Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, Compact

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

• ISBN13: 9780130978028
• ISBN10: 0130978027
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-01-01
• Publisher: Prentice Hall

Summary

For Introduction to Literature courses; and 2nd semester Freshman Composition courses that emphasize writing about literature. This compact version of the best-selling Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing retains the dedication to integrating unequalled writing about literature coverage throughout. It is dedicated throughout to the interlocking processes of reading and writing. In addition to carefully chosen literary selections, each chapter contains detailed information about the process of writing about literature, with hundreds of thought-provoking questions and sample student essays.

Table of Contents

Thematic Table of Contents	xxxvii
Preface to the Second Compact Edition	xlvi
Introduction: Reading, Responding To, And Writing About Literature	1	(56)
What Is Literature, and why Do We study It?	1	(1)
Types of Literature: The Genres	2	(1)
Reading Literature and Responding to It Actively	3	(2)
The Necklace	5	(7)
Guy de Maupassant
To go to a ball, Mathilde Loisel borrows a necklace from a rich friend, but her rhapsodic evening has unforseen consequences that alter her life
Reading and Responding in a Notebook or Computer File	12	(3)
Writing Essays on Literary Topics	15	(1)
Three Major Stages in Thinking and Writing: Discovering Ideas, Making Initial Drafts, and Completing the Essay	16	(1)
The Discovery of Ideas (``Brainstorming'')	16	(6)
Assembling Materials and Beginning to Write	22	(3)
Drafting the Essay	25	(3)
Writing a First Draft	28	(2)
Developing an Outline	30	(1)
Demonstrative Student Essay, First Draft: Ho IV Setting in ``The Necklace'' Is Related to the Character of Mathilde	31	(1)
Developing and Strengthening Essays through Revision	32	(4)
Checking Development and Organization	36	(2)
Using Exact Comprehensive and Forceful Language	38	(3)
Demonstrative Student Essay, Improved Draft: How Maupassant Uses Setting in ``The Necklace'' to Show the Character of Mathilde	41	(2)
Essay Commentaries	43	(1)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about the Writing Process	43	(1)
Responding to Literature: Likes and Dislikes	44	(2)
Stating Reasons for Favorable Responses	46	(1)
Stating Reasons for Unfavorable Responses	46	(3)
Writing about Responses: Likes and Dislikes	49	(1)
Demonstrative Student Essay: Some Reasons for Liking Maupassant's ``The Necklace''	50	(2)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about Responses to Literature	52	(5)
Reading and Writing About Fiction
Fiction: An Overview	57	(41)
Modern fiction	58	(1)
The Short Story	59	(1)
Elements of Fiction I: Verisimilitude and Donnee	59	(2)
Elements of Fiction II: Character, Plot, Structure, and Idea or Theme	61	(3)
Elements of Fiction III: The Writer's Tools	64	(5)
Stories For Study	69	(29)
Neighbors	69	(5)
Raymond Carver
Bill and Arlene Miller are looking after the apartment of the Stones, their neighbors, whose life seems to be brighter and fuller than theirs
The Things They Carried	74	(11)
Tim O'Brien
In Vietnam, American soldiers carry not only their weighty equipment, but many memories
Everyday Use	85	(7)
Alice Walker
Mrs. Johnson, with her daughter Maggie, is visited by her citified daughter Dee, whose return home is accompanied by surprises
The Precis or Abridgment	92	(1)
Guidelines for Precis Writing	92	(3)
Writing a Precis	95	(1)
Demonstrative Student Essay: A Precis of Alice Walker's ``Everyday Use,''	95	(2)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about Fiction	97	(1)
Plot and Structure: The Development and Organization of Stories	98	(37)
Plot, the Motivation and Causation of Fiction	98	(2)
The Structure of Fiction	100	(1)
Formal Categories of Structure	100	(2)
Formal and Actual Structure	102	(2)
Stories for Study	104	(31)
The Three Strangers	104	(15)
Thomas Hardy
The rustic and isolated country-shepherds of Higher Crowstairs celebrate a christening, but the evening provides more action than they expected
What I Have Been Doing Lately	119	(2)
Jamaica Kincaid
Life develops from the recirculation of dreams and fantasies
Blue Winds Dancing	121	(5)
Tom Whitecloud
Yearning to spend Christmas at home, a young Indian student travels from his university in California to his native village in Wisconsin
Writing about the Plot of a Story	126	(1)
Demonstrative Student Essay: Conflicting Values in Thomas Hardy's ``The Three Stranger,''	127	(2)
Writing about Structure in a Story	129	(2)
Demonstrative Student Essay: Conflict and Suspense in Thomas Hardy's ``The Three Stranger	131	(2)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about Plot and Structure	133	(2)
Characters: The People in Fiction	135	(57)
Character Traits	136	(1)
How Authors Disclose Character in Literature	137	(2)
Types of Characters: Round and flat	139	(2)
Reality and Probability: Verisimilitude	141	(1)
Stories for Study	142	(50)
Barn Burning	142	(12)
William Faulkner
A young country boy grows in awareness, conscience, and individuality despite his hostile father
A Jury of Her Peers	154	(15)
Susan Glaspell
On a small family farm, two women accompanying their husbands on a criminal investigation discover interesting details in the farmhouse kitchen. Their growing realizations force them to make an unexpected decision
Shopping	169	(9)
Joyce Carol Oates
Mrs. Dietrich and her daughter Nola go shopping on Saturday morning, but does their time together bring hoped-for intimacy?
Two Kinds	178	(8)
Amy Tan
Jing-Mei follows her own wishes and leads her own kind of life despite her mother's hopes and guidance
Writing about Character	186	(2)
Demonstrative Student Essay: The Character of Minnie Wright in Susan Glaspell's ``A Jury of Her Peers,''	188	(3)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about Character	191	(1)
Point of View: The Position or Stance of the Narrator or Speaker	192	(46)
An Exercise in Point of View: Reporting an Accident	194	(1)
Conditions That Affect Point of View	195	(1)
Determining a Work's Point of View	196	(4)
Mingling Points of View	200	(1)
Summary: Guidelines for Point of View	201	(1)
Stories For Study	202	(36)
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge	202	(7)
Ambrose Bierce
A condemned man dreams of escape, freedom, and family
The Song of Songs	209	(4)
Ellen Gilchrist
In despair and uncertainty, Barrett Clare receives a phone call from her real mother, whose ``song'' is one of need
The Lottery	213	(6)
Shirley Jackson
What would it be like if the prize at a community-sponsored lottery were not the cash that people ordinarily expect from lottery drawings)?
