Synopses & Reviews
Better readers make better writers. Todays students do readwe know that they read a significant amount of email, text messages, web pages, and even magazines. What many do not do is read in a sustained way. Many do not come to college prepared to read long texts, nor do they come with the tools necessary to analyze and synthesize what they read. Nick Delbanco and Alan Cheuse have proven in their own teaching that when you improve students ability and interest in reading, you will help them improve their writing.
Bringing writers to students, Bringing students to writing.
Literature: Craft and Voice is an innovative new Introductory Literature program designed to engage students in the reading of Literature, all with a view to developing their reading, analytical, and written skills. Accompanied by, and integrated with, video interviews of dozens of living authors who are featured in the text, conducted by authors Nick Delbanco and Alan Cheuse specifically for use with their textbook, the book provides a living voice for the literature on the page and creates a link between the student and the authors of great works of literature. The first text of its kind, Literature: Craft and Voice offers a more enjoyable and effective reading experience through its fresh, inviting design and accompanying rich video program.
About the Author
Nicholas Delbanco
Nick Delbanco is the Robert Frost Distinguished University Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Michigan, where he formerly directed the prestigious Hopwood Awards Program in creative writing and where the Delbanco Prize was established in his honor for students who need financial assistance to attend the Hopwood Program (only 25 students are admitted each year). He is also a co-founder (together with the late John Gardner) of the Bennington Writing Workshops
As the Delbanco Prize implies, Nick is a beloved teacher and through his teaching has been in the thick of the modern literary scene. His students have praised his enormous frame of literary reference, his eagerness to devour a new work, and his ability to home in on its weaknesses. Richard Tillinghast, a poet and colleague at Michigan, said of Nick, “When you have someone with an eye and ear like Nick's, you can really learn a lot about what talents you have and how to use them.”
Describing Nicks teaching style, the New York Times said, “Mr. Delbanco delights in horrifying his students by urging them to imitate rather than innovate. He tells them that imitation is the surest route to originality and warns against self-expression, self-discovery.” His students also talk of his sociability (he loves a good story, to tell it and to hear it), his honesty, and his devotion to his students. One student said, “He gave me confidence when I had no confidence. He's also very blunt and honest. He has no problem tossing your manuscript back at you and saying, 'This stinks.' He would dismantle me and then take me into his office and tell me I could be a writer.”
Nick has won several awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, and two Writers Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. He is the author of twenty-four books of fiction and non-fiction, a frequent contributor to Harpers, and often seen in the New York Times. Some have called him a “writers writer” --to which he replies “it's hard to see it as an insult at all. The worst you could say is that it's a kind way of saying nobody buys your books.” He has written a previous McGraw-Hill text, The Sincerest Form: Writing Fiction through Imitation. His most recent novel is The Count of Concord, a work of historical fiction that tells the tale of Count Rumford: inventor of the coffeepot, philosopher, and spy (among other things). The Chicago Sun says, “Novelist Nicholas Delbanco has done us a great service by rescuing Rumford from obscurity…In ‘The Count of Concord we see a veteran novelist working at the height of his powers.”
Alan Cheuse
Alan Cheuse has been reviewing books on All Things Considered since the 1980s.
Formally trained as a literary scholar, Alan also writes fiction and novels and publishes short stories. He is the author of three novels, two collections of short fiction, and the memoir Fall out of Heaven. With Caroline Marshall, he has edited two volumes of short stories. Alans short fiction has appeared in publications such as The New Yorker, The Antioch Review, Ploughshares, and Another Chicago Magazine. His most recent collection of his short fiction was published in September 1998 and his essay collection, Listening to the Page, appeared in 2001.
Alan splits his time between the two coasts, spending nine months of the year in Washington, D.C., where he teaches writing at George Mason University. His summers are spent in Santa Cruz, Calif. teaching writing at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers. Cheuse earned his Ph.D. in comparative literature with a focus on Latin American literature from Rutgers University in 1974.
