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The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature
Twelfth EditionMichael Meyer; D. Quentin Miller
©2020ISBN:9781319261290
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This book will help you read, understand, and write about great literature.
Wherever you are in your reading life, The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature will challenge and empower you to do more with your critical thinking and writing. As you read the wide variety of stories, poems, and plays in this book, confront and engage with the big questions and themes these works exploreâon your own, in class, and in your coursework. Examine the literary elements at work. Youâll find that your writing will improve and growâand youâll carry those skills with you in your other classes and beyond.
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Learn MoreTable of Contents
Contents
Resources for Reading and Writing about Literature
Preface for Instructors
Introduction
The Nature of Literature
Emily Dickinson, âA narrow Fellow in the Grassâ
The Value of Literature
The Changing Literary Canon
Fiction
The Elements of Fiction
1. Reading Fiction
Reading Fiction Responsively
Kate Chopin, âThe Story of an Hourâ
A Sample Close Reading: Annotated Section of âThe Story of an Hourâ
A Sample Paper: Differences in Responses to Kate Chopinâs âThe Story of an Hourâ
Explorations and Formulas
A Comparison of Two Stories
*Grace Paley, âWantsâ
*Judith Ortiz Cofer, âVolarâ
2. Plot
*T.C. Boyle, âThe Hit Manâ
Alice Walker, âThe Flowersâ
William Faulkner, âA Rose for Emilyâ
PERSPECTIVE: William Faulkner, On âA Rose for Emilyâ
A SAMPLE CLOSE READING: An Annotated Section of âA Rose for Emilyâ
A SAMPLE STUDENT RESPONSE: Conflict in the Plot of William Faulknerâs âA Rose for Emilyâ
Andre Dubus, âKillingsâ
A.L. Bader, âNothing Happens in Modern Short Storiesâ
3. Character
*Tobias Wolff, âPowderâ
Jamaica Kincaid, âGirlâ
Xu Xi, âFamineâ
*James Baldwin, âSonnyâs Bluesâ
4. Setting
Ernest Hemingway, âSoldierâs Homeâ
PERSPECTIVE: Ernest Hemingway, âOn What Every Writer Needsâ
*Ursula LeGuin, âThe Ones Who Walk Away from Omelasâ
*Charlotte Perkins Gilman, âThe Yellow Wallpaperâ
5. Point of View
Third-Person and First-Person Narrators
John Updike, âA & Pâ
*Manuel MuĂąoz, âZigzaggerâ
Maggie Mitchell, âIt Would Be Different Ifâ
6. Symbolism
*Louise Erdrich, âThe Red Convertibleâ
*Ralph Ellison, âKing of the Bingo Gameâ
*Cynthia Ozick, âThe Shawlâ
A SAMPLE STUDENT RESPONSE: On Cynthia Ozickâs âThe Shawlâ
*Ann Beattie, âJanusâ
7. Theme
*Shirley Jackson, âThe Lotteryâ
Katherine Mansfield, âMiss Brillâ
*Zora Neale Hurston, âSweatâ
8. Style, Tone, and Irony
Style
Tone
Irony
Raymond Carver, âPopular Mechanicsâ
PERSPECTIVE: John Barth, âOn Minimalist Fictionâ
A SAMPLE STUDENT RESPONSE: The Minimalist Style of Raymond Carverâs âPopular Mechanicsâ
Susan Minot, âLustâ
*Jim Shepard, âReach for the Skyâ
Approaches to Fiction
9. A Study of Nathaniel Hawthorne
A Brief Biography and Introduction
Nathaniel Hawthorne, *âThe Ministerâs Black Veilâ
âYoung Goodman Brownâ
âThe Birthmarkâ
PERSPECTIVES
Nathaniel Hawthorne, âOn Solitudeâ
âOn the Power of the Writerâs
Imaginationâ
âOn His Short Storiesâ
Herman Melville, âOn Nathaniel Hawthorneâs Tragic Visionâ
Gaylord Brewer, âThe Joys of Secret Sinâ
10. A Study of Flannery OâConnor
A Brief Biography and Introduction
Flannery OâConnor, âA Good Man is Hard to Findâ
âGood Country Peopleâ
âRevelationâ
