About Edgar V. Roberts

Edgar V. Roberts, Emeritus Professor of English at Lehman College of The City University of New York, is a native of Minnesota. He graduated from the Minneapolis public schools in 1946, and received his Doctorate from the University of Minnesota in 1960. He taught English at Minnesota, the University of Maryland Overseas Division, Wayne State University, Hunter College, and Lehman College. From 1979 to 1988, He was Chair of the English Department of Lehman College.

He served in the U.S. Army in 1946 and 1947, seeing duty in Arkansas, the Philippine Islands, and Colorado.

He published articles about the plays of Henry Fielding, the subject of his Ph.D. dissertation. In 1968 he published a scholarly edition of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728), and in 1969 he published a similar edition of Fielding's The Grub-Street Opera (1731), both with the University of Nebraska Press. He first published Writing About Literature (then named Writing Themes About Literature) in 1964, with Prentice Hall. Since then, this book has undergone eleven separate revisions, for a total of twelve editions. In 1986, with Henry E. Jacobs of the University of Alabama, he published the first edition of Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. After Professor Jacobs's untimely death in the summer of 1986, Professor Roberts continued working on changes and revisions to keep this text up to date. The Ninth Edition was published early in 2009, with Pearson Longman. The Fourth Compact Edition of Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing was published in 2008.

Professor Roberts is an enthusiastic devoté of symphonic music and choral singing, having sung in local church choirs for forty years. Recently he has sung (bass) with the New Choral Society of Scarsdale, New York (where he lives), singing in classic works by Handel, Beethoven, Bruckner, Bach, Orff, Britten, Brahms, and others. He is a fan of both the New York Mets and the New York Yankees. When the two teams play in inter-league games, he is uneasy because he dislikes seeing either team lose. He also likes both the Giants and the Jets. He has been an avid jogger ever since the early 1960s, and he enjoys watching national and international track meets.

Professor Roberts encourages queries, comments, and suggestions from students who have been using any of the various books. Use the following email address: edgar.roberts@verizon.net.

About Robert Zweig

             Robert Zweig is a tenured, full professor at Manhattan Community College of the City University of New York.  He teaches courses in Literature and Writing and for many years was the Intensive Writing Coordinator for the college

            He has a doctorate in English Literature from the City University of New York, a Masters from Queens College in creative writing and a bachelor’s degree from Queens College in English literature.  Dr. Zweig has numerous peer-reviewed publications in journals, encyclopedias and books.  In addition, he is currently writing two textbooks for McGraw-Hill on the writing process, due out in 2011, another textbook, Grammar in the Modern World (Pearson) due out in 2011 and is co-author of Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, a bestselling introduction to literature textbook by Longman Publishers.  His translations of the Italian poet and Nobel Laureate Eugentio Montale appear in this text.

Also, Dr. Zweig has lectured extensively throughout the United States and Italy on Victorian Literature, Poetics and contemporary culture. Some of the American universities he has addressed include Notre Dame, New York University, University of California, Harvard, University of Illinois, University of Delaware, Rutgers University and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

            He has received several scholarships and awards, including a Mellon Fellowship and the Phi Beta Kappa award for “Outstanding Teaching Skills” as one of the Top Ten Professors at Manhattan Community College.

Detailed Contents

Topical and Thematic Contents                                                                                              

Preface                                                                                                                                       

PART I  The Process of Reading, Responding to, and Writing About Literature

What Is Literature, and Why Do We Study It?          

Types of Literature: The Genres

Reading Literature and Responding to It Actively

Alice Walker  Everyday Use

Mrs. Johnson, with her daughter Maggie, is visited by her citified daughter Dee, whose return home is accompanied by surprises.

Reading and Responding in a Computer File or Notebook

Sample Notebook Entries on Walker’s “Everyday Use” 

Major Stages in Thinking and Writing about Literary Topics: Discovering Ideas, Preparing to Write, Making an Initial Draft of Your Essay, and Completing the Essay                                                   

Writing Does Not Come Easily–for Anyone

The Goal of Writing: To Show a Process of Thought 

     Discovering Ideas (“Brainstorming”)

