Featuring culturally rich and diverse literature, this anthology weaves critical thinking into every facet of its writing apparatus and guides students through the process of crafting their personal responses to literature into persuasive arguments.   With engaging selections, provocative themes, and comprehensive coverage of the writing process, Madden's anthology is sure to capture the reader's imagination. Exploring Literature opens with five chapters dedicated to writing and arguing about literature. An anthology follows, organized around five themes. Each thematic unit includes an ethnically diverse collection of short stories, poems, plays, and essays, as well as a case study to help students explore literature from various perspectives.

Table of Contents:
* indicate selections new to this edition   I. MAKING CONNECTIONS 1. Participation: Personal Response and Critical Thinking The Personal Dimension of Reading Literature Personal Response and Critical Thinking Writing to Learn             Your First Response                         Checklist: Your First Response             Keeping a Journal or Reading Log                         Double-Entry Journals and Logs             The Social Nature of Learning: Collaboration             Personal, Not Private Ourselves as Readers             Different Kinds of Reading PETER MEINKE, Advice to My Son Making Connections with Literature             Images of Ourselves Connecting Through Experience PAUL ZIMMER, Zimmer in Grade School Connecting Through Experience STEVIE SMITH, Not Waving but Drowning             Culture, Experience, and Values Connecting Through Experience ROBERT HAYDEN, Those Winter Sundays Connecting Through Experience MARGE PIERCY, Barbie Doll Being in the Moment NEW YORK TIMES, “Birmingham Bomb Kills 4” DUDLEY RANDALL, Ballad of Birmingham Participating, Not Solving Using Our Imaginations The Whole and Its Parts 2. Communication: Writing a Response Essay The Response Essay                         Checklist: The Basics of a Response Essay Voice and Writing             Voice and Response to Literature Connecting Through Experience COUNTEE CULLEN, Incident Writing to Describe             Choosing Details             Choosing Details from Literature Connecting Through Experience SANDRA CISNEROS, Eleven Writing to Compare             Comparing and Contrasting Using a Venn Diagram Connecting Through Experience ANNA QUINDLEN, Mothers Connecting Through Experience LANGSTON HUGHES, Salvation             Possible Worlds             From First Response to Final Draft                         The Importance of Revision                         Using Your First Response                         Using First or Third Person in Formal Essays Formatting and Documenting Your Essay             Checklist: Some Basics for a Literary Essay             Checklist: Editing and Proofreading II. ANALYSIS, ARGUMENTATION, AND RESEARCH 3. Exploration and Analysis: Genre and the Elements of Literature Close Reading Annotating the Text             First Annotation: Exploration PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY, Ozymandias             Second Annotation: Analysis             Literature in Its Many Contexts             Your Critical Approach Reading and Analyzing Fiction             Summary Checklist: Analyzing Fiction Narration             Point of View Setting Conflict Plot Character Language and Style             Diction             Symbol             Irony             Theme Getting Ideas for Writing About Fiction KATE CHOPIN, The Story of an Hour Reading and Analyzing Poetry             Summary Checklist: Analyzing Poetry Language and Style             Denotation and Connotation             Voice             Tone             Irony STEPHEN CRANE, War Is Kind             Imagery HELEN CHASIN, The Word Plum ROBERT BROWNING, Meeting at Night                                                 Parting at Morning             Figurative Language: Everyday Poetry LANGSTON HUGHES, A Dream Deferred N. SCOTT MOMADAY, Simile CARL SANDBURG, Fog JAMES STEPHENS, The Wind             Symbol ROBERT FROST, The Road Not Taken Sound and Structure             Rhyme, Alliteration, and Assonance             Finding the Beat: Limericks             Meter             Formal Verse: The Sonnet WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Sonnet No. 29             Blank Verse             Free or Open Form Verse WALT WHITMAN, When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer Interpretation: What Does the Poem Mean?             