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Reading and Writing about Literature
Sixth Edition ©2025 Janet Gardner; Joanne Diaz Formats: Digital & Print
As low as C$19.99
As low as C$19.99
Authors
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Janet Gardner
Janet E. Gardner was Associate Professor of English at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, where she taught courses in drama, British and world literature, and writing for many years. She has published numerous articles, reviews, and chapters on contemporary drama, especially modern British drama and the work of Caryl Churchill.
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Joanne Diaz
Joanne Diaz is the recipient of fellowships from the Illinois Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Sustainable Arts Foundation. She is the author of My Favorite Tyrants and The Lessons, the co-editor of The Little Magazine in Contemporary America, and the co-host of the Poetry for All podcast. She is the Isaac Funk Endowed Professor of English at Illinois Wesleyan University.
Table of Contents
- Why Read Literature?
- Why Write about Literature?
- What to Expect in a Literature Class
- Literature and Enjoyment
- *Literature and Difficulty
- The Value of Rereading
- Close Reading: The Myth of Hidden Meaning, Annotating
- WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS, The Second Coming (Annotated Poem): Note Taking, Informal Writing, Using Reference Materials
- Questions for Close Reading: Fiction
- Questions for Close Reading: Poetry
- Questions for Close Reading: Drama
- Asking Critical Questions of Literature
- BEN JONSON, On My First Son (Annotated Poem)
- Checklist for Good Reading
- Prewriting: Choosing a Topic, Developing an Argument
- The Thesis: Gathering Support for Your Thesis
- Organizing Your Paper
- Drafting the Paper
- Revising and Editing: Global Revision Checklist, Local Revision Checklist, Final Editing Checklist
- Peer Editing and Workshops
- Tips for Writing about Literature
- Using Quotations Effectively
- Quoting from Stories
- Quoting from Poems
- Quoting from Plays
- Formatting Your Paper
- Summary
- Response: ZORA NEALE HURSTON, “Sweat”; STUDENT ESSAY: Taylor Plantan, "A Response to ‘Sweat’"
- Explication: ROBERT HERRICK, Upon Julia's Clothes; STUDENT ESSAY: Jessica Barnes, "Poetry in Motion: Herrick's 'Upon Julia's Clothes'"
- Analysis: ROBERT BROWNING, My Last Duchess; STUDENT ESSAY: Adam Walker, "Possessed by the Need for Possession: Browning's 'My Last Duchess'"
- Comparison and Contrast: CHRISTINA ROSSETTI, After Death; STUDENT ESSAY: Todd Bowen, "Speakers for the Dead: Narrators in 'My Last Duchess' and 'After Death'"
- Essay Exams: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Sonnet 73; ROBERT HERRICK, To the Virgins, To Make Much of Time; STUDENT ESSAY EXAM: Midterm Essay
- Elements of Fiction: Plot, Character, Point of View, Setting, Theme, Symbolism, Style
- Stories for Analysis: CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN, The Yellow Wallpaper; KATE CHOPIN, The Story of an Hour (Annotated Story); STUDENT ESSAY: An Essay that Compares and Contrasts: Melanie Smith, "Good Husbands in Bad Marriages"
- Elements of Poetry
- The Speaker
- The Listener
- Imagery
- Sound and Sense
- Two Poems for Analysis: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Sonnet 116 (Annotated Poem); T.S. ELIOT, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (Annotated Poem); STUDENT ESSAY: An Explication: Patrick McCorkle, "Shakespeare Defines Love"
- Elements of Drama: Plot, Character, and Theme; Diction; Spectacle; Setting
- How to Read a Play: Watching a Play; The Director’s Vision; SUSAN GLASPELL, Trifles; STUDENT ESSAY: An Analysis: Sarah Johnson, "Moral Ambiguity and Character Development in Trifles"
- Finding Sources
- Evaluating Sources
- Working with Sources: Quotations, Paraphrases and Summaries, Commentaries, Keeping Track of Your Sources
- Writing the Paper: Refine Your Thesis, Organize Your Evidence, Start Your Draft, Revise, Edit and Proofread
- Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism
- *Understanding Artificial Intelligence
- What to Document and What Not to Document
- Documenting Sources: MLA Format: In-Text Citations; Preparing Your Works Cited List; STUDENT ESSAY: Research Paper: Rachel McCarthy, "The Widening Gyres of Chaos in Yeats’s ‘The Second Coming’"
- Formalism and New Criticism
- Feminist and Gender Criticism
- Queer Theory
- Marxist Criticism
- Cultural Studies
- Postcolonial Criticism
- Historical Criticism and New Historicism
- Psychological Theories
- Reader-Response Theories
- Structuralism
- Poststructuralism and Deconstruction
- Ecocriticism
Product Updates
Authors
-
Janet Gardner
Janet E. Gardner was Associate Professor of English at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, where she taught courses in drama, British and world literature, and writing for many years. She has published numerous articles, reviews, and chapters on contemporary drama, especially modern British drama and the work of Caryl Churchill.
