A Practical Introduction to Literary Study Book

I. LITERATURE AND CRITICAL THINKING.

1. Literature and the Literary Canon.

2. Challenges to the Canon.

2.1 Challenges to the Canon

2.2 The Boundaries of Poetry

2.3 Television and Film as Drama

3. Why Read Literature?

3.1 The Habit of Critical Thinking

3.2 Critical Thinking and Popular Tastes

II. READING CRITICALLY.

4. The Act of Reading.

4.1 Text and Subtext

4.2 Searching for Clues

4.3 Authorial Intention

4.4 Tips for the Physical Act of Reading

5. Reading Fiction Actively.

6. Engaging with Poetry.

6.1 Example: Robert Frost "Desert Places"; "The Road Not Taken"

6.2 Example: Shakespeare's Sonnets "Sonnet 18", "Sonnet 130"

7. Experiencing Drama.

8. Analytical Reading.

III. UNDERSTANDING LITERARY LANGUAGE.

9. The Elements of Narrative.

9.1 Plot

9.2 Setting

9.3 Character

9.4 Dialogue; Robert Browning, "My Last Duchess"

9.5 Theme

9.6 Point of View

9.7 Tone

10. Figurative Language.

10.1 Tropes

10.2 Rhetorical Devices

11. Prose Genres.

11.1 Fiction Genres by Length

11.2 Types of Fiction

11.3 Nonfiction

12. Poetry, Forms and Genres.

12.1 Types of Poems

12.2 Prosody and Poetic Diction

13. Drama.

13.1 Dramatic Conventions

13.2 Subgenres of Drama

IV. EXPLICATION AND ANALYSIS.

14. From Reading to Writing.

14.1 "Rules" for Good Writing

14.2 Writing as a Process

14.3 Topics and Assignments

14.4 Asking the Right Question

14.5 From Question to Thesis

15. Formulating an Argument.

15.1 Developing Proof and Evidence

15.2 Organization and Structure

15.3 Introductions and Conclusions

15.4 Revising Your Paper

16. Citing Primary Texts and Formatting Your Paper.

16.1 Citing Primary Texts

16.2 Formatting Your Paper

17. Practical Advice.

18. Sample Student Essay 1.

19. Sample Student Essay 2.

V. SECONDARY SOURCES, RESEARCH, AND CRITICAL THEORY.

20. Research Methods in the Digital Age.

20.1 Database Searches

20.2 Using the Library

20.3 Evaluating Internet Sources: Can You Trust This Web Site?

20.4 Quick Tips for Literary Research

21. Reading Literary Criticism.

Stanley Renner, "Moving to the Girl's Side of 'Hills Like White Elephants'"

22. Practical Advice for Reading and Evaluating Literary Criticism.

23. Plagiarism and Academic Honesty.

24. MLA Documentation Style.

24.1 Understanding MLA Documentation

24.2 Works Cited Entries in MLA Style

24.3 Sample Works Cited Page

24.4 SampleStudent Research Paper

25. A Brief Introduction to Critical Theory.

25.1 New Criticism

25.2 Psychoanalytic Criticism

25.3 Deconstruction adn Poststructuralism

25.4 Feminist and Gender Criticism

25.5 Cultural Studies adn New Historicism

25.6 Theory-Based Readings: Approaches to "Araby"

26. Reading a Theory-Based Article.

Ellen Golub, "Untying Goblin Apron Strings: A Psychoanalytic Reading of 'Goblin Market'"

VI. READINGS.

Alice Childress, Florence

Kate Chopin, "The Storm"

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper"

Susan Glaspell, Trifles

Robert Hayden, "Those Winter Sundays"

Ernest Hemingway, "Hills LIke White Elephants"

Langston Hughes, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"

Langston Hughes, "Theme for English B"

James Joyce, "Araby"

Christina Rossetti, "Goblin Market"

Gary Soto, "Oranges"

Glossary.

Credits.

Index.