Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, 9th Edition

This anthology focuses on writing about literature which is integrated in every chapter.  Each element  (i.e. character, setting, tone) is covered by a sample student essay and commentary on the essay.    32 MLA –Format Demonstrative student essays serve as models for good student writing.  Three NEW chapters on research—one each for fiction, poetry and drama—feature full MLA-style research papers annotated to point out research information specific to each genre.  NEW-MLA document maps:  These visual representations help students locate key information on frequently-cited sources such as books and websites.  NEW "visualizing" sections on fiction, poetry and drama each feature a section devoted to images that represent key literary principles or visual-based media within the genre.  Color insert–This insert features works of art and connects them to various pieces of literature throughout the book.  These images help reinforce the themes found in the literature.  Fifty short illustrative writing examples embody the strategies and methods described in the various chapters and appendices.   

 

Topical and Thematic Contents xlix

Preface lxi

 

PART I

The Process of Reading, Responding

to, and Writing About Literature 1

WHAT IS LITERATURE, AND WHY DO WE STUDY IT? 3

Types of Literature: The Genres 3

Reading Literature and Responding to It Actively 5

GUY DE MAUPASSANT The Necklace 5

To go to a ball, Mathilde Loisel borrows a necklace from a rich friend, but her

rhapsodic evening has unforeseen consequences.

Reading and Responding in a Computer File or Notebook 12

Sample Notebook Entries on Maupassant’s “The Necklace” 14

 

MAJOR STAGES IN THINKING AND WRITING ABOUT

LITERARY TOPICS: DISCOVERING IDEAS, PREPARING TO

WRITE, MAKING AN INITIAL DRAFT OF YOUR ESSAY,

AND COMPLETING THE ESSAY 18

Writing Does Not Come Easily—for Anyone 18 • The Goal of Writing:

To Show a Process of Thought 19

Discovering Ideas (“Brainstorming”) 20

Study the Characters in the Work 21 • Determine the Work’s Historical

Period and Background 23 • Analyze the Work’s Economic and Social

Conditions 23 • Explain the Work’s Major Ideas 24 • Describe the

Work’s Artistic Qualities 24 • Explain Any Other Approaches that Seem

Important 25

Preparing to Write 25

Build Ideas from Your Original Notes 25 • Trace Patterns of Action and

Thought 26

The Need for the Actual Physical Process of Writing 27

Raise and Answer Your Own Questions 27• Put Ideas Together Using a

Plus-Minus, Pro-Con, or Either-Or Method 28 • Originate and Develop

Your Thoughts Through Writing 29

Making an Initial Draft of Your Essay 29

Base Your Essay on a Central Idea, Argument, or Statement 29

The Need for a Sound Argument in Essays About Literature 31

Create a Thesis Sentence as Your Guide to Organization 31 • Begin Each

Paragraph with a Topic Sentence 32 • Select Only One Topic—No

More—for Each Paragraph 32

Referring to the Names of Authors 33

Use Your Topic Sentences as the Arguments for Your Paragraph Development 33

The Use of Verb Tenses in the Discussion of Literary Works 34

Develop an Outline as the Means of Organizing Your Essay 35

Illustrative Student Essay (First Draft): How Setting in “The Necklace”

Is Related to the Character of Mathilde 36

Completing the Essay: Developing and Strengthening Your Essay Through

Revision 38

Make Your Own Arrangement of Details and Ideas 38 • Use Literary

Material as Evidence to Support Your Argument 38 • Always Keep to Your

Point; Stick to It Tenaciously 39 • Check Your Development and

Organization 41 • Try to Be Original 41 • Write with Specific

Readers as Your Intended Audience 42 • Use Exact, Comprehensive, and

Forceful Language 43 • Illustrative Student Essay (Improved Draft):

How Maupassant Uses Setting in “The Necklace”to Show the Character of

Mathilde 45 • Commentary on the Essay 48 • Essay Commentaries 48

A Summary of Guidelines 49

Writing Topics About the Writing Process 49

A SHORT GUIDE TO THE USE OF REFERENCES

AND QUOTATIONS IN ESSAYS ABOUT LITERATURE 50

Integrate Passages and Ideas into Your Essay 50

Distinguish Your Thoughts from Those of Your Author 50

Integrate Material by Using Quotation Marks 51

Blend Quotations into Your Own Sentences 51

Indent Long Quotations and Set Them in Block Format 52

Use an Ellipsis to Show Omissions 53

Use Square Brackets to Enclose Words that You Add Within Quotations 53

Be Careful Not to Overquote 53

Preserve the Spellings in Your Source 54

 

PART II

Reading and Writing About Fiction 55

 

1 FICTION: AN OVERVIEW 56

Modern Fiction 57

The Short Story 58

Elements of Fiction I: Verisimilitude and Donnée 58

Elements of Fiction II: Character, Plot, Structure, and Idea or Theme 60

Elements of Fiction III: The Writer’s Tools 62

Visualizing Fiction: Cartoons, Graphic Narratives, Graphic Novels 63

Dan Piraro, Bizarro 65 • Art Spiegelman, from Maus 65

STORIES FOR STUDY 71

AMBROSE BIERCE An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge 71

A condemned man dreams of escape, freedom, and family.

EDWIDGE DANTICAT Night Talkers 77

Through an evil act, a man learns goodness.

WILLIAM FAULKNER A Rose for Emily 89

Even seemingly ordinary people hide deep and bizarre mysteries.

TIM O’BRIEN The Things They Carried 95

During the Vietnam War, American soldiers carry not only their weighty

equipment but many memories.

LUIGI PIRANDELLO War 105

During World War I in Italy, the loss of a loved one outweighs all

rationalizations for the conflict.

ALICE WALKER Everyday Use 108

Mrs. Johnson, with her daughter Maggie, is visited by her citified daughter

Dee, whose return home is accompanied by surprises.

EUDORA WELTY A Worn Path 114

Phoenix Jackson, a devoted grandmother, walks a worn path on a mission of

great love.

Plot: The Motivation and Causality of Fiction 119

Writing About the Plot of a Story 121 • Illustrative Student Essay:

The Plot of Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” 123

Writing Topics About Plot in Fiction 125

 

2 POINT OF VIEW: THE POSITION OR STANCE

OF THEWORK’S NARRATOR OR SPEAKER 127

An Exercise in Point of View: Reporting an Accident 128

Conditions That Affect Point of View 130

Point of View and Opinions 130

Determining a Work’s Point of View 131

Mingling Points of View 134

Point of View and Verb Tense 134

Summary: Guidelines for Points of View 135

STORIES FOR STUDY 136

RAYMOND CARVER Neighbors 137

Bill and Arlene Miller are looking after the apartment of the Stones, their

neighbors, whose life seems to be brighter and fuller than theirs.

SHIRLEY JACKSON The Lottery 140

What would it be like if the prize at a community-sponsored lottery were not

the cash that people ordinarily hope to win?

LORRIE MOORE How to Become a Writer 146

There is more to becoming a writer than simply sitting down at a table and

beginning to write.

JOYCE CAROL OATES The Cousins 150

What are the obstacles to friendship between close relatives who have lived

their lives totally apart from each other?