Explication Types of Poetry             Lyric Poetry             Narrative Poetry Getting Ideas for Writing About Poetry MAY SWENSON, Pigeon Woman Reading and Analyzing Drama             Summary Checklist: Analyzing Drama Reading a Play             Point of View             Set and Setting             Conflict             Plot             The Poetics             Tragedy             Comedy             Characterization Language and Style             Diction             Symbol             Irony Theme Periods of Drama: A Brief Background             Greek Drama             Shakespearean Drama             Modern Drama Getting Ideas for Writing About Drama             Tips on Reading Antigonê SOPHOCLES, Antigonê Reading and Analyzing Essays             Summary Checklist: Analyzing Essays Types of Essays             Narrative             Expository             Argumentative Language, Style, and Structure             Formal or Informal             Voice             Word Choice and Style             Theme or Thesis: What’s the Point?             The Aims of an Essay: Inform, Preach, or Reveal Getting Ideas for Writing About the Essay AMY TAN, Mother Tongue 4. Argumentation: Writing a Critical Essay The Critical Essay Interpretation and Evaluation             Interpretation: What Does it Mean?             Evaluation: How Well Does it Work? Options for a Critical Essay: Process and Product                         Checklist: Options for Writing a Critical Essay             An Analytical Essay             A Comparative Essay             A Thematic Essay             An Essay about the Beliefs or Actions of the Narrator or Characters             A Contextual Essay Argumentation: Writing a Critical Essay             The Shape of an Argument                         Checklist: Writing a Critical Essay             Planning Your Argument             Supporting Your Argument: Induction and Substantiation             Opening, Closing, and Revising Your Argument From First Response to Critical Essay The Development of a Critical Essay             Planning an Argument             Supporting the Argument             Suzanne’s Draft             Revising the Essay             Suzanne’s Revised Essay 5. Research: Writing with Secondary Sources The Research Essay Checklist: Writing a Research Essay Creating, Expanding, and Joining Interpretive Communities It Is Your Interpretation             Integrating Sources into Your Writing Getting Started             Journal Entries, Notes, and Your Classmates             Some Popular Areas of Literary Research Your Search             People             The Library             Reference Works             Finding Sources on the Internet             Evaluating Internet Sources             Checklist: Evaluating Internet Sources Taking Notes             What Must Be Documented             Where and How             Paraphrasing and Summarizing             Quoting             Avoiding Plagiarism From First Response to Research Essay CASE STUDY IN RESEARCH Thinking About Interpretation, Culture, and Research James Joyce and “Eveline” JAMES JOYCE, Eveline             Prof. Devenish’s Commentary             A Student Research Essay—“Leaving Home” III. A THEMATIC ANTHOLOGY Family and Friends A Dialogue Across History Family and Friends: Exploring Your Own Values and Beliefs Reading and Writing About Family and Friends Fiction CHINUA ACHEBE, Marriage Is a Private Affair JAMES BALDWIN, Sonny’s Blues JOHN CHEEVER, Reunion LOUISE ERDRICH, The Red Convertible LINDA CHING SLEDGE, The Road AMY TAN, Two Kinds EUDORA WELTY, A Worn Path Poetry Connecting Through Comparison: Remembrance ELIZABETH GAFFNEY, Losses That Turn Up in Dreams WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, When to the Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought (Sonnet No. 30) JULIA ALVAREZ, Dusting ROBERT FROST, Mending Wall SEAMUS HEANEY, Digging PHILIP LARKIN, This Be the Verse MICHAEL LASSELL, How to Watch Your Brother Die LI-YOUNG LEE, The Gift JANICE MIRIKITANI, For My Father SHARON OLDS, 35/10 THEODORE ROETHKE, My Papa’s Waltz CATHY SONG, The Youngest Daughter Drama TENNESSEE WILLIAMS, The Glass Menagerie Essays BELL HOOKS, Inspired Eccentricity** MARK