Writing Essays About Literature: A Guide and Style Sheet Book

	Preface	xi
	Acknowledgments	xv
	Introduction	xvii
Part 1	Interpreting Literature	1
1	Strategies for Interpreting Literature	3
	Why Do People Read Literature?	3
	What Is Interpretation?	4
	How Do We Interpret?	6
	Checklist for Interpreting Literature	9
	Work Cited	9
2	What Is Literature?	11
	Literature Is Language	13
	Literature Is Fictional	15
	Walt Whitman, Cavalry Crossing a Ford	16
	Literature Is True	18
	Henry Howard, Earl of Survey, My Friend, the Things that Do Attain	18
	Literature Is Aesthetic	23
	Literature Is Intertextual	24
	Checklist for the Elements of Literature	29
	Works Cited	30
3	Interpreting Fiction	31
	The Elements of Fiction	31
	Theme	32
	Point of View	37
	Mary Robison, Yours	43
	Plot	44
	Characterization	54
	Setting	61
	Irony	66
	Symbolism	69
	Other Elements	72
	Checklist for Interpreting Fiction	72
	Works Cited	74
4	Interpreting Drama	77
	The Nature of Drama	77
	The Elements of Drama	78
	Plot	78
	Characterization	85
	Setting	90
	Theme	94
	Irony	97
	Subgenres	100
	Checklist for Interpreting Drama	103
	Works Cited and Consulted	105
5	Interpreting Poetry	107
	What Is Poetry?	107
	Emily Bronte, The Night Is Darkening Round Me	108
	Sense in Poetry: Elements that Convey Meaning	109
	Getting Started: Reading a Poem the First Time	109
	Diction	110
	William Wordsworth, A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal	110
	Syntax	112
	Louise Bogan, Song for a Lyre	114
	Characterization, Point of View, Plot, and Setting	115
	Jane Kenyon, In the Nursing Home	116
	Matthew Arnold, Dover Beach	117
	Robert Browning, My Last Duchess	120
	Imagery: Descriptive Language	122
	Imagery: Figurative Language	123
	Samuel Daniel, Love Is a Sickness	124
	Thomas Campion, There Is a Garden in Her Face	125
	Symbolism	128
	William Blake, The Sick Rose	129
	The Sound of Poetry: Musical Elements	130
	Rhythm	130
	William Shakespeare, Sonnet 129	135
	Word Sounds	137
	Edgar Allan Poe, To Helen	138
	Structure	140
	William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116	144
	Edna St. Vincent Millay, I, Being Born a Woman	145
	Anonymous, The Daemon Lover	146
	Emily Dickinson, Because I Could Not Stop for Death	148
	Matsuo Basho, haiku	150
	Taniguchi Buson, haiku	150
	Kobayashi Issa, haiku	150
	Psalm 23	151
	Ezra Pound, Xenia	153
	Amy Lowell, Road to the Yoshiwara	154
	Langston Hughes, Vagabonds	154
	Elizabeth Bishop, One Art	156
	Sight: The Visual Qualities of Poetry	157
	George Herbert, Easter Wings	158
	e.e. cummings, 1(a	159
	Gwendolyn Brooks, We Real Cool	159
	Checklist for Interpreting Poetry	160
	Works Cited	161
6	Specialized Approaches to Interpreting Literature	163
	Literary Criticism and theory	163
	Places for Interpretation	165
	The Work	166
	New Criticism	167
	Structuralism	168
	Deconstruction	172
	Archetypal Criticism	174
	The Author	177
	Historical and Biographical Criticism	177
	New Historicist Criticism	179
	The Reader	183
	Reader-Response Criticism	183
	All of Reality	185
	Marxist Criticism	186
	Psychological Criticism	187
	Feminist and Gender Criticism	189
	Works Cited	193
Part 2	Writing about Literature	195
7	Writing about Literature	197
	Why Write about Literature?	197
	How Can You Write about Literature?	197
	The Writing Process	199
8	Choosing Topics	201
	Preliminary Steps	201
	Be an Active Reader	201
	Identify Your Audience	202
	Raise Questions about the Work	205
	Narrow Your Topic	205
	Search Strategies	207
	Focus on the Work's Conventions (Its Formal Qualities)	207
	Use Topoi (Traditional Patterns of Thinking)	208
	Respond to Comments by Critics	211
	Draw from Your Own Knowledge	212
	Talking and Writing Strategies	213
	Talk Out Loud	213
	Make Outlines	213
