Revel Access Code for Literature for Composition

Sylvan Barnet, is a former Fletcher Professor of English Emeritus and director of writing at Tufts University. Barnet is the author of numerous books and articles on Shakespeare. He was the general editor of the Signet Classics Shakespeare, the author of A Short Guide for Writing about Art, and has written many textbooks about literature and drama. He is the co-author with William Burto of occasional essays on aspects of Japanese art. He has also written books about the art of writing.   William Burto is a former Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, where he served as chair of the Department of English. Burto is the co-author of several highly successful college textbooks on literature, drama, and composition. He was also the editor of the Signet Classic Edition of Shakespeare's sonnets and of Shakespeare's narrative poems.    William E. Cain is Mary Jewett Gaiser Professor of English at Wellesley College. Among his many publications is a monograph on American literary and cultural criticism, 1900-1945, in The Cambridge History of American Literature, vol. 5 (2003). He is a co-editor of the Norton Anthology of Literary Theory and Criticism (2nd ed., 2010), and, with Sylvan Barnet, he co-authored a wide variety of books on literature and composition. His recent publications include essays on Ralph Ellison, Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell, Shakespeare, Edith Wharton, and Willa Cather.   Cheryl Nixon is an Associate Professor of English and Chair of the English Department at UMass Boston. In addition to her undergraduate courses, she teaches graduate Teaching of Literature courses and works with a staff of teaching interns to design and deliver general-education literature courses. Her courses feature project-based assignments and she often uses out-of-classroom learning to spark curiosity about literature. For example, she has worked with students to create rare books exhibitions for the Boston Public Library, including “Crooks, Rogues, and Maids Less than Virtuous: Books in the Streets of 18th-Century London.” Her research focuses on literary and legal representations of the family, and her recent works include The Orphan in Eighteenth-Century Law and Literature: Estate, Blood, and Body and Novel Definitions: An Anthology of Commentary on the Novel, 1688-1815.

BRIEF CONTENTS NOTE: Brief and Comprehensive Tables of Contents follow.

I. THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT LITERATURE

How to Write an Effective Essay about Literature: A Crash Course
What is Critical Thinking about Literature? A Crash Course
The Writer as Reader
The Reader as Writer
The Pleasures of Reading, Writing and Thinking about Literature

II. WRITING ARGUMENTS ABOUT LITERATURE

Close Reading: Paraphrase, Summary, and Explication
Analysis: Inquiry, Interpretation and Argument
Pushing Analysis Further: Re-Interpreting and Revision
Comparison and Synthesis
Research: Writing with Sources

III. ANALYZING LITERARY FORMS AND ELEMENTS

Reading and Writing about Essays
Reading and Writing about Stories
Reading and Writing about Graphic Fiction
Reading and Writing about Plays
Reading and Writing about Poems

IV. ENJOYING LITERARY THEMES: A THEMATIC ANTHOLOGY

The World Around Us
Technology and Human Identity
Love and Hate, Men and Women
Innocence and Experience
All in a Day’s Work
American Dreams and Nightmares
Law and Disorder
Journeys

Appendix A: Writing About Literature: An Overview of Critical Strategies Appendix B: Remarks about Manuscript Form Literary Credits Photo Credits Index of Authors, Titles, and First Lines Index of Terms COMPREHENSIVE CONTENTS

Contents by Genre
Preface to Instructors

I: THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT LITERATURE

How to Write an Effective Essay about Literature: A Crash Course

The Basic Strategy
Reading Closely: Approaching a First Draft
Checklist: Generating Ideas for a Draft
Writing and Revising: Achieving a Readable Draft
Checklist: Writing and Revising a Draft
Revising: Working with Peer Review
Preparing the Final Draft


What is Critical Thinking about Literature?: A Crash Course

The Basic Strategy
What Is Critical Thinking?
How Do We Engage in Critical Thinking?
Close Reading
Checklist: Close Reading
Analysis: Inquiry, Interpretation, Argument
Checklist: Inquiry and Question-Asking
Checklist: Interpretation
Checklist: Argument
Comparison and Synthesis
Checklist: Comparison and Synthesis
Revision and Self-Awareness
Standing Back: Kinds of Writing
Non-Analytic vs. Analytic Writing


