Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing

Topical and Thematic ContentsPrefacePART IThe Process of Reading, Respondingto, and Writing About LiteratureWHAT IS LITERATURE, AND WHY DO WE STUDY IT?Types of Literature: The GenresReading Literature and Responding to It ActivelyGUY DE MAUPASSANT The NecklaceTo go to a ball, Mathilde Loisel borrows a necklace from a rich friend, but her rhapsodic evening has unforeseen consequencesReading and Responding in a Computer File or NotebookSample Notebook Entries on Maupassant’s “The Necklace”MAJOR STAGES IN THINKING AND WRITING ABOUT LITERARY TOPICS: DISCOVERING IDEAS, PREPARING TOWRITE, MAKING AN INITIAL DRAFT OF YOUR ESSAY, AND COMPLETING THE ESSAYWriting Does Not Come Easily—for AnyoneThe Goal of Writing: To Show a Process of ThoughtDiscovering Ideas (“Brainstorming”)Study the Characters in the WorkDetermine the Work’s Historical Period and BackgroundAnalyze the Work’s Economic and Social ConditionsExplain the Work’s Major IdeasDescribe the Work’s Artistic QualitiesExplain Any Other Approaches that Seem ImportantPreparing to WriteBuild Ideas from Your Original NotesTrace Patterns of Action and ThoughtThe Need for the Actual Physical Process of WritingRaise and Answer Your Own QuestionsPut Ideas Together Using a Plus-Minus, Pro-Con, or Either-Or MethodOriginate and Develop Your Thoughts Through WritingMaking an Initial Draft of Your EssayBase Your Essay on a Central Idea, Argument, or StatementThe Need for a Sound Argument in Essays About LiteratureCreate a Thesis Sentence as Your Guide to OrganizationBegin Each Paragraph with a Topic SentenceSelect Only One Topic—No More—for Each ParagraphReferring to the Names of AuthorsUse Your Topic Sentences as the Arguments for Your Paragraph DevelopmentThe Use of Verb Tenses in the Discussion of Literary WorksDevelop an Outline as the Means of Organizing Your EssayIllustrative Student Essay (First Draft): How Setting in “The Necklace” Is Related to the Character of MathildeCompleting the Essay: Developing and Strengthening Your Essay Through RevisionMake Your Own Arrangement of Details and IdeasUse Literary Material as Evidence to Support Your ArgumentAlways Keep to Your Point; Stick to It TenaciouslyCheck Your Development and OrganizationTry to Be OriginalWrite with Specific Readers as Your Intended AudienceUse Exact, Comprehensive, and Forceful LanguageIllustrative Student Essay (Improved Draft): How Maupassant Uses Setting in “The Necklace”to Show the Character ofMathildeCommentary on the EssayEssay CommentariesA Summary of GuidelinesWriting Topics About the Writing ProcessA SHORT GUIDE TO THE USE OF REFERENCES AND QUOTATIONS IN ESSAYS ABOUT LITERATUREIntegrate Passages and Ideas into Your EssayDistinguish Your Thoughts from Those of Your AuthorIntegrate Material by Using Quotation MarksBlend Quotations into Your Own SentencesIndent Long Quotations and Set Them in Block FormatUse an Ellipsis to Show OmissionsUse Square Brackets to Enclose Words that You Add Within QuotationsBe Careful Not to OverquotePreserve the Spellings in Your SourcePART IIReading and Writing About Fiction1 FICTION: AN OVERVIEWModern FictionThe Short StoryElements of Fiction I: Verisimilitude and DonnéeElements of Fiction II: Character, Plot, Structure, and Idea or ThemeElements of Fiction III: The Writer’s ToolsVisualizing Fiction: Cartoons, Graphic Narratives, Graphic NovelsDan Piraro, BizarroArt Spiegelman, from MausSTORIES FOR STUDYAMBROSE BIERCE An Occurrence at Owl Creek BridgeEDWIDGE DANTICAT Night TalkersWILLIAM FAULKNER A Rose for EmilyTIM O’BRIEN The Things They CarriedLUIGI PIRANDELLO WarALICE WALKER Everyday UseEUDORA WELTY A Worn PathPlot: The Motivation and Causality of FictionWriting About the Plot of a StoryIllustrative Student Essay: The Plot of Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path”Writing Topics About Plot in Fiction2 POINT OF VIEW: THE POSITION OR STANCE OF THEWORK’S NARRATOR OR SPEAKERAn Exercise in Point of View: Reporting an AccidentConditions That Affect Point of ViewPoint of View and OpinionsDetermining a Work’s Point of ViewMingling Points of ViewPoint of View and Verb TenseSummary: Guidelines for Points of ViewSTORIES FOR STUDYRAYMOND CARVER NeighborsSHIRLEY JACKSON The LotteryLORRIE MOORE How to Become a WriterJOYCE CAROL OATES The CousinsWriting About Point of ViewIllustrative Student Essay: Shirley Jackson’s Dramatic Point of View in “The Lottery”Writing Topics About Point of View3 CHARACTERS: THE PEOPLE IN FICTIONCharacter TraitsHow Authors Disclose Character in