Writing About Point of View 164 • Illustrative Student Essay:

Shirley Jackson’s Dramatic Point of View in “The Lottery” 167

Writing Topics About Point of View 171

 

3 CHARACTERS: THE PEOPLE IN FICTION 173

Character Traits 173

How Authors Disclose Character in Literature 175

Types of Characters: Round and Flat 177

Reality and Probability: Verisimilitude 179

STORIES FOR STUDY 180

RAYMOND CARVER Cathedral 180

A husband and wife receive a blind visitor who affects the man’s way of

seeing things.

SUSAN GLASPELL A Jury of Her Peers 189

In a small farmhouse kitchen, the wives of men investigating a murder

discover significant evidence that forces them to make an urgent decision.

KATHERINE MANSFIELD Miss Brill 202

Miss Brill goes to the park for a pleasant afternoon, but she does not find

what she was expecting.

AMY TAN Two Kinds 205

Jing-Mei leads her own kind of life despite the wishes and hopes of her

mother.

MARK TWAIN Luck 213

A faithful follower describes an English general who was knighted for

military brilliance.

Writing About Character 216 • Illustrative Student Essay: The

Character of Minnie Wright in Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” 219

Writing Topics About Character 222

 

4 SETTING: THE BACKGROUND OF PLACE, OBJECTS,

AND CULTURE IN STORIES 224

What Is Setting? 224

The Literary Uses of Setting 225

STORIES FOR STUDY 228

SANDRA CISNEROS The House on Mango Street 228

“I knew then that I had to have a house.”

JOSEPH CONRAD The Secret Sharer 230

What goes on in the mind of a person, insecure in his own position, when he

makes a difficult moral judgment which may prove disastrous?

JOANNE GREENBERG And Sarah Laughed 253

The wife and mother in a family of hearing-impaired people learn to

understand and appreciate their difficulties.

JAMES JOYCE Araby 262

An introspective boy learns much about himself when he tries to keep a promise.

CYNTHIA OZICK The Shawl 266

Can a mother in a Nazi concentration camp save her starving and crying baby?

Writing About Setting 269 • Illustrative Student Essay:

The Setting of Conrad’s “The Secret Sharer” 271

Writing Topics About Setting 274

 

5 STRUCTURE: THE ORGANIZATION OF STORIES 275

Formal Categories of Structure 275

Formal and Actual Structure 277

STORIES FOR STUDY 278

RALPH ELLISON Battle Royal 278

An intelligent black student, filled with hopes and dreams, is treated with

monstrous indignity.

THOMAS HARDY The Three Strangers 287

The natives of Higher Crowstairs make a major decision about right and

wrong even though they are more concerned about other matters.

JAMAICA KINCAID What I Have Been Doing Lately 300

Life develops from the repetition and recirculation of dreams and fantasies.

JOYCE CAROL OATES Where Are You Going, Where

Have You Been? 302

A teenage girl is visited by an aggressive stranger who does not accept “no”

for an answer.

TOM WHITECLOUD Blue Winds Dancing 313

A Native American student leaves college in California to spend Christmas

in his hometown in Wisconsin.

Writing About Structure in a Story 317 • Illustrative Student

Essay: Conflict and Suspense in Hardy’s “The Three Strangers” 318

Writing Topics About Structure 323

 

6 TONE AND STYLE: THEWORDS THAT

CONVEY ATTITUDES IN FICTION 324

Diction: The Writer’s Choice and Control of Words 324

Tone, Irony, and Style 328

Tone, Humor, and Style 329

STORIES FOR STUDY 331

KATE CHOPIN The Story of an Hour 331

Louise Mallard is shocked and grieved by news that her husband has been

killed, but she is about to have an even greater shock.

WILLIAM FAULKNER Barn Burning 333

A young country boy grows in awareness, conscience, and individuality

despite his hostile father.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY Hills Like White Elephants 344

While waiting for a train, a man and woman reluctantly discuss an urgent

situation.

ALICE MUNRO The Found Boat 347

After winter snows have melted in a small Canadian community, young

people start making discoveries about themselves.

FRANK O’CONNOR First Confession 354

Jackie as a young man tells about his first childhood experience with

confession.

DANIEL OROZCO Orientation 359

A new employee is introduced to the rather unusual and surprising situations

in the office.

JOHN UPDIKE A & P 363

As a checkout clerk at the A & P near the local beaches, Sammy learns about

the consequences of a difficult choice.

Writing About Tone and Style 367 • Illustrative Student Essay:

Frank O’Connor’s Control of Tone and Style in “First Confession” 370

Writing Topics About Tone and Style 374

 

7 SYMBOLISM AND ALLEGORY: KEYS TO EXTENDED

MEANING 375

Symbolism 375

Allegory 377

Fable, Parable, and Myth 378

Allusion in Symbolism and Allegory 379

STORIES FOR STUDY 380

AESOP The Fox and the Grapes 380

What do people think about things that they can’t have?

ANONYMOUS The Myth of Atalanta 381

In ancient times, how could a superior woman maintain power and integrity?

ANITA SCOTT COLEMAN Unfinished Masterpieces 382

Worthiness cannot rise when it is depressed by poverty and inequality.

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE Young Goodman Brown 385

In colonial Salem, Goodman Brown has a bewildering encounter that

changes his outlook on life.

FRANZ KAFKA A Hunger Artist 393

Public interest wanes even in a unique person.

LUKE The Parable of the Prodigal Son 399

Is there any limit to what a person can do to make divine forgiveness

impossible?

GABRIEL GARCÍA MARQUEZ A Very Old Man

with Enormous Wings 400

How do simple villagers respond to a miraculous visitor who appears in

their town?

KATHERINE ANNE PORTER The Jilting of Granny

Weatherall 405

As the end nears, Granny Weatherall has her memories and is surrounded by

her loving adult children.

xvi

JOHN STEINBECK The Chrysanthemums 411

As a housewife on a small ranch, Elisa Allen experiences changes to her

sense of self-worth.

Writing About Symbolism and Allegory 417 • Illustrative Student

Essay (Symbolism): Symbols of Light and Darkness in Porter’s “The Jilting

of Granny Weatherall” 421 • Second Illustrative Student Essay

(Allegory): The Allegory of Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” 425

Writing Topics About Symbolism and Allegory 430

 

8 IDEA OR THEME: THE MEANING AND THE

MESSAGE IN FICTION 432

Ideas and Assertions 432

Ideas and Issues 432

Ideas and Values 433

The Place of Ideas in Literature 434

How to Find Ideas 435

STORIES FOR STUDY 438

JAMES BALDWIN Sonny’s Blues 438

A devoted brother describes how his brother, Sonny, is hurt by racial

prejudice, and how Sonny finds fulfillment through love of music.

TONI CADE BAMBARA The Lesson 457

When a group of children visits a toy store for the wealthy, some of them

draw conclusions about society and themselves.

ANTON CHEKHOV The Lady with the Dog 462

Bored with life, Dmitri Gurov meets Anna Sergeyevna and discovers

previously unknown emotions and extremely new problems.

D. H. LAWRENCE The Horse Dealer’s Daughter 471

Dr. Jack Fergusson and Mabel Pervin find, in each other’s love, a new reason

for being.

AMÉRICO PAREDES The Hammon and the Beans 482

Is American liberty restricted to people of only one group, or is it for everyone?

