For courses in Literature for Composition, Writing About Literature, and Introduction to Literature. This version of Literature and the Writing Process has been updated to reflect the 8th Edition of the MLA Handbook (April 2016)* Great literature as a path to learning writing and critical-thinking skills Great literature is always thought provoking, always new — why not use it to improve students’ writing skills and sharpen critical thinking?   Literature and the Writing Process combines an introductory anthology with detailed instruction in the writing process. By seamlessly integrating literature and composition into one multi-purpose text, the authors enable students to enjoy, understand, and learn from imaginative literature — and to write clearly and intelligently about what they have learned.   Text writing assignments use literature as a tool of critical thought, a method for analysis, and a way of communicating ideas. Careful integration of rhetorical instruction with the critical study of literature guides students through the allied processes of analytical reading and argumentative writing.  As a result, students learn how to write essays about the major features that are involved in interpreting short stories, poems, and plays. * The 8th Edition introduces sweeping changes to the philosophy and details of MLA works cited entries. Responding to the “increasing mobility of texts,” MLA now encourages writers to focus on the process of crafting the citation, beginning with the same questions for any source. These changes, then, align with current best practices in the teaching of writing which privilege inquiry and critical thinking over rote recall and rule-following.

Table of Contents:
NOTE: Brief and Comprehensive Tables of Contents follow. BRIEF TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents by Genre Contents by Theme Preface   I. COMPOSING: AN OVERVIEW 1.   The Prewriting Process 2.   The Writing Process 3.   Writing a Convincing Argument 4.   The Rewriting Process 5.   Researched Writing II. WRITING ABOUT SHORT FICTION 6.   How Do I Read Short Fiction? 7.   Writing About Structure 8.   Writing About Imagery and Symbolism 9.   Writing About Point of View 10.    Writing About Setting and Atmosphere 11.    Writing About Theme 12.    Critical Casebook: Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” 13.   Anthology of Short Fiction 14.    A Portfolio of Science Fiction Stories 15.    A Portfolio of Humorous and Satirical Stories 16.    A Portfolio of Stories about Singular Women III. WRITING ABOUT POETRY 17.    How Do I Read Poetry? 18.    Writing About Persona and Tone 19.    Writing About Poetic Language 20.    Writing About Poetic Form 21.    Critical Casebook: The Poetry of Langston Hughes 22.    The Art of Poetry 23.    Anthology of Poetry 24. Paired Poems for Comparison 25. A Portfolio of Poems about Work 26. A Portfolio of War Poetry 27. A Portfolio of Humorous and Satirical Poetry IV. WRITING ABOUT DRAMA(28. How Do I Read a Play? 29. Writing About Dramatic Structure 30. Writing About Character 31. Critical Casebook: The Glass Menagerie: Interpreting Amanda 32. Anthology of Drama 33. A Portfolio of Humorous and Satirical Plays V. CRITICAL APPROACHES TO LITERATURE 34. Critical Approaches for Interpreting Literature 35. Critical Casebook: Reading and Writing About Culture and Identity Glossary of Literary and Rhetorical Terms Credits Index of Authors, Titles, and First Lines of Poetry Subject Index COMPREHENSIVE TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents by Genre Contents by Theme Preface   I. COMPOSING: AN OVERVIEW 1.   The Prewriting Process Reading for Writing James Joyce, Eveline Who Are My Readers?    Analyze the Audience Why Am I Writing?    Reasons for Writing What Ideas Should I Use?    Reading and Thinking Critically Discovering and Developing Ideas    Self-Questioning    Directed Freewriting    Problem Solving Sample Student Prewriting: Directed Freewriting    Clustering Sample Student Prewriting: Clustering What Point Should I Make?    Relate a Part to the Whole    Finding the Theme    Stating the Thesis   2.   