Reading Literature

Robert DiYanni is Professor of Humanities at New York University, USA where he serves on the faculties of the School of Professional Studies and the Stern School of Business, following a decade in the College of Arts and Science. His publications include The Pearson Guide to Critical and Creative Thinking (2014), Critical and Creative Thinking: A Brief Guide for Teachers (2015), and Critical Reading Across the Curriculum (with Anton Borst; 2017). His Literature (1986) went through six editions and his Modern American Poets (1988, 1993) was the companion text for the PBS television series Voices and Visions about modern American poetry. His co-authored Scribner Handbook for Writers went through four editions and his book Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay went through six.

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Print and Digital ReadingPart I: Reading Lyric Poetry—5 Ways InPrelude I: The Pleasures of Lyric Poetry1. Speaker, Structure, Sound—William Butler Yeats: "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death"2. Argument—Andrew Marvell: "To His Coy Mistress"3. Tone—Stephen Crane: "War is Kind"4. Literature and the Arts—Pieter Brueghel the Elder, W. H. Auden, William Carlos Williams, and Walt Whitman5. Interrupted Reading—Robert Frost: "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"Interlude I: Epic PoetryPart II: Reading Fiction—Five Ways In Prelude II: The Pleasures of Fiction6. Questions—Katherine Anne Porter: "Rope"7. Surprises—Edgar Allan Poe: "The Cask of Amontillado"8. Voices—Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice9. Fiction, History, Art—Ernest Hemingway: "The Revolutionist" and A Farewell to Arms10. Interrupted Reading—Kate Chopin: "The Story of an Hour"Interlude II: The Novel and NovellaPart III: Reading Drama—Five Ways In Prelude III: The Pleasures of Drama11. Mental Theater—August Strindberg: The Stronger12. Subtext—Wendy Wasserstein: Tender Offer13. Language and Style—William Shakespeare: Othello 14. Scene and Sound —William Shakespeare: Macbeth15. Interrupted Reading—George Bernard Shaw: Arms and the ManInterlude III: Types of DramaPart IV: Reading the Essay—Five Ways In Prelude IV: The Pleasures of the Essay16. Annotation—Francis Bacon: "Of Youth and Age"17. Style and Tone—Mary Wollstonecraft: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman18. Slow Reading—Leslie Jamison: "A Street Full of Splendid Strangers"19. Reading Framework—Jamaica Kincaid: "On Seeing England for the First Time"20. Interrupted Reading—George Orwell: "A Hanging "Interlude IV: The Video EssayPart V: Reading with Literary Elements—Five TakesPrelude V: The Value of Literary Elements21. Elements of Lyric Poetry—Gerard Manley Hopkins: "Spring and Fall: to a young child"22. Elements of Epic Poetry—John Milton: Paradise Lost23. Elements of Fiction—James Joyce: "Araby"24. Elements of Drama—Isabella Augusta Persse, Lady Gregory: The Rising of the Moon25. Elements of the Essay—Zora Neale Hurston: "How It Feels to Be Colored Me"Interlude V: Literary ConventionsPart VI: Reading Literature Through Critical Lenses—Twelve TakesPrelude VI: The Value of Literary Perspectives26. Formalist27. Reader-Response28. Biographical29. Historical30. Psychological31. Sociological32. Mythological33. Structuralist34. Deconstructionist35. Postcolonial36. Ecocritical37. Influence and ValuesAppendix: Writing about LiteratureReferencesIndex