Writing about Literature with 2009 MLA Update : A Portable Guide

by Gardner, Janet E.

• ISBN13: 9780312607579
• ISBN10: 0312607571
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-06-19
• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's

Summary

Writing about Literatureintroduces strategies for reading literature, explains the writing process and common writing assignments for literature courses, provides instruction in writing about fiction, poetry, and drama, and includes coverage of writing a research paper and of literary criticism and theory.This volume in Bedford/St. Martin's popular series of Portable Anthologies and Guides offers the series' trademark combination of high quality and great value for teachers looking to assign supplementary instruction on reading and writing about literature to their students.

Author Biography

Janet E. Gardner, an associate professor of English at University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, has published numerous essays on contemporary drama, especially modern British drama and the work of Caryl Churchill. She has received several grants and awards for research into current teaching technologies, and is at work on a nationwide study of drama and theatre pedagogy. She is the editor of 12 Plays: A Portable Anthology and co-editor of Literature: A Portable Anthology (both with Bedford/St. Martin’s).

Table of Contents

Preface	p. v
Introduction: Writing about Literature	p. 1
The Role of Good Reading	p. 2
The Value of Rereading	p. 2
Critical Reading	p. 2
The Myth of "Hidden Meaning"	p. 3
Active Reading	p. 4
Annotating	p. 4
"Kubla Khan"	p. 6
Notetaking	p. 7
Journal Keeping	p. 7
Using Reference Materials	p. 9
Asking Critical Questions of Literature	p. 9
Questions about the Text	p. 10
"On My First Son"	p. 11
Questions about the Author	p. 11
Questions about the Cultural Context	p. 12
Questions about the Reader	p. 13
Tips for Good Reading	p. 15
The Writing Process	p. 16
Choosing a Topic	p. 16
Developing an Argument	p. 17
The Thesis	p. 17
Gathering Support for Your Thesis	p. 19
Organizing Your Paper	p. 20
Drafting, Revising, and Editing	p. 22
Drafting	p. 23
Revising	p. 23
Tips for Drafting, Revising and Editing	p. 25
Final Editing and Proofreading	p. 26
Final Editing Checklist	p. 27
Peer Editing and Workshops	p. 28
Trouble Spots	p. 31
Introductions	p. 31
Conclusions	p. 32
Transitions	p. 33
Tips for Writing about Literature	p. 33
Using Quotations Effectively	p. 35
Adding to or Altering a Quotation	p. 36
Omitting Words from a Quotation	p. 36
Quotations within Quotations	p. 37
Quotations Marks with Other Punctuation	p. 37
Quoting from Stories	p. 38
Quoting from Poems	p. 39
Quoting from Plays	p. 40
Tips for Quoting	p. 41
Manuscript Form	p. 42
Common Writing Assignments	p. 43
Summary	p. 43
Explication	p. 44
"Upon Julia's Clothes"	p. 45
"Poetry in Motion: Herrick's 'Upon Julia's Clothes"	p. 46
Analysis	p. 47
"My Last Duchess"	p. 48
"Possessed by the Need for Possession: Browning's 'My Last Duchess'"	p. 50
Comparison and Contrast	p. 51
"After Death"	p. 52
"Speakers for the Dead: Narrators in 'My Last Duchess' and 'After Death'"	p. 53
Essay Exams	p. 54
Writing About Stories	p. 57
Elements of Fiction	p. 57
Plot	p. 57
Characters	p. 57
Point of View	p. 58
Setting	p. 58
Theme	p. 59
Symbolism	p. 59
Style	p. 59
Stories for Analysis	p. 60
"The Story of an Hour"	p. 61
"The Yellow Wallpaper"	p. 63
Questions on the Stories	p. 77
Sample Paper: An Essay That Compares and Contrasts	p. 77
"Good Husbands in Bad Marriages"	p. 79
Writing About Poems	p. 82
Elements of Poetry	p. 82
The Speaker	p. 82
The Listener	p. 82
Imagery	p. 83
Sound and Sense	p. 83
A Poem for Analysis	p. 87
"Sonnet 116"	p. 87
Questions on the Poem	p. 88
Sample Paper: An Explication	p. 88
"Shakespeare Defines Love"	p. 89
Writing About Plays	p. 92
Elements of Drama	p. 92
A Play for Analysis	p. 93
"Trifles"	p. 94
Questions about the Play	p. 106
Sample Paper: An Analysis	p. 106
"Moral Ambiguity and Character Development in Trifles"	p. 107
Writing A Literary Research Paper	p. 110
Finding Sources	p. 110
Books	p. 111
Periodicals	p. 111
Online Indexes	p. 112
Interlibrary Loan	p. 113
The Internet	p. 113
Evaluating Sources	p. 114
Working with Sources	p. 115
Quoting	p. 116
Paraphrasing and Summarizing	p. 116
Commenting	p. 116
Keeping Track of Your Sources	p. 117
Writing the Paper	p. 117
Refine Your Thesis	p. 117
Organize Your Evidence	p. 117
Start Your Draft	p. 118
Revise	p. 118
Edit and Proofread	p. 118
Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism	p. 119
What to Document and What Not to Document	p. 121
Documenting Sources: MLA Format	p. 121
In-Text Citations	p. 124
Preparing Your Works Cited List	p. 127
Sample Research Paper	p. 137
"Emily Dickinson's 'Because I could not stop for Death': Challenging Readers' Expectations"	p. 138
Literary Criticism and Literary Theory	p. 143
Formalism and New Criticism	p. 144
Feminist and Gender Criticism	p. 144
Marxist Criticism	p. 145
Cultural Studies	p. 146
Historical Criticism and New Historicism	p. 147
Psychological Theories	p. 148
Reader-Response Theories	p. 149
Structuralism	p. 150
Poststructuralism and Deconstruction	p. 151
Index of Terms	p. 153
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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