PERSPECTIVES
Flannery OâConnor, âOn the Use of Exaggeration and Distortionâ
Josephine Hendin, âOn OâConnorâs Refusal to âDo Prettyââ
Claire Katz, âThe Function of Violence in OâConnorâs Fictionâ
Edward Kessler, âOn OâConnorâs Use of Historyâ
TIME Magazine, âOn A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Storiesâ
11. A Cultural Case Study: James Joyceâs âEvelineâ
A Brief Biography and Introduction
James Joyce, âEvelineâ
DOCUMENTS
The Alliance Temperance Almanack, âOn the Resources of Irelandâ
Bridget Burke, âA Letter Home From an Irish Emigrantâ
-- âA Plot Synopsis of The Bohemian Girlâ
12. A Study of Dagoberto Gilb: The Author Reflects on Three Stories
Introduction
A Brief Biography
Dagoberto Gilb, âHow Books Bounceâ (Introduction)
Dagoberto Gilb, âLove in L.A.â (Story)
Dagoberto Gilb, âOn Writing âLove in L.A.ââ (Essay)
Dagoberto Gilb, âShoutâ (Story)
Dagoberto Gilb, âOn Writing âShoutââ (Essay)
Dagoberto Gilb, âUncle Rockâ (Story)
Dagoberto Gilb, âOn Writing âUncle Rockââ (Essay)
PERSPECTIVES
Dagoberto Gilb, âOn Physical Laborâ
âOn Distortions of Mexican American Cultureâ
âMichael Meyer Interviews Dagoberto Gilbâ
FACSIMILES: Dagoberto Gilb, Two Draft Manuscript Pages
13. Thematic Case Study: War and Its Aftermath
Tim OâBrien, âHow to Tell a True War Storyâ
*Kurt Vonnegut, âHappy Birthday, 1951â
*Edwidge Danticat, âThe Missing Peaceâ
14. Thematic Case Study: Humor and Satire
Annie Proulx, â55 Miles to the Gas Pumpâ
*George Saunders, âI Can Speak â˘â
Ron Hansen, âMy Kidâs Dogâ
Mark Twain, âThe Story of the Good Little Boyâ
15. Thematic Case Study: Privacy
*Oscar Wilde, âThe Sphinx Without a Secretâ
*David Long, âMorphineâ
*ZZ Packer, âDrinking Coffee Elsewhereâ
*John Cheever, âThe Enormous Radioâ
16. Stories For Further Reading
*Washington Irving, âRip Van Winkleâ
*Jhumpa Lahiri, âSexyâ
*Alecia McKenzie, âPrivate Schoolâ
*Joyce Carol Oates, âTickâ
Edgar Allan Poe, âThe Cask of Amontilladoâ
*Carol Shields, âMrs. Turner Cutting the Grassâ
*John Edgar Wideman, âAll Stories are Trueâ
Poetry
The Elements of Poetry
17. Reading Poetry
Reading Poetry Responsively
Lisa Parker, âSnapping Beansâ
Robert Hayden, âThose Winter Sundaysâ
John Updike, âDogâs Deathâ
The Pleasure of Words
*Gregory Corso: âI am 25â
Robert Francis, âCatchâ
A SAMPLE STUDENT ANALYSIS: Tossing Metaphors in Robert Francisâs âCatchâ
Philip Larkin, âA Study of Reading Habitsâ
Robert Morgan, âMountain Graveyardâ
e.e. Cummings, âl(aâ
Anonymous, âWestern Windâ
Regina Barreca, âNighttime Firesâ
Poetic Definitions of Poetry
*Marianne Moore, âPoetryâ
Billy Collins, âIntroduction to Poetryâ
Ruth Forman, âPoetry Should Ride the Busâ
*Charles Bukowski, âA Poem is a Cityâ
Recurrent Poetic Figures: Five Ways of Looking at Roses
Robert Burns, âA Red, Red Roseâ
Edmund Waller, âGo, Lovely Roseâ
*William Blake, âThe Sick Roseâ
*Dorothy Parker, âOne Perfect Roseâ
*H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), âSea Roseâ
Poems for Further Study
Mary Oliver, âThe Poet with His Face in His Handsâ
Jim Tilley, âThe Big Questionsâ
Alberto RĂos, âSeniorsâ
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, âThe Eagleâ
Edgar Allan Poe, âSonnet â To Scienceâ
Cornelius Eady, âThe Supremesâ
Encountering Poetry: Images of Poetry in Popular Culture
Dorothy Parker, âUnfortunate Coincidenceâ (Poster)
Carl Sandberg, âWindowâ (Photo)
Roz Chast, âThe Love Song of J. Alfred Crewâ (Cartoon)
Tim Taylor, âI Shake the Delicate Apparatusâ (Photo)
Eric Dunn and Mike Wigton, âNational Poetry Slamâ (Poster)