The Writing Process How Should I Organize My Ideas? Arguing Your Interpretation    The Elements of Good Argument    Building an Effective Argument    Arranging the Ideas Developing with Details    Questions for Consideration Maintaining a Critical Focus    Distinguishing Critical Comments from Plot Details How Should I Begin?    Postpone If Nothing Comes    Write an Appealing Opening    State the Thesis How Should I End?    Relate the Discussion to Theme    Postpone or Write Ahead    Write an Emphatic Final Sentence Composing the First Draft    Pausing to Rescan Quoting from Your Sources Sample Student Paper: First Draft   3.   Writing a Convincing Argument Interpreting and Arguing   Identifying Issues    Making Claims    Using Evidence    Using Reasoning    Answering Opposing Views Organizing Your Argument    Using the Inductive Approach    Making a Counterargument    Arguing through Comparison Sample Student Paper: An Argument Dagoberto Gilb, Love in L. A.   4.   The Rewriting Process What Is Revision? Getting Feedback: Peer Review    Revising in Peer Groups What Should I Add or Take Out?    Outlining After the First Draft    Making the Outline    Checking the Outline    Sample After-Writing Outline    Examining the Sample Outline What Should I Rearrange? Does It Flow? What Is Editing? Combining for Conciseness Rearranging for Emphasis and Variety    Varying the Pattern Which Words Should I Change?    Check Your Verbs    Use Active Voice Most of the Time    Use Passive If Appropriate    Feel the Words    Attend to Tone    Use Formal Language What Is Proofreading?    Try Reading It Backward    Look for Your Typical Errors    Read the Paper Aloud    Find a Friend to Help Sample Student Paper: Final Draft   5.   Researched Writing Using Library Sources in Your Writing Conducting Your Research    Locating Sources    Using the Online Catalog    Using Indexes and Databases    Using the Internet    Evaluating Online Sources    Using Reference Works in Print Working with Sources    Taking Notes    Using a Research Notebook    Using the Printout/Photocopy Option    Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting    Devising a Working Outline Writing a First Draft    Organizing Your Notes    Using Quotations and Paraphrases    Integrating Sources    Block Quotations    Quoting from Primary Sources    Avoiding Plagiarism Rewriting and Editing    Documenting Your Sources    Revising the Draft    Formatting Your Paper Sample Student Paper in MLA Style Sample Published Article in MLA Style Explanation of the MLA Documentation Style    In-Text Citations    Preparing the List of Works Cited    Sample Entries for a List of Works Cited    Citing Print Publications    Citing Online Publications    Citing Other Common Sources   II. WRITING ABOUT SHORT FICTION   6.   How Do I Read Short Fiction? Notice the Structure Consider Point of View and Setting Study the Characters Look for Specialized Literary Techniques Examine the Title Investigate the Author’s Life and Times Continue Questioning to Discover Theme    7.   Writing About Structure What Is Structure? How Do I Discover Structure? Looking at Structure Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried Prewriting    Finding Patterns Writing    Grouping Details    Relating Details to Theme Ideas for Writing    Ideas for Responsive Writing    Ideas for Critical Writing    Ideas for Researched Writing    MultiModal Project Rewriting    Integrating Quotations Gracefully   8.   Writing About Imagery and Symbolism What Are Images? What Are Symbols?    Archetypal Symbols    Phallic and Yonic Symbols How Will I Recognize Symbols?    Reference Works on Symbols Looking at Images and Symbols Shirley Jackson, The Lottery Prewriting    Interpreting Symbols Writing    Producing a Workable Thesis Ideas for Writing    Ideas for Responsive Writing    Ideas for Critical Writing    Ideas for Researched Writing    MultiModal Project Rewriting    Sharpening the Introduction Sample Student Paper on Symbolism: Second and Final Drafts   9.   Writing About Point of View What Is Point of View?    