     Study the Characters in the Work   

     Determine the Work’s Historical Period and Background 

     Analyze the Work’s Economic and Social Conditions

     Explain the Work’s Major Ideas

     Describe the Work’s Artistic Qualities

     Explain Any Other Approaches That Seem Important

Preparing to Write 

     Build Ideas from Your Original Notes

     Trace Patterns of Action and Thought 

The Need for the Actual Physical Process of Writing  

     Raise and Answer Your Own Questions 

     Put Ideas Together Using a Plus-Minus, Pro-Con, or Either-Or Method 

Originate and Develop Your Thoughts Through Writing 

Making an Initial Draft of Your Essay   

Base Your Essay on a Central Idea, Argument, or Statement 

The Need for a Sound Argument in Essays About Literature

Create a Thesis Sentence as Your Guide to Organization 

     Begin Each Paragraph with a Topic Sentence 

     Select Only One Topic–No More–for Each Paragraph

Referring to the Names of Authors 

Use Your Topic Sentences as the Arguments for Your Paragraph Development

The Use of Verb Tenses in the Discussion of Literary Works 

Develop an Outline as the Means of Organizing Your Essay 

Basic Writing Types: Paragraphs and Essays

Paragraph Assignment

Illustrative Student Essay (First Draft): Mrs. Johnson’s Overly Self-Assured Daughter, Dee, in Walker’s “Everyday Use”  (NEW)

Completing the Essay: Developing and Strengthening Your Essay Through Revision 

     Make Your Own Arrangement of Details and Ideas 

     Use Literary Material as Evidence to Support Your Argument 

     Always Keep to Your Point; Stick to It Tenaciously 

     Check Your Development and Organization 

     Try to Be Original 

     Write with Specific Readers as Your Intended Audience 

     Use Exact, Comprehensive, and Forceful Language 

Illustrative Student Essay (Improved Draft): Mrs. Johnson’s Overly Self-Assured Daughter, Dee, in Walker’s “Everyday Use”  (NEW)

     Commentary on the Essay

Essay Commentaries

A Summary of Guidelines 

Writing Topics About the Writing Process  

A Short Guide to the Use of References and Quotations in Essays About Literature                                                                       

Integrate Passages and Ideas into Your Essay  

Distinguish Your Thoughts from Those of Your Author 

Integrate Material by Using Quotation Marks 

Blend Quotations into Your Own Sentences 

Indent Long Quotations and Set Them in Block Format 

Use an Ellipsis to Show Omissions  

Use Square Brackets to Enclose Words That You Add Within Quotations 

Be Careful Not to Overquote

Preserve the Spellings in Your Source

PART II  Reading and Writing About Fiction                              

1   Fiction: An Overview

Modern Fiction  

The Short Story 

Elements of Fiction I: Verisimilitude and Donnée 

Elements of Fiction II: Character, Plot, Structure, and Idea or Theme 

Elements of Fiction III: The Writer’s Tools  

     Visualizing Fiction: Cartoons, Graphic Narratives, Graphic Novels

      Dan Piraro, Bizarro   •  Art Spiegelman, from Maus (Expanded)

Stories for Study 

AMBROSE BIERCE  An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

A condemned man dreams of escape, freedom, and family.

SANDRA CISNEROS   ’Mericans  (NEW)

Through an evil act, a man learns goodness.

WILLIAM FAULKNER  A Rose for Emily

Even seemingly ordinary people hide deep and bizarre mysteries.

TIM O’BRIEN  The Things They Carried

During the Vietnam War, American soldiers carry not only their weighty equipment but many memories.

LUIGI PIRANDELLO  War

During World War I in Italy, the loss of a loved one outweighs all rationalizations for the conflict.

Plot: The Motivation and Causality of Fiction 

Writing About the Plot of a Story

Illustrative Student Essay: Plot in William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" (NEW)

Writing Topics About Plot in Fiction  

2   Point of View: The Position or Stance of the Work’s Narrator or Speaker                                                               

An Exercise in Point of View: Reporting an Accident 

Conditions That Affect Point of View 

Point of View and Opinions  

Determining a Work’s Point of View  

Mingling Points of View 

Point of View and Verb Tense 

Summary: Guidelines for Points of View 

Stories for Study 

SHERMAN ALEXIE  This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona  (NEW)

Two old acquaintances friends embark on a journey to recover the body of one of their fathers. 

RAYMOND CARVER  Neighbors

Bill and Arlene Miller are looking after the apartment of the Stones, their neighbors, whose life seems to be brighter and fuller than theirs.

SHIRLEY JACKSON  The Lottery

What would it be like if the prize at a community-sponsored lottery were not the cash that people ordinarily hope to win?

JAMAICA KINCAID  What I Have Been Doing Lately

Life develops from the repetition and recirculation of dreams and fantasies.

LORRIE MOORE  How to Become a Writer

There is more to becoming a writer than simply sitting down at a table and beginning to write.