The Old Chief Mshlanga	219	(8)
Doris Lessing
A woman recalls rural conditions of racial inequality and oppression in colonial Rhodesia
How to Become a Writer	227	(5)
Lorrie Moore
There is more to becoming a writer than simply sitting down at a table and beginning to write
Writing about Point of View	232	(2)
Demonstrative Student Essay: Shirley Jackson's Dramatic Point of View in ``The Lottery''	234	(3)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about Point of View	237	(1)
Setting: The Background of Place, Objects, and Culture in Stories	238	(50)
What Is Setting?	238	(1)
The Literary Uses of Setting	239	(5)
Stories For Study	244	(44)
The Portable Phonograph	244	(5)
Walter Van Tilburg Clark
In civilized times, listening to music brings people together, but what happens in a future time when civilization has been destroyed?
The Secret Sharer	249	(26)
Joseph Conrad
What punishment does a man deserve if he committed his crime while attempting to save many people?
The Shawl	275	(3)
Cynthia Ozick
In a Nazi concentration camp, can a mother save her starving and crying baby?
The Masque of the Red Death	278	(5)
Edgar Allan Poe
In a time of plague, Prince Prospero surrounds himself with friends, locks his doors, and throws great parties, but an uninvited guest suddenly appears
Writing about Setting	283	(2)
Demonstrative Student Essay: The Setting of Conrad's ``The Secret Sharer,''	285	(2)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about Setting	287	(1)
Tone and Style: The Words that Convey Attitudes in Fiction	288	(38)
Diction: The Writer's Choice and Control of Words	289	(4)
Tone, Irony, and Style	293	(1)
Tone, Humor, and Style	294	(1)
Stories for Study	295	(31)
The Story of an Hour	295	(2)
Kate Chopin
Louise Mallard is shocked by news of her husband's death, but there is still a greater shock in store for her
Soldier's Home	297	(6)
Ernest Hemingway
Harold Krebs, a veteran of World War I combat, returns home and finds that adjusting to peacetime life is unsettling
The Found Boat	303	(7)
Alice Munro
After the snows of winter have melted, young people begin learning about themselves as they start putting aside their childish ways
First Confession	310	(6)
Frank O'Connor
Jackie as a young man recalls his mixed memories of the events surrounding his first childhood experience with confession
Luck	316	(3)
Mark Twain
The career of a famous general and knight is described by a follower who was there at all the battles
Writing about Tone and Style	319	(2)
Demonstrative Student Essay: Frank O'Connor's Control of Tone and Style in ``First Confession,''	321	(3)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about one Style	324	(2)
Symbolism and Allegory: Keys to Extended Meaning	326	(50)
Symbolism	326	(3)
Allegory	329	(2)
Fable Parable, and Myth	331	(1)
Allusion in Symbolism and Allegory	332	(1)
Stories For Study	332	(44)
The Fox and the Grapes	332	(1)
Aesop
What do people say about things they can't have?
The Myth of Atalanta	333	(2)
Anonymous
In ancient times, how did a superior woman maintain her power and her integrity?
Unfinished Masterpieces	335	(2)
Anita Scott Coleman
Worthiness does not rise when suppressed by poverty and racial inequality
Young Goodman Brown	337	(10)
Nathaniel Hawthorne
In colonial Salem, Goodman Brown has a bewildering encounter that changes his outlook on life and his attitude toward people
The Loons	347	(6)
Margaret Laurence
The dark side of progress and change is that much potential beauty and ability are shunted aside and lost
The Payable of the Prodigal Son	353	(2)
St. Luke
Is there any limit to what a person can do to make divine forgiveness impossible?
The Hammon and the Beans	355	(4)
Americo Paredes
Are the principles of American liberty and equality to be confined to people of only one group or should they be safeguards for everyone?
The Chrysanthemums	359	(8)
John Steinbeck
On a small California ranch, Elisa Allen's hopes are raised, along with her sense of self-worth
The Thimble	367	(2)
Michel Tremblay
Can people capably shoulder the responsibilities that life delivers to them?
Writing about Symbolism or Allegory	369	(3)
Demonstrative Student Essay: Allegory and Symbolism in Nathaniel Hawthorne's ``Young Goodman Brown,''	372	(2)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about Symbolism and Allegory	374	(2)
Idea or Theme: The Meaning and the Message in Fiction	376	(34)
Ideas and Assertions	376	(1)
Ideas and Values	377	(2)
The Place of Ideas in Literature	379	(1)
How to Find Ideas	380	(2)
Stories for Study	382	(28)
The Lesson	383	(5)
Tony Cade Bambara
A group of children is taken to an expensive toy store, and some of them draw conclusions about society and themselves
Araby	388	(5)
James Joyce
An introspective boy develops insights after keeping his promise to attend a street bazaar and trying to buy a gift
The Horse Dealer's Daughter	393	(11)
D. H. Lawrence
A man and woman, whose lives have been indeterminate, find in each other a new reason for being
Writing about a Major Idea in Fiction	404	(2)
Demonstrative Student Essay: D. H. Lawrence's Idea in ``The Horse Dealer's Daughter'' That Commitment Is Essential to Life	406	(3)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about Ideas	409	(1)
Five Stories for Additional Study and Enjoyment	410	(41)
Snow	410	(6)
Robert Olen Butler
From disrupted times and separate cultures, a man and woman reach out to each other
The Curse	416	(4)
Andre Dubus
A man who witnesses a gang attack on a defenseless woman experiences deep anguish and self-reproach
The Point of It	420	(10)
E. M. Forster
Though life sometimes seems pointless and worthy only of being forgotten the life well-lived has great value
The Yellow Wallpaper	430	(11)
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Who is the woman who seems to be trying to emerge from behind the yellow wallpaper?
The Jilting of Granny Weatherall	441	(10)
Katherine Anne Porter
At the very last, Granny Weatherall has her memories and is surrounded by her loving adult children
Reading and Writing About Poetry
Meeting Poetry: An Overview	451	(29)
The Nature of Poetry	451	(1)
Schoolsville	451	(2)
Billy Collins
What scenes of school are memorable and also droll?
Hope	453	(1)
Lisel Mueller
What is hope, and where do we find it?
Here a Pretty Baby Lies	454	(2)
Robert Herrick
Do nothing that might disturb this sleeping child
Poetry of the English Language	456	(1)
How to Read a Poem	456	(2)
Studying Poetry	458	(1)
Sir Patrick Spens	458	(3)
Anonymous
What happens when Sir Patrick and his men go out to sea?
Poems for Study	461	(19)
My Last Duchess	461	(2)
Robert Browning
The Duke shows his wife's portrait to the visiting envoy of the Count
Because I Could Not Stop for Death	463	(1)
Emily Dickinson
Is Death a!1 invited or uninvited guest?
Catch	464	(1)
Robert Francis
Why is a poem like a baseball?
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening	464	(1)
Robert Frost
Why docs the speaker tell about driving on after pausing to see winter scene?
