Table of Contents
Preface*1. INTRODUCTION TO READING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE*Why Read Literature?*Why Write about Literature?*What to Expect in a Literature Class*Literature and Enjoyment2. THE ROLE OF GOOD READINGThe Value of RereadingCritical ReadingThe Myth of "Hidden Meaning"Active ReadingAnnotating*EMILY DICKINSON, "Because I could not stop for Death" (Annotated Poem)Notetaking, Journal Keeping, Using Reference Materials, Asking Critical Questions of Literature Questions about the Text, BEN JONSON, "On My First Son" (Annotated Poem)Questions about the AuthorQuestions about the Cultural ContextQuestions about the ReaderChecklist for Good Reading3. THE WRITING PROCESS *PrewritingChoosing a TopicDeveloping an ArgumentThe Thesis, Gathering Support for Your Thesis Organizing Your Paper*Drafting the PaperIntroductions, Conclusions, and TransitionsIntroductionsConclusionsTransitionsRevising and Editing*Global Revision*Global Revision Checklist*Local Revision*Local Revision ChecklistFinal Editing and ProofreadingFinal Editing ChecklistPeer Editing and WorkshopsTips for Writing about LiteratureUsing Quotations EffectivelyAdding to or Altering a QuotationOmitting Words from a QuotationQuotations within QuotationsQuotation Marks with Other PunctuationQuoting from Stories*Short Quotations*Long QuotationsQuoting from Poems*Short Quotations*Long QuotationsQuoting from Plays*Short Single-Speaker Passages*Longer of More Complex Passages*Verse DramaTips for QuotingManuscript Form4. COMMON WRITING ASSIGNMENTS Summary *Response*JAMAICA KINCAID, "Girl" *TOM LYONS, "A Boy's View of 'Girl'"ExplicationROBERT HERRICK, "Upon Julia's Clothes" JESSICA BARNES, "Poetry in Motion: Herrick's 'Upon Julia's Clothes'"AnalysisROBERT BROWNING, "My Last Duchess" ADAM WALKER, "Possessed by the Need for Possession: Browning's 'My Last Duchess'" Comparison and Contrast CHRISTINA ROSSETTI, "After Death" TODD BOWEN, "Speakers for the Dead: Narrators in 'My Last Duchess' and 'After Death'" Essay Exams *WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Sonnet 73 *ROBERT HERRICK, "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" *Midterm Essay5. WRITING ABOUT STORIES Elements of Fiction PlotCharactersPoint of ViewSettingThemeSymbolismStyleStories for Analysis KATE CHOPIN, "The Story of an Hour" (Annotated Story)CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN, "The Yellow Wallpaper"Questions on the StoriesSample Paper: An Essay That Compares and Contrasts MELANIE SMITH, "Good Husbands in Bad Marriages" 6. WRITING ABOUT POEMS Elements of Poetry The Speaker The ListenerImagery Sound and Sense*Rhyme*Assonance and Consonance*Meter*Form*Stanzas*LineationTwo Poems for Analysis WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, "Sonnet 116" (Annotated Poem)Questions on the Poem, *T.S. ELIOT, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (Annotated Poem)*Questions on the PoemSample Paper: An Explication PATRICK MCCORKLE, "Shakespeare Defines Love" 7. WRITING ABOUT PLAYS Elements of Drama *Plot, Character, and Theme*Diction*Melody and Spectacle*Setting*How to Read a Play*Director's Questions for Play AnalysisA Play for Analysis SUSAN GLASPELL, TriflesQuestions about the Play Sample Paper: An Analysis SARAH JOHNSON, "Moral Ambiguity and Character Development in Trifles" 8. WRITING A LITERARY RESEARCH PAPER Finding Sources Online IndexesPeriodicalsBooksInterlibrary LoanThe InternetEvaluating Sources Working with Sources Quoting,Paraphrasing and SummarizingCommentingKeeping Track of Your SourcesWriting the Paper Refining Your ThesisOrganizing Your Evidence Starting Your DraftRevisingEditing and ProofreadingUnderstanding and Avoiding Plagiarism What to Document and What Not to Document Documenting Sources: MLA Format In-Text CitationsPreparing Your Works Cited List*General Guidelines on Preparing a Works Cited PageSample Research PaperJARRAD S. NUNES, "Emily Dickinson's 'Because I could not stop for Death': Challenging Readers' Expectations" 9. LITERARY CRITICISM AND LITERARY THEORY Formalism and New Criticism Feminist and Gender Criticism *Queer TheoryMarxist Criticism Cultural Studies *Postcolonial CriticismHistorical Criticism and New Historicism Psychological Theories Reader-Response Theories Structuralism Poststructuralism and Deconstruction Index of Terms