Writing About Point of View 

Illustrative Student Essay: Shirley Jackson’s Dramatic Point of View in “The Lottery”

Writing Topics About Point of View 

3 Characters: The People in Fiction                  

Character Traits  

How Authors Disclose Character in Literature  

Types of Characters: Round and Flat  

Reality and Probability: Verisimilitude  

Stories for Study 

T. C. BOYLE  Greasy Lake   (NEW)

Young men discover more than a way to kill time at this local hangout.   

RAYMOND CARVER  Cathedral

A husband and wife receive a blind visitor who affects the man’s way of seeing things.

SUSAN GLASPELL  A Jury of Her Peers

In a small farmhouse kitchen, the wives of men investigating a murder discover significant evidence that forces them to make an urgent decision.

KATHERINE MANSFIELD  Miss Brill

Miss Brill goes to the park for a pleasant afternoon, but she does not find what she was expecting.

GUY DE MAUPASSANT  The Necklace

To go to a ball, Mathilde Loisel borrows a necklace from a rich friend, but her rhapsodic evening has unforeseen consequences.

AMY TAN  Two Kinds

Jing-Mei leads her own kind of life despite the wishes and hopes of her mother.

MARK TWAIN  Luck

A faithful follower describes an English general who was knighted for military brilliance.

Writing About Character 

Illustrative Student Essay: The Character of Minnie Wright in Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” 

Writing Topics About Character 

4   Setting: The Background of Place, Objects, and Culture in Stories                                                                                 

What Is Setting? 

The Literary Uses of Setting

Stories for Study 

STEPHEN CRANE  The Blue Hotel (NEW)

JAMES JOYCE  Araby

An introspective boy learns much about himself when he tries to keep a promise.

LU HSUN     My Old Home  (NEW)

A man revisits his childhood home. 

YUKIO MISHIMA        Swaddling Clothes (NEW)

A young woman confronts the realities of life in the lower classes in turn of the century Japan. 

CYNTHIA OZICK  The Shawl

Can a mother in a Nazi concentration camp save her starving and crying baby?

Writing About Setting

Illustrative Student Essay: The Interaction of Story and Setting in James Joyce’s “Araby” (NEW)

Writing Topics About Setting 

5   Structure: The Organization of Stories        

Formal Categories of Structure  

Formal and Actual Structure  

STORIES FOR STUDY  

RALPH ELLISON  Battle Royal

An intelligent black student, filled with hopes and dreams, is treated with monstrous indignity.

HA JIN  Saboteur (NEW)

Wrongfully detained, a man has revenge as a meal to celebrate his escape. 

JHUMPA LAHIRI         The Interpreter of Maladies  (NEW)

A tour guide learns about a troubled American family on a visit to ruins. 

JOYCE CAROL OATES  Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

A teenage girl is visited by an aggressive stranger who does not accept “no” for an answer.

EUDORA WELTY  A Worn Path

Phoenix Jackson, a devoted grandmother, walks a worn path on a mission of great love.

TOM WHITECLOUD  Blue Winds Dancing

A Native American student leaves college in California to spend Christmas in his hometown in Wisconsin.

Writing About Structure in a Story 

Illustrative Student Essay:The Structure of Eudora Welty’s ”A Worn Path” 

Writing Topics About Structure 

6   Tone and Style: The Words That Convey Attitudes in Fiction     

Diction: The Writer’s Choice and Control of Words 

Tone, Irony, and Style 

Tone, Humor, and Style

Stories For Study 

KATE CHOPIN  The Story of an Hour

Louise Mallard is shocked and grieved by news that her husband has been killed, but she is about to have an even greater shock.

WILLIAM FAULKNER  Barn Burning

A young country boy grows in awareness, conscience, and individuality despite his hostile father.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY  Hills Like White Elephants

While waiting for a train, a man and woman reluctantly discuss an urgent situation.

ALICE MUNRO  The Found Boat

After winter snows have melted in a small Canadian community, young people start making discoveries about themselves.

FRANK O’CONNOR  First Confession

Jackie as a young man tells about his first childhood experience with confession.

DANIEL OROZCO Orientation

A new employee is introduced to the rather unusual and surprising situations in the office.

JOHN UPDIKE  A & P

As a checkout clerk at the A & P near the local beaches, Sammy learns about the consequences of a difficult choice.

