Writing About Literature

Writing about Literature combines detailed practical and scholarly advice with a sense of the scope and creative possibilities of literary criticism, empowering the student reader to make his or her own discoveries and experiments with language. In addition, it gives valuable guidance on adult language learning and translation skills for students of foreign literature. This handy, accessible guide covers all aspects of the essay-writing process, including: preliminary reading and choosing and researching a topic referencing and presentation computer use style, structure, vocabulary, grammar and spelling the art and craft of writing scholarly and personal insights into the problems and pleasures of writing about literature. Written in an entertaining and informative way and containing a wealth of practical advice and scholarly insights, this wise, witty and helpful book should be on every literature student's bookshelf.

This book gives students an answer to the question, “What does my professor want from this essay?” In lively, direct language, it explains the process of creating “a clearly-written argument, based on evidence, about the meaning, power, or structure of a literary work.” Using a single poem by William Carlos Williams as the basis for the process of writing a paper about a piece of literature, it walks students through the processes of reading, brainstorming, researching secondary sources, gathering evidence, and composing and editing the paper. Writing Essays About Literature is designed to strengthen argumentation skills and deepen understanding of the relationships between the reader, the author, the text, and critical interpretations. Its lessons about clarity, precision, and the importance of providing evidence will have wide relevance for student writers.

"Writing about Literature "serves as a hands-on guide for writing about literature, thus justifying the integration of literature and composition. The reading of literature encourages students to think, and the use of literary topics gives instructors a viable way to combine writing and literary study.

Writing about Literature introduces students to critical reading and writing through a thorough and engaging discussion of the field, but also through exercises, interviews, exemplary student and scholarly essays, and visual material. It offers students an insider’s guide to the language, issues, approaches, styles, assumptions, and traditions that inform the writing of successful critical essays, and aims to make student writers a part of the world of professional literary criticism. Much of the discussion is structured around ways to analyze and respond to a single work, Stephen Crane’s story “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky.” This second edition is updated throughout and includes a new chapter on “Reading and Writing About Poetry”; the chapter uses Robert Kroetsch’s poem “This Part of the Country” as the unit of analysis and includes an interview with the poet about his process.

Far less expensive than comparable guides, Reading and Writing about Literature: A Portable Guide is an ideal supplement for writing courses where literature anthologies and individual literary works that lack writing instruction are assigned. This brief guide introduces strategies for reading literature, explains the writing process and common writing assignments for literature courses, provides instruction in writing about fiction, poetry, and drama, and includes coverage of writing a research paper and of literary criticism and theory. This volume in the popular Bedford/St. Martin's series of Portable Anthologies and Guides offers a trademark combination of high quality and great value.

A Short Guide to Writing about Literature emphasises writing as a process and incorporates new critical approaches to writing about literature. This edition continues to offer students sound advice on how to become critical thinkers and enrich their reading response through accessible, step-by-step instruction. This highly respected text is ideal as a supplement to any course where writing about literature or literary studies is emphasised. The full text downloaded to your computer With eBooks you can: search for key concepts, words and phrases make highlights and notes as you study share your notes with friends eBooks are downloaded to your computer and accessible either offline through the Bookshelf (available as a free download), available online and also via the iPad and Android apps. Upon purchase, you'll gain instant access to this eBook. Time limit The eBooks products do not have an expiry date. You will continue to access your digital ebook products whilst you have your Bookshelf installed.

This book is intended to help middle and secondary school English language arts teachers integrate literature study and composition instruction. Literary analysis and well-honed analytical writing skills are crucial for student success--in English class as well as on writing assessments and in other content area classes. Unfortunately, these skills are often taught separately from one another and students have a hard time making the connections between the two. Drawing on years of real classroom experience, this follow-up to NCTE's immensely popular Writing about Literature (1984) addresses the challenge many teachers face: How can we use writing assignments to deepen students' understanding of literature, while at the same time improve their writing, critical thinking, and analytical skills? A Theory and Research into Practice (TRIP) book, Writing about Literature, 2nd ed., Revised and Updated seeks to answer this question by first providing an overview of the key components of theory and research--including assessment, literary interpretation, composition, sequencing, and activity design--and then offering an extensive selection of practical activities to help students learn how to interpret literature, write compelling arguments, and support those arguments using evidence from the text. Specific activities include Exploring role models from To Kill a Mockingbird and The House on Mango Street, analyzing characters from "Everyday Use" and Huckleberry Finn, and interpreting love themes from Romeo and Juliet and Shakespeare's sonnets. Featuring two dozen reproducible handouts and suggestions for adaptations, all of the activity sequences are designed to be used as a teaching tool--a model for teachers and students to use as they study other texts and types of literature.

"Designed to clearly explain to college and university students how to write essays that analyze and respond to literature. A hands-on approach to writing literary responses, designed to guide students as they develop the more critical, sophisticated style demanded in post-secondary."--