目录
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
PART ONE: Interpreting Literature
1 Strategies for Interpreting Literature
Why Do People Read Literature?
What Is Interpretation?
How Do We Interpret?
Checklist for Interpreting Literature
Work Cited
2 What Is Literature?
Literature Is Language
Literature Is Fictional
WaltWhitman, Cavalry Crossing a Ford
Literature Is True
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, My Friend, the Things
that Do Attain
Literature Is Aesthetic
Literature Is Intertextual
Checklist for the Elements of Literature
Works Cited
3 Interpreting Fiction
The Elements of Fiction
Theme
Point of View
Mary Robison, Yours
Plot
Characterization
Setting
Irony
Symbolism
Other Elements
Checklist for Interpreting Fiction
Works Cited
4 Interpreting Drama
The Nature of Drama
The Elements of Drama
Plot
Characterization
Setting
Theme
Irony
Subgenres
Checklist for Interpreting Drama
Works Cited and Consulted
5 Interpreting Poetry
What Is Poetry?
Emily Bront~, The Night Is Darkening Round Me
Sense in Poetry: Elements that Convey Meaning
Getting Started: Reading a Poem the First Time
Diction
William Wordsworth, A Slumber Did My Spirit Sea]
Syntax
Louise Bogan, Song for a Lyre
Characterization, Point of View, Plot, and Setting
Jane Kenyon, In the Nursing Home
Matthew Arnold, Dover Beach
Robert Browning, My Last Duchess
Imagery: Descriptive Language
Imagery: Figurative Language
Samuel Daniel, Love Is a Sickness
Thomas Campion, There Is a Garden in Her Face
Symbolism
William Blake, The Sick Rose
The Sound of Poetry: Musical Elements
Rhythm
William Shakespeare, Sonnet 129
Word Sounds
Edgar Allan Poe, To Helen
Structure
William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116
Edna St. Vincent Millay, I, Being Born aWoman
Anonymous, The Daemon Lover
Emily Dickinson, Because I Could Not Stop for Dead
Matsuo Basho, haiku
Taniguchi Buson, haiku
Kobayashi Issa, haiku
Psalm 23
Ezra Pound, Xenia
Amy Lowell, Road to theYoshiwara
Langston Hughes, Vagabonds
Elizabeth Bishop, One Art
Sight: The Visual Qualifies of Poetry
George Herbert, EasterWings
e. e. cummings, l(a
Gwendolyn Brooks, We Real Cool
Checklist for Interpreting Poetry
Works Cited
Specialized Approaches to Interpreting Literature
Literary Criticism and Theory
Places for Interpretation
The Work
New Criticism
Structuralism
Deconstruction
Archetypal Criticism
The Author
Historical and Biographical Criticism
New Historicist Criticism
The Reader
Reader-Response Criticism
All of Reality
Marxist Criticism
Psychological Criticism
Feminist and Gender Criticism
Works Cited
PART TWO: Writing about Literature
7 Writing about Literature
WhyWrite about Literature?
How CanYou Write about Literature?
The Writing Process
8 Choosing Topics
Preliminary Steps
Be an Active Reader
Identify Your Audience
Raise Questions about the Work
Narrow Your Topic
Search Strategies
Focus on the Work‘s Conventions (Its Formal Qualities)
UseTopoi (Traditional Patterns of Thinking)
Respond to Comments by Critics
Draw fromYour Own Knowledge
Talking andWriting Strategies
Talk Out Loud
Make Outlines
Freewrite
Brainstorm
Make Notes
Keep a Journal
Sample Essay about Literature
Michelle Henderson, "Paradise Rejected in Homer‘s
Odyssey"
Comments on the Essay
Checklist for ChoosingTopics
Works Cited
9 Drafting the Essay
The Argumentative Nature of Interpretive Essays
The Structure of Essays about Literature
The Argumentative Structure
The Rhetorical Structure
Guidelines forWriting First Drafts
Keep in Mind the Needs of Your Audience
Avoid Extreme Subjectivity (Overuse of"I")
Draw Up a Rough Outline
Begin Writing
Use Sound Deductive Reasoning
Support Key Claims with Facts
Use Sound Inductive Reasoning
Define Key Terms
Organize Evidence According to a Coherent Plan
Make Comparisons Complete and Easy to Follow
Checklist for Drafting the Essay
Works Cited
10 Revising and Editing
Revise Throughout the Writing Process
Revise for the Final Draft
Write a Clear and Readable Prose Style
Have Other People Read and Respond toYour Draft
Edit the Final Draft
Rules of Usage
Citations of Sources
Quotations
Other Rules of Usage Related to Essays about Literature
Physical Format
Sample Essay inTwo Drafts
Robert Frost, The Death of the Hired Man
Early Draft
Comments on the Early Draft
Final Draft
Jennifer Hargrove, "A Comparison of Mary andWarren
in Robert Frost‘s ‘The Death of the Hired Man‘"
Comments on the Final Draft
Checklist for Revising and Editing
Works Cited
11 Documentation and Research
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources
Research Papers and the Use of Secondary Sources
How to Find Information and Opinions about Literature
I. Library Catalogs and Stacks
II. Library Reference Room
III. Library Periodicals Room and Stacks
IV. Information and Opinion on the Internet
Evaluating the Quality of Internet Sites
Giving Credit to Sources
Why ShouldYou Give Credit?
When ShouldYou Give Credit?
Where ShouldYou Give Credit?
Correct Documentary Form
Guidelines for Parenthetical Citations
Guidelines for Using Footnotes and Endnotes
Guidelines and Form for the Works Cited List:
General Rules
Sample Entries for Books
Sample Entry for Articles in Scholarly Journals
Sample Entries for Articles in Popular Publications
Sample Entries for Computer Databases
Sample Entries for Other Nonprint Sources
Frequently Used Abbreviations
Sample Research Paper
Harold Wright, "The Monster‘s Education in Mary
Shelley‘s Frankenstein"
Comments on the Research Paper
Checklist for Documentation and Research
12 Taking EssayTests
Guidelines for Taking EssayTests
Sample Test Essays
Essay 1
Comments on Essay 1
Essay 2
Comments on Essay 2
Essay 3
Comments on Essay 3
Checklist for Taking Essay Tests
13 Sample Essays
Essay on a Poem
Edwin Arlington Robinson, Richard Cory
George Cannon, "Point of View in Edwin Arlington
Robinson‘s ‘Richard Cory‘"
Essay on a Short Story
Edgar Allan Poe, The Cask of AmontiUado
Blake Long, "Montresor‘s Fate in Edgar Allan Poe‘s
‘The Cask of Amontillado‘"
Essay on a Play
Susan Glaspell, Trifles
Carolyn Briner, "The Meaning of Physical Objects
in Susan Glaspell‘s Trifles"
Essay on a Novel
Shalita Forrest, "First Love, Lost Love in George
Eliot‘s Adam Bede"
Glossary
Credits
Index of Concepts and Terms
Index of Critics, Authors, and Works
