Approaching Literature - Text Only - 05 edition

Summary: A diversity of literature reflecting -- and resonating with -- 21st century students. Predominantly multicultural (60%) and multinational (10%), the 50 stories, 200 poems, and 12 plays not only speak more directly to today's diverse student populations, but also prepare more homogeneous classrooms for a multicultural and global future.

• Represents the breadth and vitality of American multicultural writing. ...show moreEstablished and emerging writers from across the American ethnic landscape were chosen for their relevance, teachability, and freshness. Highlights include Latino fiction writers Dagoberto Gilb, Virgil Suárez, and Helena María Viramontes; Iranian American poets Susan Atefat-Peckham, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Reza Baraheni; and African American playwrights Caleen Sinnette Jennings and August Wilson.
• Diverse examples illustrating the literary elements. Students will encounter fresh readings from unexpected authors illustrating the techniques of writers at work. 11 of 15 stories, 33 of 52 poems, and 5 out of 7 plays in the elements chapters are from non-Anglo authors.
• A solid grounding of canonical literary works fosters analysis and comparison. Stories by Ernest Hemingway, Kate Chopin, Edgar Allan Poe, and James Baldwin; poems by Julia Alvarez, Elizabeth Bishop, John Donne, Robert Frost, Gwendolyn Brooks, and W. H. Auden; and plays by Sophocles, Shakespeare, and Ibsen introduce students to important works of literature and provide opportunities for interesting, thought-provoking and illuminating comparisons.
• Presents a sampling of some of the best writing from around the world for a truly global perspective. Stories by Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia), Isabel Allende (Chile), Naguib Mafouz (Egypt), and Mishima Yukio (Japan); poems by Pablo Neruda (Spain), Yehuda Amichai (Israel), Anna Akhmatova (Russia), and Bei Dao (China); and a case study highlighting issues of translation combine to give students a sense of the scope and reach of world literatures.
• "Approaching Writers in Depth" Casebooks. The works of Langston Hughes, Judith Ortiz Cofer, and Sherman Alexie are given in-depth treatment in three multigenre casebooks. These chapters introduce students to the life and work of three diverse authors and include accessible introductions, photographs, biographical information, reviews, and literary criticism.