"The greatest challenge of this work [at NPR]," he says, "is to make each two-minute review as fresh and interesting as you can while trying to focus on the essence of the book itself."
Table of Contents
detailed contents Preface Acknowledgments Foreword to the Student video interview with the authors available online @ xxx Fiction CHAPTER 1: READING A STORY IN ITS ELEMENTS A Conversation on Writing with John Updike, video interview available online @ xxx John Updike, A&P A summer job turns into a life-lesson when three girls in bathing suits walk in to a sea-side supermarket. Kate Chopin, Story of an Hour Love, and its burdens, can be dangerous for the heart. Alice Munro, An Ounce of Cure A Canadian high-school girl raids the liquor cabinet while babysitting, and the ceiling begins spinning like a great plate--as does her future. CHAPTER 2: GOING FURTHER : An Interactive Reading An Interactive Reading: Anton Chekhov, Rapture, translated by Patrick Miles and Harvey Pitcher A young Russian man discovers alcohol, and the world discovers him. A Student Critical Response A Conversation on Writing with the Richard Ford, video interview available online @ xxx Richard Ford, Optimists A Montana family at the table, the father strikes a terrible blow against the future. A Conversation on Writing with Amy Tan, video interview available online @ xxx Amy Tan, Two Kinds A young Asian-American woman in San Francisco wrestles with her identity. CHAPTER 3: WRITING ABOUT FICTION A Conversation on Writing with Jamaica Kincaid, video interview available online @ xxx Jamaica Kincaid, Girl An island girls mother talks and talksbut does the girl listen? A Students Critical Analysis Paper on Girl (three drafts) CHAPTER 4: PLOT A Conversation on Writing with T. Coraghessan Boyle, video interview available online @ xxx T. Coraghessan Boyle, Greasy Lake A place weve all visited, some never to return. James Joyce, Araby A young Dublin boys quest to please a girl changes his life. Naguib Mahfouz, The Conjurer Made Off with the Dish, translated by Denys Johnson-Davies His mother sends him into the streets of Cairo with a dish to fill with beans…and a meeting with a street magician knocks him off course. Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Circumcision An old religious custom alters the way one young Indonesian Muslim sees the world. A Checklist: Reading for Plot Suggestions for Writing about Plot CHAPTER 5: CHARACTER A Conversation on Writing with Gish Jen, video interview available online @ xxx Gish Jen, Whos Irish? An immigrant mother turns her family, and her own life, inside out. Katherine Anne Porter, The Jilting of Granny Weatherall A dying old woman relives her most memorable hour and days. Willa Cather, Pauls Case Some money from the till, and a train ticket out of Pittsburgh to New York City make for a striving young man quite a dangerous escapade. Jack London, A Wicked Woman Loretta thought she was a wicked wicked woman, but did the world agree? A Checklist: Reading for Character Suggestions for Writing about Character CHAPTER 6: SETTING A Conversation on Writing with Barry Lopez, video interview available online @ xxx Barry Lopez, The Location of the River A modern westerner meets the strange truths of old maps and ancient traditions. Edgar Allan Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher The cursed relationship of a brother and sister brings down the house. Eudora Welty, Why I Live at the P.O. Before TV sitcoms, there was Sisters family down in Mississippi. Bernard Malamud, The Magic Barrel How to arrange love in immigrant New Yorkwith complications a young fellow hadnt figured on. A Checklist: Reading for Setting Suggestions for Writing about Setting CHAPTER 7: POINT OF VIEW A Conversation on Writing with Z. Z. Packer, video interview available online @ xxx Z. Z. Packer, Brownies A troop of young black girls find togethernes and estrangement in the world of camps and badges. Ernest Hemingway, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber An African safari yields dangerous results for animals and their hunters. Lorrie Moore, How to Become a Writer Or, Have You Earned This Cliché? Instructions on how to write, and how to live with what you writea comedy of typing. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper Diary of a woman confined to her room on rest curebut is she alone? A Checklist: Reading for Point of View Suggestions for Writing about Point of View CHAPTER 8: LANGUAGE, TONE, AND STYLE A Conversation on Writing with Aimee Bender, video interview available online @ xxx Aimee Bender, The Rememberer Love alters notthough the beloved changes, and changes, and changes. Thomas Wolfe, Only the Dead Know Brooklyn A trip into the subway, and the world of urban mythology, all of it wid a Brooklin aksent… Ha Jin, Saboteur The Chius take a honeymoon trip to a provincial Chinese town, and an incident turns honey to ashes. Junot Diaz, How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie How to solve a wonderful multicultural dilemma for a young multicultural guy. A Checklist: Reading for Language, Tone, and Style Suggestions for Writing about Language, Tone, and Style CHAPTER 9: THEME A Conversation on Writing with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, video interview available online @ xxx Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Cell One Her brother gets arrested, and the family erupts, and a young Nigerian girl learns some new truths. Stephen Crane, The Open Boat Four men against the sea, in an adventure off the coast of Florida. D. H. Lawrence, The Odour of Chrysanthemums The news is not good in a small English coal-mining town as mother and son wrestle with a terrible event. Jhumpa Lahiri, The Interpreter of Maladies A clash of cultures in the Indian countryside, attended by monkeys. A Checklist: Reading for Theme Suggestions for Writing about Theme CHAPTER 10: SYMBOL A Conversation on Writing with Tim OBrien, video interview available online @ xxx Tim OBrien, The Things They Carried On patrol in the jungles of Vietnam, bearing the burden of the past and the terrors of the future… Elizabeth Tallent, No Ones a Mystery The end of her first love affair, over the speed limit, and under the age limit, in Wyoming… Nathaniel Hawthorne, Young Goodman Brown In old New England, the dark woods at night prove to be filled with dangers and temptations. Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis Gregor wakes up one morning to discover hes been transformed into an insect. Whats worsehes late for work! A Checklist: Reading for Symbol Suggestions for Writing about Symbol CHAPTER 11: FICTION AS SOCIAL COMMENTARY: A Case Study on Joyce Carol Oates A Conversation on Writing with Joyce Carol Oates, video interview available online @ xxx Three Girls Is that…? Could it be…? Some girls at a used book store in NYC have a special celebrity sighting… Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? A teenage girl is courted by the worst possible suitor. Getting Started: A Research Project Further suggestions for Writing and Research Some Sources for Research CHAPTER 12: AMERICAN REGIONALISM AND SENSE OF PLACE: Two Case Studies THE AMERICAN WEST A Conversation on Writing with William Kittredge, video interview available online @ xxx William Kittredge, Thirty-Four Seasons of Winter Two Montana brothers, and thirty-four years of work, fights, and thwarted love. A Conversation on Writing with Dagoberto Gilb, video interview available online @ xxx Dagoberto Gilb, Romeros Shirt For love of an old wool shirt, an El Paso man comes to terms with his difficult life. John Steinbeck, The Chrysanthemums When a visitor arrives to sharpen her knives, a California farm wife sharpens her understanding of herself and her marriage. Leslie Marmon Silko, The Man to Send Rain Clouds How to bury an old Indian rain makerwith the help of the local priest or not? Sylvia Watanabe, Talking to the Dead One generation of Hawaiians passes the knowledge to the next generationbut how to receive it? THE AMERICAN SOUTH Flannery OConnor A Good Man Is Hard to Find Granny is trying to be a good woman, but how good do she or her family have to be to avoid death at the hands of the Kid and his gang? Revelation Insights into the Power and Glory of things come in the strangest places. William Faulkner A Rose for Emily A proud old woman, a small Mississippi town, and a terrible secret revealed. Barn Burning A father and son struggle about the question of a fire. Ralph Ellison Battle Royal This graduation day one black student discovers his hopes, and some awful truth about the powers that be. A Party Down