decemberists, “The Crane Wife 1 and 2”
A Genre You Might Like to Know: Spoken-Word Poetry
Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz, “Lit”
Vince Cavasin, “I have not gone marking (with apologies to Pablo
Neruda)”
Debora Marsh, “Unbreakable Glass--a poem for my daughter”
Scott Woods, “I, Nightmare”
Knowing Where We Come From: Oral Literature
Writing About Your Experience with Literature
Songs with Literary References: A Selective List
12 Exploring the Alternative: Getting to Know Experimental Literature
From Someone Who Knows: Claes Oldenburg on Experimental Art
An Experimental Artist You Know: Eve Ensler, dramatist
Experimental Artists You Might Like to Know: Lydia Davis and Chris Bachelder
Lydia Davis, “Boring Friends,” “A Mown Lawn,” “Interesting,” and
“The Old Dictionary”
Chris Bachelder, “Blue Knights Bounced from CVD Tourney,” “My
Beard Reviewed,” and "Notes Toward the Lay Report on the Joy Debt"
Knowing Where We Come From: The Experimental Poetry of Gertrude Stein
§ Want to Know More? A Suggested Reading List of Experimental Writers
Writing About Your Experience with Literature
Part IV Research for Writing
13 Developing a Topic and Stating a Thesis
Choosing a Text
Read. Re-read. Read again.
Posing a Research Question
Answering Your Question with a Tentative Thesis
Conducting Preliminary Research
Assignment: Drafting a Proposal
Sample Student Writing: A Research Proposal by Erin Christian
14 Finding and Evaluating Sources
Considering Research Sources
Beginning Your Research and Developing Search Terms
Interlibrary Loan
Locating Background Information
Locating Literary Criticism
Locating Historical and Cultural Works
Evaluating Sources
Ask the Expert!
Taking Good Notes
The Reading/Research Dialectic
A Tentative Timeline: 10 Steps to a Successful Research Project
Assignment: Writing an Annotated Bibliography
Sample Student Writing: An Annotated Bibliography by Erin Christian
15 Understanding Critical Perspectives
Reading the Critics
A Quick Look Back at Schools of Critical Thought
A Critical Casebook on Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art”
Reading 1: Excerpt from Joanne Fiet Diehl, Women Poets and the American Sublime
Reading 2: Excerpt from Elizabeth Dodd, The Veiled Mirror and the Woman Poet
Reading 3: Excerpt from Susan McCabe, ElizabethBishop: Her Poetics of Loss
Reading 4: Excerpt from Anne Colwell, “Geography III: The Art of Losing”
A Critical Casebook on Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson”
Reading 1: Jerome Cartwright, “Bambara’s 'The Lesson'”
Reading 2: Excerpt from Janet Carey Eldred, “Narratives of Socialization:
Literacy in the Short Story"
Reading 3: Excerpt from Janet Ruth Heller, “Toni Cade Bambara’s Use of
African American Vernacular English in ‘The Lesson’”
A Critical Casebook on Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie
Reading 1: Tennessee Williams, “How to Stage The Glass Menagerie”
Reading 2: Excerpt from Lewis Nichols, Review
Reading 3: Excerpt from Nancy M. Tischler, Student Companion to
Tennessee Williams
Reading 4: Excerpt from C.W.E. Bigsby, “Entering The Glass
Menagerie”
Reading 5: Excerpt from Judith J. Thompson, TennesseeWilliams’ Plays
16 Integrating Primary and Secondary Sources
Some Organizing Principles
Drafting Body Paragraphs
Verb Tenses in Writing about Literature
Integrating Sources
Summary
Paraphrase
Direct Quotation
Quotations that become part of your sentence
Quoting larger amounts of text (block quotations)
Common Knowledge
Avoiding Plagiarism
Sample Student Writing: Erin Christian, On Loss in Elizabeth Bishop's
"One Art"
17 Using the MLA Style of Documentation
Preparing to Cite Sources
Using the Modern Language Association (MLA) Style
Citations in the Paper
Works Cited at the End of the Paper
Books and Material from Books
Articles from Print Periodicals
Electronic and Online Sources
Other Media
Glossary of Literary Terms
Student Biographies
Credits
Index
Dr. Elizabeth Howells is the director of composition at Atlantic Armstrong State University and is a dedicated and successful classroom teacher at an “average” university with an “average” student population. The course proposed and textbook outlined here has been tested in her classroom and in the classrooms of various of her colleagues for over ten years at the college level. Her work as a site director with the National Writing Project has also provided her opportunities to work with teachers and students at diverse levels. Her Ph.D. training as a literature student and a compositionist influences her teaching and scholarship. This textbook unites her teaching, research, and personal and professional selves.
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