The Writer as Reader

Reading and Responding
KATE CHOPIN • Ripe Figs
Reading as Re-creation
Reading for Understanding: Collecting Evidence and Making Reasonable Inferences
Reading with Pen in Hand: Close Reading and Annotation
Sample Student Work: Annotation
Reading for Response: Recording First Reactions
Sample Student Work: Response Writing
Reading for Inquiry: Ask Questions and Brainstorm Ideas
Sample Student Work: Inquiry Notes
Reading in Context: Identifying Your Audience and Purpose
From Reading to Writing: Developing an Analytical Essay with an Argumentative Thesis
Sample Student Analytical Essay: “Images of Ripening in Kate Chopin’s ‘Ripe Figs’”
The Analytical Essay: Argument and Structure Analyzed
The Writing Process: From First Responses to Final Essay
Other Possibilities for Writing
From Reading to Writing: Moving from Brainstorming to an Analytical Essay
BRUCE HOLLAND ROGERS • Three Soldiers
The Writing Process: From Response Writing to Final Essay
Sample Student Work: Response Writing
Sample Student Analytical Essay: “Thinking about Three Soldiers Thinking”
The Analytical Essay: The Development of Ideas Analyzed
From Reading to Writing: Moving from a Preliminary Outline to an Analytical Essay
RAY BRADBURY • August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains
The Writing Process: From Outlining to Final Essay
Sample Student Work: Outlining
Sample Student Analytical Essay: “The Lesson of ‘August 2026’”
Your Turn: Additional Stories for Analysis
MICHELE SERROS • Senior Picture Day
HARUKI MURAKAMI • On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning
JOHN UPDIKE • A & P


The Reader as Writer

Developing Ideas through Close Reading and Inquiry
Getting Ideas
Annotating a Text
KATE CHOPIN • The Story of an Hour
Brainstorming Ideas
Focused Freewriting
Sample Student Work: Freewriting
Listing
Sample Student Work: Listing
Asking Questions
Sample Student Work: Inquiry Notes
Keeping a Journal
Sample Student Work: Journal-writing
Developing a Thesis through Critical Thinking
Arguing with Yourself
Arguing a Thesis
Checklist: Thesis Sentence
From Reading to Writing to Revising: Drafting an Argument in an Analytical Essay
Sample Preliminary Draft of Student’s Analytical Essay: “Ironies in an Hour”
Revising an Argument
Outlining an Argument
Soliciting Peer Review, Thinking about Counterarguments
From Reading to Writing to Revising: Finalizing an Analytical Essay
Sample Final Draft of a Student’s Analytical Essay: “Ironies of Life in Kate Chopin’s ‘The Story of an Hour’”
The Analytical Essay: The Final Draft Analyzed
From Reading to Writing to Revising: Finalizing an Analytical Essay
KATE CHOPIN • Désirée’s Baby
Sample Student Analytical Essay: “Race and Identity in ‘Désirée’s Baby’”
From Reading to Writing to Revising: Drafting a Comparison Essay
KATE CHOPIN • The Storm
Sample Student Work: Comparison Notes
Sample Student Comparison Essay: “Two New Women”
The Comparison Essay: Organization Analyzed
Your Turn: Additional Stories for Analysis
DAGOBERTO GILB • Love in L.A.
ELIZABETH TALLENT • No One’s a Mystery
JUNOT DIAZ • How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie
T. CORAGHESSAN BOYLE • Greasy Lake
MARY ANNE HOOD • How Far She Went


The Pleasures of Reading, Writing and Thinking about Literature

The Pleasures of Literature
ALLEN WOODMAN • Wallet
The Pleasures of Analyzing the Texts that Surround Us
The Pleasures of Authoring Texts
The Pleasures of Interacting with Texts
Interacting with Fiction: Literature as Connection
JAMAICA KINCAID • Girl
Sample Student Personal Response Essay: “The Narrator in Jamaica Kincaid’s ‘Girl’: Questioning the Power of Voice”
Interacting with Graphic Fiction: Literature as (Making and Breaking) Rules
LYNDA BARRY • Before You Write
Interacting with Poetry: Literature as Language
JULIA BIRD • 14: a txt msg pom.
Interacting with Drama: Literature as Performance
OSCAR WILDE• excerpt from The Importance of Being Ernest
Interacting with Essays: Literature as Discovery
ANNA LISA RAYA • It’s Hard Enough Being Me
Your Turn: Additional Stories, Poems, Plays and Essays for Pleasurable Analysis
Poems
ALBERTO RIOS • Nani
JIMMY SANTIAGO BACA • Green Chili
HELEN CHASIN • The Word Plum
WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS • This Is Just to Say
GARY SOTO • Oranges
SARAH N. CLEGHORN • The Golf Links
STEVIE SMITH • Not Waving but Drowning
Stories
MARGARET ATWOOD • Happy Endings
AMBROSE BIERCE • An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
Play
MICHAEL GOLAMCO • The Heartbreaker
Essay
GEORGE SAUNDERS Commencement Speech on Kindness