Writing About a Major Idea in Fiction 486 • Illustrative Student

Essay: D. H. Lawrence’s “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter”as an Expression of

the Idea that Loving Commitment is Essential in Life 488

Writing Topics About Ideas 492

 

 

9 A CAREER IN FICTION: FOUR STORIES BY EDGAR

ALLAN POE WITH CRITICAL READINGS FOR RESEARCH 493

POE’S LIFE AND CAREER 493

Poe’s Work as a Journalist and Writer of Fiction 494

Poe’s Reputation 496

Bibliographic Sources 497

Writing Topics About Poe 498

FOUR STORIES BY EDGAR A. POE (IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER)

The Fall of the House of Usher (1839) 499

The Masque of the Red Death (1842) 510

The Black Cat (1843) 513

The Cask of Amontillado (1846) 519

Edited Selections from Criticism of Poe’s Stories 523

1. Poe’s Irony 523 • 2.The Narrators of “The Cask of Amontillado”

and “The Fall of the House of Usher” 524 • 3. “The Fall of the House

of Usher” 526 • 4.“The Black Cat”and “The Tell-Tale Heart” 527 •

5.“The Masque of the Red Death” 527 • 6. Symbolism in “The Masque of

the Red Death” 527 • 7.“The Masque of the Red Death ”as Representative

of a “Diseased Age” 528 • 8. Sources and Analogues of “The Cask of

Amontillado” 528 • 9. Poe’s Idea of Unity and “The Fall of the House

of Usher” 536 • 10.The Narrators of “The Cask of Amontillado”and

“The Black Cat” 537 • 11. Poe,Women, and “The Fall of the House of

Usher” 540 • 12.The Deceptive Narrator of “The Black Cat” 541

 

10 SEVEN STORIES FOR ADDITIONAL ENJOYMENT AND STUDY 543

JOHN CHIOLES Before the Firing Squad 543

During World War II, in Nazi-occupied Greece, a young German soldier

learns the importance of personal obligations.

STEPHEN CRANE The Open Boat 548

In this story of survival, the narrator tells of “the subtle brotherhood of men

that was here established on the seas.”

ANDRE DUBUS The Curse 563

A man who has witnessed a gang attack on a defenseless woman experiences

deep anguish and self-reproach.

CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN The Yellow Wallpaper 566

Who is the woman who is trying to emerge from behind the yellow wallpaper?

FLANNERY O’CONNOR A Good Man Is Hard to Find 576

“The grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida. She wanted to visit some

of her connections in east Tennessee. . . .”

TILLIE OLSEN I Stand Here Ironing 586

“My wisdom came too late.”

PETRONIUS (GAIUS PETRONIUS ARBITER) The Widow

of Ephesus 591

A young widow learns what it takes to save her newly found love.

 

10A WRITING RESEARCH ESSAYS ON FICTION 594

Selecting a Topic 594

Setting up a Bibliography 596

Online Library Services 597

Important Considerations About Computer-Aided Research 598

Taking Notes and Paraphrasing Material 599

Being Creative and Original While Doing Research 605

Documenting Your Work 607

Strategies for Organizing Ideas in Your Research Essay 611

Plagiarism: An Embarrassing but Vital Subject—and a Danger to be

Overcome 612

Illustrative Student Essay Using Research: The Structure

of Katherine Mansfield’s “Miss Brill” 614

Writing Topics About How to Undertake Research Essays 622

 

PART III

Reading and Writing About Poetry 623

 

11 MEETING POETRY: AN OVERVIEW 624

The Nature of Poetry 624

BILLY COLLINS Schoolsville 624

LISEL MUELLER Hope 626

ROBERT HERRICK Here a Pretty Baby Lies 627

Do not disturb the sleep of this sweet child.

Poetry of the English Language 628

How to Read a Poem 629

Studying Poetry 631

ANONYMOUS Sir Patrick Spens 631

POEMS FOR STUDY 634

GWENDOLYN BROOKS The Mother 634

EMILY DICKINSON Because I Could Not Stop for Death 635

ROBERT FRANCIS Catch 636

ROBERT FROST Stopping by Woods on a

Snowy Evening 637

THOMAS HARDY The Man He Killed 637

JOY HARJO Eagle Poem 638

RANDALL JARRELL The Death of the Ball Turret

Gunner 639

BEN JONSON On My First Daughter 640

EMMA LAZARUS The New Colossus 640

LOUIS MACNEICE Snow 641

JIM NORTHRUP Ogichidag 642

NAOMI SHIHAB NYE Where Children Live 642

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Sonnet 55: Not Marble, Nor

the Gilded Monuments 643

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY To — [“Music, When

Soft Voices Die”] 644

ELAINE TERRANOVA Rush Hour 644

Writing a Paraphrase of a Poem 645 • Illustrative Student

Paraphrase: A Paraphrase of Thomas Hardy’s “The Man He Killed” 646

Writing an Explication of a Poem 647 • Illustrative Student Essay:

An Explication of Thomas Hardy’s “The Man He Killed” 649

Writing Topics About the Nature of Poetry 652

12 WORDS: THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF POETRY 653

Choice of Diction: Specific and Concrete, General and Abstract 653

Levels of Diction 654

Special Types of Diction 655

Syntax 656

Decorum: The Matching of Subject and Word 657

Denotation and Connotation 658

ROBERT GRAVES The Naked and the Nude 660

Word choices have profound effects on our perceptions.

POEMS FOR STUDY 661

WILLIAM BLAKE The Lamb 661

ROBERT BURNS Green Grow the Rashes, O 662

LEWIS CARROLL Jabberwocky 663

HAYDEN CARRUTH An Apology for Using the Word

“Heart” in Too Many Poems 664

E. E. CUMMINGS next to of course god america i 665

JOHN DONNE Holy Sonnet 14: Batter My Heart,

Three-Personed God 666

RICHARD EBERHART The Fury of Aerial Bombardment 667

BART EDELMAN Chemistry Experiment 667

THOMAS GRAY Sonnet on the Death of Richard West 668

JANE HIRSHFIELD The Lives of the Heart 669

A. E. HOUSMAN Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry Now 670

CAROLYN KIZER Night Sounds 671

DENISE LEVERTOV Of Being 672

EUGENIO MONTALE English Horn (Corno Inglese) 672

JUDITH ORTIZ [COFER] Latin Women Pray 673

HENRY REED Naming of Parts 674

EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON Richard Cory 675

THEODORE ROETHKE Dolor 676

STEPHEN SPENDER I Think Continually of Those Who

Were Truly Great 676

WALLACE STEVENS Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock 677

MARK STRAND Eating Poetry 677

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Daffodils (I Wandered Lonely

as a Cloud) 678

Writing About Diction and Syntax in Poetry 679 • Illustrative Student

Essay: Diction and Character in Robinson’s ‘Richard Cory’ 681

Writing Topics About the Words of Poetry 684

 