Kevin Fleming, 560 (Photo)
Ted Kooser, âAmerican Life in Poetryâ (Web Screen)
Michael McFee, âSpitwadsâ (Poem in Newspaper)
18. Word Choice, Word Order, and Tone
Word choice
Diction
Denotations and Connotations
Randall Jarrell, âThe Death of the Ball Turret Gunnerâ
Word Order
Tone
Marilyn Nelson, âHow I Discovered Poetryâ
Katharyn Howd Machan, âHazel Tells LaVerneâ
A SAMPLE STUDENT RESPONSE: Tone in Katharyn Howd Machanâs âHazel Tells Laverneâ
Martin Espada, âLatin Night at the Pawnshopâ
*Jonathan Swift, âThe Character of Sir Robert Walpoleâ
Diction and Tone in Four Love Poems
Robert Herrick, âTo the Virgins, To Make Much of Timeâ
Andrew Marvell, âTo His Coy Mistressâ
Ann Lauinger, âMarvell Noirâ
Poems for Further Study
Walt Whitman, âThe Dalliance of the Eaglesâ
*Kwame Dawes, âHistory Lesson at Eight a.m.â
Cathy Song, âThe Youngest Daughterâ
John Keats, âOde on a Grecian Urnâ
Alice Jones, âThe Lungsâ
Louis Simpson, âIn the Suburbsâ
A Note on Reading Translations
Three Translations of a Poem by Sappho
Sappho, âImmortal Aphrodite of the Broidered Throneâ (trans. Henry T. Wharton)
Sappho, âBeautiful-Throned, Immortal Aphroditeâ (trans. Thomas Wentworth Higgins)
Sappho, âPray to My Lady of Paphosâ (trans. Mary Barnard)
19. Images
Poetryâs Appeal to the Senses
William Carlos Williams, âPoemâ
Walt Whitman, âCavalry Crossing a Fordâ
David Solway, âWindsurfingâ
Matthew Arnold, âDover Beachâ
Poems for Further Study
Adelaide Crapsey, âNovember Nightâ
Ruth Fainlight, âCrocusesâ
Mary Robinson, âLondonâs Summer Morningâ
William Blake, âLondonâ
A SAMPLE STUDENT RESPONSE: Imagery in William Blakeâs âLondonâ and Mary Robinsonâs âLondonâs Summer Morningâ
*Kwame Dawes, âThe Habits of Loveâ
Charles Simic, âForkâ
Sally Croft, âHome-Baked Breadâ
*John Keats, âTo Autumnâ
PERSPECTIVE: T. E. Hulme, âOn the Differences between Poetry and Proseâ
20. Figures of Speech
William Shakespeare, From Macbeth
Simile and Metaphor
Langston Hughes, âHarlemâ
*Jane Kenyon, âThe Socksâ
Anne Bradstreet, âThe Author to her Bookâ
Other Figures
Edmund Conti, âPragmatistâ
Dylan Thomas, âThe Hand that Signed the Paperâ
Janice Townley Moore, âTo a Waspâ
Tajana Kovics, âText Messageâ
Poems for Further Study
William Carlos Williams, âTo Waken an Old Ladyâ
Ernest Slyman, âLightning Bugsâ
Martin Espada, âThe Mexican Cabdriverâs Poem for his Wife, Who Has Left Himâ
Judy Page Heitzman, âThe Schoolroom on the Second Floor of the Knitting Millâ
*Robert Pinsky, âIciclesâ
Jim Stevens, âSchizophreniaâ
Lucille Clifton, âCome Home from the Moviesâ
Kay Ryan, âLearningâ
Ronald Wallace, âBuilding an Outhouseâ
Elaine Magarrell, âThe Joy of Cookingâ
PERSPECTIVE: John R. Searle, âFiguring Out Metaphorsâ
21. Symbol, Allegory, and Irony
Symbol
Robert Frost, âAcquainted With the Nightâ
Allegory
*James Baldwin, âGuilt, Desire, and Loveâ
Irony
Edwin Arlington Robinson, âRichard Coryâ
A SAMPLE STUDENT RESPONSE: Irony in Edwin Arlington Robinsonâs âRichard Coryâ
Kenneth Fearing, âAdâ
e.e. cummings, âNext To Of Course God America Iâ
Stephen Crane, âA Man Said to the Universeâ
Poems for Further Study
*Christina Rossetti, âGoblin Marketâ
*Jane Kenyon, âThe Thimbleâ
Kevin Pierce, âProof of Originâ
Carl Sandburg, âA Fenceâ
Julio MarzĂĄn, âEthnic Poetryâ
Mark Halliday, âGraded Paperâ
Robert Browning, âMy Last Duchessâ
William Blake, âA Poison Treeâ
PERSPECTIVE: Ezra Pound, âOn Symbolsâ
22. Sounds
Listening to Poetry
Anonymous, âScarborough Fairâ
John Updike, âPlayer Pianoâ
Emily Dickinson, âA Bird Came Down the Walk ââ
