Table of Content
Writing about Literature.I. Why Write about Literature?II. For Whom Do You Write?III. Two Basic Approaches.1. Explication. 2. Analysis.IV. Choosing a Topic.1. Papers That Focus on a Single Literary Work. 2. Papers of Comparison and Contrast. 3. Papers on a Number of Works by a Single Author. 4. Papers on a Number of Works with Some Feature Other Than Authorship in Common.V. Proving Your Point.VI. Writing the Paper.VII. Writing In-Class Essays or Essay Tests.VIII. Introducing Quotations (Q1-Q10).IX. Documentation.1. Textual Documentation (TD1-TD4). 2. Parenthetical Documentation (PD1-PD6). 3. Documentation by Works Cited. 4. Documentation of Electronic Sources.X. Stance and Style (S1-S6).XI. Grammar, Punctuation, and Usage: Common Problems.1. Grammar (G1-G2). 2. Punctuation (P1-P5). 3. Usage (U1-U2).XII. Writing Samples.1. Fiction Explication: The Indeterminate Ending in "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" 2. Fiction Analysis: The Function of the Frame Story in "Once Upon a Time." 3. Poetry Explication: "A Study of Reading Habits." 4. Poetry Analysis: Diction in "Pathedy of Manners." 5. Frama Explication: Iago's First Soliloquy. 6. Drama Analysis: Othello's Race.FictionThe Elements of Fiction.1. Reading the Story.Reviewing Chapter One. Richard Connell, "The Most Dangerous Game." Tobias Wolff, "Hunters in the Snow." Understanding and Evaluating Fiction. Suggestions for Writing.2. Plot and Structure.Reviewing Chapter Two. Graham Greene, "The Destructors." Alice Munro, "How I Met My Husband." Jhumpa Lahiri, "Interpreter of Maladies." Suggestions for Writing.3. Characterization.Reviewing Chapter Three. Alice Walker, "Everyday Use." Katherine Mansfield, "Miss Brill." James Baldwin, "Sonny's Blues." Suggestions for Writing.4. Theme.Reviewing Chapter Four. F. Scott Fitzgerald, "Babylon Revisited." Anton Chekhov, "Misery." Eudora Welty, "A Worn Path." Nadine Gordimer, "Once Upon a Time." Suggestions for Writing.5. Point of View.Reviewing Chapter Five. Willa Cather, "Paul's Case." Shirley Jackson, "The Lottery." Katherine Anne Porter, "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall." Ernest Hemingway, "Hills Like White Elephants." Suggestions for Writing.6. Symbol, Allegory, and Fantasy.Reviewing Chapter Six. D. H. Lawrence, "The Rocking-Horse Winner." Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Young Goodman Brown." Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper." Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings." Suggestions for Writing.7. Humor and Irony.Reviewing Chapter Seven. Frank O'Connor, "The Drunkard." Margaret Atwood, "Rape Fantasies." Albert Camus, "The Guest." Suggestions for Writing.8. Evaluating Fiction.Reviewing Chapter Eight. Elizabeth Berg, "The Matchmaker." Bernard Malamud, "The Magic Barrel." Suggestions for Writing.Three Featured Writers: James Joyce, Flannery O'Connor, Joyce Carol Oates.James Joyce, "Araby." "The Sisters." "The Boarding House."Flannery O'Connor, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." "Everything That Rises Must Converge." "Good Country People."Joyce Carol Oates, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" "Life After High School." "June Birthing."Stories for Further Reading.John Cheever, "The Swimmer." Kate Chopin, "The Story of an Hour." William Faulkner, "A Rose for Emily." Susan Glaspell, "A Jury of Her Peers." Zora Neale Hurston, "Spunk." Henry James, "The Real Thing." Ursula K. Le Guin, "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas." Herman Melville, "Bartleby the Scrivener." Edgar Allan Poe, "The Tell-Tale Heart." Elizabeth Strout, "A Little Burst." John Updike, "A & P."Poetry.The Elements of Poetry.1. What Is Poetry?Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "The Eagle." William Shakespeare, "Winter." Wilfred Owen, "Dulce et Decorum Est." Reviewing Chapter One.Understanding and Evaluating Poetry.William Shakespeare, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day." Robert Hayden, "The Whipping." Emily Dickinson, "The last Night that She lived." Gwendolyn Brooks, "The Bean Eaters." Dudley Randall, "Ballad o
