Synopsis
*Denotes a new selection. I. READING, THINKING, AND WRITING CRITICALLY ABOUT LITERATURE. 1. Reading and Responding to Literature. What Is Literature? Looking at an Example: Robert Frost, Immigrants. Looking at a Second Example: Pat Mora, Immigrants. Thinking About a Story: Luke, The Parable of the Prodigal Son. Stories True and False: Grace Paley, Samuel. What's Past Is Prologue. *Bel Kaufman, Sunday in the Park. James Merrill, Christmas Tree. W. F. Bolton, Might We Too? 2. Writing About Literature: From Idea to Essay. Why Write? Getting Ideas: Pre-Writing. Annotating a Text. Brainstorming for Ideas for Writing. Kate Chopin, The Story of an Hour. Focused Free Writing. Listing and Clustering. Developing an Awareness of the Writer's Use of Language. Asking Questions. Keeping a Journal. Arriving at a Thesis. Writing a Draft. Sample Draft of an Essay on Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour. Revising a Draft. Peer Review. The Final Version (Sample Student Essay): Ironies of Life in Kate Chopin's “The Story an Hour.” A Brief Overview of the Final Version. Explication. A Sample Explication. William Butler Yeats, The Balloon of the Mind. Comparison and Contrast. Review: How to Write an Effective Essay. Additional Reading. Kate Chopin, Ripe Figs. Adrienne Rich, For the Felling of an Elm in the Harvard Yard. Lorna Dee Cervantes, Refugee Ship. *Jos Armas, El Tonto del Barrio. II. FICTION. 3. Approaching Fiction: Responding in Writing. Ernest Hemingway, Cat in the Rain. Responses, Annotations, and Journal Entries. A Sample Essay by a Student: “Hemingway's American Wife.” 4. Stories and Meanings: Plot, Character, Theme. Aesop, The Vixen and the Lioness. W. Somerset Maugham, The Appointment in Samara. Anonymous, Muddy Road. Anton Chekhov, Misery. Kate Chopin, Desiree's Baby. *Patricia Grace, Butterflies. *Patricia Grace, Flies. 5. Narrative Point of View. Participant (or First-Person) Points of View. Nonparticipant (or Third-Person) Points of View. The Point of a Point of View. John Updike, A & P. Alice Elliot Dark, In the Gloaming. *V. S. Naipaul, The Night Watchman's Occurrence Book. 6. Allegory and Symbol. Nathaniel Hawthorne, Young Goodman Brown. Eudora Welty, A Worn Path. *Gabriel GarcÍa MÁrquez, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings. 7. In Brief: Writing About Fiction. Character. Point of View. Setting. Symbolism. Style. Theme. A Story, Notes, and an Essay. Edgar Allan Poe, The Cask of Amontillado. A Student's Written Response to a Story. Notes. A Sample Response Essay: Revenge, Noble, and Ignoble. 8. A Fiction Writer at Work. Raymond Carver, Mine. Raymond Carver, Little Things. *Raymond Carver, Cathedral. Raymond Carver, Talking About Stories. Raymond Carver, On Rewriting. *Raymond Carver, On “Cathedral.” 9. Thinking Critically about a Short Story. A Note on Interpretation. A Casebook on Ralph Ellison's “Battle Royal.” Ralph Ellison, Battle Royal. Booker T. Washington, Atlanta Exposition Address. W. E. B. Du Bois, Of Our Spiritual Strivings. W. E. B. Du Bois, Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others. ILLUSTRATION: Charles Keck, The Booker T. Washington Memorial. Gunnar Myrdal, On Social Equality. Ralph Ellison, On Negro Folkore. Ralph Ellison, Life in Oklahoma City.