13 CHARACTERS AND SETTING: WHO, WHAT, WHERE,

ANDWHEN IN POETRY 686

Characters in Poetry 686

ANONYMOUS Western Wind, When Wilt Thou Blow? 687

ANONYMOUS Bonny George Campbell 687

BEN JONSON Drink to Me, Only, with Thine Eyes 689

BEN JONSON To the Reader 690

Setting and Character in Poetry 692

LISEL MUELLER Alive Together 692

POEMS FOR STUDY 694

MATTHEW ARNOLD Dover Beach 694

WILLIAM BLAKE London 695

ELIZABETH BREWSTER Where I Come From 696

ROBERT BROWNING My Last Duchess 697

WILLIAM COWPER The Poplar Field 699

ALLEN GINSBERG A Further Proposal 699

LOUISE GLÜCK Snowdrops 700

THOMAS GRAY Elegy Written in a Country

Churchyard 701

THOMAS HARDY The Ruined Maid 704

DORIANNE LAUX The Life of Trees 705

C. DAY LEWIS Song 707

ROBERT LOWELL Memories of West Street and Lepke 707

CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE The Passionate Shepherd to

His Love 709

JOYCE CAROL OATES Loving 710

SIR WALTER RALEGH The Nymph’s Reply to the

Shepherd 711

CHRISTINA ROSSETTI A Christmas Carol 712

JANE SHOREA Letter Sent to Summer 713

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Lines Composed a Few Miles

Above Tintern Abbey 714

JAMES WRIGHT A Blessing 717

Writing About Character and Setting in Poetry 718 • Illustrative

Student Essay: The Character of the Duke in Browning’s “My Last Duchess”

721

Writing Topics About Character and Setting in Poetry 725

 

14 IMAGERY: THE POEM’S LINK TO THE SENSES 726

Responses and the Writer’s Use of Detail 726

The Relationship of Imagery to Ideas and Attitudes 727

Types of Imagery 727

JOHN MASEFIELD Cargoes 728

What do cargo-bearing ships tell us about the past and the present?

WILFRED OWEN Anthem for Doomed Youth 729

ELIZABETH BISHOP The Fish 730

POEMS FOR STUDY 733

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING Sonnets from the

Portuguese, Number 14: If Thou Must Love Me 733

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE Kubla Khan 734

T. S. ELIOT Preludes 735

SUSAN GRIFFIN Love Should Grow Up Like a Wild Iris

in the Fields 737

THOMAS HARDY Channel Firing 738

GEORGE HERBERT The Pulley 740

GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS Spring 740

A. E. HOUSMAN On Wenlock Edge 741

DENISE LEVERTOV A Time Past 742

THOMAS LUX The Voice You Hear When You

Read Silently 743

EUGENIO MONTALE Buffalo (Buffalo) 744

MARIANNE MOORE The Fish 745

PABLO NERUDA Every Day You Play 746

EZRA POUND In a Station of the Metro 747

MIKLÓS RADNÓTI Forced March 748

FRIEDRICH RÜCKERT If You Love for the Sake of Beauty 749

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Sonnet 130: My Mistress’ Eyes

Are Nothing Like the Sun 749

JAMES TATE Dream On 750

DAVID WOJAHN “It’s Only Rock and Roll, but I Like It”:

The Fall of Saigon 751

Writing About Imagery 752 • Illustrative Student Essay:

Imagery in T. S. Eliot’s “Preludes” 754

Writing Topics About Imagery in Poetry 758

 

15 FIGURES OF SPEECH, OR METAPHORICAL LANGUAGE:

A SOURCE OF DEPTH AND RANGE IN POETRY 760

Metaphors and Similes: The Major Figures of Speech 760

Characteristics of Metaphorical Language 762

JOHN KEATS On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer 762

Vehicle and Tenor 763

Other Figures of Speech 764

JOHN KEATS Bright Star 765

A distant star is a guide for constancy in love.

JOHN GAY Let Us Take the Road 767

POEMS FOR STUDY 768

JACK AGÜEROS Sonnet for You, Familiar Famine 768

WILLIAM BLAKE The Tyger 769

ROBERT BURNS A Red, Red Rose 770

JOHN DONNE A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning 771

JOHN DRYDEN A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day 772

ABBIE HUSTON EVANS The Iceberg Seven-Eighths Under 774

THOMAS HARDY The Convergence of the Twain 775

JOY HARJO Remember 777

JOHN KEATS To Autumn 778

MAURICE KENNY Legacy 779

JANE KENYON Let Evening Come 780

HENRY KING Sic Vita 781

ROBERT LOWELL Skunk Hour 781

JUDITH MINTY Conjoined 783

PABLO NERUDA If You Forget Me 784

MARGE PIERCY A Work of Artifice 785

MURIEL RUKEYSER Looking at Each Other 786

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Sonnet 18: Shall I Compare

Thee to a Summer’s Day? 787

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Sonnet 30: When to the

Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought 787

ELIZABETH TUDOR, QUEEN ELIZABETH I On Monsieur’s

Departure 788

MONA VAN DUYN Earth Tremors Felt in Missouri 789

WALT WHITMAN Facing West from California’s Shores 790

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH London, 1802 790

SIR THOMAS WYATT I Find No Peace 791

Writing About Figures of Speech 792 • Illustrative

Student Paragraph: Wordsworth’s Use of Overstatement in

“London, 1802” 795 • Illustrative Student Essay: A Study of

Shakespeare’s Metaphors in Sonnet 30: “When to the Sessions of Sweet Silent

Thought” 796

Writing Topics About Figures of Speech in Poetry 798

 

16 TONE: THE CREATION OF ATTITUDE IN POETRY 800

Tone, Choice, and Response 800

CORNELIUS WHUR The First-Rate Wife 801

Tone and the Need for Control 802

WILFRED OWEN Dulce et Decorum Est 802

Tone and Common Grounds of Assent 803

Tone in Conversation and Poetry 804

Tone and Irony 804

THOMAS HARDY The Workbox 805

Tone and Satire 807

ALEXANDER POPE Epigram from the French 807

The speaker presents a stinging and ironic insult.

ALEXANDER POPE Epigram, Engraved on the Collar

of a Dog Which I Gave to His Royal Highness 808

POEMS FOR STUDY 808

WILLIAM BLAKE On Another’s Sorrow 809

JIMMY CARTER I Wanted to Share My

Father’s World 810

LUCILLE CLIFTON homage to my hips 811

BILLY COLLINS The Names 812

E. E. CUMMINGS she being Brand /-new 813

BART EDELMAN Trouble 814

MARI EVANS I Am a Black Woman 815

SEAMUS HEANEY Mid-Term Break 817

WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY When You Are Old 817

DAVID IGNATOW The Bagel 818

YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA Facing It 819

ABRAHAM LINCOLN My Childhood’s Home 820

PAT MORA La Migra 821

SHARON OLDS The Planned Child 822

ROBERT PINSKY Dying 823

ALEXANDER POPE from Epilogue to the Satires

Dialogue I 824

SALVATORE QUASÍMODO Auschwitz 825

ANNE RIDLER Nothing Is Lost 827

THEODORE ROETHKE My Papa’s Waltz 828

JANE SHOREA Letter Sent to Summer 829

JONATHAN SWIFT A Description of the Morning 830

DAVID WAGONER My Physics Teacher 830

C. K. WILLIAMS Dimensions 831

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH The Solitary Reaper 832

WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS When You Are Old 833

Writing About Tone in Poetry 834 • Illustrative Student Essay:

