Blending a complete writing-about-literature text, a literature anthology, and a handbook into one, this distinctive book guides students through the allied processes of critical reading and writing -- illustrating the use of writing as a way of studying literature, and providing students with all of the tools necessary to analyze literature on their own. The text promotes interactive learning by integrating writing instruction with the study of literature.

NEW to this edition:

• Arguing and interpretation guidelines
• Additional casebooks
• Updated and expanded Companion Website -- the addition of a Writing About Literature section, interactive timeline, author photos, easy navigational bar, information on literary theory

We are delighted to offer select Penguin Putnam titles at a substantial discount to your students when you request a special package of one or more Penguin titles with any Prentice Hall text. Contact your Prentice Hall sales representative for special ordering instructions.

• NEW - Three casebooks added—One for each genre focusing on a specific work or theme.

  • Enables instructors to pursue a particular work or idea in greater depth.

• NEW - Arguing an Interpretation guidelines.

  • Helps students develop critical thinking and strengthen their writing about a literary work.

• NEW - Website updated and improved—To include author photos, study questions, a Writing about Literature section, author links for research, a literary timeline and a navigational bar.

  • Provides students with better, easier access to more information.

• NEW - Current Critical Approaches to Literature appendix.

  • Provides students with clear and brief explanations of current critical theories.

• NEW - Peer Review section expanded.

  • Provides students with advice and suggestions for working on writing in groups.

• NEW - Diversity of literary selections expanded.

  • Provides students with a broad range of authors and writing styles.

• Writing process emphasized as an integral part of literary study.

  • Provides students at varied levels of writing experience with an enjoyable approach to improving their writing.

• Sample Student Papers—Illustrate how to write about each genre and how to do a research paper.

  • Helps students see and understand how to devise and draft their essays.

• Three books in one comprehensive volume—Combines a literary anthology, a writing process textbook, and writing handbook into one text—providing an interactive learning experience that skillfully integrates writing instruction with the study of literature.

  • Helps improve students' writing skills and enhances their understanding of literature.

• Historically arranged literature anthologies with an emphasis on contemporary works—Offers selections that relate to students' experience, while reflecting the familiar canon.

  • Gives students an easy-to-follow, time-oriented framework that will help them recognize changes in literary styles and focus on prominent authors of a particular time, and sparks their interest by including literary selections familiar to them or that they can identify with.

• Alternate Thematic Table of Contents.

  • Provides an organized syllabi structure for instructors who favor that approach.

• Biographical sketches of each author.

  • Helps students understand an author's motives behind his/her work—adding insight and perspective to students' comprehension of each literary piece.

• Appealing writing topics—Suggests both critical writing topics (requesting literary analyses) and expressive writing topics (allowing personal responses to literary works).

  • Motivates students to write by offering them diverse and interesting topics to choose from.

• Writing from sources—Explains how to write from sources, focusing on a cultural analysis of the popular play M. Butterfly.

  • Prepares students for future coursework in literature of other disciplines which require research as the basis for analytical writing assignments.

• A guide to the MLA style—With instruction for citing Internet sources.

  • Enables students to effectively incorporate Internet and other sources in their papers.

• Brief introductions to each genre—e.g., “How Do I Read a Short Story?,” “How Do I Read a Poem?,” “How Do I Read Drama?”

  • Prepares students for focusing on key elements of literature.

• Aids for the revision process—Includes a peer evaluation checklist, revising checklist, proofreading checklist, and a guide to transitional terms.

  • Gives students step-by-step guidance through the revision process, and shows them the significance of this critical stage in writing.

• Handbook and Glossary of Rhetorical and Literary Terms—Offers a condensed version of the standard composition handbook that includes instruction for revising and correctness.

  • Gives students a handy and readily accessible reference in their main text that offers clear, easy-to-understand explanations with no complicated grammar; helps instructors put a stop to wasted class time explaining sentence and punctuation errors.