The Man He Killed	465	(1)
Thomas Hardy
The battlefield soldier thinks about his fallen enemy
Eagle Poem	466	(1)
Joy Harjo
How is prayer like the circular flight of the eagle?
The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner	467	(1)
Randall Jarrell
What was the duly, even at birth, of the ball turret gunner?
Ogichidag	467	(1)
Jim Northrup
What has been the life's purpose of three generations of men?
Where Children Live	468	(1)
Naomi Shihab Nye
What permanent effects do children produce on a home?
A Christmas Carol	469	(1)
Christina Rossetti
What present can a poor worshiper give the newly born Christ child?
Sonnet 55: Not Marble, Nor the Gilded Monuments	470	(1)
William Shakespeare
How can powerful rhyme outlive politics, war, and history?
True Love	471	(1)
Judith Viorst
True love transcends the obstacles of daily life together
It Is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free	472	(1)
William Wordsworth
We live in the divine presence even ``when we know it not.''
Writing a Paraphrase of a Poem	473	(1)
Demonstrative Student Paraphrase: A Paraphrase of Thomas Hardy's ``The Man He Killed,''	474	(1)
Writing an Explication of a Poem	474	(2)
Demonstrative Student Essay: An Explication of Thomas Hardy's ``The Man He Killed,''	476	(2)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about the Nature of Poetry	478	(2)
Words: The Building Blocks of Poetry	480	(26)
Choice of Diction: Specific and Concrete, General and Abstract	481	(1)
Levels of Diction	481	(1)
Special Types of Diction	482	(3)
Syntax	485	(1)
Denotation and Connotation	486	(1)
The Naked and the Nude	487	(2)
Robert Graves
Word choices have profound effects on Our perceptions
Poems for Study	489	(17)
The Lamb	489	(1)
William Blake
Why is the Iamb worthy of being blessed?
Green Grow the Rashes, O	490	(1)
Robert Burns
If one finds love everything else is insignificant
Jabberwocky	491	(1)
Lewis Carroll
Who is the Jabberwock, and why should he be fought?
next to of course god america i	492	(1)
E.E. Cummings
Is this speaker saying anything significant, even if he has the platform?
Holy Sonnet 14: Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God	493	(1)
John Donne
Why is God's care superior to human reason?
The Fury of Aerial Bombardment	493	(1)
Richard Eberhart
What eternal truth does humankind possess?
Sonnet on the Death of Richard West	494	(1)
Thomas Gray
Why does the speaker believe he grieves in vain?
Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry Now	495	(1)
A.E. Housman
What should we do with the time we have on earth?
Of Being	496	(1)
Denise Levertov
What makes the world a mystery?
Richard Cory	496	(1)
Edwin Arlington Robinson
Can anyone ever understand the personal pain of others?
Dolor	497	(1)
Theodore Roethke
What are the major costs of our commercial society?
I Think Continually of Those Who Were Truly Great	498	(1)
Stephen Spender
Does true greatness mean what we usually think it does?
Disillusionment of Ten O'Clock	498	(1)
Wallace Stevens
What is this disillusionment, and how can it be overcome?
Eating Poetry	499	(1)
Mark Strand
Can it be fun to eat poetry? Can poetry be digested? Understood?
Daffodils	500	(1)
William Wordsworth
How do daffodils bring both immediate and recollected pleasure?
Writing about Diction and Syntax in Poetry	501	(1)
Demonstrative Student Essay: Extraordinary Definitions in Stephen Spender's ``I Think Continually of Those Who Were Truly Great,''	502	(3)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about the Words of Poetry	505	(1)
Imagery: The Poem's Link to the Senses	506	(28)
Responses and the Writer's Use of Detail	506	(1)
The Relationship of Imagery to Ideas and Attitudes	507	(1)
Types of Imagery	508	(1)
Cargoes	508	(1)
John Masefield
What do cargo-bearing ships tell us about the past and the present?
Anthem for Doomed Youth	509	(2)
Wilfred Owen
How do sounds of war disturb the sounds of peaceful ritual?
The Fish	511	(3)
Elizabeth Bishop
What does the speaker think upon catching a battle-hardened fish?
Poems for study	514	(20)
The Tyger	514	(1)
William Blake
Is the source of good also the source of evil?
Sonnets from the Portuguese, No 14: If Thou Must Love Me	515	(1)
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Is there any reason for Love beyond Love itself?
Kubla Khan	516	(1)
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
What is the nature of Kubla Khan's dome of pleasure?
I Know I'm Not Sufficiently Obscure	517	(1)
Ray Durem
What is the speaker saying when he says that he is not ``sufficiently obscure''?
Preludes	518	(2)
T. S. Eliot
Why should the various scenes be considered as introductions to life? What kind of life is it?
Channel Firing	520	(1)
Thomas Hardy
What is so loud that it wakens the dead, and what can the dead say?
The Pulley	521	(1)
George Herbert
How does God draw people to belief and faith?
Spring	522	(1)
Gerard Manley Hopkins
How do images of earthly spring lead to thoughts of Edenic paradise?
A Time Past	523	(1)
Denise Levertov
Can the fondest of memories persist despite disaffection and change?
The Voice You Hear When You Read Silently	524	(1)
Thomas Lux
How is our voice when reading silently the clearest voice we know?
Photos of a Salt Mine	525	(1)
P.K. Page
How can a salt mine be the subject of a poem?
In a Station of the Metro	526	(1)
Ezra Pound
What do people at the subway station resemble?
Sonnet 130: My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun	527	(1)
William Shakespeare
What is the difference between real praise and exaggerated praise?
Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802	527	(1)
William Wordsworth
Can the morning panorama of the city be considered beautiful?
Writing about Imagery	528	(2)
Demonstrative Student Essay: The Image's of John Masefield's ``Cargoes,''	530	(2)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about Imagery in Poetry	532	(2)
Figures of Speech, or Metaphorical Language: A Source of Depth and Range In Poetry	534	(29)
Metaphors and Similes: The Major Figures of Speech	535	(1)
Characteristics of Metaphorical Language	536	(1)
On First Looking into Chapman's Homer	537	(1)
John Keats
How can a Renaissance translation of Homer's ancient epic poems be as exciting as discovering a new planet, or a new ocean?
Other Figures of Speech	538	(1)
Bright Star	539	(2)
John Keats
How can a distant star be an incentive to constancy in love?
Let Us Take the Road	541	(1)
John Gay
Is it possible to turn lead to gold?
Poems for Study	542	(21)
A Red, Red Rose	543	(1)
Robert Burns
The speaker compares the beauty of his love to the beauty of a rose
A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning	543	(2)
John Donne
The speaker tells his sweetheart not to grieve while he is on a trip
The Iceberg Seven-eighths Under	545	(1)
Abbie Huston Evans
How much do we know, but how much more do we not know?
Harlem	546	(1)
Langston Hughes
What can happen when hopeful dreams are suppressed?