II: WRITING ARGUMENTS ABOUT LITERATURE

Close Reading: Paraphrase, Summary, and Explication

What Is Literature?
Literature and Form
Form and Meaning
ROBERT FROST • The Span of Life
Close Reading: Reading in Slow Motion
Exploring a Poem and Its Meaning
LANGSTON HUGHES • Harlem
Paraphrase
Sample Student Work: Paraphrase
Summary
Sample Student Work: Summary
Explication
Working Toward an Explication
Sample Student Work: Annotation
Sample Student Work: Journal Entries
Sample Student Work: Listing
Sample Student Explication Essay: “Langston Hughes’s ‘Harlem’”
Explication as Argument
CATHY SONG • Stamp Collecting
Sample Student Argumentative Explication Essay: “Giving Stamps Personality in ‘Stamp Collecting’”
Checklist: Drafting an Explication
Your Turn: Additional Poems for Explication
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE • Sonnet 73
JOHN DONNE • Holy Sonnet XIV
EMILY BRONTË • Spellbound
LI-YOUNG LEE • I Ask My Mother to Sing
RANDALL JARRELL • The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner


Analysis: Inquiry, Interpretation and Argument

Analysis
Understanding Analysis as a Process of Inquiry, Interpretation, Argument
Analyzing a Story from the Hebrew Bible: The Judgment of Solomon
The Judgment of Solomon
Developing an Analysis of the Story
Opening Up Additional Ways to Analyze the Story
Analyzing a Story from the New Testament: The Parable of the Prodigal Son
The Parable of the Prodigal Son
Asking Questions that Trigger an Analysis of the Story
From Inquiry to Interpretation to Argument: Developing an Analytical Paper
ERNEST HEMINGWAY • Cat in the Rain
Close Reading
Sample Student Work: Annotations
Inquiry Questions
Sample Student Work: Inquiry Notes
Interpretation Brainstorming
Sample Student Work: Journal Writing
The Argument-Centered Paper
Sample Student Argument Paper: “Hemingway’s American Wife”
From Inquiry to an Analytical Paper: A Second Example
Sample Student Work: Inquiry Notes
Sample Student Work: Journal Writing
JAMES JOYCE • Araby
Sample Student Analytical Essay: “‘Araby’s’ Everyday and Imagined Setting”
From Inquiry to Interpretation to Argument: Maintaining an Interpretation in an Analytical Paper
APHRA BEHN • Song: Love Armed
Maintaining Interpretive Interest
Sample Student Work: Inquiry Notes
Sample Student Work: Journal Writing
Sample Student Essay: “The Double Nature of Love”
Checklist: Editing a Draft
Your Turn: Additional Short Stories and Poems for Analysis
EDGAR ALLAN POE • The Cask of Amontillado
LESLIE MARMON SILKO • The Man to Send Rain Clouds
BILLY COLLINS • Introduction to Poetry
ROBERT FROST • The Road Not Taken
JOHN KEATS • Ode on a Grecian Urn
MARTIN ESPADA • Bully
Pushing Analysis Further: Re-Interpreting and Revision
Interpretation and Meaning
Is the Author’s Intention a Guide to Meaning?
What Characterizes a Sound Interpretation?
Interpreting Pat Mora’s “Immigrants”
PAT MORA • Immigrants
Checklist: Writing an Interpretation
Strategy #1: Pushing Analysis by Rethinking First Responses
JEFFREY WHITMORE • Bedtime Story
Sample Student Work: Response Writing Revisited
DOUGLAS L. HASKINS • Hide and Seek
Sample Student Work: Response Writing Revisited
MARK PLANTS • Equal Rites
Sample Student Work: Response Writing Revisited
Strategy #2: Pushing Analysis by Exploring Literary Form
LANGSTON HUGHES • Mother to Son
Sample Student Work: Annotation Exploring Form
Sample Student Work: Inquiry Notes Exploring Form
Sample Student Analytical Essay: “Accepting the Challenge of a Difficult Climb in Langston Hughes’ ‘Mother to Son’”
Strategy #3: Pushing Analysis by Emphasizing Concepts and Insights
ROBERT FROST • Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Sample Student Analytical Essay: “Stopping by Woods–and Going On”
Analyzing the Analytical Essay’s Development of a Conceptual Interpretation
Sample Student Analytical Essay: “‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ as a Short Story”
Strategy #4: Pushing Analysis Through Revision
Revising for Ideas vs. Mechanics
Revising Using Instructor Feedback, Peer Feedback, and Self-Critique
Examining a Preliminary Draft with Revision in Mind
HA JIN • Saboteur
Sample Student Preliminary Draft of an Analytical Essay: “Individual and Social Morals in Ha
