Contents PREFACE XIII A KEY TO TYPES OF WRITING ASSIGNMENTS XVII PART 1 Jumping In l 1— THE WRITER AS READER: READING AND RESPONDING 3 Reading as Re-creation 4 Making Reasonable Inferences 5 Reading with a Pen in Hand 6 Recording Your First impressions 7 Audience and Purpose 9 A Word on Discourse 9 A Writing Assignment on "The Wall" 9 The Assignment 9 A Sample Essay 10 Other Possibilities for Writing 11 Suggestions for Further Reading 11 2— THE READER AS WRITER: DRAFTING AND WRITING 12 Pre-writing: Getting Ideas 12 Annotating a Text 12 More about Getting Ideas: "Marrying the Hangman" by Margaret Atwood 13 iii CONTENTS Brainstorming for Ideas for Writing 14 Focused Free Writing 15 Listing 16 Asking Questions 17 Keeping a Journal 18 Critical Thinking: Arguing with Yourself 19 Arriving at a Thesis, and Arguing It 20 Writing a Draft 22 A Sample Draft: "Ironies for Women" 23 Revising a Draft 24 Outlining a Draft 25 Peer Review 26 Final Checks 26 The Final Version 28 A Brief Overview of the Final Version 30 TWO FORMS OF CRITICISM: EXPLICATION AND ANALYSIS 31 Explication 31 A Sample Explication: George Bowering's "Forget Working toward an Explication of "Forget" 32 Some Journal Entries 33 The Final Draft 35 Analysis: The Judgment of Solomon 36 Other Possible Topics for Analysis 40 Comparison: An Analytic Tool 40 Finding a Topic 43 Considering the Evidence 44 Organizing the Material 44 Communicating Judgments 45 Review: How to Write an Effective Essay 46 Pre-writing 46 CONTENTS V Drafting 46 Revising 47 Editing 49 The Dreaded Deadline 50 A Word about Technical Language so / Editing Checklist: Questions to Ask Yourself 51 4— OTHER KINDS OF WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE 52 A Summary 52 A Paraphrase 53 A Literary Response 55 Writing a Literary Response 55 A Parody 56 Postmodern Pastiche and Parody 56 A Review 57 A Review of a Dramatic Production 57 A Sample Review: "An Effective Macbeth" 58 £D Suggestions for Further Reading 62 PART 2 Standing Back: Thinking Critically about Literature 63 5— WHAT IS LITERATURE? 65 Literature and Form 66 Literature and Meaning 69 Arguing about Meaning 69 Form and Meaning 70 The Literary Canon 74 Literature, Texts, Discourses, and Cultural Studies 75 In Brief: A Contemporary Author Speaks about Literature 76 VÍ ( < >\ I I M S 03 Suggestions for Further Reading 76 6— WHAT IS INTERPRETATION? 77 Interpretation and Meaning 77 Is the Author's Intention a Guide to Meaning? 78 Is the Work the Author's or the Reader's? 78 What characterizes a Good Interpretation? 79 An Example: Interpreting Patrick Lane's "The Children of Bogota" so Thinking Critically about Literature 82 Three Student Interpretations of Earle Birney's "The Bear on the Delhi Road" 83 A Student Essay and Commentary 84 Two More Student Essays 88 CD Suggestions for Further Reading 92 7— WHAT IS EVALUATION? 93 Criticism and Evaluation 93 Evaluative Language and the Canon 94 Are There Critical Standards? 94 Morality and Truth as Standards 95 Other Ways to Think about Truth and Realism 96 Is Sentimentality a Weakness—and If So, Why? 99 CD Suggestions for Further Reading 103 8— WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE: AN OVERVIEW 104 The Nature of Critical Writing 104 Some Critical Approaches 104 Formalist Criticism (New Criticism) 105 Deconstruction 107 Reader-Response Criticism 108 Archetypal (or Myth) Criticism 110 Marxist Criticism 111 CONTENTS vii Historical Criticism 112 The New Historicism 113 Biographical Criticism 114 Psychological (or Psychoanalytic) Criticism 114 Feminist Criticism 115 Lesbian and Gay Criticism 116 Post-colonialism 119 A Final Word 121 03 Suggestions for Further Reading 121 PART 3 Up Close: Thinking Critically about Literary Forms 127 9— WRITING ABOUT ESSAYS 129 Some Kinds of Essays 129 The Essayist's Persona 131 Tone 131 Writing about an Essayist's Style 132 Annotations and Journal Entries 135 A Sample Essay on David Suzukis Style 136 03 Suggestions for Further Reading 138 10— WRITING ABOUT FICTION: THE WORLD OF THE STORY 139 Plot and Character 139 Writing about a Character 141 A Sample Essay on a Character: "Caravaggio, the 'Fifth Business'" 143 Foreshadowing 146 Organizing an Essay on Foreshadowing 148 Setting and Atmosphere 149 Viii CONTENTS Symbolism 150 A Sample Essay on Setting as Symbol 151 Point of View 155 Third-Person Narrators 155 First-Person Narrators 157 Notes and a Sample Essay on Narrative Point of View in James Joyce's "Araby" 159 Theme: Vision or Argument? 