TWAIN, Advice to Youth CASE STUDY IN CONTEXT Thinking About Interpretation and Biography Lorraine Hansberry and A Raisin in the Sun LORRAINE HANSBERRY, A Raisin in the Sun Lorraine Hansberry—In Her Own Words In Others’ Words JAMES BALDWIN, Sweet Lorraine JULIUS LESTER, The Heroic Dimension in A Raisin in the Sun ANNE CHENEY, The African Heritage in A Raisin in the Sun STEVEN R. CARTER, Hansberry’s Artistic Misstep MARGARET B. WILKERSON, Hansberry’s Awareness of Culture and Gender MICHAEL ANDERSON, A Raisin in the Sun: A Landmark Lesson in Being Black A Student Essay Exploring the Literature of Family and Friends: Options for Making Connections and Arguments Innocence and Experience A Dialogue Across History Innocence and Experiences: Exploring Your Own Values and Beliefs Reading and Writing About Innocence and Experience Fiction JULIA ALVAREZ, Snow TONI CADE BAMBARA, The Lesson THOMAS BULFINCH, The Myth of Daedalus and Icarus RALPH ELLISON, Battle Royal LILIANA HEKER, The Stolen Party JAMES JOYCE, Araby JOYCE CAROL OATES, WHERE ARE YOU GOING, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? FRANK O’CONNOR, Guests of the Nation ** TWO READERS/TWO DIFFERENT VIEWS: JOHN UPDIKE, A&P Two Sample Student Essays Poetry Connecting Through Comparison: Images of Innocence and Experience WILLIAM BLAKE, London WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802 Connecting Through Comparison: The Chimney Sweeper WILLIAM BLAKE, The Chimney Sweeper (From Songs of Innocence) **; The Chimney Sweeper (From Songs of Experience) **      MARGARET ATWOOD, Siren Song ROBERT FROST, “Out, Out ...” SEAMUS HEANEY, Mid-Term Break A. E. HOUSMAN, When I Was One-and-Twenty EDGAR LEE MASTERS, Ernest Hyde (Spoon River Anthology)** EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON, Richard Cory Anne Sexton, Pain for a Daughter ** Walt Whitman, There was a Child Went Forth ** Essays JUDITH ORTIZ COFER, I Fell in Love, or My Hormones Awakened ** EDWARD CONLON, The Midnight Tour ** DAVID SEDARIS, The Learning Curve ** CASE STUDY IN CONTEXT Thinking About Interpretation and Performance William Shakespeare and “Hamlet” Interpretation and Performance WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark             Desperately Seeking Hamlet: Four Interpretations                         Olivier’s Hamlet                         Jacobi’s Hamlet                         Gibson’s Hamlet                         Branagh’s Hamlet             From Part to Whole, From Whole to Part             A Student Essay—An Explication of  the “To Be, or Not To Be” Soliloquy HAMLET ON SCREEN             A Critic’s  Influential Interpretation                         Ernest Jones, Hamlet’s Oedipus Complex **             Hamlet On Screen                         Bernice Kliman,  The BBC Hamlet: A Television Production **                         Claire Bloom, Playing Gertrude on Television **                         Stanley Kauffmann, At Elsinore: Branagh’s Hamlet **                         Russell Jackson, A Film Diary of the Shooting of                                     Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet **             Exploring the Literature of Innocence and Experience: Options for Making Connections and Arguments CASE STUDY IN POETRY AND PAINTING: Connecting Through Comparison PETER BRUEGHEL, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus  / W. H. AUDEN, Musée des Beaux Arts and ALAN DEVENISH, Icarus Again JACOPO TINTORETTO, Crucifixion  / N. SCOTT MOMADAY, Before an Old Painting of the Crucifixion EDWARD HOPPER, Nighthawks  / SAMUEL YELLEN, Nighthawks VINCENT VAN GOGH, Starry Night  / ANNE SEXTON, The Starry Night HENRI MATISSE, Dance ** / NATALIE SAFIR, Matisse’s Dance ** JEAN-FRANCOIS MILLET, The Gleaners  / MARY ELLEN LECLAIR, The Clark Institute: Labor Day, 1999 EDWIN ROMANZO ELMER, The Mourning Picture  / ADRIENNE RICH, Mourning Picture JAN VERMEER, The Loveletter  / SANDRA NELSON, When a Woman Holds a Letter A Student’s Comparison and Contrast Essay: Process and Product Exploring Poetry and Painting: Options for Making Connections and Arguments Women and Men A Dialogue Across History Women and Men: Exploring Your Own Values and Beliefs Reading and Writing About Women and Men Fiction ANTON CHEKHOV, The Lady with the Pet Dog CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN, The Yellow Wallpaper BESSIE HEAD,  