The Speaker’s Attitudes in Sharon Olds’s “The Planned Child” 836

Writing Topics About Tone in Poetry 839

 

17 PROSODY: SOUND, RHYTHM, AND RHYME IN POETRY 841

Important Definitions for Studying Prosody 841

Segments: Individually Meaningful Sounds 843

Poetic Rhythm 844

The Major Metrical Feet 845

Special Meters 848

Substitution 848

Accentual Strong-Stress, and “Sprung”Rhythms 849

The Caesura: The Pause Creating Variety and Natural Rhythms in Poetry 849

Segmental Poetic Devices 851

Rhyme: The Duplication and Similarity of Sounds 852

Rhyme and Meter 853

Rhyme Schemes 856

POEMS FOR STUDY 856

GWENDOLYN BROOKS We Real Cool 857

ROBERT BROWNING Porphyria’s Lover 858

EMILY DICKINSON To Hear an Oriole Sing 859

JOHN DONNE The Sun Rising 860

T. S. ELIOT Macavity: The Mystery Cat 861

RALPH WALDO EMERSON Concord Hymn 863

ISABELLA GARDNER At a Summer Hotel 863

ROBERT HERRICK Upon Julia’s Voice 864

GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS God’s Grandeur 864

JOHN HALL INGHAM George Washington 865

PHILIP LEVINE A Theory of Prosody 866

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW The Sound

of the Sea 866

HERMAN MELVILLE Shiloh: A Requiem 867

OGDEN NASH Very Like a Whale 868

EDGAR ALLAN POE Annabel Lee 869

EDGAR ALLAN POE The Bells 870

ALEXANDER POPE From An Essay on Man Epistle I 873

WYATT PRUNTY March 875

EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON Miniver Cheevy 876

CHRISTINA ROSSETTI Echo 877

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Sonnet 73: That Time of Year

Thou May’st in Me Behold 878

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY Ode to the West Wind 878

ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON From Idylls of the King:

The Passing of Arthur 881

DAVID WAGONER March for a One-Man Band 882

Writing About Prosody 883

Referring to Sounds in Poetry 886

First Illustrative Student Essay: Rhyme, Rhythm, and Sound in

Browning’s “Porphyria’s Lover” 887 • Second Illustrative Student

Essay: The Rhymes and Repeated Words in Christina Rossetti’s “Echo” 892

Writing Topics About Rhythm and Rhyme in Poetry 895

 

18 FORM: THE SHAPE OF POEMS 897

Closed-Form Poetry 897

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Fragment from The Prelude 898

ALEXANDER POPE Fragment from The Rape of the

Locke 898

ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON The Eagle 899

JOHN MILTON Fragment from Lycidas 902

ANONYMOUS Spun in High, Dark Clouds 903

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Sonnet 116: Let Me Not to the

Marriage of True Minds 904

No matter what happens, true love does not change.

Open-Form Poetry 905

WALT WHITMAN Reconciliation 906

Visualizing Poetry: Poetry and Artistic Expression: Visual Poetry,

Concrete Poetry, and Prose Poems 907

E. E. CUMMINGS Buffalo Bill’s Defunct 908

GEORGE HERBERT Colossians 3:3 (Our Life is Hid With

Christ in God) 909

GEORGE HERBERT Easter Wings 910

CHARLES HARPER WEBB The Shape of History 911

JOHN HOLLANDER Swan and Shadow 912

WILLIAM HEYEN Mantle 913

MAY SWENSON Women 914

CAROLYN FORCHÉ The Colonel 915

POEMS FOR STUDY 916

ELIZABETH BISHOP One Art 916

BILLY COLLINS Sonnet 917

JOHN DRYDEN To the Memory of Mr. Oldham 918

ROBERT FROST Desert Places 918

ALLEN GINSBERG A Supermarket in California 919

NIKKI GIOVANNI Nikki-Rosa 920

ROBERT HASS Museum 921

GEORGE HERBERT Virtue 922

JOHN KEATS Ode to a Nightingale 923

CLAUDE MCKAY In Bondage 925

JOHN MILTON On His Blindness (When I Consider How

My Light Is Spent) 926

DUDLEY RANDALL Ballad of Birmingham 927

THEODORE ROETHKE The Waking 928

GEORGE WILLIAM RUSSELL (Æ) Continuity 929

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY Ozymandias 929

DYLAN THOMAS Do Not Go Gentle into That Good

Night 930

JEAN TOOMER Reapers 931

PHYLLIS WEBB Poetics Against the Angel of Death 931

WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS The Dance 932

Writing About Form in Poetry 933 • Illustrative Student Essay:

Form and Meaning in George Herbert’s “Virtue” 935

Writing Topics About Poetic Form 938

 

19 SYMBOLISM AND ALLUSION: WINDOWS

TOWIDE EXPANSES OF MEANING 940

Symbolism and Meanings 940

VIRGINIA SCOTT Snow 942

Tradition of place gives permanence to life.

The Function of Symbolism in Poetry 943

Allusions and Meaning 945

Studying for Symbols and Allusions 946

POEMS FOR STUDY 947

EMILY BRONTË No Coward Soul Is Mine 948

AMY CLAMPITT Beach Glass 949

ARTHUR HUGH CLOUGH Say Not the Struggle Nought

Availeth 950

PETER DAVISON III Delphi 951

JOHN DONNE The Canonization 952

STEPHEN DUNN Hawk 954

ISABELLA GARDNER Collage of Echoes 955

DAN GEORGAKIS Hiroshima Crewman 955

LOUISE GLÜCK Celestial Music 956

JORIE GRAHAM The Geese 957

THOMAS HARDY In Time of “The Breaking of Nations” 958

GEORGE HERBERT The Collar 959

JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN Tears 960

ROBINSON JEFFERS The Purse-Seine 961

JOHN KEATS La Belle Dame Sans Merci: A Ballad 963

X. J. KENNEDY Old Men Pitching Horseshoes 965

TED KOOSER Year’s End 965

PHILIP LARKIN Next, Please 966

DAVID LEHMAN Venice Is Sinking 967

ANDREW MARVELL To His Coy Mistress 968

MARY OLIVER Wild Geese 969

GARY SNYDER Milton by Firelight 970

JUDITH VIORST A Wedding Sonnet for the Next

Generation 971

WALT WHITMAN A Noiseless Patient Spider 972

RICHARD WILBUR Year’s End 973

WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS The Second Coming 974

Writing About Symbolism and Allusion in Poetry 975 • Illustrative

Student Essay: Symbolism in Oliver’s “Wild Geese” 978

Writing Topics About Symbolism and Allusion 981

 

20 MYTHS: SYSTEMS OF SYMBOLIC ALLUSION

IN POETRY 983

Mythology as an Explanation of How Things Are 983

Mythology and Literature 986

WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS Leda and the Swan 988

We have the power to live, but do we have the knowledge?

MONA VAN DUYN Leda 989

Has the story of Leda been understood and properly told by male poets?

