NOTE: Both Brief and Comprehensive Tables of Contents are listed below. BRIEF CONTENTS VOLUME 1: FICTIONTalking with Amy Tan1. Reading a Story2. Point of View3. Character4. Setting5. Tone and Style6. Theme7.
Symbol8. Reading Long Stories 9. Genre Fiction10. Latin American Fiction11. Critical Casebook: Flannery O''Connor12. Critical Casebook: Three Stories in Depth (Nathaniel Hawthorne, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Alice Walker)13. Stories for Further ReadingVOLUME 2: POETRYTalking With Kay Ryan14. Reading a Poem15.
Listening To a Voice16. Words17. Saying and Suggesting18. Imagery19. Figures of Speech20. Song21. Sound22. Rhythm23.
Closed Form24. Open Form25. Symbol26. Myth and Narrative27. Poetry and Personal Identity28. Translation29. Poetry in Spanish: Literature of Latin America30. Recognizing Excellence31.
What Is Poetry?32. Three Critical Casebooks: Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, and Robert Frost33. Critical Casebook: T.S. Eliot''s "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"34. Poems for Further ReadingVOLUME 3: DRAMATalking with David Ives35. Reading a Play36.
Modes of Drama: Tragedy and Comedy37. Critical Casebook: Sophocles38. Critical Casebook: Shakespeare39. The Modern Theater40. Evaluating a Play41. Plays for Further ReadingVOLUME 4: WRITING42. Writing About LIterature43. Writing About a Story44.
Writing About a Poem45. Writing About a Play46. Writing a Research Paper47. Writing As Discovery: Keeping a Journal48. Writing an Essay Exam29. Critical Approaches to Literature Glossary of Literary Terms Literary Credits Photo Credits Index of Major Themes Index of First Lines of Poetry Index of Authors and Titles Index of Literary Terms COMPREHENSIVE CONTENTS VOLUME 1 Fiction Talking with Amy Tan 1. Reading a Story THE ART OF FICTION TYPES OF SHORT FICTION Sufi Legend, Death Has an Appointment in Samarra A student tries to flee from Death in this brief, sardonic fable. Aesop, The North Wind and the Sun The North Wind and the Sun argue who is stronger and decide to try their powers on an unsuspecting traveler.
Bidpai, The Tortoise and the Geese A fable that gives another dimension to Andrew Lang''s quip, "He missed an invaluable opportunity to hold his tongue." Chuang Tzu , Independence The Prince of Ch''u asks the philosopher Chuang Tzu to become his advisor and gets a surprising reply in this classic Chinese fable. Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm , Godfather Death Neither God nor the Devil came to the christening. In this stark folktale, a young man receives magical powers with a string attached. PLOT THE SHORT STORY John Updike , A & P In walk three girls in nothing but bathing suits, and Sammy finds himself no longer an aproned checkout clerk but an armored knight. WRITING EFFECTIVELY Wilhelm Grimm on Writing , On the Nature of Fairy Tales THINKING ABOUT PLOT CHECKLIST: Writing About Plot TOPICS FOR WRITING on plot TERMS FOR REVIEW 2 . Point of View IDENTIFYING POINT OF VIEW TYPES OF NARRATORS how much does a narrator know? STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS William Faulkner , A Rose for Emily Proud, imperious Emily Grierson defied the town from the fortress of her mansion. Who could have guessed the secret that lay within? Edgar Allan Poe , The Tell-Tale Heart The smoldering eye at last extinguished, a murderer finds that, despite all his attempts at a cover-up, his victim will be heard.
Eudora Welty , Why I Live at the P.O. Since no one appreciates Sister, she decides to live at the Post Office. After meeting her family, you won''t blame her. James Baldwin , Sonny''s Blues Two brothers in Harlem see life differently. The older brother is the sensible family man, but Sonny wants to be a jazz musician. WRITING EFFECTIVELY James Baldwin on Writing, Race and the African American Writer THINKING ABOUT POINT OF VIEW CHECKLIST: Writing About Point of View topics for writing ON POINT OF VIEW TERMS FOR REVIEW 3 . Character CHARACTERization motvation Katherine Anne Porter, The Jilting of Granny Weatherall For sixty years Ellen Weatherall has fought back the memory of that terrible day, but now once more the priest waits in the house.