LiteratureTypes of Characters: Round and FlatReality and Probability: VerisimilitudeSTORIES FOR STUDYRAYMOND CARVER CathedralSUSAN GLASPELL A Jury of Her PeersKATHERINE MANSFIELD Miss BrillAMY TAN Two KindsMARK TWAIN LuckWriting About CharacterIllustrative Student Essay: The Character of Minnie Wright in Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers”Writing Topics About Character4 SETTING: THE BACKGROUND OF PLACE, OBJECTS, AND CULTURE IN STORIESWhat Is Setting?The Literary Uses of SettingSTORIES FOR STUDYSANDRA CISNEROS The House on Mango StreetJOSEPH CONRAD The Secret SharerJOANNE GREENBERG And Sarah LaughedJAMES JOYCE ArabyCYNTHIA OZICK The ShawlWriting About SettingIllustrative Student Essay The Setting of Conrad’s “The Secret Sharer”Writing Topics About Setting5 STRUCTURE: THE ORGANIZATION OF STORIESFormal Categories of StructureFormal and Actual StructureSTORIES FOR STUDYRALPH ELLISON Battle RoyalTHOMAS HARDY The Three StrangersJAMAICA KINCAID What I Have Been Doing LatelyJOYCE CAROL OATES Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?TOM WHITECLOUD Blue Winds DancingWriting About Structure in a StoryIllustrative Student Essay: Conflict and Suspense in Hardy’s “The Three Strangers”Writing Topics About Structure6 TONE AND STYLE: THEWORDS THAT CONVEY ATTITUDES IN FICTIONDiction: The Writer’s Choice and Control of WordsTone, Irony, and StyleTone, Humor, and StyleSTORIES FOR STUDYKATE CHOPIN The Story of an HourWILLIAM FAULKNER Barn BurningERNEST HEMINGWAY Hills Like White ElephantsALICE MUNRO The Found BoatFRANK O’CONNOR First ConfessionDANIEL OROZCO OrientationJOHN UPDIKE A & PWriting About Tone and StyleIllustrative Student Essay: Frank O’Connor’s Control of Tone and Style in “First Confession”Writing Topics About Tone and Style7 SYMBOLISM AND ALLEGORY: KEYS TO EXTENDED MEANINGSymbolismAllegoryFable, Parable, and MythAllusion in Symbolism and AllegorySTORIES FOR STUDYAESOP The Fox and the GrapesANONYMOUS The Myth of AtalantaANITA SCOTT COLEMAN Unfinished MasterpiecesNATHANIEL HAWTHORNE Young Goodman BrownFRANZ KAFKA A Hunger ArtistLUKE The Parable of the Prodigal SonGABRIEL GARCÍA MARQUEZ A Very Old Man with Enormous WingsKATHERINE ANNE PORTER The Jilting of Granny WeatherallJOHN STEINBECK The ChrysanthemumsWriting About Symbolism and AllegoryIllustrative StudentEssay (Symbolism): Symbols of Light and Darkness in Porter’s “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall”Second Illustrative Student Essay (Allegory): The Allegory of Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”Writing Topics About Symbolism and Allegory8 IDEA OR THEME: THE MEANING AND THE MESSAGE IN FICTIONIdeas and AssertionsIdeas and IssuesIdeas and ValuesThe Place of Ideas in LiteratureHow to Find IdeasSTORIES FOR STUDYJAMES BALDWIN Sonny’s BluesTONI CADE BAMBARA The LessonANTON CHEKHOV The Lady with the DogD. H. LAWRENCE The Horse Dealer’s DaughterAMÉRICO PAREDES The Hammon and the BeansWriting About a Major Idea in FictionIllustrative Student Essay: D. H. Lawrence’s “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter”as an Expression of the Idea that Loving Commitment is Essential in LifeWriting Topics About Ideas9 A CAREER IN FICTION: FOUR STORIES BY EDGAR ALLAN POE WITH CRITICAL READINGS FOR RESEARCHPOE’S LIFE AND CAREERPoe’s Work as a Journalist and Writer of FictionPoe’s ReputationBibliographic SourcesWriting Topics About PoeFOUR STORIES BY EDGAR A. POE (IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER)The Fall of the House of Usher (1839)The Masque of the Red Death (1842)The Black Cat (1843)The Cask of Amontillado (1846)Edited Selections from Criticism of Poe’s Stories1. Poe’s Irony2.The Narrators of “The Cask of Amontillado”and “The Fall of the House of Usher”3. “The Fall of the House of Usher”4.“The Black Cat”and “The Tell-Tale Heart”5.“The Masque of the Red Death”6. Symbolism in “The Masque of the Red Death”7.