-
Joanne Diaz
Joanne Diaz is the recipient of fellowships from the Illinois Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Sustainable Arts Foundation. She is the author of My Favorite Tyrants and The Lessons, the co-editor of The Little Magazine in Contemporary America, and the co-host of the Poetry for All podcast. She is the Isaac Funk Endowed Professor of English at Illinois Wesleyan University.
Table of Contents
- Why Read Literature?
- Why Write about Literature?
- What to Expect in a Literature Class
- Literature and Enjoyment
- *Literature and Difficulty
- The Value of Rereading
- Close Reading: The Myth of Hidden Meaning, Annotating
- WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS, The Second Coming (Annotated Poem): Note Taking, Informal Writing, Using Reference Materials
- Questions for Close Reading: Fiction
- Questions for Close Reading: Poetry
- Questions for Close Reading: Drama
- Asking Critical Questions of Literature
- BEN JONSON, On My First Son (Annotated Poem)
- Checklist for Good Reading
- Prewriting: Choosing a Topic, Developing an Argument
- The Thesis: Gathering Support for Your Thesis
- Organizing Your Paper
- Drafting the Paper
- Revising and Editing: Global Revision Checklist, Local Revision Checklist, Final Editing Checklist
- Peer Editing and Workshops
- Tips for Writing about Literature
- Using Quotations Effectively
- Quoting from Stories
- Quoting from Poems
- Quoting from Plays
- Formatting Your Paper
- Summary
- Response: ZORA NEALE HURSTON, “Sweat”; STUDENT ESSAY: Taylor Plantan, "A Response to ‘Sweat’"
- Explication: ROBERT HERRICK, Upon Julia's Clothes; STUDENT ESSAY: Jessica Barnes, "Poetry in Motion: Herrick's 'Upon Julia's Clothes'"
- Analysis: ROBERT BROWNING, My Last Duchess; STUDENT ESSAY: Adam Walker, "Possessed by the Need for Possession: Browning's 'My Last Duchess'"
- Comparison and Contrast: CHRISTINA ROSSETTI, After Death; STUDENT ESSAY: Todd Bowen, "Speakers for the Dead: Narrators in 'My Last Duchess' and 'After Death'"
- Essay Exams: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Sonnet 73; ROBERT HERRICK, To the Virgins, To Make Much of Time; STUDENT ESSAY EXAM: Midterm Essay
- Elements of Fiction: Plot, Character, Point of View, Setting, Theme, Symbolism, Style
- Stories for Analysis: CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN, The Yellow Wallpaper; KATE CHOPIN, The Story of an Hour (Annotated Story); STUDENT ESSAY: An Essay that Compares and Contrasts: Melanie Smith, "Good Husbands in Bad Marriages"
- Elements of Poetry
- The Speaker
- The Listener
- Imagery
- Sound and Sense
- Two Poems for Analysis: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Sonnet 116 (Annotated Poem); T.S. ELIOT, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (Annotated Poem); STUDENT ESSAY: An Explication: Patrick McCorkle, "Shakespeare Defines Love"
- Elements of Drama: Plot, Character, and Theme; Diction; Spectacle; Setting
- How to Read a Play: Watching a Play; The Director’s Vision; SUSAN GLASPELL, Trifles; STUDENT ESSAY: An Analysis: Sarah Johnson, "Moral Ambiguity and Character Development in Trifles"
- Finding Sources
- Evaluating Sources
- Working with Sources: Quotations, Paraphrases and Summaries, Commentaries, Keeping Track of Your Sources
- Writing the Paper: Refine Your Thesis, Organize Your Evidence, Start Your Draft, Revise, Edit and Proofread
- Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism
- *Understanding Artificial Intelligence
- What to Document and What Not to Document
- Documenting Sources: MLA Format: In-Text Citations; Preparing Your Works Cited List; STUDENT ESSAY: Research Paper: Rachel McCarthy, "The Widening Gyres of Chaos in Yeats’s ‘The Second Coming’"
- Formalism and New Criticism
- Feminist and Gender Criticism
- Queer Theory
- Marxist Criticism
- Cultural Studies
- Postcolonial Criticism
- Historical Criticism and New Historicism
- Psychological Theories
- Reader-Response Theories
- Structuralism
- Poststructuralism and Deconstruction
- Ecocriticism
Product Updates
A brief and very affordable guide to reading and writing about literature
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Reading and Writing about Literature
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