Writing About Tone and Style 

Illustrative Student Essay: Frank O’Connor’s Control of Tone and Style in “First Confession"

Writing Topics About Tone and Style

7   Symbolism and Allegory: Keys to Extended Meaning

Symbolism

Allegory

Fable, Parable, and Myth

Allusion in Symbolism and Allegory 

Stories For Study 

AESOP The Fox and the Grapes

What do people think about things that they can’t have?

ANONYMOUS  The Myth of Atalanta

In ancient times, how could a superior woman maintain power and integrity?

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE  Young Goodman Brown

In colonial Salem, Goodman Brown has a bewildering encounter that changes his outlook on life.

FRANZ KAFKA  A Hunger Artist

Public interest wanes even in a unique person.

LUKE  The Parable of the Prodigal Son

Is there any limit to what a person can do to make divine forgiveness impossible?

GABRIEL GARCÍA MARQUEZ  A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

How do simple villagers respond to a miraculous visitor who appears in their town?

KATHERINE ANNE PORTER  The Jilting of Granny Weatherall

As the end nears, Granny Weatherall has her memories and is surrounded by her loving adult children.

JOHN STEINBECK  The Chrysanthemums

As a housewife on a small ranch, Elisa Allen experiences changes to her sense of self-worth.

Writing About Symbolism and Allegory 

Illustrative Student Essay (Symbolism): Symbols of Light and Darkness in Porter’s “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall”   Second Illustrative Student Essay (Allegory): The Allegory of Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” 

Writing Topics About Symbolism and Allegory 

8   Idea or Theme: The Meaning and the Message in Fiction  

Ideas and Assertions

Ideas and Issues 

Ideas and Values 

The Place of Ideas in Literature 

How to Find Ideas 

Stories for Study 

JAMES BALDWIN  Sonny’s Blues

A devoted brother describes how his brother, Sonny, is hurt by racial prejudice, and how Sonny finds fulfillment through love of music.

TONI CADE BAMBARA  The Lesson

When a group of children visits a toy store for the wealthy, some of them draw conclusions about society and themselves.

ANTON CHEKHOV  The Lady with the Dog

Bored with life, Dmitri Gurov meets Anna Sergeyevna and discovers previously unknown emotions and extremely new problems.

D. H. LAWRENCE  The Horse Dealer’s Daughter

Dr. Jack Fergusson and Mabel Pervin find, in each other’s love, a new reason for being.

AMéRICO PAREDES  The Hammon and the Beans

Is American liberty restricted to people of only one group, or is it for everyone?

Writing About a Major Idea in Fiction

Illustrative Student Essay: D. H. Lawrence’s “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter” as an Expression of the Idea that Loving Commitment is Essential in Life

Writing Topics About Ideas 

9   A Career in Fiction: Four Stories by Edgar Allan Poe with Critical Readings for Research                                       

Poe’s Life and Career 

Poe’s Work as a Journalist and Writer of Fiction

Poe’s Reputation 

Bibliographic Sources

Writing Topics About Poe

Four Stories by Edgar Allan POE (CHRONOLOGICALly arranged)

The Fall of the House of Usher (1839) 

The Masque of the Red Death (1842) 

The Black Cat (1843) 

The Cask of Amontillado (1846) 

Edited Selections from Criticism of Poe’s Stories 

1. Poe’s Irony   •  2. The Narrators of “The Cask of Amontillado” and  “The Fall of the House of Usher”   •  3. “The Fall of the House of Usher”   •  4. “The Black Cat” and  “The Tell-Tale Heart”   •  5. “The Masque of the Red Death”   •  6. Symbolism in “The Masque of the Red Death”   •  7. “The Masque of the Red Death” as Representative of a “Diseased Age”   •  8. Sources and Analogues of “The Cask of Amontillado”   •  9. Poe’s Idea of Unity and “The Fall of the House of Usher”    •  1. The Narrators of “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Black Cat”   •  11. Poe, Women, and “The Fall of the House of Usher”   •  12. The Deceptive Narrator of “The Black Cat” 

10   Ten Stories for Additional Enjoyment and Study       

CHINUA ACHEBE  Marriage is a Private Affair  

 A man and his young bride deal with the groom's father's disapproval. 

JOHN CHIOLES  Before the Firing Squad

During World War II, in Nazi-occupied Greece, a young German soldier learns the importance of personal obligations.

ANDRE DUBUS  The Curse

A man who has witnessed a gang attack on a defenseless woman experiences deep anguish and self-reproach.

DAGOBERTO GILB Love in L.A.    (NEW)

 Involved in a traffic accident, a young man tries to entice his victim into a date. 

CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN  The Yellow Wallpaper

Who is the woman who is trying to emerge from behind the yellow wallpaper?