To Autumn	546	(1)
John Keats
All seasons are beautiful in their way, and autumn is especially beautiful
Sic Vita	547	(1)
Henry King
There are a number of things and actions with which life may be compared
Conjoined	548	(1)
Judith Minty
In what way can married people be compared to a large onion?
A Work of Artifice	549	(1)
Marge Piercy
How can culture and artifice stultify the lives of women?
Metaphors	550	(1)
Sylvia Plath
What are these metaphors, and what are they about?
Looking at Each Other	550	(1)
Muriel Rukeyser
More is described here than simply looking
Sonnet 18: Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?	551	(1)
William Shakespeare
Despite the passage of time, it is possible to retain life
Sonnet 30: When to the Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought	552	(1)
William Shakespeare
When thoughts are about loss, what other thoughts can restore them?
On Monsieur's Departure	552	(1)
Elizabeth Tudor
Queen Elizabeth I
How does this famous queen of England express her secret uneasiness?
Earth Tremors Felt in Missouri	553	(1)
Mona Van Duyn
How can human discontents seem as great as actual earthquake tremors?
Facing West from California's Shores	554	(1)
Walt Whitman
Despite a life of wandering, there are still many deep secrets
London, 1802	555	(1)
William Wordsworth
What is necessary for restoring an aimless society to a sense of purpose?
I Find No Peace	555	(1)
Sir Thomas Wyatt
Why does the speaker say his loved one causes both delight and strife?
Writing about Figures of Speech	556	(3)
Demonstrative Student Paragraph: Wordsworth's Use of Overstatement in ``London, 1802,''	559	(1)
Demonstrative Student Essay: A Study of Shakespeare's Metaphors in Sonnet 30	560	(1)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about Figures of Speech in Poetry	561	(2)
Tone: The Creation of Attitude in Poetry	563	(30)
Tone, Choice, and Response	564	(1)
The First-Rate Wife	564	(1)
Cornelius Whur
The speaker obligingly describes how a woman may become a first-rate wife. What are we to make of this speaker?
Tone and the Need for Control	565	(1)
Dulce et Decorum Est	566	(1)
Wilfred Owen
Can ideals of war be sustained in the face of the reality of war?
Tone and Common Grounds or Assent	567	(1)
Tone and Irony	568	(1)
The Workbox	569	(2)
Thomas Hardy
This dialogue between a husband and wife reveals much about both
Tone and Satire	571	(1)
Epigram from the French	571	(1)
Alexander Pope
The speaker presents a stinging but ironic insult
Epigram, Engraved on the Collar or a Dog which I Gave to His Royal Highness	572	(1)
Alexander Pope
Are social pretensions confined only to human beings?
Poems for Study	573	(20)
Homage to my hips	573	(1)
Lucille Clifton
The speaker takes delight in the power other body
she being Brand	574	(1)
E.E. Cummings
What do making love and driving a new car have in common?
I Am A Black Woman	575	(1)
Mari Evans
What anguish has an American black woman experienced?
Theme for English B	576	(1)
Langston Hughes
How would you grade this poem if you were the English instructor?
The Planned Child	577	(1)
Sharon Olds
How important was the speaker to her mother?
Late Movies with Skyler	578	(2)
Michael Ondaatje
How can watching late movies bring two people together?
Dying	580	(1)
Robert Pinsky
What do all living beings have in common?
From Epilogue to the Satires, Dialogue I	581	(1)
Alexander Pope
What can be held sacred when morality is under attack?
Nothing Is Lost	582	(1)
Anne Ridler
In what ways are our ancestors still alive?
My Papa's Waltz	583	(1)
Theodore Roethke
How does the speaker remember his father's behavior after taking on a load of whiskey?
A Description of the Morning	584	(1)
Jonathan Swift
Is there anything heroic about life at the beginnings of the day?
My Physics Teacher	585	(1)
David Wagoner
Classroom demonstrations in physics don't always work out as hoped for
Dimensions	586	(1)
C.K. Williams
Would any world anywhere else be any better than the one we have?
Writing about Tone in Poetry	587	(2)
Demonstrative Student Essay: The Shifting Attitudes of Sharon Olds's Speaker in ``The Planned Child,''	589	(2)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about Tone in Poetry	591	(2)
Form: The Shape of the Poem	593	(46)
Characteristics of Closed-Form Poetry	593	(1)
Types of Closed Forms	594	(2)
The Eagle	596	(3)
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
What words can describe this most majestic of all birds?
Spun in High, Dark Clouds	599	(1)
Anonymous
What is the essential quality of falling snow?
The Uses of the Closed Form to Shape and Polish Meaning	600	(1)
Sonnet 116: Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds	600	(1)
William Shakespeare
True love does not change, no matter what is often done against it
Open-Form Poetry	601	(1)
Reconciliation	602	(1)
Walt Whitman
What does it take to bring human beings to reconciliation with each other?
Visual and Concrete Poetry	603	(1)
Easter Wings	604	(1)
George Herbert
How can God's grace be described and also pictured at the same time?
Poems For Study	605	(34)
One Art	606	(1)
Elizabeth Bishop
What constitutes the greatest loss of all?
We Real Cool	607	(1)
Gwendolyn Brooks
Of what value is it to indulge in destructive delights?
Sonnet	607	(1)
Billy Collins
How do you write a sonnet about a sonnet?
Buffalo Bill's	608	(1)
E.E. Cummings
What one thing happens to everyone, no matter how great they are?
To the Memory of Mr. Oldham	609	(1)
John Dryden
What can be said in a final goodbye?
Desert Places	610	(1)
Robert Frost
What is more frightening than the emptiness of outer space?
Nikki-Rosa	610	(1)
Nikki Giovanni
``Black love is Black wealth
Museum	611	(1)
Robert Hass
How does life go on despite many forces opposing it?
Virtue	612	(1)
George Herbert
What one thing gives lasting life?
Mantle	613	(1)
William Heyen
What happens to youthful energy and glory?
Swan and Shadow	614	(1)
John Hollander
Have you ever seen a poem shaped like a swimming swan?
God's Grandeur	615	(1)
Gerard Manley Hopkins
An expression of amazement and gratitude for the earth's beauty
Ode to a Nightingale	615	(3)
John Keats
The nightingale's beautiful song provides an insight into eternal beauty
The Sound of the Sea	618	(1)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The sea is impelled by mysterious forces, as we are
In Bondage	618	(1)
Claude McKay
``Life is greater than the thousand wars / Men wage for it.''
When I Consider How My Light is Spent	619	(1)
John Milton
Human beings serve God best when they follow God's ways
Annabel Lee	620	(1)
Edgar Allan Poe
Ideal love, now lost, can still exist in memory
Ballad of Birmingham	621	(1)
Dudley Randall
A mother's hopes and plans for her child's safety are cruelly thwarted
The Waking	622	(1)
Theodore Roethke
What does it take to learn how to live?