“The Masque of the Red Death ”as Representative of a “Diseased Age”8. Sources and Analogues of “The Cask of Amontillado”9. Poe’s Idea of Unity and “The Fall of the House of Usher”10.The Narrators of “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Black Cat”11. Poe, Women, and “The Fall of the House of Usher”12.The Deceptive Narrator of “The Black Cat”10 SEVEN STORIES FOR ADDITIONAL ENJOYMENT AND STUDYJOHN CHIOLES Before the Firing SquadSTEPHEN CRANE The Open BoatANDRE DUBUS The CurseCHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN The Yellow WallpaperFLANNERY O’CONNOR A Good Man Is Hard to FindTILLIE OLSEN I Stand Here IroningPETRONIUS (GAIUS PETRONIUS ARBITER) The Widow of Ephesus10A WRITING RESEARCH ESSAYS ON FICTIONSelecting a TopicSetting up a BibliographyOnline Library ServicesImportant Considerations About Computer-Aided ResearchTaking Notes and Paraphrasing MaterialBeing Creative and Original While Doing ResearchDocumenting Your WorkStrategies for Organizing Ideas in Your Research EssayPlagiarism: An Embarrassing but Vital Subject—and a Danger to be OvercomeIllustrative Student Essay Using Research: The Structure of Katherine Mansfield’s “Miss Brill”Writing Topics About How to Undertake Research EssaysPART IIIReading and Writing About Poetry11 MEETING POETRY: AN OVERVIEWThe Nature of PoetryBILLY COLLINS SchoolsvilleLISEL MUELLER HopeROBERT HERRICK Here a Pretty Baby LiesPoetry of the English LanguageHow to Read a PoemStudying PoetryANONYMOUS Sir Patrick SpensPOEMS FOR STUDYGWENDOLYN BROOKS The MotherEMILY DICKINSON Because I Could Not Stop for DeathROBERT FRANCIS CatchROBERT FROST Stopping by Woods on aSnowy EveningTHOMAS HARDY The Man He KilledJOY HARJO Eagle PoemRANDALL JARRELL The Death of the Ball Turret GunnerBEN JONSON On My First DaughterEMMA LAZARUS The New ColossusLOUIS MACNEICE SnowJIM NORTHRUP OgichidagNAOMI SHIHAB NYE Where Children LiveWILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Sonnet 55: Not Marble, Nor the Gilded MonumentsPERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY To — [“Music, When Soft Voices Die”]ELAINE TERRANOVA Rush HourWriting a Paraphrase of a PoemIllustrative Student Paraphrase: A Paraphrase of Thomas Hardy’s “The Man He Killed”Writing an Explication of a PoemIllustrative Student Essay: An Explication of Thomas Hardy’s “The Man He Killed”Writing Topics About the Nature of Poetry12 WORDS: THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF POETRYChoice of Diction: Specific and Concrete, General and AbstractLevels of DictionSpecial Types of DictionSyntaxDecorum: The Matching of Subject and WordDenotation and ConnotationROBERT GRAVES The Naked and the NudePOEMS FOR STUDYWILLIAM BLAKE The LambROBERT BURNS Green Grow the Rashes, OLEWIS CARROLL Jabberwocky 663HAYDEN CARRUTH An Apology for Using the Word “Heart” in Too Many PoemsE. E. CUMMINGS next to of course god americaJOHN DONNE Holy Sonnet 14: Batter My Heart, Three-Personed GodRICHARD EBERHART The Fury of Aerial BombardmentBART EDELMAN Chemistry ExperimentTHOMAS GRAY Sonnet on the Death of Richard WestJANE HIRSHFIELD The Lives of the HeartA. E. HOUSMAN Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry NowCAROLYN KIZER Night SoundsDENISE LEVERTOV Of BeingEUGENIO MONTALE English Horn (Corno Inglese)JUDITH ORTIZ [COFER] Latin Women PrayHENRY REED Naming of PartsEDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON Richard CoryTHEODORE ROETHKE DolorSTEPHEN SPENDER I Think Continually of Those Who Were Truly GreatWALLACE STEVENS Disillusionment of Ten O’ClockMARK STRAND Eating PoetryWILLIAM WORDSWORTH Daffodils (I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud)Writing About Diction and Syntax in Poetry 679 • Illustrative StudentEssay: Diction and Character in Robinson’s ‘Richard Cory’Writing Topics About the Words of Poetry13 CHARACTERS AND SETTING: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, AND WHEN IN POETRYCharacters in PoetryANONYMOUS Western Wind, When Wilt Thou Blow?ANONYMOUS Bonny George CampbellBEN JONSON Drink to Me, Only, with Thine EyesBEN JONSON To the ReaderSetting and Character in PoetryLISEL MUELLER Alive TogetherPOEMS FOR STUDYMATTHEW ARNOLD Dover BeachWILLIAM BLAKE LondonELIZABETH BREWSTER Where I Come FromROBERT BROWNING My Last DuchessWILLIAM COWPER The Poplar FieldALLEN GINSBERG A Further ProposalLOUISE GLÜCK SnowdropsTHOMAS GRAY Elegy Written in a Country ChurchyardTHOMAS HARDY The Ruined MaidDORIANNE LAUX The Life of TreesC. DAY LEWIS SongROBERT LOWELL Memories of West Street and LepkeCHRISTOPHER MARLOWE The Passionate Shepherd to His LoveJOYCE CAROL OATES LovingSIR WALTER RALEGH The Nymph’s Reply to the ShepherdCHRISTINA ROSSETTI A Christmas CarolJANE SHOREA Letter Sent to SummerWILLIAM WORDSWORTH Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern AbbeyJAMES WRIGHT A BlessingWriting About Character and Setting in PoetryIllustrative Student Essay: The Character of the Duke in Browning’s “My Last Duchess”Writing Topics About Character and Setting in Poetry14 IMAGERY: THE POEM’S LINK TO THE SENSESResponses and the Writer’s Use of DetailThe Relationship of Imagery to Ideas and AttitudesTypes of ImageryJOHN MASEFIELD CargoesWILFRED OWEN Anthem for Doomed