FLANNERY O’CONNOR  A Good Man Is Hard to Find

“The grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida. She wanted to visit some of her connections in east Tennessee. . . .”

TILLIE OLSEN  I Stand Here Ironing

“My wisdom came too late.”

Z.Z. PACKER  Brownies   

 A troop of young African American girl scouts take issue with a white troop at their summer camp. 

PETRONIUS (Gaius Petronius Arbiter) The Widow of Ephesus

A young widow learns what it takes to save her newly found love.

TOBIAS WOOLF  Powder

 A young man and his father brave snowy roads hoping to meet an important deadline.

10A Writing a Research Essay on Fiction              

Selecting a Topic  

Setting Up a Working Bibliography (NEW) 

Locating Sources (NEW)

      Searching the Internet  (NEW)  

                Evaluating Sources (box) (NEW)

      Searching Library Resources (NEW)

                Important Considerations About Computer-Aided Research (box)

         Review the Bibliographies in Major Critical Studies on your Topic 

        Consult Bibliographical Guides

        Gaining Access to Books and Articles Through Databases (NEW)

Taking Notes and Paraphrasing Material  

                Plagiarism: An Embarrassing but Vital Subject—and a Danger to be Overcome  (box)

Being Creative and Original While Doing Research  

Documenting Your Work  (NEW)

Strategies for Organizing Ideas in Your Research Essay  

Illustrative Student Essay Using Research: The Structure of Katherine Mansfield’s “Miss Brill”

Writing Topics About How to Undertake a Research Essay  

PART III  Reading and Writing About Poetry

11   Meeting Poetry: An Overview                          

The Nature of Poetry 

BILLY COLLINS  Schoolsville

LISEL MUELLER  Hope

ROBERT HERRICK  Here a Pretty Baby Lies

Poetry of the English Language 

How to Read a Poem 

Studying Poetry 

Anonymous  Sir Patrick Spens

  Poems for Study 

GWENDOLYN BROOKS  The Mother

EMILY DICKINSON  Because I Could Not Stop for Death

ROBERT FRANCIS  Catch

ROBERT FROST  Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

THOMAS HARDY  The Man He Killed

JOY HARJO  Eagle Poem

RANDALL JARRELL  The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner

BEN JONSON  On My First Daughter

EMMA LAZARUS The New Colossus

LOUIS MACNEICE  Snow

JIM NORTHRUP  Ogichidag

NAOMI SHIHAB NYE  Where Children Live

OCTAVIO PAZ    Two Bodies  (NEW)

PHIL RIZZUTO   They Own the Wind  (NEW)

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE  Sonnet 55: Not Marble, Nor the Gilded Monuments

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY  To – [“Music, When Soft Voices Die”

ELAINE TERRANOVA  Rush Hour

Writing a Paraphrase of a Poem 

Illustrative Student Paraphrase: A Paraphrase of Thomas Hardy’s “The Man He Killed” 

Writing an Explication of a Poem

Illustrative Student Essay: An Explication of Thomas Hardy’s “ Man He Killed”

Writing Topics About the Nature of Poetry  

12   Words: The Building Blocks of Poetry

Choice of Diction: Specific and Concrete, General and Abstract

Levels of Diction 

Special Types of Diction 

Syntax

Decorum: The Matching of Subject and Word 

Denotation and Connotation 

Robert Graves  The Naked and the Nude

Poems for Study 

WILLIAM BLAKE  The Lamb

ROBERT BURNS Green Grow the Rashes

LEWIS CARROLL  Jabberwocky

HAYDEN CARRUTH  An Apology for Using the Word “Heart” in Too Many Poems

E. E. CUMMINGS  next to of course god america i

JOHN DONNE  Holy Sonnet 14: Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God

RICHARD EBERHART  The Fury of Aerial Bombardment

BART EDELMAN  Chemistry Experiment

THOMAS GRAY  Sonnet on the Death of Richard West

JANE HIRSHFIELD  The Lives of the Heart 

A. E. HOUSMAN  Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry Now 

CAROLYN KIZER  Night Sounds 

DENISE LEVERTOV  Of Being 

EUGENIO MONTALE  English Horn (Corno Inglese) 

JUDITH ORTIZ [COFER]  Latin Women Pray 

HENRY REED  Naming of Parts 

EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON  Richard Cory 

THEODORE ROETHKE  Dolor 

KAY RYAN  Crib   (NEW)

STEPHEN SPENDER I Think Continually of Those Who Were Truly Great 

WALLACE STEVENS  Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock 

MARK STRAND  Eating Poetry 

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH  Daffodils (I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud) 

Writing About Diction and Syntax in Poetry

Illustrative Student Essay: Diction and Character in Robinson’s “Richard Cory” 

Writing Topics About the Words of Poetry 

13   Characters and Setting: Who, What, Where, and When in Poetry                                                                                 

Characters in Poetry 

SHERMAN ALEXIE        On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City  (NEW)                 

ANONYMOUS  Western Wind, When Wilt Thou Blow? 