Sonnet 73: That Time of Year Thou May'st in Me Behold	623	(1)
William Shakespeare
Despite encroaching age, living requires present commitment
Ode to the West Wind	624	(2)
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Today's thoughts create the future, just as spring follows winter
Ozymandias	626	(1)
Percy Bysshe Shelley
What has happened to the superpowers of past ages?
Women	627	(1)
May Swenson
Women should be pedestals to men, shouldn't they?
Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night	628	(1)
Dylan Thomas
What is, is, but we should not therefore be happy about accepting ill
Reapers	628	(1)
Jean Toomer
What is hurt by progress?
The Shape of History	629	(1)
Charles H. Webb
How can history be compared to the shape of a cone?
Poetics Against the Angel of Death	630	(1)
Phyllis Webb
Does the writing of poems preserve life despite inevitable death?
The Dance	631	(1)
William Carlos Williams
Brueghel's painting captures life in an active and joyous moment
The Solitary Reaper	632	(1)
William Wordsworth
An ordinary experience gives permanent thoughts of beauty
Writing about Form in Poetry	633	(2)
Demonstrative Student Essay: form and Meaning in George Herbert's ``Virtue,''	635	(2)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about Poetic Form	637	(2)
Symbolism and Allusion: Windows to Wide Expanses of Meaning	639	(37)
Symbolism and Meanings	639	(2)
Snow	641	(2)
Virginia Scott
Tradition of place gives permanence to life
The Function of Symbolism in Poetry	643	(2)
Allusions and Meaning	645	(1)
Studying for Symbols and Allusions	646	(1)
Poems for Study	647	(29)
Dover Beach	648	(1)
Matthew Arnold
When you lose certainty, what remains for you?
Beach Glass	649	(1)
Amy Clampitt
Even the most beautiful objects come from sand and return to sand
The Poplar Field	650	(1)
William Cowper
Nothing stays the same; everything changes, and much is lost
In Just-	651	(1)
E.E. Cummings
In springtime, children dance, and play, and grow. Whee!
The Canonization	652	(2)
John Donne
How does spiritual love parallel human love?
Collage of Echoes	654	(1)
Isabella Gardner
What stays in the memory after a long life?
The Geese	655	(1)
Jorie Graham
Should life be measured by wars and politics, or by everyday actions?
In Time of ``The Breaking of Nations,''	656	(1)
Thomas Hardy
What continues even though kingdoms fade into nothingness?
The Collar	656	(2)
George Herbert
What does it mean to be dedicated to the service of God?
Tears	658	(1)
Josephine Jacobsen
Why are tears uniquely human, and what do they tell about us?
The Purse-Seine	659	(2)
Robinson Jeffers
The circle of the net is closing
La Belle Dame Sans Merci	661	(1)
John Keats
What happened when the knight met the lady in the meadows?
To His Coy Mistress	662	(2)
Andrew Marvell
Why should we not live our lives to the utmost now?
Wild Geese	664	(1)
Mary Oliver
The world goes on, and love goes on
A Noiseless Patient Spider	665	(1)
Walt Whitman
In measureless space, the soul, somewhere, needs to find a place
Year's End	665	(2)
Richard Wilbur
We want more time, more time, but is there ever to be more time?
Lines Written in Early Spring	667	(1)
William Wordsworth
A beautiful spot in the woods leads the speaker to moral thoughts
The Second Coming	668	(1)
William Butler Years
Harmful forces are being loosened in our modern world
Writing about Symbolism and Allusion in Poetry	669	(3)
Demonstrative Student Essay: Symbolism and Allusion in William Butler Yeats's ``The Second Coming,''	672	(2)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about Symbolism and Allusion in Poetry	674	(2)
Myths: Systems of Symbolic Allusion in Poetry	676	(29)
Mythology as an Explanation of How Things Are	676	(4)
Mythology and Literature	680	(1)
Leda and the Swan	681	(2)
William Butler Yeats
We have the power to live, but do we have the knowledge?
Six Poems Related to the Myth of Odysseus	683	(1)
Poems for Study	683	(7)
Penelope's Song	684	(1)
Louise Gluck
Penelope is waiting for Odysseus' return, but is she pleased?
Odysseus	685	(1)
W.S. Merwin
When people wander, do they really ever have a sense of home?
Penelope	685	(1)
Dorothy Parker
Why should not Penelope be called brave?
The Suitor	686	(1)
Linda Pastan
This is the story that usually no one bothers to tell
Ulysses	687	(2)
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
What can we learn from all our journeys and experiences?
Odyssey: 20 Years Later	689	(1)
Peter Ulisse
What is it like to return home after a seemingly endless journey?
Six Poems Related to the Myth of Icarus	689	(1)
Poems For Study	690	(5)
Flight 063	690	(1)
Brian Aldiss
The challenge is there for us, if only we are brave enough to accept it
Musee des Beaux Arts	691	(1)
W.H. Auden
Even when someone suffers, life goes on
Icarus	692	(1)
Edward Field
When you've been up, can you bear being down?
Waiting for Icarus	693	(1)
Muriel Rukeyser
If you stay home and wait, life is not without frustrations
To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Triumph	694	(1)
Anne Sexton
Rejoice when brave and planned efforts succeed
Landscape with the Fall of Icarus	694	(1)
William Carlos Williams
In spring when there are many jobs to do, is there time to worry about someone else?
Three Poems Related to the Myth of the Phoenix	695	(1)
Poems for Study	695	(3)
Berceuse	696	(1)
Amy Clampitt
When something new arises, are things necessarily better than before?
Hunting the Phoenix	696	(1)
Denise Levertov
Is growth automatic, or must it be sought?
The Phoenix Again	697	(1)
May Sarton
Even over seas of grief, the phoenix will take flight
Two Poems Related to the Myth or Oedipus	698	(1)
Poems for Study	698	(7)
Myth	699	(1)
Muriel Rukeyser
Why was not Oedipus' answer to the Sphinx inclusive?
On the Way to Delphi	699	(1)
John Updike
In the actual physical locations of ancient Thebes, where Oedipus was king, everything is changed, or is it?
Writing about Myths in Poetry	700	(2)
Demonstrative Student Essay: Myth and Meaning in Dorothy Parker's ``Penelope,''	702	(2)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about Myth in Poetry	704	(1)
Two Poetic Careers: Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost	705	(33)
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)	705	(8)
Life and Work	705	(3)
Poetic Characteristics	708	(1)
Poetic Subjects	709	(2)
Bibliographic Sources	711	(1)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about the Poetry of Dickinson	712	(1)
Poems	713	(10)
Emily Dickinson
After Great Pain, a Formal Feeling Comes (J 341, F 372)	714
How can ceremony salve a wounded heart?
