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Critical Strategies: An Overview Inside Front CoverPreface for Instructors xxv

The Possibilities of Literary Meaning 1TOM WAYMAN, Did I Miss Anything? 1

1. Reading: How Meaning Is Made 3

Who Makes Meaning? 3

LEWIS CARROLL, Jabberwocky 4

Are Some Readings Wrong? 7

Your Right to Read and Write 10

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution 10

2. Writing: How Invention Strategies Shape the Process 13

BRENDAN GILL, from Here at The New Yorker 14

New Criticism 15Reader-Response Criticism 17Deconstructive Criticism 19Biographical, Historical, and New Historical Criticism 21Psychological Criticism 23

Feminist Criticism 25Other Approaches 27

3. Literature: Why It Matters 29

What Isn’t Literature? 29What Is Literature? 32

ROBERT FROST, It Bids Pretty Fair 32

Critical Strategies at Work 37

4. Read Poetry Creatively: Reader-Response Criticism 39

Reflection: The Creative Reader 39DAVID WAGONER, This Is a Wonderful Poem 40

Strategies: Using Reader-Response Criticism 41

JOHN BURNSIDE, The Sand Merchant’s Wife 42

Inventing 42

Shaping 46

Drafting 48

Useful Terms for Reader-Response Criticism 54

Elements: Symbol and Image; Personification, Allegory, and Allusion 54

GJERTRUD SCHNACKENBERG, Supernatural Love 56

MARGARET CAVENDISH, Earth’s Complaint 59

Practice: Environments 60

MARK STRAND, The Garden 60

JOY HARJO, For Anna Mae Aquash Whose Spirit Is Present Here and in the Dappled Stars 61