ANONYMOUS  Bonny George Campbell 

BEN JONSON  Drink to Me, Only, with Thine Eyes 

BEN JONSON  To the Reader 

Setting and Character in Poetry

LISEL MUELLER  Alive Together

POEMS FOR STUDY 

MATTHEW ARNOLD  Dover Beach  

WILLIAM BLAKE  London 

ELIZABETH BREWSTER  Where I Come From 

ROBERT BROWNING  My Last Duchess 

WILLIAM COWPER  The Poplar Field 

ALLEN GINSBERG  A Further Proposal 

LOUISE GLÜCK  Snowdrops 

THOMAS GRAY  Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard 

THOMAS HARDY  The Ruined Maid 

GARRETT HONGO The Legend (NEW)

DORIANNE LAUX  The Life of Trees 

C. DAY LEWIS  Song 

ROBERT LOWELL  Memories of West Street and Lepke 

CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE  The Passionate Shepherd to His Love 

JOYCE CAROL OATES  Loving 

SIR WALTER RALEGH  The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd 

CHRISTINA ROSSETTI  A Christmas Carol 

JANE SHORE   A Letter Sent to Summer 

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH  Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey 

JAMES WRIGHT  A Blessing 

Writing About Character and Setting in Poetry

llustrative Student Essay: The Character of the Duke in Browning’s “My Last Duchess”

Writing Topics About Character and Setting in Poetry 

14   Imagery: The Poem’s Link to the Senses    

Responses and the Writer’s Use of Detail 

The Relationship of Imagery to Ideas and Attitudes

Types of Imagery

JOHN MASEFIELD  Cargoes 

WILFRED OWEN  Anthem for Doomed Youth 

ELIZABETH BISHOP The Fish 

POEMS FOR STUDY 

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING  Sonnets from the Portuguese, Number 14: If Thou Must Love Me 

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE  Kubla Khan 

T. S. ELIOT Preludes 

LOUISE ERDRICH          Indian Boarding School : The Runaways  (NEW)

SUSAN GRIFFIN  Love Should Grow Up Like a Wild Iris in the Fields 

THOMAS HARDY  Channel Firing 

GEORGE HERBERT  The Pulley 

GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS  Spring 

A. E. HOUSMAN  On Wenlock Edge 

DENISE LEVERTOV  A Time Past 

THOMAS LUX  The Voice You Hear When You Read Silently 

EUGENIO MONTALE  Buffalo (Buffalo) 

MARIANNE MOORE The Fish 

PABLO NERUDA  Every Day You Play 

OCTAVIO PAZ    The Street (NEW)

EZRA POUND In a Station of the Metro 

MIKLÓS RADNÓTI  Forced March 

FRIEDRICH RÜCKERT  If You Love for the Sake of Beauty 

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE  Sonnet 13: My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun 

STEPHEN STEPANCHEV  Seven Horizons (NEW)

JAMES TATE  Dream On 

DAVID WOJAHN  “It’s Only Rock and Roll, but I Like It”: The Fall of Saigon 

Writing About Imagery 

Illustrative Student Essay: Imagery in T. S. Eliot’s “Preludes” 

Writing Topics About Imagery in Poetry 

15   Figures of Speech, or Metaphorical Language: A Source of Depth and Range in Poetry                                                   

Metaphors and Similes: The Major Figures of Speech 

Characteristics of Metaphorical Language 

JOHN KEATS  On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer

Vehicle and Tenor

Other Figures of Speech 

JOHN KEATS Bright Star 

JOHN GAY  Let Us Take the Road 

POEMS FOR STUDY 

JACK AGÜEROS Sonnet for You, Familiar Famine 

WILLIAM BLAKE  The Tyger 

ROBERT BURNS  A Red, Red Rose 

JOHN DONNE  A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning 

ABBIE HUSTON EVANS  The Iceberg Seven-Eighths Under 

THOMAS HARDY The Convergence of the Twain 

JOY HARJO  Remember 

JOHN KEATS To Autumn 

MAURICE KENNY Legacy 

JANE KENYON  Let Evening Come 

HENRY KING  Sic Vita 

ROBERT LOWELL  Skunk Hour 

JUDITH MINTY  Conjoined 

PABLO NERUDA If You Forget Me 

MARY OLIVER   Showing the Birds (NEW)

MARGE PIERCY  A Work of Artifice 

MURIEL RUKEYSER  Looking at Each Other 

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE  Sonnet 18: Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day? 