Because I Could Not Stop for Death (J712, F479)	463	(251)
Is Death all invited or uninvited guest?
The Bustle in a House (J 1078, F 1108)	714	(1)
What actions follow a death in the family?
The Heart Is the Capital of the Mind (J 1354, F1381)	714	(1)
What controls the mind and also the world?
Cannot Live with You (J 640, F 706)	714	(2)
Why would life together be impossible?
I Died for Beauty-but Was Scarce (J 449, F 448)	716	(1)
Beauty and Truth are insignificant in the face of death
I Felt a Funeral in My Brain (J 280, F 340)	716	(1)
What is it like when knowledge ends?
I Heard a Fly Buzz -When I Died (J 465, F 491)	716	(1)
What continues after the loss of vision and life?
I Like to See It Lap the Miles (J 585, F 383)	717	(1)
The railroad train is like a huge but playful monster
I'm Nobody! Who Are you? (J 288, F 260)	717	(1)
What is the difference between Nobody and Somebody?
I Never Lost as Much But Twice (J 49, F 39)	718	(1)
I have been comforted twice, and I need comfort again
I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed (J 214, F 207)	718	(1)
Here's a riddle: Who or what can taste a liquor that was never brewed?
Much Madness Is Divinest Sense (J435, D620)	718	(1)
Who makes and controls the definitions of madness and sanity?
My Life Closed Twice Before Its Close (J 1732, F 1773)	719	(1)
How deep is the grief at parting with loved ones?
My Triumph Lasted Till the Drums (J 1227, F 1212)	719	(1)
Before doing battle, people should think of the horror of warfare
One Need Not Be a Chamber-To Be Haunted (J 670, F 407)	719	(1)
One can wall out danger, but not the danger within oneself
Safe in Their Alabaster Chambers (J 216, F 124)	720	(1)
When is one safe from natural and political change?
Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church (J 324, F 236)	720	(1)
Does one need to attend church to practice religion?
The Soul Selects Her Own Society (J 303, F 409)	721	(1)
What is the effect of limiting one's life and friends?
Success Is Counted Sweetest (J 67, F 112)	721	(1)
Who recognizes success better than the unsuccessful?
Tell All the Truth but Tell It Slant (J 1129, F 1263)	721	(1)
People sometimes cannot bear the immediate light of truth
There's a Certain Slant of Light (J 258, F 320)	722	(1)
How can a certain slant of light disturb our souls?
This World Is Not Conclusion (J 501, F 373)	722	(1)
Why have believers borne contempt and crucifixion?
Wild Nights -Wild Nights! (J 249, F 269)	723	(1)
Do wild nights give moorage and peace to the spirit?
Robert Frost (1874-1963)	723	(6)
Life and Work	723	(3)
Poetic Characteristics	726	(1)
Poetic Subjects	727	(1)
Bibliographic Sources	728	(1)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about the Poetry of Robert Frost	728	(1)
Poems	729	(5)
Robert frost
Alphabetical List
Acquainted with the Night (1928)	734
Birches (1915)	730	(6)
Choose Something like a Star (1943)	736
A Considerable Speck (1942)	735
Desert Places (1936)	610	(124)
Design (1936)	734
Fire and Ice (1920)	733
Mending Wall (1914)	729	(4)
Misgiving (1923)	733	(1)
Nothing Gold Can Stay (1923)	733
'Out, Out-'(1916)	732
The Road Not Taken (1915)	731	(4)
The Silken Tent (1936)	735
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (1923)	464	(271)
The Strong Are Saying Nothing (1937)	735
Chronological List
Mending Wall (1914)	729	(1)
Is neighborliness created only by good fences?
Birches (1915)	730	(1)
How is life like a boy swinging from a birch tree to the ground?
The Road Not Taken (1915)	731	(1)
How important is choosing the road that has been less traveled?
'Out, Out-'(1916)	732	(1)
Shouldn't children play rather than work?
Fire and Ice (1920)	733
Which is more destructive, rage or indifference?
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (1923)	464	(269)
Why does the speaker tell about driving on after pausing to see the winter scene?
Misgiving (1923)	733	(1)
Falling autumn leaves suggest thoughts of continued life
Nothing Gold Can Stay (1923)	733	(1)
What happens to dawn, and to spring days?
Acquainted with the Night (1928)	734
This genial poet confesses to having a dark side
Desert Places (1936)	610	(124)
What is more frightening than the emptiness of outer space?
Design (1936)	734	(1)
Does design, or destiny, govern all life, from big to small?
The Silken Tent (1936)	735	(1)
How can the attractiveness of a loved one be explained?
Strong Are Saying Nothing (1937)	735	(1)
Does seasonal growth suggest ``little or much'' about eternity?
A Considerable Speck (1942)	735	(1)
What does the speaker feel glad about seeing ``on any sheet'' of paper?
Choose Something like a Star (1943)	736	(2)
What can keep people steady even though their ideas are different?
Eighty-Six Poems for Additional Study and Enjoyment	738	(63)
Healing Prayer from the Beautyway Chant	740	(1)
Anonymous (Navajo)
What is the hope of this prayer?
Variation on the Word Sleep	741	(1)
Margaret Atwood
What is the hope of one in deepest love?
Ka 'Ba	741	(1)
Imamu Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones)
How can Blacks create a new correspondence with themselves?
Another Descent	742	(1)
Wendell Berry
How does the melting snow suggest a return to our roots?
Women	742	(1)
Louise Bogan
Is it the role of women to be provident?
A Black Man Talks of Reaping	743	(1)
Arna Bontemps
Why should a Black man not receive the fruits of his toil?
Sonnets from the Portuguese, No. 43: How Do I Love Thee?	743	(1)
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Is it possible to count the ways in which one loves?
Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister	744	(2)
Robert Browning
Does this monk sound like a monk?
The killers that run...'	746	(1)
Leonard Cohen
Is there ally possible good end to political agitation?
Days	746	(1)
Billy Collins
Each day is precious, though also precarious
From A Letter to America on a Visit to Sussex, Spring 1942	747	(1)
Frances Cornford
While men train for battle, larks sing
Do Not Weep, Maiden, for War Is Kind	748	(1)
Stephen Crane
The rationalization for war cannot overbalance the horror of war
if there are any heavens	748	(1)
E.E. Cummings
The speaker's mother and father deserve any and all heavens
The Lifeguard	749	(1)
James Dickey
The boy drowns, and guilt overwhelms the unsuccessful lifeguard
The Good Morrow	750	(1)
John Donne
This clever poem exalts love and lovemaking
Holy Sonnet 10: Death Be Not Proud	751	(1)
John Donne
How does eternal life put down death?
Sympathy	751	(1)
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Why does the caged bird sing?
The Negro	752	(1)
James Emanuel
How can Negroes achieve their own identities?