Six Poems Related to the Myth of Odysseus 990

POEMS FOR STUDY 991

LOUISE GLÜCK Penelope’s Song 991

W. S. MERWIN Odysseus 992

DOROTHY PARKER Penelope 993

LINDA PASTAN The Suitor 993

ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON Ulysses 994

PETER ULISSE Odyssey: 20 Years Later 996

Six Poems Related to the Myth of Icarus 997

POEMS FOR STUDY 997

BRIAN ALDISS Flight 063 997

W. H. AUDEN Musée des Beaux Arts 998

EDWARD FIELD Icarus 999

MURIEL RUKEYSER Waiting for Icarus 1000

ANNE SEXTON To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to

Triumph 1001

WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS Landscape with the Fall

of Icarus 1002

Four Poems Related to the Myth of Orpheus 1003

POEMS FOR STUDY 1003

EDWARD HIRSCH The Swimmers 1004

RAINER MARIA RILKE The Sonnets to Orpheus, 1.19 1004

MARK STRAND Orpheus Alone 1005

ELLEN BRYANT VOIGT Song and Story 1007

Three Poems Related to the Myth of the Phoenix 1008

POEMS FOR STUDY 1008

AMY CLAMPITT Berceuse 1009

DENISE LEVERTOV Hunting the Phoenix 1009

MAY SARTON The Phoenix Again 1010

Two Poems Related to the Myth of Oedipus 1011

POEMS FOR STUDY 1011

MURIEL RUKEYSER Myth 1012

JOHN UPDIKE On the Way to Delphi 1012

Three Poems Related to the Myth of Pan 1013

POEMS FOR STUDY 1013

E. E. CUMMINGS in Just- 1014

JOHN CHIPMAN FARRAR Song for a Forgotten

Shrine to Pan 1015

ROBERT FROST Pan with Us 1015

Writing About Myths in Poetry 1016 • Illustrative Student Essay:

Myth and Meaning in Dorothy Parker’s “Penelope” 1018

Writing Topics About Myths in Poetry 1022

 

21 FOUR MAJOR AMERICAN POETS: EMILY DICKINSON,

ROBERT FROST, LANGSTON HUGHES,

AND SYLVIA PLATH 1023

 

EMILY DICKINSON’S LIFE AND WORK 1023

Writing Topics About the Poetry of Emily Dickinson 1028

POEMS BY EMILY DICKINSON (ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED)

After Great Pain, a Formal Feeling Comes (J341, F372) 1029

Because I Could Not Stop for Death (J712, F479)

(Included in Chapter 11, p. 635)

The Bustle in a House (J1078, F1108) 1030

The Heart Is the Capital of the Mind (J1354, F1381) 1030

I Cannot Live with You (J640, F706) 1030

I Died for Beauty – But Was Scarce (J449, F448) 1031

I Dwell in Possibility (F466, J657) 1032

I Felt a Funeral in My Brain (J280, F340) 1032

I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died (J465, F491) 1033

I Like to See It Lap the Miles (J585, F383) 1033

I’m Nobody! Who Are You? (J288, F260) 1033

I Never Lost as Much but Twice (J49, F39) 1034

I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed (J214, F207) 1034

Much Madness Is Divinest Sense (J435, F620) 1034

My Life Closed Twice Before Its Close (J1732, F1773) 1035

My Triumph Lasted Till the Drums (J1227, F1212) 1035

One Need Not Be a Chamber – To Be Haunted (J670,

F407) 1035

Safe in Their Alabaster Chambers (J216, F124) 1036

Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church

(J324, F236) 1036

The Soul Selects Her Own Society (J303, F409) 1037

Success Is Counted Sweetest (J67, F112) 1037

Tell All the Truth but Tell It Slant (J1129, F1263) 1037

There’s a Certain Slant of Light (J258, F320) 1037

To Hear an Oriole Sing (J526, F402) (Included in Chapter

17 p. 859)

Wild Nights – Wild Nights! (J249, F269) 1038

Edited Selections from Criticism of Dickinson’s Poems 1038

1. From “Orthodox Modernisms” 1039 • 2.“The Landscape of the Spirit”

1044 • 3. From “The American Plain Style” 1048 • 4. From “The

Histrionic Imagination” 1050 • 5. From “The Gothic Mode” 1053

 

ROBERT FROST’S LIFE AND WORK 1058

Writing Topics About the Poetry of Robert Frost 1062

POEMS BY ROBERT FROST (CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED)

The Tuft of Flowers (1913) 1063

Pan with Us (in Chapter 20, p. 1015) 1065

Mending Wall (1914) 1065

Birches (1915) 1066

The Road Not Taken (1915) 1067

”Out, Out—” (1916) 1067

The Oven Bird (1916) 1068

Fire and Ice (1920) 1068

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (1923)

(In Chapter 11, p. 637) 1069

Misgiving (1923) 1069

Nothing Gold Can Stay (1923) 1069

Acquainted with the Night (1928) 1069

Desert Places (1936) (In Chapter 18, p. 918)

Design (1936) 107

The Silken Tent (1936) 1070

The Gift Outright (1941) 1071

A Considerable Speck (1942) 1071

Take Something Like a Star (1943) 1072

 

LANGSTON HUGHES’ LIFE AND WORK 1072

Writing Topics About the Poetry of Langston Hughes 1075

POEMS OF LANGSTON HUGHES (ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED)

Bad Man 1076

Cross 1077

Dead in There 1077

Dream Variations 1078

Harlem 1078

Let America Be America Again 1078

Madam and Her Madam 1080

Negro 1081

The Negro Speaks of Rivers 1082

125th Street 1082

Po’ Boy Blues 1082

Silhouette 1083

Subway Rush Hour 1083

Theme for English B 1083

The Weary Blues 1084

 

SYLVIA PLATH’S LIFE AND WORK 1085

Writing Topics About the Poetry of Sylvia Plath 1089

POEMS OF SYLVIA PLATH (ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED)

Ariel 1090

The Colossus 1091

Cut 1092

Daddy 1093

Edge 1095

The Hanging Man 1096

Lady Lazarus 1096

Last Words 1098

Metaphors 1099

Mirror 1099

The Rival 1100

Song for a Summer’s Day 1100

Tulips 1101

 

22 ONE HUNDRED SIXTEEN POEMS FOR ADDITIONAL

ENJOYMENT AND STUDY 1103

MAYA ANGELOU My Arkansas 1106

ANONYMOUS (NAVAJO) Healing Prayer from the

Beautyway Chant 1106

ANONYMOUS Lord Randal 1107

MARGARET ATWOOD Variation on the Word Sleep 1108

W. H. AUDEN The Unknown Citizen 1108

WENDELL BERRY Another Descent 1109

LOUISE BOGAN Women 1110

ARNA BONTEMPS A Black Man Talks of Reaping 1110

ANNE BRADSTREET To My Dear and Loving Husband 1111

GWENDOLYN BROOKS Primer for Blacks 1111

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING Sonnets from the

Portuguese: Number 43, How Do I Love Thee 1113

ROBERT BROWNING Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister 1113

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT To Cole, the Painter,

Departing for Europe 1115

GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON The Destruction

of Sennacherib 1116

NEW GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON She Walks in Beauty 1116