163 Determining and Discussing the Theme 164 Preliminary Notes and Two Sample Essays on the Theme of Thomas King's "Borders" 164 CO Suggestions for Further Reading 173 / A Checklist: Getting Ideas for Writing about Fiction 174 11— WRITING ABOUT DRAMA 177 A Sample Essay 178 Preliminary Notes 178 Types of Plays 184 Tragedy 184 Comedy 187 Tragicomedy 188 Aspects of Drama 189 Theme 189 Plot and Meaning 190 Characterization and Motivation 194 Costumes, Gestures, and Settings 196 Conventions 200 Suggestions for Further Reading 201 / A Checklist: Getting Ideas for Writing about Drama 202 12— WRITING ABOUT POETRY 205 The Speaker and the Poet 205 CONTENTS JX The Language of Poetry: Diction and Tone 207 Writing about the Speaker: Margaret Atwood's "This Is a Photograph of Me" 207 Journal Entries 209 Figurative Language 211 Preparing to Write about Figurative Language 215 Structure 217 Annotating and Thinking about a Poem 217 The Finished Essay 219 Some Kinds of Structure 221 Verbal Irony 223 Paradox 224 Explication 224 A Sample Explication ofYeats's "The Balloon of the Mind" 224 Versification and Rhythm: A Glossary lor Reference 227 Metre 227 Rhythm 229 Patterns of Sound 231 Stanzaic Patterns 233 Blank Verse and Free Verse 234 Preparing to Write about Prosody 235 Sample Essay on Metrics: "Sound and Sense in Housman's Eight O'clock" 236 03 Suggestions for Further Reading 240 S A Checklist: Getting Ideas for Writing about Poetry 240 13—WRITING ABOUT FILM 242 The Camera 242 Poststructural Criticism and the Cinematic Gaze 244 Editing 244 Theme 245 Getting Ready to Write 246 X CONTENTS A Sample Essay on visual Symbols: "A Japanese MACBETH" 247 03 Suggestions for Further Reading 251 PART 4 Inside: A Grammar Sketch, Style, Format, and Special Assignments 253 14—GRAMMAR, SYNTAX, STYLE, AND FORMAT 254 A Very Brief Review of Grammar and Syntax 254 Grammar versus Syntax 254 Some Definitions 256 Tense 257 Types of Sentences 258 Voice 259 Mood 259 Case (and Who/Whom, We/Us) 260 Comma Use 260 Common Errors of Composition 262 Notes on the Dash and the Hyphen 266 Grammar Checkers and Other Electronic Aids 266 Principles of Style 268 Get the Right Word 269 Write Effective Sentences 271 Write Unified and Coherent Paragraphs 2 74 / A Checklist for Revising Paragraphs 278 Write Emphatically 279 Remarks about Manuscript Form 280 Basic Manuscript Form 280 Quotations and Quotation Marks 282 CONTENTS XI 15— WRITING A RESEARCH PAPER 287 What Research is, and What Research is Not 287 Primary and Secondary Materials 288 From Topic to Thesis 288 A Working Thesis 288 Locating Material: First Steps 289 Other Bibliographical Aids 290 Taking Notes 291 The Photocopier and the Word Processor 291 A Guide to Note Taking 291 Drafting the Paper 292 Documentation 294 What to Document: Avoiding Plagiarism 294 How to Document 296 The List of Works Cited 301 Models for Citation 301 Book Citations 301 Periodical Citations 307 Non-Print Citations 308 Electronic Citations 309 Sample Essay with Documentation 314 S A Checklist: Reading the Draft of Your Research Paper 32l 16— NEW APPROACHES TO THE RESEARCH PAPER: LITERATURE, HISTORY, AND THE WORLD WIDE WEB 322 Case Study on Literature and History: The Internment of Japanese-Canadians 323 Literary Texts 324 The Search Begins 329 Bibliographical Listing 329 Full-text Listings 330 Xii ( 11\ 11 \ I s Historical Sources 331 Basic Reference Books (Short Paper) 331 Getting Deeper (Medium or Long Paper) 333 Review 335 Other Reference Sources 336 Electronic Sources 338 CD-ROMs 338 The Internet/World Wide Web 340 Some Reminders 345 J A Checklist for Evaluating Sources on the World Wide Web 346 Documenting Electronic Sources in MLA Style 346 Some Search Engines and Directories 347 Print Directories 348 Print Articles on Literature, Histortj, and the World Wide Web 349 Evaluating World Wide Web Resources 349 1 7—ESSAY EXAMINATIONS 351 What Examinations Are 351 Writing Essay Answers 351 Hints on Common Types of Essay Questions 352 A Final Word 353 APPENDIX A: JAMES JOYCE, "ARABY" 354 APPENDIX B: THOMAS KING, "BORDERS" 359 APPENDIX C: GLOSSARY OF LITERARY TERMS 368 CREDITS 381 INDEX OF AUTHORS, TITLES, AND FIRST LINES OF POEMS 382 SUBJECT INDEX 389 Preface Favourable response to the first Canadian edition has allowed me to revise the text originally based on the seventh edition of Sylvan Barnet's A Short Guide to Writing about literature. This new edition is based substantially on the first Canadian edition, and incoquorates some changes introduced into the ninth U.S. edition when William E. (Jain became a collaborator. This edition adds a new chapter which has two aims: to present a case study of a contemporary cross-discipline