Describing Point of View Looking at Point of View Alice Walker, Everyday Use Prewriting    Analyzing Point of View Writing    Relating Point of View to Theme Ideas for Writing    Ideas for Responsive Writing    Ideas for Critical Writing    Ideas for Researched Writing    MultiModal Project Rewriting    Sharpening the Conclusion   10.    Writing About Setting and Atmosphere What Are Setting and Atmosphere? Looking at Setting and Atmosphere Tobias Wolff, Hunters in the Snow Prewriting    Examining the Elements of Setting Writing    Discovering an Organization Ideas for Writing    Ideas for Responsive Writing    Ideas for Critical Writing    Ideas for Researched Writing    MultiModal Project Rewriting    Checking Your Organization    Improving the Style: Balanced Sentences   11.    Writing About Theme What Is Theme? Looking at Theme Flannery O'Connor, A Good Man Is Hard to Find Prewriting    Figuring Out the Theme    Stating the Theme Writing    Choosing Supporting Details Ideas for Writing    Ideas for Responsive Writing    Ideas for Critical Writing    Ideas for Researched Writing    MultiModal Project Rewriting    Achieving Coherence    Checking for Coherence Editing    Repeat Words and Synonyms    Try Parallel Structure   12.    Critical Casebook: Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Joyce Carol Oates, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? The Story’s Origins Four Critical Interpretations Topics for Discussion and Writing Ideas for Researched Writing MultiModal Project   13.   Anthology of Short Fiction Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Birthmark Edgar Allan Poe, The Cask of Amontillado Sarah Orne Jewett, A White Heron Kate Chopin, The Story of an Hour Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper James Joyce, Araby Katherine Anne Porter, The Grave Zora Neale Hurston, Spunk William Faulkner, Barn Burning Ernest Hemingway, Hills Like White Elephants Arna Bontemps, A Summer Tragedy Tillie Olsen, I Stand Here Ironing Hisaye Yamamoto, Seventeen Syllables Rosario Morales, The Day It Happened Raymond Carver, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love T. Coraghessan Boyle, The Love of My Life Louise Erdrich, The Red Convertible    14.    A Portfolio of Science Fiction Stories Ray Bradbury, There Will Come Soft Rains Ursula K. Le Guin, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas Octavia E. Butler, Speech Sounds MultiModal Project Sample Student Paper: Comparing Dystopias   15.    A Portfolio of Humorous and Satirical Stories H. H. Munro (“Saki”), The Open Window John Updike, A & P Margaret Atwood, Happy Endings Ron Hansen, My Kid’s Dog    MultiModal Project   16.    A Portfolio of Stories about Singular Women Katherine Mansfield, Miss Brill John Steinbeck, The Chrysanthemums Eudora Welty, A Worn Path Katherine Min, Secondhand World    MultiModal Project   III. WRITING ABOUT POETRY   17.    How Do I Read Poetry? Get the Literal Meaning First: Paraphrase Make Associations for Meaning    18.    Writing About Persona and Tone Who Is Speaking? What Is Tone? Recognizing Verbal Irony Describing Tone Looking at Persona and Tone Theodore Roethke, My Papa’s Waltz W. D. Ehrhart, Sins of the Father Thomas Hardy, The Ruined Maid W. H. Auden, The Unknown Citizen Edmund Waller, Go, Lovely Rose Prewriting    Asking Questions About the Speaker in “My Papa's Waltz”    Devising a Thesis    Considering the Speaker in “The Sins of the Father”    Describing the Tone in “The Ruined Maid”    Developing a Thesis    Describing the Tone in “The Unknown Citizen”    Formulating a Thesis    Determining Tone in “Go, Lovely Rose” Writing    Explicating and Analyzing Ideas for Writing    Ideas for Responsive Writing    Ideas for Critical Writing    Ideas for Researched Writing    MultiModal Project Editing    Quoting Poetry in Essays Sample Student Paper: Reflection on Persona and Tone    Analyzing the Student Response   19.    Writing About Poetic Language What Do the Words Suggest?    