LEONARD COHEN “The killers that run . . .” 1117

BILLY COLLINS Days 1118

FRANCES CORNFORD From a Letter to America on a

Visit to Sussex: Spring 1942 1118

STEPHEN CRANE Do Not Weep, Maiden, for

War Is Kind 1119

ROBERT CREELEY “Do you think . . .” 1120

E. E. CUMMINGS if there are any heavens 1121

CARL DENNIS The God Who Loves You 1121

JOHN DONNE The Good Morrow 1122

JOHN DONNE Holy Sonnet 10: Death Be

Not Proud 1123

JOHN DONNE A Hymn to God the Father 1123

PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR Sympathy [I Know What the

Caged Bird Feels] 1124

T. S. ELIOT The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock 1124

JAMES EMANUEL The Negro 1128

LYNN EMANUEL Like God 1128

CHIEF DAN GEORGE The Beauty of the Trees 1130

NIKKI GIOVANNI Woman 1130

NIKKI GIOVANNI Poetry 1131

MARILYN HACKER Sonnet Ending with a Film Subtitle 1132

DANIEL HALPERN Snapshot of Hué 1132

DANIEL HALPERN Summer in the Middle Class 1133

H. S. (SAM) HAMOD Leaves 1134

FRANCES E. W. HARPER She’s Free! 1135

MICHAEL S. HARPER Called 1135

ROBERT HASS Spring Rain 1136

ROBERT HAYDEN Those Winter Sundays 1137

ROBERT HERRICK To the Virgins, to Make

Much of Time 1137

WILLIAM HEYEN The Hair: Jacob Korman’s Story 1138

A. D. HOPE Advice to Young Ladies 1138

GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS Pied Beauty 1139

GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS The Windhover 1140

CAROLINA HOSPITALDear Tia 1140

ROBINSON JEFFERS The Answer 1141

DONALD JUSTICE On the Death of Friends

in Childhood 1141

JOHN KEATS Ode on a Grecian Urn 1142

GALWAY KINNELL After Making Love

We Hear Footsteps 1144

KATHERINE LARSON Statuary 1144

IRVING LAYTON Rhine Boat Trip 1145

LI-YOUNG LEE A Final Thing 1146

ALAN P. LIGHTMAN In Computers 1147

LIZ LOCHHEAD The Choosing 1148

AUDRE LORDE Every Traveler Has One

Vermont Poem 1149

AMY LOWELL Patterns 1149

ARCHIBALD MACLEISH Ars Poetica 1152

HEATHER MCHUGH Lines 1153

CLAUDE MCKAY The White City 1153

W. S. MERWIN Listen 1154

EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY What Lips My Lips Have

Kissed, and Where, and Why 1154

N. SCOTT MOMADAY The Bear 1155

MARIANNE MOORE Poetry 1155

LISEL MUELLER Monet Refuses the Operation 1156

HOWARD NEMEROV Life Cycle of Common Man 1157

JIM NORTHRUP wahbegan 1158

MARY OLIVER Ghosts 1159

SIMON ORTIZ A Story of How a Wall Stands 1161

DOROTHY PARKER Résumé 1162

LINDA PASTAN Ethics 1162

LINDA PASTAN Marks 1162

MOLLY PEACOCK Desire 1163

MARGE PIERCY The Secretary Chant 1163

EDGAR ALLAN POE The Raven 1164

JOHN CROWE RANSOM Bells for John Whiteside’s

Daughter 1166

JOHN RAVEN Assailant 1167

ADRIENNE RICH Diving into the Wreck 1167

ALBERTO RÍOS The Vietnam Wall 1169

LUIS OMAR SALINAS In a Farmhouse 1170

SONIA SANCHEZ rite on: white america 1171

CARL SANDBURG Chicago 1172

SIEGFRIED SASSOON Dreamers 1172

GJERTRUD SCHNACKENBERG The Paperweight 1173

ALAN SEEGER I Have a Rendezvous with Death 1173

BRENDA SEROTTE My Mother’s Face 1174

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Sonnet 29: When in Disgrace

with Fortune and Men’s Eyes 1175

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Sonnet 146: Poor Soul, the

Center of My Sinful Earth 1175

KARL SHAPIRO Auto Wreck 1175

LESLIE MARMON SILKO Where Mountain Lion Lay

Down with Deer 1176

STEVIE SMITH Not Waving But Drowning 1177

GARY SOTO Oranges 1178

WILLIAM STAFFORD Traveling Through the Dark 1179

GERALD STERN Burying an Animal on the Way to

New York 1179

WALLACE STEVENS The Emperor of Ice-Cream 1180

MAY SWENSON Question 1180

DYLAN THOMAS A Refusal to Mourn the Death, by

Fire, of a Child in London 1181

DANIEL TOBIN My Uncle’s Watch 1182

CHASE TWICHELL Blurry Cow 1183

JOHN UPDIKE Perfection Wasted 1183

TINO VILLANUEVA Day-Long Day 1184

JUDITH VIORST True Love 1185

SHELLY WAGNER The Boxes 1185

ALICE WALKER Revolutionary Petunias 1186

EDMUND WALLER Go, Lovely Rose 1187

BRUCE WEIGL Song of Napalm 1188

PHILLIS WHEATLEY On Being Brought from Africa to

America 1189

WALT WHITMAN Beat! Beat! Drums! 1189

WALT WHITMAN Dirge for Two Veterans 1190

WALT WHITMAN Full of Life Now 1191

WALT WHITMAN I Hear America Singing 1191

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER The Bartholdi Statue 1191

RICHARD WILBUR April 5, 1974 1192

WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS The Red Wheelbarrow 1193

WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS The Wild Swans at Coole 1193

PAUL ZIMMER The Day Zimmer Lost Religion 1194

22A WRITING RESEARCH ESSAYS ON POETRY

Topics to Discover in Research 1195 • Illustrative Student Essay

Written with the Aid of Research: “Beat! Beat! Drums!” and “I Hear

America Singing”: Two Whitman Poems Spanning the Civil War 1197

PART IV

Reading and Writing About Drama 1203

 

23 THE DRAMATIC VISION: AN OVERVIEW 1204

Drama as Literature 1204

Performance: The Unique Aspect of Drama 1211

Drama from Ancient Times to Our Own: Tragedy, Comedy, and Additional

Forms 1215

ANONYMOUS The Visit to the Sepulcher

(Visitatio Sepulchri) 1217

How do the Three Marys respond to the news told by the angel?

Visualizing Plays 1221

PLAYS FOR STUDY 1224

EDWARD ALBEE The Sandbox 1225

Mommy and Daddy take Grandma to a beach, but they plan more than

relaxing in the sun.

SUSAN GLASPELL Trifles 1232

In a farmhouse kitchen, the wives of lawmen investigating a murder discover

details that compel them to make an urgent decision.

BETTY KELLER Tea Party 1245

How do two aged ladies try to invite other people to come in and visit?

EUGENE O’NEILL Before Breakfast 1249

What happens to people facing disappointment, anger, alienation, and

lost hope?