A SAMPLE STUDENT RESPONSE: Sound in Emily Dickinsonâs âA Bird came down to walkââ
Rhyme
Richard Armour, âGoing to Extremesâ
Robert Southey, from âThe Cataract of Lodoreâ
PERSPECTIVE: David Lenson, âOn the Contemporary Use of Rhymeâ
Sound and Meaning
Gerard Manley Hopkins, âGodâs Grandeurâ
Poems for Further Study
Lewis Carroll, âJabberwockyâ
William Heyen, âThe Trainsâ
*Alfred, Lord Tennyson, âBreak, Break, Breakâ
John Donne, âSongâ
Kay Ryan, âDewâ
Andrew Hudgins, âThe Ice-Cream Truckâ
Robert Francis, âThe Pitcherâ
Helen Chasin, âThe Word Plumâ
Richard Wakefield, âThe Bell Ropeâ
Jean Toomer, âUnsuspectingâ
John Keats, âOde to a Nightingaleâ
Howard Nemerov, âBecause You Asked About the Line Between Prose and Poetryâ
*Major Jackson, âAutumn Landscapeâ
23. Patterns of Rhythm
Some Principles of Meter
Walt Whitman, from âSong of the Open Roadâ
William Wordsworth, âMy Heart Leaps Upâ
Suggestions for Scanning a Poem
Timothy Steele, âWaiting for the Stormâ
A SAMPLE STUDENT RESPONSE: The Rhythm of Anticipation in Timothy Steeleâs âWaiting for the Stormâ
William Butler Yeats, âThat the Night Comeâ
Poems for Further Study
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, âMnemonicâ
John Maloney, âGood!â
Alice Jones, âThe Footâ
A.E. Housman, âWhen I was One-and-Twentyâ
Robert Herrick, âDelight in Disorderâ
Ben Jonson, âStill to Be Neatâ
e.e. cummings, âO Sweet Spontaneousâ
William Blake, âThe Lambâ
William Blake, âThe Tygerâ
Carl Sandburg, âChicagoâ
PERSPECTIVE: Louise Bogan, âOn Formal Poetryâ
24. Poetic Forms
Some Common Poetic Forms
A.E. Housman, âLoveliest of Trees, the Cherry Nowâ
Robert Herrick, âUpon Juliaâs Clothesâ
Sonnet
John Keats, âOn First Looking Into Chapmanâs Homerâ
William Wordsworth, âThe World Is Too Much With Usâ
William Shakespeare, âShall I Compare Thee to a Summerâs Day?â
William Shakespeare, âMy Mistressâ Eyes are Nothing Like the Sunâ
*Edna St. Vincent Millay, âI Will Put Chaos Into Fourteen Linesâ
*Mark Jarman, âUnholy Sonnetâ
R.S. Gwynn, âShakespearean Sonnetâ
Villanelle
Dylan Thomas, âDo Not Go Gentle Into That Good Nightâ
Edwin Arlington Robinson, âThe House on the Hillâ
Sestina
Algernon Charles Swinburne, âSestinaâ
Florence Cassen Mayers, âAll-American Sestinaâ
*Julia Alvarez, âBilingual Sestinaâ
Epigram
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, âWhat Is an Epigram?â
David McCord, âEpitaph on a Waiterâ
Paul Laurence Dunbar, âTheologyâ
Limerick
Arthur Henry Reginald Buller, âThere was a Young Lady Named Brightâ
Laurence Perrine, âThe Limerickâs Never Averseâ
Haiku
Matsuo Basho, âUnder Cherry Treesâ
Carolyn Kizer, âAfter Bashoâ
Amy Lowell, âLast Night It Rainedâ
Gary Snyder, âA Dent in a Bucketâ
Ghazal
*Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib, âGhazal 4â
*Patricia Smith, âHip Hop Ghazalâ
Elegy
Ben Jonson, âOn My First Sonâ
*Thomas Gray, âElegy Written in a Country Churchyardâ
*Kate Hanson Foster, âElegy of Colorâ
Ode
Alexander Pope, âOde on Solitudeâ
Parody
Blanche Farley, âThe Lover Not Takenâ
Gwendolyn Brooks, âWe Real Coolâ
Joan Murray, âWe Old Dudesâ
Picture Poem
Michael McFee, âIn Medias Resâ
PERSPECTIVE: Elaine Mitchell, âFormâ
25. Open Form
Walt Whitman, from âI Sing the Body Electricâ
PERSPECTIVE: Walt Whitman, âOn Rhyme and Meterâ
A SAMPLE STUDENT RESPONSE: The Power of Walt Whitmanâs Open Form Poem âI Sing the Body Electricâ
David Shumate, âShooting the Horseâ
*Reginald Shepherd, âSelf Portrait Surviving Springâ
*Major Jackson, âThe Chaseâ
Michael Ryan, âIâ
e.e. cummings, âOld Age Sticksâ