YouthELIZABETH BISHOP The FishPOEMS FOR STUDYELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING Sonnets from the Portuguese, Number 14: If Thou Must Love MeSAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE Kubla KhanT. S. ELIOT PreludesSUSAN GRIFFIN Love Should Grow Up Like a Wild Iris in the FieldsTHOMAS HARDY Channel FiringGEORGE HERBERT The PulleyGERARD MANLEY HOPKINS SpringA. E. HOUSMAN On Wenlock EdgeDENISE LEVERTOV A Time PastTHOMAS LUX The Voice You Hear When You Read SilentlyEUGENIO MONTALE Buffalo (Buffalo)MARIANNE MOORE The FishPABLO NERUDA Every Day You PlayEZRA POUND In a Station of the MetroMIKLÓS RADNÓTI Forced MarchFRIEDRICH RÜCKERT If You Love for the Sake of BeautyWILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Sonnet 130: My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the SunJAMES TATE Dream OnDAVID WOJAHN “It’s Only Rock and Roll, but I Like It”: The Fall of SaigonWriting About ImageryIllustrative Student Essay: Imagery in T. S. Eliot’s “Preludes”Writing Topics About Imagery in Poetry15 FIGURES OF SPEECH, OR METAPHORICAL LANGUAGE: A SOURCE OF DEPTH AND RANGE IN POETRYMetaphors and Similes: The Major Figures of SpeechCharacteristics of Metaphorical LanguageJOHN KEATS On First Looking into Chapman’s HomerVehicle and TenorOther Figures of SpeechJOHN KEATS Bright StarJOHN GAY Let Us Take the RoadPOEMS FOR STUDYJACK AGÜEROS Sonnet for You, Familiar FamineWILLIAM BLAKE The TygerROBERT BURNS A Red, Red RoseJOHN DONNE A Valediction: Forbidding MourningJOHN DRYDEN A Song for St. Cecilia’s DayABBIE HUSTON EVANS The Iceberg Seven-Eighths UnderTHOMAS HARDY The Convergence of the TwainJOY HARJO RememberJOHN KEATS To AutumnMAURICE KENNY LegacyJANE KENYON Let Evening ComeHENRY KING Sic VitaROBERT LOWELL Skunk HourJUDITH MINTY ConjoinedPABLO NERUDA If You Forget MeMARGE PIERCY A Work of ArtificeMURIEL RUKEYSER Looking at Each OtherWILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Sonnet 18: Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Sonnet 30: When to the Sessions of Sweet Silent ThoughtELIZABETH TUDOR, QUEEN ELIZABETH I On Monsieur’s DepartureMONA VAN DUYN Earth Tremors Felt in MissouriWALT WHITMAN Facing West from California’s ShoresWILLIAM WORDSWORTH London, 1802SIR THOMAS WYATT I Find No PeaceWriting About Figures of SpeechIllustrative Student Paragraph: Wordsworth’s Use of Overstatement in “London, 1802”Illustrative Student Essay: A Study of Shakespeare’s Metaphors in Sonnet 30: “When to the Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought”Writing Topics About Figures of Speech in Poetry16 TONE: THE CREATION OF ATTITUDE IN POETRYTone, Choice, and ResponseCORNELIUS WHUR The First-Rate WifeTone and the Need for ControlWILFRED OWEN Dulce et Decorum EstTone and Common Grounds of AssentTone in Conversation and PoetryTone and IronyTHOMAS HARDY The WorkboxTone and SatireALEXANDER POPE Epigram from the FrenchALEXANDER POPE Epigram, Engraved on the Collar of a Dog Which I Gave to His Royal HighnessPOEMS FOR STUDYWILLIAM BLAKE On Another’s SorrowJIMMY CARTER I Wanted to Share My Father’s WorldLUCILLE CLIFTON homage to my hipsBILLY COLLINS The NamesE. E. CUMMINGS she being Brand /-newBART EDELMAN TroubleMARI EVANS I Am a Black WomanSEAMUS HEANEY Mid-Term BreakWILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY When You Are OldDAVID IGNATOW The BagelYUSEF KOMUNYAKAA Facing ItABRAHAM LINCOLN My Childhood’s HomePAT MORA La MigraSHARON OLDS The Planned ChildROBERT PINSKY DyingALEXANDER POPE from Epilogue to the Satires Dialogue ISALVATORE QUASÍMODO AuschwitzANNE RIDLER Nothing Is LostTHEODORE ROETHKE My Papa’s WaltzJANE SHOREA Letter Sent to SummerJONATHAN SWIFT A Description of the MorningDAVID WAGONER My Physics TeacherC. K. WILLIAMS DimensionsWILLIAM WORDSWORTH The Solitary ReaperWILLIAM BUTLER YEATS When You Are OldWriting About Tone in PoetryIllustrative Student Essay: The Speaker’s Attitudes in Sharon Olds’s “The Planned Child”Writing Topics About Tone in Poetry17 PROSODY: SOUND, RHYTHM, AND RHYME IN POETRYImportant Definitions for Studying ProsodySegments: Individually Meaningful SoundsPoetic RhythmThe Major Metrical FeetSpecial MetersSubstitutionAccentual Strong-Stress, and “Sprung” RhythmsThe Caesura: The Pause Creating Variety and Natural Rhythms in PoetrySegmental Poetic DevicesRhyme: The Duplication and Similarity of SoundsRhyme and MeterRhyme SchemesPOEMS FOR STUDYGWENDOLYN BROOKS We Real CoolROBERT BROWNING Porphyria’s LoverEMILY DICKINSON To Hear an Oriole SingJOHN DONNE The Sun RisingT. S. ELIOT Macavity: The Mystery