research project employing non-literary sources to explore literary subjects, and to show the process of electronic research. This chapter takes the student step-by-step through a search employing online search engines to locate relevant Web sources. It augments the preceding chapter on traditional research, which is extensively revised from the first edition. The section on documentation is, of course, heavily revised to include citations of electronic sources and to update the print citations. As well, I have added a sketch of grammar definitions and common grammar errors. While it was impossible to add a full grammar primer to this ahead}' lengthy text, this brief overview will provide students with a quick refresher and reminders of errors to avoid. For many students, this checklist will eliminate the need to purchase a separate grammar textbook. Throughout, I have revised (and often shortened) the chapters to make them as clear and concise as possible and to update them. The text retains elements of the first edition that colleagues and students have told us are valuable: examples of preliminary notes, drafts and revisions of drafts, checklists of questions, bibliographies for further reading, and examples of student writing. We believe that all writers gain from the examples of other writers, and that student writers gain confidence both from reading effective essays by their peers and seeing how some of these drafts can be further improved. Part 1 is based in the premise that good writing requires good reading. The early chapters emphasize annotating a text, brainstorming, and asking questions to generate ideas. Explication and analysis are discussed and illustrated. Part 2 considers definitions of literature, including contemporary notions of cultural performance and the performative. This section urges students to think critically about literature, considering relationships among inter- xiii XJV PREFACE pretation, meaning, and evaluation. It discusses persuasive writing and provides brief introductions to critical approaches employed by contemporary critics, including the post-colonial theories so germane to Canadian criticism. These introductions to critical theories have been revised and updated. Part 3 considers the three major genres (fiction, drama and poetry) and briefly discusses film. Each chapter provides technical and analytic tools, shows the process of thinking through an analysis, and offers sample essays. We comment upon the sample essays with marginal notations or brief assessments. Chapters conclude with checklists of questions students may-ask as tliev read and think about a work. Changes to Part 4 have already been mentioned: "Style and Format" now includes matters of grammar; "Writing a Research Paper" is updated and now includes electronic citation styles; a new chapter, "New Approaches to the Research Paper: History and the World Wide Web" explores the relationship between historical and political documents and the writing of Japanese-Canadians interned in camps during World War II. The chapter offers a guide to evaluating sources on the Web and directories of search engines and print guides to electronic sources. There are three appendices: two stories which are used as the subjects of manv of the student essays and a revised glossary of literary terms which provides quick definitions of key terms highlighted throughout the text. The glossary and index were completely reconfigured in the First Canadian edition and this apparatus has been continued and expanded in this second edition. The book continues to use examples from First Nations' writers, to quote writers from the various ethnic backgrounds that make up Canadian society, and to introduce marginalized voices. It also uses excerpts from early Canadian Titers whom we must not forget. As the preface to the first edition notes, this book assumes "the role of literature in 'making' Canada and Canadians—sometimes in positive and sometimes in negative ways." Literature provides provisional or partial answers to complex questions, and while no one today assumes that literature will offer universal truths, the sharing of stories—told in many voices—allows us to read and reread ourselves. This process of reading and thinking about literature, then, is far more than simply an exercise for school: It is fundamental to our understanding of who we are, where we live, and what we value. I would like to thank the following reviewers, all of whom offered valuable suggestions: David Hyttenrauch of Mount Royal College, Marlene A. Sawatsky