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE  Sonnet 3: When to the Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought 

ELIZABETH TUDOR, QUEEN ELIZABETH I  On Monsieur’s Departure 

MONA VAN DUYN Earth Tremors Felt in Missouri  

DEBORAH WARREN     Clay and Flame (NEW)

WALT WHITMAN  Facing West from California’s Shores 

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH  London, 1820 

SIR THOMAS WYATT  I Find No Peace 

Writing About Figures of Speech

Illustrative Student Paragraph: Wordsworth’s Use of Overstatement in “London, 1820” 

Illustrative Student Essay: A Study of Shakespeare’s Metaphors in Sonnet 3: “When to the Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought” 

Writing Topics About Figures of Speech in Poetry 

16   Tone: The Creation of Attitude in Poetry    

Tone, Choice, and Response 

CORNELIUS WHUR  The First-Rate Wife 

Tone and the Need for Control 

WILFRED OWEN  Dulce et Decorum Est 

Tone and Common Grounds of Assent 

Tone in Conversation and Poetry 

Tone and Irony 

THOMAS HARDY  The Workbox 

Tone and Satire 

ALEXANDER POPE  Epigram from the French 

ALEXANDER POPE  Epigram, Engraved on the Collar of a Dog Which I Gave to His Royal Highness 

POEMS FOR STUDY 

WILLIAM BLAKE On Another’s Sorrow 

JIMMY CARTER I Wanted to Share My Father’s World 

LUCILLE CLIFTON homage to my hips 

BILLY COLLINS  The Names 

E. E. CUMMINGS  she being Brand /-new 

BART EDELMAN  Trouble 

MARTIN ESPADA   Bully  (NEW)  

MARI EVANS I Am a Black Woman 

SEAMUS HEANEY Mid-Term Break 

WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY  When You Are Old 

DAVID IGNATOW  The Bagel 

YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA  Facing It 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN  My Childhood’s Home 

PAT MORA  La Migra 

SHARON OLDS  The Planned Child 

ROBERT PINSKY  Dying 

ALEXANDER POPEfrom Epilogue to the Satires Dialogue I 

SALVATORE QUASÍMODO  Auschwitz 

ANNE RIDLER  Nothing Is Lost 

THEODORE ROETHKE  My Papa’s Waltz 

JANE SHORE   A Letter Sent to Summer 

CATHY SONG      Lost Sister (NEW)

JONATHAN SWIFT  A Description of the Morning 

DAVID WAGONER  My Physics Teacher 

C. K. WILLIAMS  Dimensions 

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH The Solitary Reaper 

WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS  When You Are Old 

Writing About Tone in Poetry 

Illustrative Student Essay: The Speaker’s Attitudes in Sharon Olds’s “The Planned Child” 

Writing Topics About Tone in Poetry 

 17   Prosody: Sound, Rhythm, and Rhyme in Poetry

Important Definitions for Studying Prosody 

Segments: Individually Meaningful Sounds 

Poetic Rhythm 

The Major Metrical Feet 

Special Meters  

Substitution 

Accentual Strong-Stress, and “Sprung” Rhythms 

The Caesura: The Pause Creating Variety and Natural Rhythms in Poetry  

Segmental Poetic Devices 

Rhyme: The Duplication and Similarity of Sounds 

Rhyme and Meter  

Rhyme Schemes 

POEMS FOR STUDY 

GWENDOLYN BROOKS  We Real Cool 

ROBERT BROWNING  Porphyria’s Lover 

EMILY DICKINSON  To Hear an Oriole Sing 

JOHN DONNE  The Sun Rising 

RALPH WALDO EMERSON  Concord Hymn 

ISABELLA GARDNER  At a Summer Hotel 

ROBERT HERRICK Upon Julia’s Voice 

GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS God’s Grandeur 

JOHN HALL INGHAM  George Washington 

PHILIP LEVINE  A Theory of Prosody 

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW  The Sound of the Sea 

HERMAN MELVILLE  Shiloh : A Requiem 

OGDEN NASH  Very Like a Whale 

EDGAR ALLAN POE Annabel Lee 

EDGAR ALLAN POE The Bells 

ALEXANDER POPE  From An Essay on Man Epistle I 

WYATT PRUNTY March 

EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON  Miniver Cheevy 

CHRISTINA ROSSETTI  Echo 

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE  Sonnet 73: That Time of Year Thou May’st in Me Behold 