CatRALPH WALDO EMERSON Concord HymnISABELLA GARDNER At a Summer HotelROBERT HERRICK Upon Julia’s VoiceGERARD MANLEY HOPKINS God’s GrandeurJOHN HALL INGHAM George WashingtonPHILIP LEVINE A Theory of ProsodyHENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW The Sound of the SeaHERMAN MELVILLE Shiloh: A RequiemOGDEN NASH Very Like a WhaleEDGAR ALLAN POE Annabel LeeEDGAR ALLAN POE The BellsALEXANDER POPE From An Essay on Man Epistle IWYATT PRUNTY MarchEDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON Miniver CheevyCHRISTINA ROSSETTI EchoWILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Sonnet 73: That Time of Year Thou May’st in Me BeholdPERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY Ode to the West WindALFRED, LORD TENNYSON From Idylls of the King: The Passing of ArthurDAVID WAGONER March for a One-Man BandWriting About ProsodyReferring to Sounds in PoetryFirst Illustrative Student Essay: Rhyme, Rhythm, and Sound in Browning’s “Porphyria’s Lover”Second Illustrative Student Essay: The Rhymes and Repeated Words in Christina Rossetti’s “Echo”Writing Topics About Rhythm and Rhyme in Poetry18 FORM: THE SHAPE OF POEMSClosed-Form PoetryWILLIAM WORDSWORTH Fragment from The PreludeALEXANDER POPE Fragment from The Rape of the LockeALFRED, LORD TENNYSON The EagleJOHN MILTON Fragment from LycidasANONYMOUS Spun in High, Dark CloudsWILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Sonnet 116: Let Me Not to the Marriage of True MindsOpen-Form PoetryWALT WHITMAN ReconciliationVisualizing Poetry: Poetry and Artistic Expression: Visual Poetry, Concrete Poetry, and Prose PoemsE. E. CUMMINGS Buffalo Bill’s DefunctGEORGE HERBERT Colossians 3:3 (Our Life is Hid With Christ in God)GEORGE HERBERT Easter WingsCHARLES HARPER WEBB The Shape of HistoryJOHN HOLLANDER Swan and ShadowWILLIAM HEYEN MantleMAY SWENSON WomenCAROLYN FORCHÉ The ColonelPOEMS FOR STUDYELIZABETH BISHOP One ArtBILLY COLLINS SonnetJOHN DRYDEN To the Memory of Mr. OldhamROBERT FROST Desert PlacesALLEN GINSBERG A Supermarket in CaliforniaNIKKI GIOVANNI Nikki-RosaROBERT HASS MuseumGEORGE HERBERT VirtueJOHN KEATS Ode to a NightingaleCLAUDE MCKAY In BondageJOHN MILTON On His Blindness (When I Consider HowMy Light Is Spent)DUDLEY RANDALL Ballad of BirminghamTHEODORE ROETHKE The WakingGEORGE WILLIAM RUSSELL (Æ) ContinuityPERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY OzymandiasDYLAN THOMAS Do Not Go Gentle into That Good NightJEAN TOOMER ReapersPHYLLIS WEBB Poetics Against the Angel of DeathWILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS The DanceWriting About Form in PoetryIllustrative Student Essay: Form and Meaning in George Herbert’s “Virtue”Writing Topics About Poetic Form19 SYMBOLISM AND ALLUSION: WINDOWS TO WIDE EXPANSES OF MEANINGSymbolism and MeaningsVIRGINIA SCOTT SnowThe Function of Symbolism in PoetryAllusions and MeaningStudying for Symbols and AllusionsPOEMS FOR STUDYEMILY BRONTË No Coward Soul Is MineAMY CLAMPITT Beach GlassARTHUR HUGH CLOUGH Say Not the Struggle Nought AvailethPETER DAVISON III DelphiJOHN DONNE The CanonizationSTEPHEN DUNN HawkISABELLA GARDNER Collage of EchoesDAN GEORGAKIS Hiroshima CrewmanLOUISE GLÜCK Celestial MusicJORIE GRAHAM The GeeseTHOMAS HARDY In Time of “The Breaking of Nations”GEORGE HERBERT The CollarJOSEPHINE JACOBSEN TearsROBINSON JEFFERS The Purse-SeineJOHN KEATS La Belle Dame Sans Merci: A BalladX. J. KENNEDY Old Men Pitching HorseshoesTED KOOSER Year’s EndPHILIP LARKIN Next, PleaseDAVID LEHMAN Venice Is SinkingANDREW MARVELL To His Coy MistressMARY OLIVER Wild GeeseGARY SNYDER Milton by FirelightJUDITH VIORST A Wedding Sonnet for the Next GenerationWALT WHITMAN A Noiseless Patient SpiderRICHARD WILBUR Year’s EndWILLIAM BUTLER YEATS The Second ComingWriting About Symbolism and Allusion in PoetryIllustrative Student Essay: Symbolism in Oliver’s “Wild Geese”Writing Topics About Symbolism and Allusion20 MYTHS: SYSTEMS OF SYMBOLIC ALLUSION IN POETRYMythology as an Explanation of How Things AreMythology and LiteratureWILLIAM BUTLER YEATS Leda and the SwanMONA VAN DUYN LedaSix Poems Related to the Myth of OdysseusPOEMS FOR STUDYLOUISE GLÜCK Penelope’s SongW. S. MERWIN OdysseusDOROTHY PARKER PenelopeLINDA PASTAN The SuitorALFRED, LORD TENNYSON UlyssesPETER ULISSE Odyssey: 20 Years LaterSix Poems Related to the Myth of IcarusPOEMS FOR STUDYBRIAN ALDISS Flight 063W. H. AUDEN Musée des Beaux ArtsEDWARD FIELD IcarusMURIEL RUKEYSER Waiting for IcarusANNE SEXTON To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to TriumphWILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS Landscape with the Fall of IcarusFour Poems Related to the Myth of OrpheusPOEMS FOR STUDYEDWARD HIRSCH The SwimmersRAINER MARIA RILKE The Sonnets to Orpheus, 1.19MARK STRAND Orpheus AloneELLEN BRYANT VOIGT Song and StoryThree Poems Related to the Myth of the PhoenixPOEMS FOR STUDYAMY CLAMPITT BerceuseDENISE LEVERTOV Hunting the PhoenixMAY SARTON The Phoenix AgainTwo Poems Related to the Myth of OedipusPOEMS FOR STUDYMURIEL RUKEYSER MythJOHN UPDIKE On the Way to DelphiThree Poems Related to the Myth of PanPOEMS FOR STUDYE. E. CUMMINGS in Just-JOHN CHIPMAN FARRAR Song for a Forgotten Shrine to PanROBERT FROST Pan with UsWriting About Myths in PoetryIllustrative Student Essay: Myth and Meaning in Dorothy Parker’s “Penelope”Writing Topics About Myths in Poetry21 FOUR MAJOR AMERICAN POETS: EMILY DICKINSON, ROBERT FROST, LANGSTON HUGHES, AND SYLVIA PLATHEMILY DICKINSON’S LIFE AND WORKWriting Topics About the Poetry of Emily DickinsonPOEMS BY EMILY DICKINSON (ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED)After Great Pain, a Formal Feeling Comes (J341, F372)Because I Could Not Stop for Death (J712, F479)(Included in Chapter 11, p. 635)The Bustle in a House (J1078, F1108)The Heart Is the Capital of the Mind (J1354, F1381)I Cannot Live with You (J640, F706)I Died for Beauty – But Was Scarce (J449, F448)I Dwell in Possibility (F466, J657)I Felt a Funeral in My Brain (J280, F340)I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died (J465, F491)I Like to See It Lap the Miles (J585, F383)I’m Nobody! Who Are You? (J288, F260)I Never Lost as Much but Twice (J49, F39)I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed (J214, F207)Much Madness Is Divinest Sense (J435, F620)My Life Closed Twice Before Its Close (J1732, F1773)My Triumph Lasted Till the Drums (J1227, F1212)One Need Not Be a Chamber – To Be Haunted (J670, F407)Safe in Their Alabaster Chambers (J216, F124)Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church (J324, F236)The Soul Selects Her Own Society (J303, F409)Success Is Counted Sweetest (J67, F112)Tell All the Truth but Tell It Slant (J1129, F1263)There’s a Certain Slant of Light (J258, F320)To Hear an Oriole Sing (J526, F402) (Included in Chapter 17 p. 859)Wild Nights – Wild Nights! (J249, F269)Edited Selections from Criticism of Dickinson’s Poems1. From “Orthodox Modernisms”2.“The Landscape of the Spirit”3. From “The American Plain Style”4. From “The Histrionic Imagination”5. From “The Gothic Mode”ROBERT FROST’S LIFE AND WORKWriting Topics About the Poetry of Robert FrostPOEMS BY ROBERT FROST (CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED)The Tuft of Flowers (1913)Pan with Us (in Chapter 20, p. 1015)Mending Wall (1914)Birches (1915)The Road Not Taken (1915)”Out, Out—” (1916)The Oven Bird (1916)Fire and Ice (1920)Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (1923)(In Chapter 11, p. 637)Misgiving (1923)Nothing Gold Can Stay (1923)Acquainted with the Night (1928)Desert Places (1936) (In Chapter 18, p. 918)Design (1936)The Silken Tent (1936)The Gift Outright (1941)A Considerable Speck (1942)Take Something Like a Star (1943)LANGSTON HUGHES’ LIFE AND WORKWriting Topics About the Poetry of Langston HughesPOEMS OF LANGSTON HUGHES (ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED)Bad ManCrossDead in ThereDream VariationsHarlemLet America Be America AgainMadam and Her MadamNegroThe Negro Speaks of Rivers125th StreetPo’ Boy BluesSilhouetteSubway Rush HourTheme for English BThe Weary BluesSYLVIA PLATH’S LIFE AND WORKWriting Topics About the Poetry of Sylvia PlathPOEMS OF SYLVIA PLATH (ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED)ArielThe ColossusCutDaddyEdgeThe Hanging ManLady LazarusLast WordsMetaphorsMirrorThe RivalSong for a Summer’s DayTulips22 ONE HUNDRED SIXTEEN POEMS FOR ADDITIONAL ENJOYMENT AND STUDYMAYA ANGELOU My ArkansasANONYMOUS (NAVAJO) Healing Prayer from the Beautyway ChantANONYMOUS Lord RandalMARGARET ATWOOD Variation on the Word SleepW. H. AUDEN The Unknown CitizenWENDELL BERRY Another DescentLOUISE BOGAN WomenARNA BONTEMPS A Black Man Talks of ReapingANNE BRADSTREET To My Dear and Loving HusbandGWENDOLYN BROOKS Primer for BlacksELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING Sonnets from the Portuguese: Number 43, How Do I Love TheeROBERT BROWNING Soliloquy of the Spanish CloisterWILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT To Cole, the Painter, Departing for EuropeGEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON The Destruction of SennacheribNEW GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON She Walks in BeautyLEONARD COHEN “The killers that run . . .”BILLY COLLINS DaysFRANCES CORNFORD From a Letter to America on a Visit to Sussex: Spring 1942STEPHEN CRANE Do Not Weep, Maiden, for War Is KindROBERT CREELEY “Do you think . . .”E. E. CUMMINGS if there are any heavensCARL DENNIS The God Who Loves YouJOHN DONNE The Good MorrowJOHN DONNE Holy Sonnet 10: Death Be Not ProudJOHN DONNE A Hymn to God the FatherPAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR Sympathy [I Know What the Caged Bird Feels]T. S. ELIOT The Love Song of J. Alfred PrufrockJAMES EMANUEL The NegroLYNN EMANUEL Like GodCHIEF DAN GEORGE The Beauty of the TreesNIKKI GIOVANNI WomanNIKKI GIOVANNI PoetryMARILYN HACKER Sonnet Ending with a Film SubtitleDANIEL HALPERN Snapshot of HuéDANIEL HALPERN Summer in the Middle ClassH. S. (SAM) HAMOD LeavesFRANCES E. W. HARPER She’s Free!MICHAEL S. HARPER CalledROBERT HASS Spring RainROBERT HAYDEN Those Winter SundaysROBERT HERRICK To the Virgins, to Make Much of TimeWILLIAM HEYEN The Hair: Jacob Korman’s StoryA. D. HOPE Advice to Young LadiesGERARD MANLEY HOPKINS Pied BeautyGERARD MANLEY HOPKINS The WindhoverCAROLINA HOSPITALDear TiaROBINSON JEFFERS The AnswerDONALD JUSTICE On the Death of Friends in ChildhoodJOHN KEATS Ode on a Grecian UrnGALWAY KINNELL After Making Love We Hear FootstepsKATHERINE LARSON StatuaryIRVING LAYTON Rhine Boat TripLI-YOUNG LEE A Final ThingALAN P. LIGHTMAN In ComputersLIZ LOCHHEAD The ChoosingAUDRE LORDE Every Traveler Has One Vermont PoemAMY LOWELL PatternsARCHIBALD MACLEISH Ars PoeticaHEATHER MCHUGH LinesCLAUDE MCKAY The White CityW. S. MERWIN ListenEDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, and Where, and WhyN. SCOTT MOMADAY The BearMARIANNE MOORE PoetryLISEL MUELLER Monet Refuses the OperationHOWARD NEMEROV Life Cycle of Common ManJIM NORTHRUP wahbeganMARY OLIVER GhostsSIMON ORTIZ A Story of How a Wall StandsDOROTHY PARKER RésuméLINDA PASTAN EthicsLINDA PASTAN MarksMOLLY PEACOCK DesireMARGE PIERCY The Secretary ChantEDGAR ALLAN POE The RavenJOHN CROWE RANSOM Bells for John Whiteside’s DaughterJOHN RAVEN AssailantADRIENNE RICH Diving into the WreckALBERTO RÍOS The Vietnam WallLUIS OMAR SALINAS In a FarmhouseSONIA SANCHEZ rite on: white americaCARL SANDBURG ChicagoSIEGFRIED SASSOON DreamersGJERTRUD SCHNACKENBERG The PaperweightALAN SEEGER I Have a Rendezvous with DeathBRENDA SEROTTE My Mother’s FaceWILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Sonnet 29: When in Disgrace with Fortune and Men’s EyesWILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Sonnet 146: Poor Soul, the Center of My Sinful EarthKARL SHAPIRO Auto WreckLESLIE MARMON SILKO Where Mountain Lion Lay Down with DeerSTEVIE SMITH Not Waving But DrowningGARY SOTO OrangesWILLIAM STAFFORD Traveling Through the DarkGERALD STERN Burying an Animal on the Way to New YorkWALLACE STEVENS The Emperor of Ice-CreamMAY SWENSON QuestionDYLAN THOMAS A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by Fire, of a Child in LondonDANIEL TOBIN My Uncle’s WatchCHASE TWICHELL Blurry CowJOHN UPDIKE Perfection WastedTINO VILLANUEVA Day-Long DayJUDITH VIORST True LoveSHELLY WAGNER The BoxesALICE WALKER Revolutionary PetuniasEDMUND WALLER Go, Lovely RoseBRUCE WEIGL Song of NapalmPHILLIS WHEATLEY On Being Brought from Africa to AmericaWALT WHITMAN Beat! Beat! Drums!WALT WHITMAN Dirge for Two VeteransWALT WHITMAN Full of Life NowWALT WHITMAN I Hear America SingingJOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER The Bartholdi StatueRICHARD WILBUR April 5, 1974WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS The Red WheelbarrowWILLIAM BUTLER YEATS The Wild Swans at CoolePAUL ZIMMER The Day Zimmer Lost Religion22A WRITING RESEARCH ESSAYS ON POETRYTopics to Discover in ResearchIllustrative Student Essay Written with the Aid of Research: “Beat! Beat! Drums!” and “I Hear America Singing”: Two Whitman Poems Spanning the Civil WarPART IVReading and Writing About Drama23 THE DRAMATIC VISION: AN OVERVIEWDrama as LiteraturePerformance: The Unique Aspect of DramaDrama from Ancient Times to Our Own: Tragedy, Comedy, and Additional FormsANONYMOUS The Visit to the Sepulcher (Visitatio Sepulchri)How do the Three Marys respond to the news told by the angel? Visualizing PlaysPLAYS FOR STUDYEDWARD ALBEE The SandboxSUSAN GLASPELL TriflesBETTY KELLER Tea PartyEUGENE O’NEILL Before BreakfastWriting About the Elements of DramaReferring to Plays and Parts of PlaysIllustrative Student Essay: Eugene O’Neill’s Use of Negative Descriptions