Natasha Trethewey, âOn Captivityâ
Julio MarzĂĄn, âThe Translator at the Reception for Latin American Writersâ
Charles Harper Webb, âDescentâ
Kevin Young, âEddie Priestâs Barbershop and Notaryâ
Anonymous, âThe Frogâ
David Hernandez, âAll-Americanâ
FOUND POEM
Donald Justice, âOrder in the Streetsâ
Approaches to Poetry
26. Emily Dickinson
A Brief Biography
An Introduction to Her Work
Emily Dickinson, âIf I can Stop One Heart from Breakingâ
âIf I Shouldnât Be Aliveâ
âThe Thought Beneath So Slight a Filmâ
âTo Make a Prairie It Takes a Clover and One Beeâ
âSuccess is Counted Sweetestâ
âWater, is Taught by Thirstâ
âPapa Above!â
âSafe in Their Alabaster Chambersâ (1859 version)
âSafe in Their Alabaster Chambersâ (1861 version)
âPortraits Are to Daily Facesâ
âSome Keep the Sabbath Going to Churchâ
âI Taste a Liquor Never Brewedâ
ââHeavenâ Is What I Cannot Reachâ
âI Like a Look of Agonyâ
âWild Nights â Wild Nights!â
âThe Soul Selects Her Own Societyâ
âMuch Madness Is Divinest Senseâ
âI Dwell In Possibilityâ
âI Heard a Fly Buzz â When I Diedâ
âBecause I Could Not Stop for Deathâ
âThe Bustle in the Houseâ
âTell All the Truth But Tell It Slantâ
âOh Sumptuous Momentâ
âA Route of Evanescenceâ
âFrom All the Jails the Boys and Girlsâ
PERSPECTIVES ON EMILY DICKINSON
Emily Dickinson, âA Description of Herselfâ
Thomas Wentworth Higgonson, âOn Meeting Dickinson for the First Timeâ
Mabel Loomis Todd, âThe Character of Amherstâ
Richard Wilbur, On Dickinsonâs Sense of Privationâ
Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar, âOn Dickinsonâs White Dressâ
Paula Bennett, âOn âI heard a Fly buzzâwhen I diedâââ
Martha Nell Smith, âOn âBecause I could not stop for Deathââ
A Sample In-Depth Study
Emily Dickinson, ââFaithâ is a fine inventionâ
âI know that He existsâ
âI never saw a Moorâ
âApparently with no surpriseâ
A SAMPLE STUDENT PAPER: Religious Faith in Four Poems by Emily Dickinson
SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR LONGER PAPERS
27. Robert Frost
A Brief Biography
An Introduction to His Work
Robert Frost, âThe Road Not Takenâ
âThe Pastureâ
âMowingâ
âMending Wallâ
âBirchesâ
âOut, Outâ
âFire and Iceâ
âDust of Snowâ
âStopping By Woods on a Snowy Eveningâ
âThe Need of Being Versed in Country Thingsâ
âNothing Gold Can Stayâ
âOnce by the Pacificâ
âNeither Out Far Nor In Deepâ
âDesignâ
*âDesert Placesâ
âThe Gift Outrightâ
PERSPECTIVES ON ROBERT FROST
Robert Frost, ââIn Whiteâ: An Early Version of âDesignââ
Robert Frost, âOn Living Part of a Poemâ
Amy Lowell, âOn Frostâs Realistic Techniqueâ
Herbert R. Coursen Jr. âA Parodic Interpretation of âStopping by Woods on a Snowy Eveningââ
SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR LONGER PAPERS
28. A Study of Billy Collins: The Author Reflects on Five Poems
A Brief Biography and Introduction to His Work
Billy Collins, âHow Do Poems Travel?â (Introduction)
Billy Collins, âOsso Bucoâ (Poem)
Billy Collins, âOn Writing âOsso Bucoââ (Essay)
Billy Collins, âNostalgiaâ (Poem)
Billy Collins, âOn Writing âNostalgiaââ (Essay)
Billy Collins, âQuestions About Angelsâ (Poem)
Billy Collins, âOn Writing âQuestions About Angelsââ (Essay)
Billy Collins, âLitanyâ (Poem)
Billy Collins, âOn Writing âLitanyââ (Essay)
Billy Collins, âBuilding With Its Face Blown Offâ (Poem)
PERSPECTIVE: Billy Collins, âOn âBuilding with Its Face Blown Offâ: Michael Meyer Interviews Billy Collinsâ
FACSIMILES: Billy Collins, Three Draft Manuscript Pages
29. A Study of Julia Alvarez: The Author Reflects on Five Poems
