本书涉及文学解读和阐释性写作的各种关键环节，从基本功到高级的文学批评，从涉及文学阅读的简单的“人之常情”到复杂的文学解读类论文，几乎面面俱到，是一本关乎人文训练的有效指南。书中配有练习，每章后面都有“关于……的清单”，清清楚楚地确立了一系列行之有效的步骤和规则，并且提供了大量范例。本书可用于英语文学写作课，提供系统的人文训练，以期让学生的思想和语言变得更加规范、正确、成熟、有力。

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

PART ONE: Interpreting Literature

1 Strategies for Interpreting Literature

  Why Do People Read Literature?

  What Is Interpretation?

  How Do We Interpret?

  Checklist for Interpreting Literature

  Work Cited

2 What Is Literature?

  Literature Is Language

  Literature Is Fictional

  WaltWhitman, Cavalry Crossing a Ford

  Literature Is True

  Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, My Friend, the Things

   that Do Attain

  Literature Is Aesthetic

  Literature Is Intertextual

  Checklist for the Elements of Literature

  Works Cited

3 Interpreting Fiction

  The Elements of Fiction

      Theme

      Point of View

      Mary Robison, Yours

      Plot

      Characterization

      Setting

      Irony

      Symbolism

  Other Elements

  Checklist for Interpreting Fiction

  Works Cited

4 Interpreting Drama

  The Nature of Drama

  The Elements of Drama

      Plot

      Characterization

      Setting

     Theme

     Irony

     Subgenres

  Checklist for Interpreting Drama

  Works Cited and Consulted

5 Interpreting Poetry

  What Is Poetry?

     Emily Bront~, The Night Is Darkening Round Me

  Sense in Poetry: Elements that Convey Meaning

     Getting Started: Reading a Poem the First Time

     Diction

     William Wordsworth, A Slumber Did My Spirit Sea]

     Syntax

     Louise Bogan, Song for a Lyre

     Characterization, Point of View, Plot, and Setting

     Jane Kenyon, In the Nursing Home

     Matthew Arnold, Dover Beach

     Robert Browning, My Last Duchess

     Imagery: Descriptive Language

     Imagery: Figurative Language

   Samuel Daniel, Love Is a Sickness

   Thomas Campion, There Is a Garden in Her Face

   Symbolism

   William Blake, The Sick Rose

 The Sound of Poetry: Musical Elements

   Rhythm

   William Shakespeare, Sonnet 129

   Word Sounds

   Edgar Allan Poe, To Helen

 Structure

   William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116

   Edna St. Vincent Millay, I, Being Born aWoman

   Anonymous, The Daemon Lover

   Emily Dickinson, Because I Could Not Stop for Dead

   Matsuo Basho, haiku

   Taniguchi Buson, haiku

   Kobayashi Issa, haiku

   Psalm 23

   Ezra Pound, Xenia

   Amy Lowell, Road to theYoshiwara

   Langston Hughes, Vagabonds

   Elizabeth Bishop, One Art

 Sight: The Visual Qualifies of Poetry

   George Herbert, EasterWings

   e. e. cummings, l(a

   Gwendolyn Brooks, We Real Cool

 Checklist for Interpreting Poetry

 Works Cited

Specialized Approaches to Interpreting Literature

 Literary Criticism and Theory

 Places for Interpretation

 The Work

   New Criticism

   Structuralism

   Deconstruction

   Archetypal Criticism

 The Author

   Historical and Biographical Criticism

   New Historicist Criticism

 The Reader

   Reader-Response Criticism

  All of Reality

      Marxist Criticism

      Psychological Criticism

      Feminist and Gender Criticism

  Works Cited

PART TWO: Writing about Literature

7 Writing about Literature

  WhyWrite about Literature?

  How CanYou Write about Literature?