CAROLINE FRASER, All Bears 63

EMILY DICKINSON, Through the Dark Sod 64

ROBINSON JEFFERS, Carmel Point 65

Suggestions for Writing 66

5. Read Poetry Closely: New Criticism 67

Reflection: The Organic Text 67

ARCHIBALD MACLEISH, Ars Poetica 68

Strategies: Using New Criticism 71GWENDOLYN BROOKS, The Mother 71

Inventing 72

Shaping 74

Drafting 75

LUCILLE CLIFTON, forgiving my father 78

Elements: Voice, Speaker, Tone, Point of View, and Irony 78

STEPHEN SHU-NING LIU, My Father’s Martial Art 81

Useful Terms for New Criticism 83

SEAMUS HEANEY, Digging 85

Practice: Ties That Bind 85

RICHARD WILBUR, The Writer 85

FROM THE GOSPEL OF LUKE, The Prodigal Son 87

THEODORE ROETHKE, My Papa’s Waltz 88

GREGORY DJANIKIAN, Immigrant Picnic 88

Suggestions for Writing 90

6. Read Poetry Playfully: Deconstruction 91

Reflection: An Open Space 94

JOHN ASHBERRY, Paradoxes and Oxymorons 94

Strategies: Using Deconstructive Criticism 96

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LANGSTON HUGHES, Cross 96

Useful Terms for Deconstruction 102

Elements: Figures and Forms 103

DEREK WALCOTT, Frederiksted, Dusk 104

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Sonnet 17 109

Practice: Good and Evil 112

LINDA PASTAN, Ethics 112

ROBERT LOWELL, For the Union Dead 113

ELI MANDEL, Houdini 115

JOHN DONNE, Death Be Not Proud 116

JOHANNES VERMEER, Woman Holding a Balance (painting) 117

LINDA PASTAN, Woman Holding a Balance, Vermeer, 1664 118

MARGARET ATWOOD, Spelling 119

Suggestions for Writing 121

7. Read Fiction Powerfully: Political Criticism 122Reflection: The Useful Text 122

ELIZABETH TALLENT, No One’s a Mystery 123

Strategies: Using Political Criticism 129

ERNEST HEMINGWAY, A Very Short Story 132

Inventing 137

Shaping 139

Drafting 139

Useful Terms for Political Criticism 143

Elements: Character, Setting, and Theme 144

WILLIAM FAULKNER, A Rose for Emily 144

AESOP, The Fox and the Grapes 155Practice: Idealisms 157

LANGSTON HUGHES, Thank You, M’am 157

TOBIAS WOLFF, Say Yes 160

JOHN UPDIKE, A & P 164

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE, The Birthmark 168

Suggestions for Writing 180

8. Read Fiction Contextually: Biographical, Historical, and New Historical Criticism 181

Reflection: Real Life 181

CHARLES JOHNSON, Moving Pictures 182

Strategies: Using Biographical, Historical, and New Historical Criticism 188

JOHN CHEEVER, Reunion 188

A Biographical Essay 192

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Inventing 192

Shaping 195

Drafting 197

A New Historical Essay 200

Inventing 200

Shaping 201

Drafting 202

Useful Terms and Sources for Biographical, Historical, and New Historical Criticism 205

Sources for Biographical Research 208

Sources for Historical Research 209

Sources for New Historical Research 209

Elements: Plot and Structure 209ELLEN MALPHRUS, Thanksgiving on the Chicken Bone

Express 210Practice: Missing Persons 216

JOHN CHEEVER, The Swimmer 217JOHN CHEEVER, The Country Husband 225

Suggestions for Writing 242

9. Read Drama Thoughtfully: Psychological Criticism 243

Reflection: Someone’s Mind 243MICHAEL HAMBURGER, A Poet’s Progress 245

Strategies: Using Psychological Criticism 249

MATTHEW ARNOLD, Dover Beach 249

Inventing 251

Shaping 253

Drafting 257

Useful Terms for Psychological Cricitism 262

Elements: Scene, Set, Actor, and Director 263

From William Shakespeare, Hamlet 264Practice: Brainstorms 266

TERENCE McNALLY, Andre’s Mother 266

Suggestions for Writing 269

Fiction 271

10. Elements of Fiction 273

Engaging the Story 273

Suggestions for Reading Stories 279

T. CORAGHESSAN BOYLE, The Hit Man 279

JANETTE TURNER HOSPITAL, Morgan Morgan 286

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Recognizing Elements: Plot, Character, and Point of View 291Stories to Experience 296

JOHN EDGAR WIDEMAN, Weight 296

ZORA NEALE HURSTON, Sweat 305

11. Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Flannery O’Connor: Two Case Studies 315

Reading Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper 316

CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN, The Yellow Wallpaper 316Writing about The Yellow Wallpaper: Critical Viewpoints 327

Elaine Hedges: The Initial Appearance and Early Reception 327

Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Autobiographical Insight 328

Barbara Ehrenreich and Deidre English: Historical and Political Stance 329

Loralee MacPike: New Critical, Psychological, Feminist Blend 332

Jean Kennard: Reader Response and Meta-Criticism 333

Judith Fetterley: Reader Response and Feminist Criticism 336

John Harvey Kellogg: Historical Materials 337

Janet Beer: Psychological Film Criticism 338

Richard Feldstein: Deconstruction 341

Douglas Tallack: Deconstructing Feminist Criticism 344Reading O’Connor’s Revelation 345

FLANNERY O’CONNOR, Revelation 346Writing about Revelation: Critical Viewpoints 360

C. Ralph Stevens: Biographical Sketch of O’Connor 360Margaret Earley Whitt: The Biographical Context

of Revelation 362Flannery O’Connor: On the Genre of the Short Story 363Margaret Turner: More Biographical Background 364Flannery O’Connor: On Her Motivation 365Anthony Di Renzo: Close Reading 366Marshall Bruce Gentry: Close Reading and Textual Evidence 370Richard Giannone: Historical and Biographical Materials 370

12. More Stories 373

HANAN AL-SHAYKH, The Keeper of the Virgins 374JAMES BALDWIN, Sonny’s Blues 379CLAUDIA SMITH BRINSON, Einstein’s Daughter 400RAYMOND CARVER, Cathedral 408