Jin’s ‘Saboteur’”
Developing a Revision Strategy: Thesis, Ideas, Evidence, Organization, Correctness
Sample Student Final Draft of an Analytical Essay: “Individual and Social Morals in Ha
Jin’s ‘Saboteur’”
Your Turn: Additional Poems and Stories for Interpretation
T. S. ELIOT • The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
JOHN KEATS • Ode on a Grecian Urn
THOMAS HARDY • The Man He Killed
ANNE BRADSTREET • Before the Birth of One of Her Children
CHRISTINA ROSSETTI • After Death
FRED CHAPELLE • Narcissus and Echo
JOYCE CAROL OATES • Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
RAYMOND CARVER • Cathedral
Comparison and Synthesis
Comparison and Critical Thinking
Organizing a Comparison Paper
Comparison and Close Reading
Comparison and Asking Questions
Comparison and Analyzing Evidence
Sample Student Work: Comparison Arguments
Comparison and Arguing with Yourself
E. E. CUMMINGS • Buffalo Bill ’s
Checklist: Developing a Comparison
Synthesis Through Close Reading: Analyzing a Revised Short Story
RAYMOND CARVER • Mine
RAYMOND CARVER • Little Things
Sample Student Writing: Innovative Listing
Synthesis Through Building a Concept Bridge: Connecting Two Poems
THYLIAS MOSS • Tornadoes
KWAME DAWES • Tornado Child
Sample Student Writing: Innovative Response Writing
Synthesis Using Theme
SANDRA CISNEROS • Barbie-Q
MARYANNE O’HARA •Diverging Paths and All That
JAYNE ANNE PHILLIPS • Sweethearts
Sample Student Writing: Innovative Mapping
Synthesis Using Form
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE • Sonnet 18:Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?
HOWARD MOSS • Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day
Sample Student Comparison Essay: “A Comic Re-Writing of a Shakespeare Sonnet”
Checklist: Revising a Comparison
Your Turn: Additional Poems and Stories for Comparison and Synthesis
Poetry
“Carpe diem” poems
ROBERT HERRICK • To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time
CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE • The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
SIR WALTER RALEIGH • The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd
ANDREW MARVELL • To His Coy Mistress
JOHN DONNE • The Bait
“blackberry” poems
GALWAY KINELL •Blackberry Eating
SYLVIA PLATH • Blackberrying
SEAMUS HEANEY •Blackeberry-Picking
YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA •Blackberries
“America” poems
WALT WHITMAN • I Hear America Singing
LANGSTON HUGHES • I, Too [Sing America]
Stories
Stories about reading and writing
JULIO CORTAZAR • Continuity of Parks
A.M. HOMES • Things You Should Know
Stories about grandmothers
LAN SAMANTHA CHANG • Water Names
KATHERINE ANNE PORTER • The Jilting of Granny Weatherall
Research: Writing with Sources
Creating a Research Plan
Enter Research with a Plan of Action
What Does Your Own Institution Offer?
Plan the Type of Research You Want to Do
Selecting a Research Topic and Generating Research Questions
Use Close Reading as Your Starting Point
Select Your Topic
Skim Resources Through Preliminary Research
Narrow Your Topic and Form a Working Thesis
Sample Student Work: Digital Research Folder Assignment and Research Plan Notes
Sample Student Work: Digital Research Folder “Working Thesis” Notes
Generate Key Concepts as Keywords
Create Inquiry Questions
Sample Student Work: Digital Research Folder “Research Keywords” and “Inquiry Questions” Notes
Locating Materials Through Productive Searches
Generate Meaningful Keywords
Checklist: Creating Meaningful Keywords for a Successful Search
Using Academic Databases to Locate Materials
Search Full-Text Academic Databases
Search the MLA Database
Perform Advanced Keyword Searches
Sample Student Work: Searching the Academic Database
Using the Library Catalog to Locate Materials
Locate Books and Additional Resources
Sample Student Work: Searching the Library Catalog
Using the Internet to Perform Meaningful Research
Sample Student Work: Searching the Internet
Evaluating Sources for Academic Quality
Checklist: Evaluating Web Sites for Quality
Sample Student Work: Evaluating Sources for Academic Quality
Evaluate Sources for Topic “Fit”