A Brief Biography and Introduction to Her Work
Julia Alvarez, âQueens, 1963â (Poem)
Julia Alvarez, âOn Writing âQueens, 1963ââ (Essay)
Julia Alvarez, âHousekeeping Cagesâ (Poem)
Julia Alvarez, âOn Writing âHousekeeping Cagesâ and Her Housekeeping Poemsâ (Essay)
Julia Alvarez, âDustingâ (Poem)
Julia Alvarez, âOn Writing âDustingââ (Essay)
Julia Alvarez, âIroning Their Clothesâ (Poem)
Julia Alvarez, âOn Writing âIroning Their Clothesââ (Essay)
Julia Alvarez, âSometimes the Words Are So Closeâ (Poem)
Julia Alvarez, âOn Writing âSometimes the Words Are So Closeââ (Essay) FACSIMILES: Julia Alvarez, Four Manuscript Pages: âSometimes the Words Are So Closeâ
PERSPECTIVES:
Marny Requa, âFrom an Interview with Julia Alvarezâ
Kelli Lyon Johnson, âMapping an Identityâ
30. A Cultural Case Study: The Harlem Renaissance
Claude McKay
âThe Harlem Dancerâ
âIf We Must Dieâ
âThe Tropics in New Yorkâ
âThe Lynchingâ
âAmericaâ
âThe White Cityâ
âThe Barrierâ
Georgia Douglas Johnson
âYouthâ
âForedoomâ
âCalling Dreamsâ
âLost Illusionsâ
âFusionâ
âPrejudiceâ
Langston Hughes
âThe Negro Speaks of Riversâ
âJazzoniaâ
*âThe Weary Bluesâ
âLenox Avenue: Midnightâ
âBallad of the Landlordâ
Countee Cullen
âYet Do I Marvelâ
âIncidentâ
*âHeritageâ
PERSPECTIVES
Karen Jackson Ford, âHughesâs Aesthetics of Simplicityâ
David Chinitz, âThe Romanticization of Africa in the 1920sâ
Alain Locke, âReview of Georgia Douglas Johnsonâs Bronze: A Book of Verseâ
Countee Cullen, âOn Racial Poetryâ
Onwuchekwa Jemie, âOn Universal Poetryâ
SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR LONGER PAPERS
Poetry and the Visual Arts
Grant Wood, âAmerican Gothicâ (Painting)
John Stone, âAmerican Gothicâ (Poem)
Kiagawa Utamaro, âGirl Powdering Her Neckâ (Woodblock Print)
Cathy Song, âGirl Powdering Her Neckâ (Poem)
Maya Lin, âThe Vietnam Veteranâs Memorialâ (Sculpture)
Yusef Komunyakaa, âFacing Itâ (Poem)
Pieter Brueghel The Elder, âTwo Chained Monkeysâ (Painting)
Wislawa Szymborska, âBrueghelâs Two Monkeysâ (Poem)
Edward Hopper, âHouse by the Railroadâ (Painting)
Edward Hirsch, âEdward Hopper and the House by the Railroadâ (Poem)
Vermeer, âThe Milkmaidâ (Painting)
Wislawa Szymborska, âVermeerâ (Poem)
31. A Case Study: Song Lyrics as Poetry
*Anonymous, âLord Randalâ
*Frederic Weatherly, âDanny Boyâ
*W.C. Handy, âBeale Street Bluesâ
*Woody Guthrie, âGypsy Davyâ
*Hank Williams, âIâm So Lonesome I Could Cryâ
*Bob Dylan, âA Hard Rainâs A-Gonna Fallâ
*Bob Dylan, âItâs Alright, Ma (Iâm Only Bleeding)â
*John Lennon and Paul McCartney, âI Am the Walrusâ
*Van Morrison, âAstral Weeksâ
*Joni Mitchell, âCold Blue Steel and Sweet Fireâ
*Bruce Springsteen, âYouâre Missingâ
*Tom Waits, âAliceâ
*Janelle Monae, âAmericansâ
32. A Thematic Case Study: The Natural World
*J. Estanislao Lopez, âMeditation on Beautyâ
Jane Hirschfield, âOptimismâ
Wendell Berry, âThe Peace of Wild Thingsâ
Gail White, âDead Armadillosâ
Dave Lucas, âNovemberâ
Walt McDonald, âComing Across Itâ
*Edna St. Vincent Millay, âSpringâ
Alden Nowlan, âThe Bull Mooseâ
Kay Ryan, âTurtleâ
*Allen Ginsburg, âSunflower Sutraâ
Mary Oliver, âWild Geeseâ
*Sylvia Plath, âPheasantâ
SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR LONGER PAPERS
33. A Thematic Case Study: The World of Work
Jan Beatty, âMy Father Teaches Me to Dreamâ
Michael Chitwood, âMen Throwing Bricksâ
*Walt Whitman, âI Hear America Singingâ
*Langston Hughes, âI, Tooâ
*Pedro Pietri, âPuerto Rican Obituaryâ
*Theodore Roethke, âDolorâ
Marge Piercy, âTo Be of Useâ
*Seamus Heaney, âDiggingâ
