Guide to writing about literature: Understanding literature, Telephone conversation / W. Soyinka; Reading and writing about literature, My Arkansas / M. Angelou; Writing special kinds of papers; Thinking critically about your writing; Writing literary arguments; Using sources in your writing; Documenting sources and avoiding plagiarism; Writing essay exams about literature
Fiction: Understanding fiction, Hills like White Elephants / E. Hemingway; Fiction sampler, the short-short, Love and other catastrophes / A. Holzer; Reading and writing about fiction; Plot, Story of an hour / K. Chopin; Character, Girl with bangs / Z. Smith; Setting, Water names / L.S. Chang; Point of view, Birthmark / M. July; Style, tone, and language, The yellow wallpaper / C.P. Gilman; Symbol, allegory, and myth, Saint Helene / A. Hoffman; Theme, Little knife / M. Chabon; Joyce Carol Oates's "Where are You Going, Where Have You Been," a casebook for reading, research, and writing; Fiction for further reading, Eveline / J. Joyce, Chrysanthemums / J. Steinbeck, Teenage wasteland / A. Tyler
Poetry: Understanding poetry, That time of year thou mayst in me behold / W. Shakespeare; Poetry sampler, song lyrics, Imagine / J. Lennon, Brother, can you spare a dime / Y. Harburg, If I ruled the world / T. Bennett; Reading and writing about poetry, Those winter Sundays / R. Hayden; Voice, Negro / L. Hughes, Patterns / A. Lowell, Ozymandias / P.B. Shelley; Word choice, word order, I knew a woman / T. Roethke, Royal palm / H. Crane; Imagery, Division / M. Chitwood, Daybreak / O. Paz; Figures of speech, Simile / N.S. Momaday, My son, my executioner / D. Hall; Sound, I like to see it lap the miles / E. Dickinson; Form, Nani / A.A. Rios, Women / M. Swenson; Symbol, allegory, allusion, myth, For once, then, something / R. Frost, Uphill / C. Rossetti; Discovering themes in poetry, I go back to May 1937 / R. Hayden, My father in the navy, a childhood memory / J.O. Cofer; Poetry of Langston Hughes, a casebook for reading, research, and writing; Poetry for further reading; Biographical sketches of selected poets
Drama: Understanding drama; Drama sampler, ten-minute plays; Reading and writing about drama; Plot; Character, Proof / D. Auburn; Staging, Words, words, words / D. Ives; Theme, Trying to find Chinatown / D.H. Hwang; Tennessee Williams's The glass menagerie, a casebook for reading, research, and writing
Appendixes: Using literary criticism in your writing; Literary history, from Aristotle to the present
Glossary of literary terms.
