Writing essays about literature : a guide and style sheet / Kelley Griffith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Griffith, Kelley.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Criticism.

Essay.

Physical Description:

xviii, 430 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Edition:

Seventh edition.

Place of Publication:

Boston, MA : Thomson/Wadsworth, 2005.

Summary:

Kelley Griffith's Writing Essays about Literature is the standard guide and style sheet for interpreting and writing about literature. Flexible enough to be used in any literature course that emphasizes writing, this versatile text includes strategies for analysis and interpretation, and step-by-step instruction for planning, researching, writing, and revising literary papers.

More headings throughout the text, new "Now It's Your Turn" exercises, new close-reading "Checklists" at the end of every chapter, and a new glossary of literary terms link Griffith's approach into a single, easy-reference guide for both reading and writing about literature.

Updates to the fiction and poetry sections include revised coverage in fiction of the relationship between author and narrator, and of plot elements such as embedded and framed stories; and in poetry, of reading a poem for the first time, understanding the role of the speaker, managing difficult language, and recognizing forms such as the haiku and visual poetry.

Contents:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

11 Documentation and Research 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.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

1413003958

OCLC:

59138511