Life ** ERNEST HEMINGWAY, Hills Like White Elephants D. H. LAWRENCE, The Horse Dealer’s Daughter BOBBIE ANN MASON, Shiloh ROSARIO MORALES, The Day It Happened Poetry Connecting Through Comparison: Be My Love CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE, The Passionate Shepherd to His Love WALTER RALEIGH, The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd ANDREW MARVELL, To His Coy Mistress MAYA ANGELOU, Phenomenal Woman MARGARET ATWOOD, You Fit into Me ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING, How Do I Love Thee? ROBERT BROWNING, Porphyria’s Lover NIKKI GIOVANNI, Woman JUDY GRAHN, Ella, in a Square Apron, Along Highway 80 ESSEX HEMPHILL, Commitments ** EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY, What Lips My Lips Have Kissed, and Where, and Why; Love Is Not All Pablo Neruda, The Fickle One ** SHARON OLDS, Sex Without Love SYLVIA PLATH, Mirror ALBERTO RIOS, The Purpose of Altar Boys Connecting Through Comparison: Shall I Compare Thee? WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day? (Sonnet No. 18) HOWARD MOSS, Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day? WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun (Sonnet No. 130) Connecting and Comparing Across Genres: Cinderella JACOB LUDWIG CARL GRIMM AND WILHELM CARL GRIMM, Cinderella ANNE SEXTON, Cinderella BRUNO BETTELHEIM, Cinderella Drama ANTON CHEKHOV, The Proposal Connecting and Comparing Across Genres: Drama and Fiction SUSAN GLASPELL, The Play: Trifles SUSAN GLASPELL, The Short Story: A Jury of Her Peers ** Essays SEI SHONAGAN, A Lover’s Departure VIRGINIA WOOLF, If Shakespeare Had a Sister CASE STUDY IN CONTEXT Thinking About Interpretation in Context Women in Cultural and Historical Context HENRIK IBSEN, A Doll’s House The Adams Letters A Husband’s Letter to His Wife SOJOURNER TRUTH, “Ain’t I a Woman” HENRIK IBSEN, Notes for the Modern Tragedy The Changed Ending of A Doll’s House for a German Production Speech at the Banquet of the Norwegian League for Women’s Rights ELIZABETH CADY STANTON, Excerpt from The Solitude of Self WILBUR FISK TILLETT, Excerpt from Southern Womanhood DOROTHY DIX, The American Wife Women and Suicide CHARLOTTE PERKINS STETSON (GILMAN), Excerpt from Women and Economics NATALIE ZEMON DAVIS AND JILL KER CONWAY, The Rest of the Story A Student Essay Exploring the Literature of Women and Men: Options for Making Connections and Arguments Culture and Identity A Dialogue Across History Culture and Identity: Exploring Your Own Values and Beliefs Reading and Writing About Culture and Identity Fiction T. CORAGHESSAN BOYLE, Greasy Lake WILLA CATHER, Paul’s Case KATE CHOPIN, Désirée’s Baby WILLIAM FAULKNER, A Rose for Emily JAMAICA KINCAID, Girl Thomas King, Borders ** GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings TAHIRA NAQVI, Brave We Are ALICE WALKER, Everyday Use Poetry Connecting Through Comparison: The Mask We Wear W. H. AUDEN, The Unknown Citizen PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR, We Wear the Mask T. S. ELIOT, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock SHERMAN ALEXIE, On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City GLORIA ANZALDÚA, To Live in the Borderlands Means You ELIZABETH BISHOP, In the Waiting Room GWENDOLYN BROOKS, We Real Cool E.E. CUMMINGS, anyone lived in a pretty how town MARTIN ESPADA, Latin Night at the Pawn Shop PAT MORA, Immigrants MARGE PIERCY, To Be of Use EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON,  Mr. Flood’s Party JOHN UPDIKE, Ex-Basketball Player WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS, At the Ball Game WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS, The Lake Isle of Innisfree Connecting Through Comparison: What Is Poetry? ARCHIBALD MACLEISH, Ars Poetica LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI, Constantly Risking Absurdity BILLY COLLINS, Introduction to Poetry Drama SOPHOCLES, Oedipus Rex LUIS VALDEZ, Los Vendidos Essays CHARLES FRUEHLING SPRINGWOOD AND C. RICHARD KING, “Playing Indian”: Why Native American Mascots Must End JOAN DIDION, Why I Write FREDERICK DOUGLASS, Learning to Read and Write MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., I Have a Dream RICHARD RODRIGUEZ, Workers JONATHAN SWIFT, A Modest Proposal HENRY DAVID THOREAU, From Civil Disobedience CASE STUDY IN CONTEXT Writers of the Harlem Renaissance ALAIN