*Rita Dove, âDaystarâ
SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR LONGER PAPERS
34. An Anthology of Poems
*Margaret Atwood, âOwl Songâ
W.H. Auden, âThe Unknown Citizenâ
*Charles Baudelaire, âA Carrionâ
Aphra Behn, âSong: Love Armedâ
William Blake, âInfant Sorrowâ
*William Blake, âThe Mental Travellerâ
Anne Bradstreet, âBefore the Birth of One of Her Childrenâ
*Emily BrontĂŤ, âStarsâ
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, âHow Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Waysâ
*Michelle Cliff, âThe Land of Look Behindâ
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, âKubla Khan: Or, A Vision in a Dreamâ
*Gregory Corso, âMarriageâ
*Bei Dao, âNotes from the City of the Sunâ
John Donne, âBatter My Heartâ
*John Donne, âThe Fleaâ
Paul Laurence Dunbar, âSympathyâ
T.S. Eliot, âThe Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrockâ
*T.S. Eliot, âThe Hollow Menâ
*Lawrence Ferlinghetti, âConstantly Risking Absurdityâ
*Louise GlĂźck, âCelestial Musicâ
*Seamus Heaney, âPersonal Heliconâ
*Gerard Manley Hopkins, âPied Beautyâ
*Brionne Janae, âAlternative Factsâ
Ben Jonson, âTo Celiaâ
John Keats, âWhen I Have Fears That I May Cease to Beâ
John Keats, âBright Star, Would I Were Steadfast as Thou Artâ
*Philip Larkin, âSad Stepsâ
Emma Lazarus, âThe New Colossusâ
Louisa Lopez, âJunior Year Abroadâ
*Audre Lorde, âLearning to Writeâ
*Robert Lowell, âSkunk Hourâ
John Milton, âWhen I Consider How My Light Is Spentâ
*Naomi Shihab Nye, âTo Manageâ
*Edgar Allan Poe, âAnnabelle Leeâ
*Adelia Prado, âDenouementâ
Edwin Arlington Robinson, âMiniver Cheevyâ
William Shakespeare, âLet Me Not To the Marriage of True Mindsâ
William Shakespeare, âWhen, In Disgrace With Fortune and Menâs Eyesâ
Percy Bysshe Shelley, âOzymandiasâ
*Stevie Smith, âNot Waving But Drowningâ
Patricia Smith, âWhat Itâs Like To Be a Black Girl (For Those of You Who Arenât)â
*Tracy K. Smith, âSelf Portrait as the Letter Yâ
*Wallace Stevens, âThirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbirdâ
Jonathan Swift, âA Description of the Morningâ
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, âUlyssesâ
*Natasha Trethewey, âIncidentâ
*Phillis Wheatley, âTo S.M., a young African Painter, on seeing his Worksâ
Walt Whitman, âWhen I Heard the Learnâd Astronomerâ
*William Wordsworth, âI wandered lonely as a cloudâ
William Wordsworth, âThe Solitary Reaperâ
William Butler Yeats, âLeda and the Swanâ
William Butler Yeats, âThe Lake Isle of Innisfreeâ
Drama
The Study of Drama
35. Reading Drama
Reading Drama Responsively
Susan Glaspell, Trifles
A SAMPLE CLOSE READING: An Annotated Section of Trifles
PERSPECTIVE: Susan Glaspell, âFrom the Short Story Version of Triflesâ
Elements of Drama
*Lynn Nottage, âPOOF!â
36. A Study of Sophocles
Theatrical Conventions of Greek Drama
Tragedy
Sophocles, Oedipus the King (trans. by David Grene)
PERSPECTIVES ON SOPHOCLES
Aristotle, âOn Tragic Characterâ
Sigmund Freud, âOn the Oedipus Complexâ
Muriel Rukeyser, âOn Oedipus the Kingâ
David Wiles, âOn Oedipus the King as a Political Playâ
37. A Study of William Shakespeare
Shakespeareâs Theater
The Range of Shakespeareâs Drama: History, Comedy, and Tragedy
A Note on Reading Shakespeare
William Shakespeare, Othello, the Moor of Venice
PERSPECTIVES ON SHAKESPEARE
The Mayor of London (1597), âObjections to the Elizabethan Theaterâ
Lisa Jardine, âOn Boy Actors in Female Rolesâ
Samuel Johnson, âOn Shakespeareâs Charactersâ
Jane Adamson, âOn Desdemonaâs Role in Othelloâ