Connotation and Denotation    Figures of Speech    Metaphor and Simile    Personification    Imagery    Symbol    Paradox    Oxymoron Looking at Poetic Language Mary Oliver, August Walt Whitman, A Noiseless Patient Spider William Shakespeare, Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day? Kay Ryan, Turtle Hayden Carruth, In the Long Hall Donald Hall, My Son My Executioner Prewriting    Examining Poetic Language Writing    Comparing and Contrasting Ideas for Writing    Ideas for Responsive Writing    Ideas for Critical Writing    Ideas for Researched Writing    MultiModal Project Rewriting    Choosing Vivid, Descriptive Terms    Finding Lively Words Sample Student Paper on Poetic Language: Second and Final Drafts   20.    Writing About Poetic Form What Are the Forms of Poetry?    Rhythm and Rhyme    Alliteration, Assonance, and Consonance    Exercise on Poetic Form    Stanzas: Closed and Open Form    Poetic Syntax    Visual Poetry Looking at the Forms of Poetry Gwendolyn Brooks, We Real Cool A. E. Housman, Eight O’Clock E. E. Cummings, anyone lived in a pretty how town Robert Frost, The Silken Tent Billy Collins, Sonnet David Shumate, A Hundred Years from Now Roger McGough, 40-----Love Prewriting    Experimenting with Poetic Forms Writing    Relating Form to Meaning Ideas for Writing    Ideas for Expressive Writing    Ideas for Critical Writing    Ideas for Researched Writing    MultiModal Project Rewriting    Finding the Exact Word Sample Student Paper on Poetic Form Sample Published Essay on Poetic Form   21.    Critical Casebook: The Poetry of Langston Hughes Langston Hughes: A Brief Biography Langston Hughes The Negro Speaks of Rivers Mother to Son The Weary Blues Saturday Night Harlem (A Dream Deferred) Theme for English B Considering the Poems Critical Commentaries Arnold Rampersad, On the Persona in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”    Margaret Larkin, A Poet for the People Karen Jackson Ford, Do Right to Write Right: Langston Hughes’s Aesthetics of Simplicity Peter Townsend, Jazz and Langston Hughes’s Poetry Langston Hughes, Harlem Rent Parties    Ideas for Writing About Langston Hughes    Ideas for Researched Writing    MultiModal Project   22.    The Art of Poetry Poetic Interpretations of Art Lisel Mueller, American Literature Edward Hopper, Nighthawks Samuel Yellen, Nighthawks Susan Ludvigson, Inventing My Parents Peter Brueghel the Elder, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus  W. H. Auden, Musée des Beaux Arts Paolo Uccello, St. George and the Dragon U. A. Fanthorpe, Not My Best Side Vincent Van Gogh, The Starry Night Anne Sexton, The Starry Night Henri Matisse, The Red Studio W. D. Snodgrass, Matisse: ‘The Red Studio’ Kitagawa Utamaro, Two Women Dressing Their Hair  Cathy Song, Beauty and Sadness The Art of Poetry: Questions for Discussion Poetry and Art: Ideas for Writing MultiModal Project Sample Student Paper: Reflection on Poetry and Art   23.    Anthology of Poetry Thomas Wyatt, They Flee from Me William Shakespeare When in Disgrace with Fortune and Men’s Eyes Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds That Time of Year Thou Mayst in Me Behold My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun John Donne Death, Be Not Proud The Flea A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning Andrew Marvell, To His Coy Mistress William Blake The Lamb The Tyger The Sick Rose William Wordsworth The World Is Too Much with Us I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud George Gordon, Lord Byron, She Walks in Beauty Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ozymandias John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Ulysses Walt Whitman When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer Song of Myself  (Section 11) Matthew Arnold, Dover Beach Emily Dickinson Faith Is a Fine Invention I’m Nobody! Who Are You? Much Madness Is Divinest Sense Because I Could Not Stop for Death Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church Wild Nights—Wild Nights! Christina Rossetti, In an Artist’s Studio Gerard Manley Hopkins Pied Beauty Spring and Fall A. E. Housman To an Athlete Dying Young Loveliest of Trees William Butler Yeats   The Second Coming Sailing to Byzantium Edgar Lee Masters Lucinda Matlock Margaret Fuller Slack Paul Laurence Dunbar, We Wear the Mask Robert Frost Mending Wall Birches “Out, Out—”