Literature / James H. Pickering

Includes index.

Introduction: Reading, Studying, and Writing About Literature -- I FICTION -- 1 What Is Fiction? -- 2 The Elements of Fiction -- 3 Stories -- II POETRY -- 4 What Is Poetry? -- 5 Denotation and Connotation -- 6 Allusion -- 7 Repetition and Ambiguity -- 8 Puns and Paradoxes -- 9 Irony -- 10 Imagery -- 11 Comparisons -- 12 Personification, Apostrophe, and Animism -- 13 Symbol and Allegory -- 14 The Plain Sense of Poetry -- 15 Rhythm and Meter -- 16 Rhythm and Meter, Part 2 -- 17 Rhyme and Other Manipulations of Sound -- 18 Structure and Form in Poetry -- 19 Questions to Ask About Poetry -- 20 Poems -- III DRAMA -- 21 What Is Drama? -- 22 The Elements of Drama -- 23 The Classifications of Drama -- 24 Analyzing and Evaluating Drama -- 25 Plays -- A Handbook for Literary Study -- Thematic Contents -- Index to Authors, Titles, and First Lines.

Literature is a comprehensive anthology of fiction, poetry, and drama designed to introduce students to the formal study of literature. Throughout its four editions, excellence has been the one indispensable criterion in our choice of stories, poems, and plays. We have sought to retain and to add works of outstanding literarymerit that introductory students will find both entertaining and thought-provoking. The fourth edition includes 57 stories (17 of the new); over 400 poems (60 new); and 16 plays (6 new). As a matter of convenience, the selections within each section are arranged chronologically—except for the stories and poems used as examples in the chapters on the elements of fiction and poetry. -- Preface.