David Bevington, âOn Othelloâs Heroic Struggleâ
James Kincaid, âOn the Value of Comedy in the Face of Tragedyâ
SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR LONGER PAPERS
38. Modern Drama
Realism and Naturalism
Experimental Drama
Theatrical Conventions of Modern Drama
*Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest
39. A Critical Case Study: Henrik Ibsenâs A Dollâs House
Henrik Ibsen, A Dollâs House (trans. R. Farquharson Sharp)
PERSPECTIVES:
Ibsen, âNotes for A Dollâs Houseâ
-- âA Nineteenth-Century Husbandâs Letter to his Wifeâ
Barry Witham and John Lutterbie, âA Marxist Approach to A Dollâs Houseâ
Carol Strongin Tufts, âA Psychoanalytic Reading of A Dollâs Houseâ
Joan Templeton, âIs A Dollâs House a Feminist Text?â
Questions for Writing: Applying a Critical Strategy
A SAMPLE STUDENT PAPER: On the Other Side of the Slammed Door in Henrik Ibsenâs A Dollâs House
40. Contemporary Drama
*David Auburn, Proof
Beyond Realism
The Avant-Garde
Theater of the Absurd
Theater of Cruelty
Musical Theater
41. A Collection of Contemporary Plays
*Harold Pinter, The Birthday Party
*Paula Vogel, How I Learned to Drive
August Wilson, Fences
PERSPECTIVE: David Savran, âAn Interview with August Wilsonâ
Strategies for Reading and Writing
42. Critical Strategies for Reading
Critical Thinking
Formalist Strategies
Biographical Strategies
Psychological Strategies
Historical Strategies
Marxist Criticism
New Historicist Criticism
Cultural Criticism
Gender Strategies
Feminist Criticism
LGBTQ+ Criticism
Mythological Strategies
Reader-Response Strategies
Deconstructionist Strategies
43. Writing about Literature
Why Am I Being Asked to Do This?
From Reading and Discussion to Writing
Prewriting
Annotating the Text and Journal Note Taking
Choosing a Topic
More Focused Prewriting
Arguing about Literature
Writing
Writing a Draft
Textual Evidence: Using Quotations, Summarizing, and Paraphrasing
Writing the Introduction and Conclusion
Revising and Editing
Questions for Writing: A Revision ChecklistTypes of Writing Assignments
Explication
A SAMPLE STUDENT EXPLICATION: A Reading of Emily Dickinsonâs âThereâs a certain Slant of lightâ
Analysis
A SAMPLE STUDENT ANALYSIS: Memory in Elizabeth Bishopâs âMannersâ
Comparison and Contrast
A SAMPLE STUDENT COMPARISON: The Struggle for Womenâs Self-Definition in Henrik Ibsenâs A Dollâs House and James Joyceâs âEvelineâWriting about Fiction, Poetry, And Drama
Writing about Fiction
Questions for Responsive Reading and Writing about Fiction
A SAMPLE STUDENT ESSAY: John Updikeâs A & P as a State of Mind
Writing about Poetry
Questions for Responsive Reading and Writing about Poetry
The Elements Together
John Donne, Death Be Not Proud
A SAMPLE CLOSE READING: An Annotated Version of âDeath Be Not Proudâ
A Sample First Response
Organizing Your Thoughts
A Sample Informal Outline
The Elements and Theme
A SAMPLE EXPLICATION: The Use of Conventional Metaphors for Death in John Donneâs âDeath Be Not Proudâ
Writing about Drama
Questions for Responsive Reading and Writing about Drama
A SAMPLE STUDENT PAPER: The Feminist Evidence in Susan Glaspellâs Trifles
44. The Literary Research Paper
Choosing a Topic
Finding Sources
Evaluating Sources and Taking Notes
Developing a Thesis and Organizing the Paper
Revising
Documenting Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism
The List of âWorks Cited
Parenthetical References
A SAMPLE STUDENT PAPER: How William Faulknerâs Narrator Cultivates a Rose for Emily
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