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY  Ode to the West Wind 

ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON From Idylls of the King: The Passing of Arthur 

DAVID WAGONER March for a One-Man Band 

Writing About Prosody 

Referring to Sounds in Poetry  

First Illustrative Student Essay: Rhyme, Rhythm, and Sound in Browning’s “Porphyria’s Lover” 

Second Illustrative Student Essay: The Rhymes and Repeated Words in Christina Rossetti’s “Echo” 

Writing Topics About Rhythm and Rhyme in Poetry 

18   Form: The Shape of Poems                                  

Closed-Form Poetry 

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH  Fragment from The Prelude 

ALEXANDER POPE  Fragment from The Rape of the Locke 

ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON  The Eagle 

JOHN MILTON Fragment from Lycidas 

ANONYMOUS  Spun in High, Dark Clouds 

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE  Sonnet 116: Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds 

Open-Form Poetry 

WALT WHITMAN  Reconciliation 

Visualizing Poetry: Poetry and Artistic Expression: Visual Poetry, Concrete Poetry, and Prose Poems 

E. E. CUMMINGS  Buffalo Bill’s Defunct 

GEORGE HERBERT  Colossians 3:3 (Our Life is Hid With Christ in God) 

GEORGE HERBERT  Easter Wings 

CHARLES HARPER WEBB  The Shape of History 

JOHN HOLLANDER  Swan and Shadow 

WILLIAM HEYEN  Mantle 

MAY SWENSON  Women 

CAROLYN FORCHÉ  The Colonel 

POEMS FOR STUDY 

ELIZABETH BISHOP  One Art 

BILLY COLLINS  Sonnet 

JOHN DRYDEN  To the Memory of Mr. Oldham 

ROBERT FROST Desert Places 

ALLEN GINSBERG  A Supermarket in California 

ROBERT HASS  Museum  

GEORGE HERBERT Virtue 

JOHN KEATS  Ode to a Nightingale

YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA    Grenade  (NEW)

MAGUS MAGNUS  Empirical/Imperial Demonstration (NEW)

CLAUDE McKAY  In Bondage 

JOHN MILTON On His Blindness (When I Consider How My Light Is Spent) 

DUDLEY RANDALL  Ballad of Birmingham 

THEODORE ROETHKE  The Waking 

GEORGE WILLIAM RUSSELL (Æ)  Continuity 

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY  Ozymandias 

DYLAN THOMAS Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night 

JEAN TOOMER  Reapers 

PHYLLIS WEBB  Poetics Aga the Angel of Death 

WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS  The Dance 

Writing About Form in Poetry 

Illustrative Student Essay: Form and Meaning in George Herbert’s “Virtue” 

Writing Topics About Poetic Form 

19. Symbolism and Allusion: Windows to Wide Expanses of Meaning     

Symbolism and Meanings 

VIRGINIA SCOTT  Snow 

The Function of Symbolism in Poetry 

Allusions and Meaning 

Studying for Symbols and Allusions POEMS FOR STUDY 
EMILY BRONTË  No Coward Soul Is Mine 
AMY CLAMPITT   Beach Glass 
ARTHUR HUGH CLOUGH  Say Not the Struggle Nought Availeth 
PETER DAVISON  Delphi
JOHN DONNE  The Canonization
STEPHEN DUNN  Hawk 
ISABELLA GARDNER  Collage of Echoes 
DAN GEORGAKIS  Hiroshima Crewman 
JORIE GRAHAM  The Geese 
THOMAS HARDY  In Time of “The Breaking of Nations” 
GEORGE HERBERT  The Collar 
JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN  Tears 
ROBINSON JEFFERS  The Purse-Seine 
JOHN KEATS  La Belle Dame Sans Merci: A Ballad 
X. J. KENNEDY  Old Men Pitching Horseshoes 
TED KOOSER  Year’s End

20. Myths: Systems of Symbolic Allusion in Poetry           

Mythology as an Explanation of How Things Are

Mythology and Literature 

WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS  Leda and the Swan

MONA VAN DUYN  Leda 

Six Poems Related to the Myth of Odysseus 

POEMS FOR STUDY&

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.