	Freewrite	214
	Brainstorm	214
	Make Notes	215
	Keep a Journal	216
	Sample Essay about Literature	218
	Michelle Henderson, "Paradise Rejected in Homer's Oddsey"	218
	Comments on the Essay	225
	Checklist for Choosing Topics	225
	Works Cited	226
9	Drafting the Essay	227
	The Argumentative Nature of Interpretive Essays	227
	The Structure of Essays about Literature	228
	The Argumentative Structure	229
	The Rhetorical Structure	231
	Guidelines for Writing First Drafts	233
	Keep in Mind the Needs of Your Audience	233
	Avoid Extreme Subjectivity (Overuse of "I")	234
	Draw Up a Rough Outline	235
	Begin Writing	236
	Use Sound Deductive Reasoning	236
	Support Key Claims with Facts	237
	Use Sound Inductive Reasoning	238
	Define Key Terms	239
	Organize Evidence According to a Coherent Plan	239
	Make Comparisons Complete and Easy to Follow	240
	Checklist for Drafting the Essay	242
	Works Cited	242
10	Revising and Editing	245
	Revise Throughout the Writing Process	245
	Revise for the Final Draft	245
	Write a Clear and Readable Prose Style	246
	Have Other People Read and Respond to Your Draft	247
	Edit the Final Draft	247
	Rules of Usage	247
	Citations of Sources	248
	Quotations	249
	Other Rules of Usage Related to Essays about Literature	258
	Physical Format	260
	Sample Essay in Two Drafts	261
	Robert Frost, The Death of the Hired Man	262
	Early Draft	266
	Comments on the Early Draft	268
	Final Draft: Jennifer Hargrove, "A Comparison of Mary and Warren in Robert Frost's 'The Death of the Hired Man'"	269
	Comments on the Final Draft	276
	Checklist for Revising and Editing	277
	Works Cited	277
11	Documentation and Research	279
	Primary Sources	279
	Secondary Sources	279
	Research Papers and the Use of Secondary Sources	281
	How to Find Information and Opinions about Literature	281
I	Library Catalogs and Stacks	282
II	Library Reference Room	282
III	Library Periodicals Room and Stacks	292
IV	Information and Opinion on the Internet	292
	Evaluating the Quality of Internet Sites	297
	Giving Credit to Sources	299
	Why Should You Give Credit?	299
	When Should You Give Credit?	299
	Where Should You Give Credit?	302
	Correct Documentary Form	303
	Guidelines for Parenthetical Citations	304
	Guidelines for Using Footnotes and Endnotes	311
	Guidelines and Form for the Works Cited List: General Rules	312
	Sample Entries for Books	313
	Sample Entry for Articles in Scholarly Journals	317
	Sample Entries for Articles in Popular Publications	317
	Sample Entries for Computer Databases	318
	Sample Entries for Other Nonprint Sources	324
	Frequently Used Abbreviations	326
	Sample Research Paper	327
	Harold Wright, "The Monster's Education in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein"	327
	Comments on the Research Paper	344
	Checklist for Documentation and Research	344
12	Taking Essay Tests	347
	Guidelines for Taking Essay Tests	348
	Sample Test Essays	351
	Essay 1	352
	Comments on Essay 1	352
	Essay 2	352
	Comments on Essay 2	353
	Essay 3	353
	Comments on Essay 3	354
	Checklist for Taking Essay Tests	355
13	Sample Essays	357
	Essay on a Poem	357
	Edwin Arlington Robinson, Richard Cory	357
	George Cannon, "Point of View in Edwin Arlington Robinson's 'Richard Cory'"	358
	Essay on a Short Story	362
	Edgar Allan Poe, The Cask of Amontillado	362
	Blake Long, "Montresor's Fate in Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Cask of Amontillado'"	368
	Essay on a Play	373
	Susan Glaspell, Trifles	373
	Carolyn Briner, "The Meaning of Physical Objects in Susan Glaspell's Trifles"	385
	Essay on a Novel	391
	Shalita Forrest, "First Love, Lost Love in George Eliot's Adam Bede"	392
	Glossary	399
	Credits	415
	Index of Concepts and Terms	417
	Index of Critics, Authors, and Works	424