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KATE CHOPIN, The Storm 418SANDRA CISNEROS, One Holy Night 422AMANDA DAVIS, Louisiana Loses Its Cricket Hum 426RITA DOVE, The Vibraphone 430LOUISE ERDRICH, Wild Geese 441F. SCOTT FITZGERALD, Babylon Revisited 444ERNEST GAINES, Just Like a Tree 458BRENDAN GILL, The Knife 475JAMES JOYCE, Araby 478GARRISON KEILLOR, Zeus the Lutheran 482DORIS LESSING, A Woman on a Roof 493ALICE MUNRO, How I Met My Husband 500LESLIE NORRIS, Blackberries 511JOYCE CAROL OATES, Nairobi 515FRANK O’CONNOR, My Oedipus Complex 519CYNTHIA OZICK, The Shawl 527GRACE PALEY, A Conversation with My Father 531KATHERINE ANNE PORTER, The Jilting of Granny

Weatherall 534JOHN STEINBECK, The Chrysanthemums 541AMY TAN, Two Kinds 548JAMES THURBER, The Catbird Seat 556JOHN UPDIKE, Deaths of Distant Friends 562

Poetry 567

13. Elements of Poetry 569

Dealing with Difficulty 569WILLIAM MERIDETH, A Major Work 570

The Nature of Poetry 571MARK STRAND, Eating Poetry 572Liechtenstein 573This Is Just to Say 574Poetry 574

How to Read a Poem 575Words 576EMILY DICKINSON, The Soul Selects Her Own Society 576Sentences 578ROBERT FRANCIS, Catch 578A Sonnet Unfolded 579WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Sonnet 93 579

Recognizing Kinds 582

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Stances: Apostrophe, Aubade, Carpe Diem, Elegy, Ode, and Pastoral 583

Forms: Narrative, Lyric, and Dramatic; Rhyme and Rhythm 584Closed Versus Open Form 585DENISE LEVERTOV, Advent 1966 586ROBERT SOUTHWELL, The Burning Babe 589

Poems for Making Sense 590WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Sonnet 138 590WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS, The Red Wheelbarrow 591ROBERT GRAVES, Down, Wanton, Down! 591GARY SNYDER, Some Good Things to Be Said for the Iron Age 592RICHARD WILBUR, A Late Aubade 592

14. Poetic Conversations 594

Two Stars 597JOHN KEATS, Bright star! would I were steadfast as thou art 597ROBERT FROST, Choose Something Like a Star 598

An Odd Couple? 599BEN JONSON, Still To Be Neat 599ROBERT HERRICK, Delight in Disorder 599

The First Couple 600GENESIS 1:26–28, 2:7–10, 2:15–3:24 600WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS, Adam’s Curse 602STEVIE SMITH, How Cruel Is the Story of Eve 603TED HUGHES, Theology 604EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY, Never May the Fruit Be

Plucked 605LOUISE GLÜCK, The Apple Trees 606THOMAS CAMPION, There Is a Garden in Her Face 606JOHN MILTON, from Paradise Lost 607

Swine Songs 608GALWAY KINNELL, Saint Francis and the Sow 608SYLVIA PLATH, Sow 608THOM GUNN, Moly 610WILLIAM COWPER, The Love of the World Reproved 610CHARLES TOMLINSON, On a Pig’s Head 611RICHARD EBERHART, The Groundhog 612PAUL MULDOON, Hedgehog 613

A Bowl of Plums for Wordsworth 614WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, The World Is Too Much with Us 614KENNETH KOCH, Variations on a Theme by William Carlos

Williams 615HELEN CHASIN, The Word Plum 615

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DENISE LEVERTOV, O Taste and See 615AMY CLAMPITT, Nothing Stays Put 616