LOCKE, The New Negro LANGSTON HUGHES, From The Big Sea The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain The Negro Speaks of Rivers I, Too The Weary Blues One Friday Morning Theme for English B CLAUDE MCKAY, America GWENDOLYN B. BENNETT, Heritage JEAN TOOMER, Reapers COUNTEE CULLEN, Yet Do I Marvel From the Dark Tower ANNE SPENCER, Lady, Lady GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON, I Want to Die While You Love Me ZORA NEALE HURSTON, Sweat Commentary on The Negro Speaks of Rivers Langston Hughes Jessie Fauset Onwuchekwa Jemie R. Baxter Miller ALICE WALKER, Zora Neale Hurston: A Cautionary Tale and a Partisan View A Sample Student Essay Exploring the Literature of Culture and Identity: Options for Making Connections and Arguments Faith and Doubt A Dialogue Across History Faith and Doubt: Exploring Your Own Values and Beliefs Reading and Writing About Faith and Doubt Fiction RAYMOND CARVER, Cathedral NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE, Young Goodman Brown PAM HOUSTON, A Blizzard Under Blue Sky TIM O’BRIEN, The Things They Carried FLANNERY O’CONNOR, A Good Man Is Hard To Find ** LUIGI PIRANDELLO, War JOHN STEINBECK, The Chrysanthemums Poetry Connecting Through Comparison: September 11, 2001 DEBORAH GARRISON, I Saw You Walking BRIAN DOYLE, Leap BILLY COLLINS, The Names MATTHEW ARNOLD, Dover Beach ROBERT BRIDGES, London Snow STEPHEN CRANE, A Man Said to the Universe, The Wayfarer  ** JOHN DONNE, A Valediction Forbidding Mourning Death, Be Not Proud MARK DOTY, Brilliance ROBERT FROST, Fire and Ice TESS GALLAGHER, The Hug THOMAS HARDY, HAP*** A. E. HOUSMAN, To an Athlete Dying Young JOHN KEATS, When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be GALWAY KINNELL, Saint Francis and the Sow WILLIAM STAFFORD, Traveling Through the Dark DYLAN THOMAS, Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night WALT WHITMAN, Song of Myself 6 Connecting Through Comparison: The Impact of War THOMAS HARDY, The Man He Killed AMY LOWELL, Patterns WILFRED OWEN, Dulce et Decorum Est CARL SANDBURG, Grass Randall Jarrell, The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner** YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA, Facing It Hurricane Katrina DAN BROWN, The Corpse on Union Street** Drama JOHN MILLINGTON SYNGE, Riders to the Sea  ** DAVID MAMET,  Oleanna ** Essays ALBERT CAMUS, The Myth of Sisyphus PLATO, The Allegory of the Cave PHILIP SIMMONS, Learning to Fall CASE STUDY IN CONTEXT Poetry and Criticism: Emily Dickinson Her Life Her Work The Poems             Success Is Counted Sweetest  **             Faith is a fine invention **             There’s a Certain Slant of Light             I like a look of agony  **             Wild Nights—Wild Nights! **             The Brain—is wider than the Sky **             Much Madness Is Divinest Sense             I’ve seen a dying eye **             I Heard a Fly Buzz—When I Died—             After Great Pain, a Formal Feeling Comes             Some keep the Sabbath going to Church **             This world is not conclusion **             There is a pain—so utter— **             Because I could not stop for death **             The Bustle in a House**              Tell All the Truth But Tell It Slant Making Connections Emily Dickinson—In Her Own Words             A Letter to Susan Gilbert Dickinson—her sister-in-law. (1852) **             A Letter to Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1862) ** In Others’ Words             Thomas Wentworth Higginson, letter (1870) **             Mary Loomis Todd, letter (1881) **             Richard Wilbur, On Her Sense of Privation (1960) **             Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, On  Her White Dress (1979) ** Critical Commentary on Her Poetry             Helen McNeil, Dickinson’s Method **             Cynthia Griffin Woolf, The Voices in Dickinson’s Poetry **             Allan Tate, On Because I Could Not Stop for Death **             Paula Bennett, On I Heard a Fly Buzz—When I Died ** Poems about Emily Dickinson             Linda Pastan, Emily Dickinson **             Billy Collins, Taking Off Emily Dickinson’s Clothes ** A Sample Student Essay Exploring the Literature of Faith and Doubt: Options for Making Connections and Arguments Appendix A:  Critical Approaches to Literature Appendix B:  Writing About Film Appendix C:  Documentation