Like God	752	(2)
Lynn Emanuel
Does God script our lives the way a story writer creates fiction?
The Beauty of the Trees	754	(1)
Chief Dan George
What is it that makes the speaker's heart soar?
Woman	754	(1)
Nikki Giovanni
Can a woman be anyone else than a woman?
Sonnet Ending with a film Subtitle	755	(1)
Marilyn Hacker
How does a woman steel herself against betrayal?
Little Cosmic Dust Poem	755	(1)
John Haines
Love is undeniably the center of the universe
Snapshot of Hue	756	(1)
Daniel Halpern
Once the debris of war is gone, the horror is only a dim memory
Leaves	756	(1)
H.M. (SAM) Hamod
The son follows in the footsteps of his Arabic father
She's Free!	757	(1)
Frances E.W. Harper
In this pre-Civil War poem, a former slave rejoices in gaining freedom
Called	758	(1)
Michael S. Harper
It is dangerous for domesticated animals to break free
Spring Rain	759	(1)
Robert Hass
Spring rain is part of a natural cycle of planting and growth
Those Winter Sundays	759	(1)
Robert Hayden
A father does many loving duties that are unknown to his children
The Hair: Jacob Korman's Story	760	(1)
William Heyen
Polish Jews resisted fiercely before being forced to go to the Nazi death Camp
Advice to Young Ladies	760	(1)
A.D. Hope
How difficult has it been for women, historically, to assert themselves?
Pied Beauty	761	(1)
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Praise God for all of Nature's varied beauty
Negro	762	(1)
Langston Hughes
What are just a few of the outrages experienced by Blacks?
The Negro Speaks of Rivers	762	(1)
Langston Hughes
Blacks have worked as slaves along all the famous rivers of history
The Answer	763	(1)
Robinson Jeffers
Love should preserve and save all creation, not just the human race
Ode on a Grecian Urn	763	(2)
John Keats
Beauty and truth alone remain though generations pass from the earth
Rhine Boat Trip	765	(1)
Irving Layton
What terrible memory overshadows the beauty of German traditions?
A Final Thing	765	(1)
Li-Young Lee
How miraculous and transforming is the birth of a child?
In Computers	766	(1)
Alan P. Lightman
If all experience is saved in computers, will anything be lost?
The Choosing	767	(1)
Liz Lochhead
What choices made in childhood make such differences in adulthood?
Every Traveler Has One Vermont Poem	768	(1)
Audre Lorde
Even in Arcadia there is ugliness
Patterns	769	(2)
Amy Lowell
A woman learns that her fiance has been killed in overseas battle
The White City	771	(1)
Claude McKay
What things about the ``white city'' make the speaker hate?
Listen	772	(1)
W.S. Merwin
Despite everything bad, there is cause for thanks
The Bear	772	(1)
Scott Momaday
An aged bear represents the force and mystery of Nature
Life Cycle of Common Man	773	(1)
Howard Nemerov
A life of living accumulates a good deal of physical and cultural detritis
wahbegan	774	(1)
Jim Northrup
Not all casualties of war are named on tombstones
Ghosts	775	(1)
Mary Oliver
As Americans won the West, they created vast fields of death
Marks	776	(1)
Linda Pastan
How is life as a mother and wife comparable to a student's life?
The Secretary Chant	777	(1)
Marge Piercy
How does business life affect womanhood?
Last Words	777	(1)
Sylvia Plath
How is the speaker's entombment like that of an Egyptian mummy?
Mirror	778	(1)
Sylvia Plath
Over time, what does the mirror itself see?
Bells for John Whiteside's Daughter	779	(1)
John Crowe Ransom
Why did death take away the life in so vigorous a little body?
Assailant	779	(1)
John Raven
The speaker describes a surprising and unusual assailant
rite on: white america	779	(1)
Sonia Sanchez
Because of the treatment of Blacks, America is still a pioneer land
Chicago	780	(1)
Carl Sandburg
Why does this city sing and laugh so proudly?
Dreamers	781	(1)
Siegfried Sassoon
Even when the guns begin, what do soldiers really think about?
The Paperweight	781	(1)
Gjertrud Schnackenberg
A paperweight house in falling snow tells us what?
I Have a Rendezvous with Death	782	(1)
Alan Seeger
What is this rendezvous, and what rendezvous would be better?
My Mother's Face	783	(1)
Brenda Serotte
In the mirror, whom does the speaker think she sees?
Fear No More the Heat o' the Sun	783	(1)
William Shakespeare
How does death mark an end of fear and care?
Sonnet 29: When in Disgrace with Fortune and Men s Eyes	784	(1)
William Shakespeare
In the midst of despair and self-doubt, what can lift up the soul?
Sonnet 146: Poor Soul, the Center of My Sinful Earth	784	(1)
William Shakespeare
How can the soul outlast death itself?
Auto Wreck	784	(1)
Karl Shapiro
What is the meaning and where is the purpose in accidental death?
Where Mountain Lion Lay Down with Deer	785	(1)
Leslie Marmon Silko
How long has it been since the earth itself created lift?
Bluejays	786	(1)
Dave Smith
In danger, the birds stay in the trees, cautious hut also interested
Not Waving But Drowning	787	(1)
Stevie Smith
Can a friendly wave be distinguished from a gesture for help?
Oranges	787	(1)
Gary Soto
On a first date, a boy benefits from a clerk's understanding
Traveling Through the Dark	788	(1)
William Stafford
To save others, should some be sacrificed?
Burying an Animal on the Way to New York	789	(1)
Gerald Stern
Hurrying cars leave the ghosts of dead animals in their wake
The Emperor of Ice-Cream	789	(1)
Wallace Stevens
The empire of ice cream melts, but it gives pleasure while it exists
Question	790	(1)
May Swenson
Where do we go without our bodies to carry us?
The Blue Booby	790	(1)
James Tate
How little, or how much, is needed by males to court females?
Perfection Wasted	791	(1)
John Up Dike
What happens when your own brand of magic ceases forever?
The Boxes	792	(1)
Shelly Wagner
A mother thinks of the boxes with which her son might have played
Revolutionary Petunias	793	(1)
Alice Walker
What is the difference between vengeance and justice?
Go, Lovely Rose	793	(1)
Edmund Waller
What is the common fate of all things rare?
Song of Napalm	794	(1)
Bruce Weigl
Is there any way to deny the agony of those lost in war?
On Being Brought from Africa to America	795	(1)
Phillis Wheatley
This eighteenth-century poem tells us that Blacks, too, may be angels
Full of Life Now	795	(1)
Walt Whitman
Be not too certain but I am now with you
Dirge for Two Veterans	796	(1)
Walt Whitman
At what point during war can human beings be reconciled?