Joyce Carol Oates , Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Alone in the house, Connie finds herself helpless before the advances of Arnold Friend, a spellbinding imitation teenager. Neil Gaiman , How to Talk to Girls at Parties Two teenage boys try to navigate their way through a party filled with exotic, mysterious girls. Raymond Carver , Cathedral He had never expected to find himself trying to describe a cathedral to a blind man. He hadn''t even wanted to meet this odd, old friend of his wife. WRITING EFFECTIVELY Raymond Carver on Writing , Commonplace but Precise Language THINKING ABOUT CHARACTER CHECKLIST: Writing About Character topics for writing ON CHARACTER TERMS FOR REVIEW 4 . Setting ELEMENTS OF SETTING HISTORICAL FICTION REGIONALISM NATURALISM Kate Chopin , The Storm Even with her husband away, Calixta feels happily, securely married. Why then should she not shelter an old admirer from the rain? Jack London, To Build a Fire Seventy-five degrees below zero. Alone except for one mistrustful wolf dog, a man finds himself battling a relentless force.
ZZ Packer, Brownies A Brownie troop of African American girls at camp declare war on a rival troop only to discover their humiliating mistake. Amy Tan, A Pair of Tickets A young woman flies with her father to China to meet two half sisters she never knew existed. WRITING EFFECTIVELY Amy Tan on Writing, Developing a Setting THINKING ABOUT SETTING CHECKLIST: Writing About Setting TOPICS FOR WRITING ON SETTING TERMS FOR REVIEW 5 . Tone and Style TONE STYLE DICTION Ernest Hemingway , A Clean, Well-Lighted Place All by himself each night, the old man lingers in the bright café. What does he need more than brandy? William Faulkner , Barn Burning This time when Ab Snopes wields his blazing torch, his son Sarty faces a dilemma: whether to obey or defy the vengeful old man. IRONY O. Henry, The Gift of the Magi A young husband and wife find ingenious ways to buy each other Christmas presents, in the classic story that defines the word "irony." Alice Munro , How I Met My Husband When Edie meets the carnival pilot, her life gets more complicated than she expects.
WRITING EFFECTIVELY Ernest Hemingway on Writing, The Direct Style THINKING ABOUT TONE AND STYLE CHECKLIST: Writing About Tone and Style TOPICS FOR WRITING ON TONE AND STYLE TERMS FOR REVIEW 6 . Theme PLOT VERSUS THEME summarizing the THEME FINDING THE THEME Stephen Crane , The Open Boat In a lifeboat circled by sharks, tantalized by glimpses of land, a reporter scrutinizes Fate and learns about comradeship. Sandra Cisneros , The House on Mango Street Does where we live tell what we are? A little girl dreams of a new house, but things don''t always turn out the way we want them to. Luke, The Parable of the Prodigal Son A father has two sons. One demands his inheritance now and leaves to spend it with ruinous results. Kurt Vonnegut Jr ., Harrison Bergeron Are you handsome? Off with your eyebrows! Are you brainy? Let a transmitter sound thought-shattering beeps inside your ear. WRITING EFFECTIVELY Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
on Writing, The Themes of Science Fiction THINKING ABOUT THEME CHECKLIST: Writing About Theme TOPICS FOR WRITING ON THEME TERMS FOR REVIEW 7 . Symbol ALLEGORY SYMBOLS RECOGNIZING SYMBOLS John Steinbeck , The Chrysanthemums Fenced-in Elisa feels emotionally starved-then her life promises to blossom with the arrival of the scissors-grinding man. Tobias Wolff , Bullet in the Brain Anders is in line when armed robbers enter the bank, and he can''t help but get involved. Ursula K. Le Guin, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas Omelas is the perfect city. All of its inhabitants are happy. But everyone''s prosperity depends on a hidden evil. Shirley Jackson, The Lottery Splintered and faded, the sinister black box had worked its annual terror for longer than anyone in town could remember .
WRITING EFFECTIVELY Shirley Jackson on Writing , Biography of a Story THINKING ABOUT SYMBOLS CHECKLIST: Writing About Symbols Sample Student Paper on Symbols, An Analysis of the Symbolism in Steinbeck''s "The Chrysanthemums" TOPICS FOR WRITING ON SYMBOL.