and Stage Directions in Before Breakfast as a Means of Revealing CharacterWriting Topics About the Elements of Drama24 THE TRAGIC VISION: AFFIRMATION THROUGH LOSSThe Origins of TragedyThe Ancient Athenian Competitions in TragedyThe Origin of Tragedy in BriefAristotle and the Nature of TragedyAristotle’s View of Tragedy in BriefIrony in TragedyThe Ancient Athenian Audience and TheaterAncient Greek Tragic Actors and Their CostumesPerformance and the Formal Organization of Greek TragedyPLAYS FOR STUDYSOPHOCLES Oedipus the KingRenaissance Drama and Shakespeare’s TheaterWILLIAM SHAKESPEARE The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkTragedy from Shakespeare to Arthur MillerDeath of a Salesman: Tragedy, Symbolism, and Broken DreamsARTHUR MILLER Death of a SalesmanWriting About TragedyIllustrative Student Essay: The Problem of Hamlet’s Apparent DelayWriting Topics About Tragedy25 THE COMIC VISION: RESTORING THE BALANCEThe Origins of ComedyComedy from Roman Times to the RenaissanceThe Patterns, Characters, and Language of ComedyTypes of ComedyPLAYS FOR STUDYWILLIAM SHAKESPEARE A Midsummer Night’s DreamThe Life and Theater of MolièreLove Is the Doctor (L’Amour Médecin): A Comic FarceMOLIÈRE (Jean Baptiste Poguelin) Love Is the Doctor (L’Amour Médecin)Comedy Since Shakespeare and MolièreANTON CHEKHOV The Bear, A Joke in One ActBETH HENLEY Am I BlueWriting About ComedyIllustrative Student Essay: Setting as Symbol and Comic Structure in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s DreamWriting Topics About Comedy26 VISIONS OF DRAMATIC REALITY AND NONREALITY: VARYING THE IDEA OF DRAMA AS IMITATIONRealism and Nonrealism in DramaElements of Realistic and Nonrealistic DramaPLAYS FOR STUDYLangston Hughes BiographyHughes and the African American Theater after 1920Hughes’s Career as a DramatistMulatto and the Reality of the Southern Black ExperienceLANGSTON HUGHES MulattoTENNESSEE WILLIAMS The Glass MenagerieAugust Wilson BiographyThe Background of FencesAUGUST WILSON FencesWriting About Realistic and Nonrealistic DramaIllustrative Student Essay: Realism and Nonrealism in Tom’s Triple Role in The Glass MenagerieWriting Topics About Dramatic Reality and Nonreality27 DRAMATIC VISION ON FILM: FROM THE SILVER SCREEN TO THEWORLD OF DIGITAL FANTASYA Thumbnail History of FilmStage Plays and FilmDVD Technology and Film StudyThe Aesthetics of FilmThe Techniques of FilmTWO FILM SCENES FOR STUDYORSON WELLES AND HERMAN J. MANKIEWICZ Shot 71 from the Shooting Script of Citizen KaneARTHUR LAURENTS A Scene from The Turning PointWriting About FilmIllustrative Student Essay: Welles’s Citizen Kane: Whittling a Giant Down to SizeWriting Topics About Film28 HENRIK IBSEN AND THE REALISTIC PROBLEM PLAY: A DOLLHOUSEIbsen’s Life and Early WorkIbsen’s Major Prose PlaysA Dollhouse: Ibsen’s Best-Known Problem PlayIbsen’s Symbolism in A DollhouseA Dollhouse as a “Well-Made Play”The Timeliness and Dramatic Power of A DollhouseBibliographic StudiesHENRIK IBSEN A Dollhouse (Et Dukkehjem)Edited Selections from Criticism of Ibsen’s A Dollhouse and Other Plays1. Freedom,Truth, and Society—Rhetoric and Reality2. Ibsen’s Feminist Characters3.“A Marxist Approach to A Doll House”28A WRITING RESEARCH ESSAYS ON DRAMATopics to Discover in ResearchIllustrative Student Essay Written with the Aid of Research: The Ghost in HamletPART VSpecial Writing Topics About Literature29 CRITICAL APPROACHES IMPORTANT IN THE STUDY OF LITERATUREMoral/IntellectualTopical/HistoricalNew Critical/FormalistStructuralistFeminist Criticism/Gender Studies/Queer TheoryEconomic Determinist/MarxistPsychological/PsychoanalyticArchetypal/Symbolic/MythicDeconstructionistReader-Response30 COMPARISON-CONTRAST AND EXTENDED COMPARISON-CONTRAST: LEARNING BY SEEING LITERARY WORKS TOGETHERGuidelines for the Comparison-Contrast MethodThe Extended Comparison-Contrast EssayWriting a Comparison-Contrast EssayIllustrative Student Essay (Two Works): The Treatment of Responses to War in Amy Lowell’s “Patterns” and Wilfred Owen’s “Anthem for Doomed Youth”Illustrative Student Essay (Extended Comparison-Contrast): Literary Treatments of the Conflicts Between Private and Public LifeWriting Topics for Comparison and Contrast31 TAKING EXAMINATIONS ON LITERATUREAnswer the Questions That Are AskedSystematic PreparationTwo Basic Types of Questions About LiteratureAPPENDIXESI. MLA RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DOCUMENTING SOURCESII. BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES OF THE POETS IN PART IIIA GLOSSARY OF IMPORTANT LITERARY TERMS