God? 617WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, Afterthought 617STEPHEN CRANE, A Man Said to the Universe 618THEODORE ROETHKE, Root Cellar 618PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY, Ozymandias 618JAMES FENTON, God, A Poem 619THOMAS HARDY, The Oxen 619WALLACE STEVENS, Anecdote of the Jar 620MARK STRAND, Keeping Things Whole 620GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS, God’s Grandeur 621AMY CLAMPITT, Lindenbloom 621

Shorelines 622ANTHONY HECHT, The Dover Bitch: A Criticism of Life 622JOHN BREHM, Sea of Faith 623FRED DINGS, Chains of Change 624CATHY SONG, Waterwings 625WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Sonnet 60 626ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON, Ulysses 626

Love among the Sheep 628CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE, The Passionate Shepherd to

His Love 628SIR WALTER RALEIGH, The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd 628JOHN DONNE, The Bait 629ROBERT HERRICK, To Phillis to love, and live with him 630C. DAY LEWIS, Song 631WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS, Raleigh Was Right 631JAMES DICKEY, The Sheep Child 632CARYN CRABB, The Passionate Businessman to a Foxy Chick 633

Revisions 634DIANE WOOD MIDDLEBROOK, February Afternoon,

In a Boat on the Seine (draft) 634DIANE WOOD MIDDLEBROOK, February Afternoon,

In a Boat on the Seine (published version) 635PATRICK ARMSTRONG, How I Wrote Kitty Hawk 635PATRICK ARMSTRONG, Kitty Hawk 638ROBERT FROST, In White (draft) 639ROBERT FROST, Design (published version) 639W. H. AUDEN, Musée des Beaux Arts 640DANNIE ABSE, Brueghel in Naples 640

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PETER BRUEGHEL THE ELDER, The Fall of Icarus (painting) 641

ALAN DEVENISH, Icarus Again 642

15. Robert Frost and Gwendolyn Brooks:Two Case Studies 643

Reading Robert Frost 645Mending Wall 645The Road Not Taken 646After Apple-Picking 646Birches 647Out, Out–– 648Fire and Ice 649Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening 649Desert Places 650Neither Out Far Nor In Deep 650Provide, Provide 650Nothing Gold Can Stay 651The Need of Being Versed in Country Things 651Sitting by a Bush in Broad Sunlight 652Once by the Pacific 652The Most of It 653

Writing about Robert Frost: Critical Viewpoints 653Donald Greiner on Frost’s Critical Reception 653Malcolm Cowley: New Critical Analysis 655H. A. Maxson: Survey of Various Approaches to Frost 656Karen Kilcup: Feminist View of Frost 660Mordecai Marcus: Biographical versus Formal Readings of

Two Poems 664Robert Frost: On Poetic Creativity 666

Reading Gwendolyn Brooks 668Sadie and Maude 668the ballad of chocolate Mabbie 668the preacher: ruminates behind the sermon 669A Bronzeville Mother Loiters in Mississippi. Meanwhile, a Mississippi

Mother Burns Bacon 669The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock, Fall, 1957 672Langston Hughes 674The Sundays of Satin-Legs Smith 675gay chaps at the bar 678“God works in a mysterious way” 678“do not be afraid of no” 679

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The Bean Eaters 679We Real Cool 680[What shall I give my children?] 680[And shall I prime my children?] 681[First fight. Then fiddle.] 681

Writing about Gwendolyn Brooks: Critical Viewpoints 681Paul Engle: New Critical and Biographical Stances 681Harvey Webster: Political Criticism 683Kenny Jackson Williams: Historical Influences 684Gertrude Reif Hughes: Feminist Criticism 684Brooke Kenton Horvath: New Criticism 686R. Baxter Miller: Reader-Response 689Joanne Gabbin: Political Criticism 691

16. More Poems 695

Suggestions for Reading Poetry 696DIANE ACKERMAN, Driving through Farm Country at

Sunset 698MAYA ANGELOU, My Arkansas 699MARGARET ATWOOD, Siren Song 699MARGARET ATWOOD, Variation on the Word Sleep 700W. H. AUDEN, In Memory of W. B. Yeats 701IMAMU AMIRI BARAKA (LEROI JONES), Preface to a Twenty

