Literature : An Introduction to Reading and Writing

by Roberts, Edgar V.; Jacobs, Henry E.

• ISBN13: 9780130485847
• ISBN10: 0130485845
• Edition: 7th
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-01-01
• Publisher: Prentice Hall

Summary

Introduction to Literature; Freshman Composition, second semester, where the focus is on writing about literature. This best-selling anthology of fiction, poetry, and drama was the first to interlock the processes of reading literature and writing about literature. In addition to carefully chosen literary selections, each chapter contains detailed information on and demonstrative essays for writing about literature and increased and updated coverage of research and MLA documentation.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Reading, Responding to, and Writing about Literature

What Is Literature, and Why do We Study It? Types of Literatures: The Genres

Reading Literature and Responding to It Actively

The Necklace

Reading and Responding in a Notebook or Computer File

Guidelines for Reading

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")

The Need to Present an Argument when Writing Essays about Literature

Assembling Materials and Beginning to Write

Drafting the Essay

Writing by Hand, Typewriter, or Word-Processor

Writing a First Draft

Using Verb Tenses in the Discussion of Literary Works

Developing an Outline

Using References and Quotations

Demonstrative Student Essay (First Draft): How Setting in "The Necklace" Is Related to the Character of Mathilde

Developing and Strengthening Essays through Revision

Checking Development and Organization

Using Exact, Comprehensive, and Forceful Language

Using the Names of Authors

Demonstrative Student Essay (Improved Draft): How Maupassant Uses Setting in "The Necklace" to Show the Character of Mathilde

Easy Commentaries

Specials Topics for Writing and Argument about the Writing Process

Reading and Writing about Fiction

Fiction an Overview

Modern Fiction

The Short Story

Elements of Fiction I: Verisimilitude and DonnFe

Elements of Fiction II: Character, Plot, Structure, and Idea or Theme

Elements of Fiction III: The Writer's Tools

Stories for Study:Raymond Carver, Neighbors

Night Talkers

A Rose for Emily

The Things They Carried

Everyday Use

Plot: The Motivation and Causation of Fiction

Writing about the Plot of a Story

Illustrative Student Essay: Plot in Faulkner's"A Rose for Emily"

Special Topics for Writing and Argument about Plot in Fiction

Structure: The Organization of Stories

The Structure of Fiction

Formal Categories of Structure

Formal and Actual Structure

Stories for Study:Laurie Colwin, An Old-Fashioned Story

Battle Royal

Katherine Mansfield

A Worn Path

Blue Winds Dancing

Writing about Structure in a Story

Illustrative Student Essay: The Structure of Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path."

Special Topics for Writing and Argument about Plot and Structure

Characters: The People in Fiction

Character Traits

How Authors Disclose Character in Literature

Types of Characters: Round and Flat

Reality and Probability: Verisimilitude

Stories for Study:Willa Cather, Paul's Case

Barn Burning

A Jury of Her Peers

Shopping

Two Kinds

Writing about Character

Illustrative Student Essay: The Character of the Mother in Amy Tan's "Two Kinds"

Special Topics for Writing and Argument about Character

Point of View: The Position or Stance of the Narrator or Speaker

An Exercise in Point of View: Reporting an Accident

Conditions That Affect Point of View and Opinions

Determining a Work's Point of View

Mingling Points of View

Point of View and Verb Tense

Summary: Guidelines for Point of View

Stories for Study:Alice Adams The Last Lovely City

An Occurrence at OwlCreekBridge

The Song

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

Like the earlier editions ofLiterature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing,the new seventh edition is in part a carefully chosen anthology. Most of the works here are by American, British, and Canadian authors, but there are also a number of ancient and medieval writers, along with writers who lived in or came from France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Ceylon, and Indonesia, together with authors who represent backgrounds of Latino, American Indian, and Chinese culture. In total, 304 authors are represented, including ten anonymous authors. One hundred eighty-four of the authors--roughly sixty percent--were born after 1900. Of the eighty writers born since 1935, forty-two are women, or fifty-two percent. If one counts only the number of authors born after the end of World War II (1945), the percentage of women goes up dramatically to seventy percent. The book includes a total of 505 separate works--sixty-two stories, 423 poems, and twenty plays and scenes. Each work is suitable for discussion either alone or in comparison. Ten stories, thirty-seven poems, and two dramas are new in this edition. For purposes of comparison, the works in two genres by a number of writers are included--specifically Atwood, Crane, Glaspell, Hughes, Poe, Shakespeare, Updike, and Walker. In addition, Faulkner and Munro are each represented by two stories, and Shakespeare and Ibsen are represented by two plays--Shakespeare in Chapters 27 and 28, and Ibsen in Chapter 31. There are four stories by Edith Wharton in Chapter 11, the chapter on the career in fiction. There are multiple selections of poems by many poets. A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE SEVENTH EDITION FLEXIBILITY.The seventh edition reaffirms a principle to whichLiterature: An Introduction to Reading and Writingis dedicated--flexibility. The earlier editions have been used for introduction-to-literature courses, genre courses, and both composition and composition-and-literature courses. Adaptability and flexibility have been the keys to this variety. Instructors can use the book for classroom discussions, panel discussions, essay or paragraph-length writing and study assignments, and special topics not covered in class. FICTION.The fiction section consists of ten chapters. Chapter 2 is a general introduction to fiction while Chapters 3-10--the "topical" chapters central to each section of the book--introduce students to such important topics as structure, character, point of view, and theme. Chapter 11 consists of four stories by Edith Wharton, and Chapter 12 contains seven stories for additional study and enjoyment. Readers will note that some of the new stories are classic--like those by Faulkner, Petronius, Chekhov, and Wharton--and some, such as those by Munro and Bradbury, are well on their way to becoming classic. The new stories complement the fifty-two stories, such as those by Carver, Crane, Glaspell, Gilman, Hawthorne, Joyce, Laurence, Porter, and Twain, that are retained from the sixth edition. POETRY.The thirteen poetry chapters are arranged similarly to the fiction chapters. Chapter 13 is introductory. Chapters 14-23 deal with topics such as diction, symbolism, imagery, tone, and myth. Chapter 24 is the poetic careers chapter, consisting of selections by Wordsworth, Dickinson, and Frost. Chapter 25 contains 129 poems for additional study and enjoyment. Brief biographies of the anthologized poets are included in Appendix II to make the poetry section parallel with the drama and fiction sections. Poetry selections are taken from poets of late medieval times to those of our own day, including poets such as the anonymous writer of "Sir Patrick Spens," Wyatt, Queen Elizabeth I, Shakespeare, Donne, Dryden, Pope, Gray, Wordsworth, Byron, Keats, Tennyson, Rossetti, Hopkins, Pound, Yeats, Eliot, Layton, Lowell, Brooks, Birney, and Clifton