  The Writing Process

8 Choosing Topics

  Preliminary Steps

      Be an Active Reader

      Identify Your Audience

      Raise Questions about the Work

      Narrow Your Topic

  Search Strategies

      Focus on the Work's Conventions (Its Formal Qualities)

      UseTopoi (Traditional Patterns of Thinking)

      Respond to Comments by Critics

      Draw fromYour Own Knowledge

  Talking andWriting Strategies

      Talk Out Loud

      Make Outlines

      Freewrite

      Brainstorm

      Make Notes

      Keep a Journal

  Sample Essay about Literature

     Michelle Henderson, "Paradise Rejected in Homer's

       Odyssey"

      Comments on the Essay

  Checklist for ChoosingTopics

  Works Cited

9 Drafting the Essay

  The Argumentative Nature of Interpretive Essays

  The Structure of Essays about Literature

     The Argumentative Structure

     The Rhetorical Structure

  Guidelines forWriting First Drafts

     Keep in Mind the Needs of Your Audience

     Avoid Extreme Subjectivity (Overuse of"I")

     Draw Up a Rough Outline

     Begin Writing

     Use Sound Deductive Reasoning

     Support Key Claims with Facts

     Use Sound Inductive Reasoning

     Define Key Terms

     Organize Evidence According to a Coherent Plan

     Make Comparisons Complete and Easy to Follow

  Checklist for Drafting the Essay

  Works Cited

10 Revising and Editing

  Revise Throughout the Writing Process

  Revise for the Final Draft

  Write a Clear and Readable Prose Style

  Have Other People Read and Respond toYour Draft

  Edit the Final Draft

     Rules of Usage

     Citations of Sources

     Quotations

     Other Rules of Usage Related to Essays about Literature

  Physical Format

  Sample Essay inTwo Drafts

     Robert Frost, The Death of the Hired Man

     Early Draft

     Comments on the Early Draft

     Final Draft

        Jennifer Hargrove, "A Comparison of Mary andWarren

          in Robert Frost's 'The Death of the Hired Man'"

     Comments on the Final Draft

  Checklist for Revising and Editing

  Works Cited

11 Documentation and Research

  Primary Sources

  Secondary Sources

  Research Papers and the Use of Secondary Sources

  How to Find Information and Opinions about Literature

     I. Library Catalogs and Stacks

     II. Library Reference Room

      III. Library Periodicals Room and Stacks

      IV. Information and Opinion on the Internet

  Evaluating the Quality of Internet Sites

  Giving Credit to Sources

      Why ShouldYou Give Credit?

      When ShouldYou Give Credit?

      Where ShouldYou Give Credit?

  Correct Documentary Form

      Guidelines for Parenthetical Citations

      Guidelines for Using Footnotes and Endnotes

      Guidelines and Form for the Works Cited List:

       General Rules

      Sample Entries for Books

      Sample Entry for Articles in Scholarly Journals

      Sample Entries for Articles in Popular Publications

      Sample Entries for Computer Databases

      Sample Entries for Other Nonprint Sources

  Frequently Used Abbreviations

  Sample Research Paper

     Harold Wright, "The Monster's Education in Mary

       Shelley's Frankenstein"

      Comments on the Research Paper

  Checklist for Documentation and Research

12 Taking EssayTests

  Guidelines for Taking EssayTests

  Sample Test Essays

     Essay 1

     Comments on Essay 1

     Essay 2

     Comments on Essay 2

     Essay 3

     Comments on Essay 3

  Checklist for Taking Essay Tests

13 Sample Essays

  Essay on a Poem

     Edwin Arlington Robinson, Richard Cory

     George Cannon, "Point of View in Edwin Arlington

       Robinson's 'Richard Cory'"

  Essay on a Short Story

     Edgar Allan Poe, The Cask of AmontiUado

     Blake Long, "Montresor's Fate in Edgar Allan Poe's

       'The Cask of Amontillado'"

  Essay on a Play

     Susan Glaspell, Trifles

     Carolyn Briner, "The Meaning of Physical Objects

       in Susan Glaspell's Trifles"

  Essay on a Novel

      Shalita Forrest, "First Love, Lost Love in George

       Eliot's Adam Bede"

Glossary

Credits

Index of Concepts and Terms

Index of Critics, Authors, and Works