at the Square A young visitor from Kentucky witnesses horror in a Southern town square. Getting Started: A Research Project Further suggestions for Writing and Research Some Sources for Research CHAPTER 13: VISUAL ARTS, FILM, AND FICTION Gareth Hinds, Beowulf: The Graphic Novel [Grendels Defeat] Beowulf [Grendels Approach and Demise], translated by CB Tinker Two Novel Adaptations: John Gardner, Grendel [Grendels first glimpse of Beowulf; Grendels demise] Michael Crichton, Eaters of the Dead [Ibn Fadlans first glimpse of Buliwyf; battle with the Wendol] Two Film Adaptations: The 13th Warrior (film stills of Grendels defeat) Beowulf: The Movie (film stills of Grendels defeat) Getting Started: A Research Project Further suggestions for Writing and Research Some Sources for Research CHAPTER 14: AN ANTHOLOGY Of STORIES FOR FURTHER READING A Conversation on Writing with Amy Hempel, video interview available online @ xxx Amy Hempel, San Francisco Who has mamas watch? A tumultuous wake after an earthquake of a death. Sherman Alexie, What You Pawn I Will Redeem An alcoholic street Indian rescues his grandmothers dancing regaliaand himselffrom near-certain oblivion. Margaret Atwood, Happy Endings How many happy endings can one story have? James Baldwin, Sonnys Blues A black man from New York tries to be his musician brothers keeper, but the brother wont be kept. J.L. Borges, The Circular Ruins, translated by Anthony Bonner You may be dreaming, but who is dreaming you? Raymond Carver, Cathedral A blind man leads a sighted man to new insights about life and love. Anton Chekhov, The Lady with the Pet Dog, translated by Avrahm Yarmolinsky Adultery, and its aftermath, at a Russian sea-side resort. Zora Neale Hurston, The Gilded Six-Bits The costs of a carefree life among black Georgia workers turn out to be more expensive than anyone thought. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World, translated by Gregory Rabassa An encounter with death leads a Columbian village to a celebration of life. Ursula K. Le Guin, The Kerastion She had made that instrument, the kerastion, the flute that is played only at a funeral. But can she hear its tune? Katherine Mansfield, Miss Brill Every Sunday in the park, Miss Brill wears her furexcept an overheard remark makes this Sunday her last. Herman Melville, Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street One mans determined campaign to defy his employer, a city, and the world. Ana Menendez, Traveling Madness A Cuban visionary takes off for the skies and his troubles balloon. R. K. Narayan, An Astrologers Day He was as much a stranger to the stars as were his innocent customers, but one particular day his luck began to shine. Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude Matters of life and death, in old Russia, impinging on our own lives and time. Alice Walker, Everyday Use For a Southern black country family, the times they are a-changing…but how much change does a family need? Poetry CHAPTER 15: READING A POEM IN ITS ELEMENTS A Conversation on Writing with Carolyn Forché, video interview available online @ www.mhhe.com/delbanco1e An Interactive Reading: Carolyn Forche, The Museum of Stones The Craft of Poetry Robert Burns, O My Luves Like a Red, Red Rose Robert Hayden, Those Winter Sundays Sappho, A Fragment [“The moon has set”] William Wordsworth, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud Mary Oliver, At Blackwater Pond William Butler Yeats, Sailing to Byzantium Stephen Dunn, Poem for People That Are Understandably Too Busy to Read Poetry CHAPTER 16: GOING FURTHER WITH READING An Interactive Reading: William Shakespeare My Mistress Eyes Are Nothing like the Sun Leonard Cohen, For Anne FORMS OF POETRY Lyric Song of Solomon 4:1-7 [“Behold thou art fair, my love”] D. H. Lawrence, Piano William Butler Yeats, Leda and the Swan Epic George Gordon, Lord Byron, Don Juan [“Bob Southey, youre a poet”] George Gordon, Lord Byron, Don Juan [“I want a hero”] Dramatic Robert Browning, My Last Duchess A Conversation on Translation with Stephen Mitchell, video interview available online @ www.mhhe.com/delbanco1e Bhagavad Gita [The Secret of Life], translated by Stephen Mitchell Rumi, Some Kiss We Want, translated by Coleman Parks Pablo Neruda, Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You, translated by