Writing About the Elements of Drama 1256

Referring to Plays and Parts of Plays 1259

Illustrative Student Essay: Eugene O’Neill’s Use of Negative

Descriptions and Stage Directions in Before Breakfast as a Means of

Revealing Character 1260

Writing Topics About the Elements of Drama 1264

 

24 THE TRAGIC VISION: AFFIRMATION THROUGH LOSS 1265

The Origins of Tragedy 1265

The Ancient Athenian Competitions in Tragedy 1267

The Origin of Tragedy in Brief 1268

Aristotle and the Nature of Tragedy 1270

Aristotle’s View of Tragedy in Brief 1274

Irony in Tragedy 1275

The Ancient Athenian Audience and Theater 1276

Ancient Greek Tragic Actors and Their Costumes 1278

Performance and the Formal Organization of Greek Tragedy 1279

PLAYS FOR STUDY 1281

SOPHOCLES Oedipus the King 1281

Can anyone, even a powerful king, evade destiny or his own character?

Renaissance Drama and Shakespeare’s Theater 1318

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE The Tragedy of Hamlet,

Prince of Denmark 1322

An initial act of evil is like an infestation.

Tragedy from Shakespeare to Arthur Miller 1421

Death of a Salesman: Tragedy, Symbolism, and Broken Dreams 1422

ARTHUR MILLER Death of a Salesman 1424

With all his hopes unfulfilled,Willy Loman still clings to his dreams.

 

Writing About Tragedy 1486 • Illustrative Student Essay: The

Problem of Hamlet’s Apparent Delay 1490

Writing Topics About Tragedy 1494

 

25 THE COMIC VISION: RESTORING THE BALANCE 1496

The Origins of Comedy 1496

Comedy from Roman Times to the Renaissance 1499

The Patterns, Characters, and Language of Comedy 1500

Types of Comedy 1502

PLAYS FOR STUDY 1504

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1504

The problems of lovers are resolved through the magic of the natural world,

not through custom and law.

The Life and Theater of Molière 1559

Love Is the Doctor (L’Amour Médecin): A Comic Farce 1561

MOLIÈRE (Jean Baptiste Poguelin) Love Is the Doctor

(L’Amour Médecin) 1563

Things go along other paths than the ones Monsieur Sganarelle chooses

Comedy Since Shakespeare and Molière 1580

ANTON CHEKHOV The Bear, A Joke in One Act 1581

A bachelor and a widow meet and immediately berate each other, but their

lives are about to undergo great change.

BETH HENLEY Am I Blue 1591

Two young but uncertain souls regain some of the certainty they were losing.

Writing About Comedy 1606 • Illustrative Student Essay: Setting

as Symbol and Comic Structure in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s

Dream 1609

Writing Topics About Comedy 1612

 

26 VISIONS OF DRAMATIC REALITY AND NONREALITY:

VARYING THE IDEA OF DRAMA AS IMITATION 1614

Realism and Nonrealism in Drama 1614

Elements of Realistic and Nonrealistic Drama 1617

PLAYS FOR STUDY 1619

Langston Hughes Biography 1619

Hughes and the African American Theater after 1920 1620

Hughes’s Career as a Dramatist 1620

Mulatto and the Reality of the Southern Black Experience 1621

LANGSTON HUGHES Mulatto 1622

On a Southern plantation in the 1930s, a young man tries to assert his rights,

but there are those who will not grant him any rights at all.

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS The Glass Menagerie 1643

Tom would like to escape the memory of his home life, in which he finds only

confusion and entrapment.

August Wilson Biography 1692

The Background of Fences 1693

AUGUST WILSON Fences 1695

Troy Maxson, who as a young athlete could knock baseballs over fences, has

led a life enclosed by other fences.

Writing About Realistic and Nonrealistic Drama 1740 • Illustrative

Student Essay: Realism and Nonrealism in Tom’s Triple Role in The Glass

Menagerie 1743

Writing Topics About Dramatic Reality and Nonreality 1746

 

27 DRAMATIC VISION ON FILM: FROM THE SILVER

SCREEN TO THEWORLD OF DIGITAL FANTASY 1748

A Thumbnail History of Film 1748

Stage Plays and Film 1749

DVD Technology and Film Study 1750

The Aesthetics of Film 1751

The Techniques of Film 1751

TWO FILM SCENES FOR STUDY 1756

ORSON WELLES AND HERMAN J. MANKIEWICZ Shot 71

from the Shooting Script of Citizen Kane 1756

Two friends recognize their irreconcilable differences.

ARTHUR LAURENTS A Scene from The Turning Point 1760

Two women find a solution to the problems causing their hostility.

NEW

 

Writing About Film 1766 • Illustrative Student Essay:Welles’s

Citizen Kane: Whittling a Giant Down to Size 1768

Writing Topics About Film 1771

 

28 HENRIK IBSEN AND THE REALISTIC PROBLEM PLAY:

A DOLLHOUSE 1773

Ibsen’s Life and Early Work 1773

Ibsen’s Major Prose Plays 1774

A Dollhouse: Ibsen’s Best-Known Problem Play 1775

Ibsen’s Symbolism in A Dollhouse 1775

A Dollhouse as a “Well-Made Play” 1775

The Timeliness and Dramatic Power of A Dollhouse 1776

Bibliographic Studies 1776

HENRIK IBSEN A Dollhouse (Et Dukkehjem) 1777

In their seemingly perfect household, Nora and Torvald discover the severe

differences between them.

Edited Selections from Criticism of Ibsen’s A Dollhouse and Other Plays

1825

1. Freedom,Truth, and Society—Rhetoric and Reality 1825 • 2. Ibsen’s

Feminist Characters 1830 • 3.“A Marxist Approach to A Doll House”

1835

 

28A WRITING RESEARCH ESSAYS ON DRAMA 1839

Topics to Discover in Research 1839 • Illustrative Student Essay

Written with the Aid of Research: The Ghost in Hamlet 1840

PART V

Special Writing Topics About Literature 1859

 

29 CRITICAL APPROACHES IMPORTANT IN THE STUDY

OF LITERATURE 1854

Moral/Intellectual 1855

Topical/Historical 1856

New Critical/Formalist 1859

Structuralist 1861

Feminist Criticism/Gender Studies/Queer Theory 1863

Economic Determinist/Marxist 1866

Psychological/Psychoanalytic 1869

Archetypal/Symbolic/Mythic 1869

Deconstructionist 1871

Reader-Response 1873

 

30 COMPARISON-CONTRAST AND EXTENDED

COMPARISON-CONTRAST: LEARNING BY

SEEING LITERARYWORKS TOGETHER 1876

Guidelines for the Comparison-Contrast Method 1877

The Extended Comparison-Contrast Essay 1880

Writing a Comparison-Contrast Essay 1881 • Illustrative Student

Essay (Two Works): The Treatment of Responses to War in Amy Lowell’s

“Patterns”and Wilfred Owen’s “Anthem for Doomed Youth” 1883

Illustrative Student Essay (Extended Comparison-Contrast): Literary

Treatments of the Conflicts Between Private and Public Life 1887

Writing Topics for Comparison and Contrast 1892

 

31 TAKING EXAMINATIONS ON LITERATURE 1893

Answer the Questions That Are Asked 1893

Systematic Preparation 1895

Two Basic Types of Questions About Literature 1898

 

APPENDIXES

I. MLA RECOMMENDATIONS FOR DOCUMENTING SOURCES 1905

II. BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES OF THE POETS IN PART III 1916

 

A GLOSSARY OF IMPORTANT LITERARY TERMS 1978

 

Credits 1979

 

Index of authors, titles, and first lines