of Simon Fraser University, and Mary Keating of University College of ("ape Breton. The basis of this text is still the work of Sylvan Barnet, to whom generations of students continue to be indebted—as do I. I would also like to thank Marianne Minaker and Andrew Simpson of Pearson Education Canada for their assistance. I thank Michael Young again for the original commission. My thanks also to copy editor Tara Tovell for her keen editorial eye. I w PREFACE XV thank my colleagues Jean Clifford and Bill Schermbrucker of Capilano College, Alan Filewod of Guelph University and Susan Bennett of the University of Calgary for their advice, and the reference librarians of Capilano College— especially George Modenesi—for their generous assistance. I thank Andrea and Douglas Westcott for a hideaway in which to write. In particular I would like to thank Dorothy Jantzen, of Capilano College, for continuing support and friendship. This second edition is for my parents, and, once again, for James Power. Reid Gilbert A Key to TLjpes of Writing Assignments Analysis (for specific topics, see all other headings) Defined, 36-37 Sample analytic essays, 23-24, 83-91, 136-38, 152-55, 159-63, 166-67, 169-73,'179-84, 219-20 Annotations Examples, 7, 135, 2L8, 225 Atmosphere (see Setting) Character In drama, 194-96 In fiction, 139-41 In poetry, 205-11 Student essay, "Caravaggio, the "Fifth Business'," 143-46 Comparison and contrast In essav examinations, 353 Sample patterns of organization, 40-43 Student essav, "A Japanese Macbeth," 247-51 Critical Approaches Summarized, 105-21 Documented Papers (see Research Paper) Draft, 22-25 Examples, 23-24, 28-29 Outline of, 25-26 Evaluation (see also Review) Bases for, 93-99 Implicit versus explicit, 45-46 Examinations sample kinds, 252-53 xvii XViii A KEY TO TYPES OF WRITING ASSIGNMENTS Explication Defined and compared with paraphrase, 224 Student explication of George Bowering's "Forget," 35-36 Student explication of "Sound and Sense in Housmans 'Eight O'clock'," 236-239 Student explication of Yeats's "The Balloon of the Mind," 226-27 Free Writing Example, 7-8 Imagery (see also Theme and Symbolism), Defined and compared with symbolism, 216-17 Interpretation Defined, 77, 79-82 Student essays interpreting "The Bear on the Delhi Road," 84-86, 88-89, 89-91 Journal Sample entries, 18-19, 33-34, 135-36, 209-10, 218-19 Listing, 16-17 Metre (see Versification) Outline Draft outlines, 25-26 Examples, 23, 41-42, 58 Paraphrase Defined and compared with explication, 53-55, 224 Parody Defined, 56 Persona (see Point of View) Plot (see Structure) Point of View, Speaker In essays, 130-31 In poetrv, 205-11 In prose fiction, 155-59 Student essav, "The Three First-Person Narrators in Joyce's 'Araby', 159-63 Prose Style (.see Style) Prosody (see Versification) Research Paper Arriving at a thesis, 288-89 Bibliographic aids to, 289-90 Defined, 287-88 A KliY TO TYPF.S OF WRITING ASSIGNMENTS XiX Documentation and bibliography, 294-313 Student essay, "Judith Thompsons Pictures of Women," 315-21 Taking notes', 291-92 Review Defined, 57 Student review of a dramatic production, 59-61 Rhythm (see Versification) Setting and atmosphere In drama, 196-200 In fiction, 149 Speaker (see Point of View) Structure, Plot In drama, 190-92 In fiction, f39-41 In poetry, 217-24 Student essay, "A Reality in Dreams: Thompson's Moral Quest," 179-84 Student essay, "Herrick's Julia, |ulia's Herrick," 219-20 Style Defined, 132 Student essay, "David Suzuki's Style: Shifting to the Truth," 136-38 Summary Definition of, Principles of, 52-53 Of a plot, 52-53 Symbolism (see also Imagery and Theme), Costume, gestures, and setting as symbolic text in drama, 196-200 In fiction, 150-55 In poetrv, 216-17 Student essay "A Japanese Macbeth" 247-51 "Moving Between: Setting in Thomas King's 'Borders'," 152-55 Theme or Idea In drama, 189-90 In fiction, 163-73 In film, 245-46 Student essay, "Finding Freedom," 10-11 Student essay, "History Repeats Itself," 28-29 Student essay, "Icons at the Border," 166-67 Student essay, "Moving Between: Setting in Thomas King's 'Borders'," 152-55 ' Student essay, "On the Road to the World of Men," 84-86 XX a key to types of writing assignments Student essay, "These Spare Men of Kashmir," 88-89 Student essay, "The Tranced Dancing of Men," 89-91 Student essav, "Under the Stars," 169-73 Tone (sec also Point of View) Of an essav, 131-32 Of the speaker in a poem, 207-9 Versification Analysis of F.R. Scott's "Laurentian Shield," 234-35 Student essay, "Sound and Sense in Houseman's 'Eight O'clock'," 236-39 ' Terms defined, 227-35