April 5, 1974	797	(1)
Richard Wilbur
From the soft ground will come flowers
The Red Wheelbarrow	797	(1)
William Carlos Williams
The world consists of things and beings
The Wild Swans at Coole	797	(1)
William Butler Yeats
Where will the wild swans go when I am no longer here to see them?
The Day Zimmer Lost Religion	798	(3)
Paul Zimmer
Can the threat of punishment make us religious?
Reading and Writing about Drama
The Dramatic Vision: An Overview	801	(49)
Drama as Literature	801	(8)
Performance: The Unique Aspect of Drama	809	(3)
Drama from Ancient Times to Our Own: Tragedy, Comedy, and Additional Forms	812	(3)
The Visit to the Sepulchre (Visitatio Sepulchri)	815	(4)
Anonymous
How do the three Marys respond to what the Angel tells them?
Reading Plays	819	(1)
Plays For Study	820	(30)
The More the Merrier	820	(11)
Stanley Kauffmann
Do problems stop, or start, once people say ``Yes'' to each other?
Tea Party	831	(4)
Betty Keller
How can people be made interested in coming into the house for a visit?
Before Breakfast	835	(7)
Eugene O'Neill
What happens in the face of anger, alienation, and lost hope?
Writing about the Elements of Drama	842	(4)
Demonstrative Student Essay: Eugene O'Neill's Use of Negative Descriptions and Stage Directions in Before Breakfast as a Means of Revealing Character	846	(3)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about the Elements of Drama	849	(1)
The Tragic Vision: Affirmation Through Loss	850	(177)
The Origins of Tragedy	851	(2)
The Ancient Competitions in Tragedy	853	(2)
Aristotle and the Nature of Tragedy	855	(5)
Irony in Tragedy	860	(2)
The Ancient Athenian Audience and Theater	862	(2)
Ancient Greek Tragic Actors and Their Costumes	864	(1)
Performance and the Formal Organization of Greek Tragedy	865	(2)
Plays for Study	867	(160)
Oedipus the King	867	(42)
Sophocles
Can anyone, even a great king, evade Destiny or Fate?
Renaissance Drama and Shakespeare's Theater	909	(5)
Hamlet	914	(104)
William Shakespeare
In this, the greatest play in English literature, the harmfulness of an initial act of evil affects the highest and most influential people in the kingdom of Denmark
Writing about Tragedy	1018	(1)
An Essay about a Problem	1019	(3)
Demonstrative Student Essay: The Problem of Hamlet's Apparent Delay	1022	(3)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about Tragedy	1025	(2)
The Comic Vision: Restoring the Balance	1027	(100)
The Origins of Comedy	1027	(3)
Comedy from Roman Times to the Renaissance	1030	(1)
The Patterns, Characters, and Language of Comedy	1031	(2)
Types of Comedy	1033	(3)
Plays for Study	1036	(91)
A Midsummer Night's Dream	1036	(57)
William Shakespeare
The problems faced by lovers are resolved through the magic of the natural world, not the legal rules of government and custom
Comedy from Shakespeare's Day to the Present	1093	(2)
The Bear	1095	(10)
Anton Chekhov
A bachelor and a widow meet and immediately detest each other, but their lives are about to undergo great change
Am I Blue	1105	(16)
Beth Henley
Two souls in the process of getting lost find each other and regain much of what they were losing
Writing about Comedy	1121	(2)
Demonstrative Student Essay: Setting as Symbol and Comic Structure in A Midsummer Night's Dream	1123	(2)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about Comedy	1125	(2)
Three Plays for Additional Study and Enjoyment	1127	(152)
Henrik Ibsen, A Dollhouse	1127	(1)
Ibsen's Life and Early Work	1128	(1)
Ibsen's Major Prose Plays	1128	(1)
A Dollhouse: Ibsen's Best-Known Realistic Problem Play	1129	(2)
A Dollhouse (Et Dukkehjem)	1131	(51)
Henrik Ibsen
In a seemingly perfect household, both Nora and then Torvald discover that all is not and was not well in their lives
Langston Hughes, Mulatto	1182	(1)
Hughes and the African-American Theater after 1920	1183	(1)
Hughes's Career as a Dramatist	1183	(1)
Mulatto and the Reality of the Southern Black Experience	1184	(1)
Mulatto	1185	(24)
Langston Hughes
Life on a Georgia plantation in the 1930s begins to shake, and then it crumbles
Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman	1209	(1)
Miller's Career in the Post-World War II Years	1209	(1)
Death of a Salesman and the Well-Made Play	1209	(1)
Death of a Salesman: Tragedy, Symbolism, and Broken Dreams	1210	(2)
Death of a Salesman	1212	(67)
Arthur Miller
Willie Loman, the salesman, after many years of responbilities, hard work, failure, and unfulfilled hopes, still clings to his dreams of success
Special Writing Topics about Literature	1279	(70)
Writing and Documenting the Research Essay	1281	(28)
Selecting a Topic	1281	(2)
Setting up a Bibliography	1283	(1)
Online Library Services	1284	(2)
Taking Notes and Paraphrasing Material	1286	(9)
Documenting Your Work	1295	(4)
Strategies for Organizing Ideas in Your Research Essay	1299	(2)
Demonstrative Student Research & say: The Ghost in Hamlet	1301	(8)
Critical Approaches Important in the Study of Literature	1309	(15)
Moral/Intellectual	1310	(1)
Topical/Historical	1311	(1)
Critical/Formalist	1312	(2)
Structuralist	1314	(1)
Feminist	1315	(1)
Economic Determinist/Marxist	1316	(1)
Psychological/ Psychoanalytic	1317	(2)
Archetypal/Symbolic/Mythic	1319	(1)
Deconstructionist	1320	(1)
Reader-Response	1321	(3)
Taking Examinations on Literature	1324	(11)
Answer the Questions That Are Asked	1324	(2)
Systematic Preparation	1326	(3)
Two Basic Types of Questions about Literature	1329	(6)
Comparison-Contrast and Extended Comparison-Contrast: Learning By Seeing Literary Works Together	1335	(14)
Guidelines for the Comparison-Contrast Method	1336	(3)
The Extended Comparison-Contrast Essay	1339	(1)
Writing a Comparison Contrast Essay	1340	(1)
Demonstrative Student Essay (Two Works): The Treatment of Responses to War in Amy Lowell's ``Patterns'' and Wilfred Owen's ``Anthem for Doomed Youth,''	1341	(3)
Demonstrative Student Essay (Extended Comparison-Contrast): Literary Treatments of the Conflicts between Private and Public Life	1344	(4)
Special Topics for Writing and Argument about Comparison and Contrast	1348	(1)
Appendix I. MLA Recommendations for Documenting Electronic Sources	1349	(4)
Appendix II. Brief Biographies of the Poets in Part II	1353	(24)
Glossary of Literary Terms	1377	(22)
Credits	1399	(8)
Index of Authors, Titles, and First Lines of Poetry	1407