Volume Suicide Note 702APHRA BEHN, Song: Love Armed 703LOUISE BOGAN, Women 703ANNE BRADSTREET, The Author to Her Book 704WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT, To a Waterfowl 705ROBERT BURNS, Oh, my love is like a red, red rose 705COUNTEE CULLEN, Incident 706E. E. CUMMINGS, anyone lived in a pretty how town 706KWAME DAWES, Umpire at the Portrait Gallery 707EMILY DICKINSON, Because I could not stop for Death 708EMILY DICKINSON, ‘Faith’ Is a Fine Invention 709EMILY DICKINSON, I heard a Fly Buzz—When I Died 709EMILY DICKINSON, I like to see it lap the Miles 709FRED DINGS, The Divers 710JOHN DONNE, The Canonization 711RITA DOVE, Motherhood 712JOHN DRYDEN, To the Memory of Mr. Oldham 712RICHARD EBERHART, The Fury of Aerial Bombardment 713ROBERT FRANCIS, Pitcher 714

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MICHAEL HARPER, Dear John, Dear Coltrane 714ROBERT HERRICK, To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time 715A. E. HOUSMAN, Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry Now 716LANGSTON HUGHES, The Negro Speaks of Rivers 716LANGSTON HUGHES, The Weary Blues 717LANGSTON HUGHES, Theme for English B 717LUISA IGLORIA, Dinakdakan 718GALWAY KINNELL, The Bear 719PHILIP LARKIN, A Study of Reading Habits 722LI-YOUNG LEE, Persimmons 722DENISE LEVERTOV, Pleasures 724RICHARD LOVELACE, To Amarantha, That She Would Dishevel

Her Hair 725AMY LOWELL, Patterns 725CLAUDE MCKAY, If We Must Die 728CLAUDE MCKAY, America 728W. S. MERWIN, For the Anniversary of My Death 728W. S. MERWIN, Leviathan 729EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY, Love Is Not All 730HOWARD NEMEROV, The Goose Fish 730WILFRED OWEN, Dulce et Decorum Est 731DOROTHY PARKER, Résumé 732SYLVIA PLATH, Metaphors 733DUDLEY RANDALL, Ballad of Birmingham 733JOHN CROWE RANSOM, Bells for John Whiteside’s Daughter 734HENRY REED, Naming of Parts 734ADRIENNE RICH, Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers 735WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Sonnet 29 736WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Sonnet 31 736STEVIE SMITH, Not Waving but Drowning 736WILLIAM STAFFORD, Traveling Through the Dark 737JONATHAN SWIFT, A Description of the Morning 737DYLAN THOMAS, Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night 738DYLAN THOMAS, Fern Hill 738JOHN UPDIKE, Ex-Basketball Player 740WALT WHITMAN, O Captain! My Captain! 740RICHARD WILBUR, The Death of a Toad 741WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS, Spring and All 741WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS, The Dance 742PIETER BREUGHEL THE ELDER, Flemish Kermess (Peasant’s

Dance) (painting) 742JAMES WRIGHT, A Blessing 743

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WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS, The Second Coming 743

Drama 745

17. Elements of Drama 747

The World’s a Stage 747Getting the Play off the Page 749

Suggestions for Reading Plays 750

DOUGLAS ADAMS, Fit the First (from The HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) 751

Recognizing Elements: Conflict, Resolution, Act, and Play 765Writing about Drama 769

SUSAN GLASPELL, Trifles 770Understanding the Play 780Journal Entry: Student Example 781A Writing Plan: Critical Strategies 782Reader-Response Strategies 782Journal Entry: Student Example 784More Questions and Answers 784

“And Then She—Laughed”: Glaspell’s Trifles and the Reader’sResponse 788

Political Strategies 791

New Critical Strategies 791

Deconstructive Strategies 792

Psychological Strategies 793

Biographical, Historical, and New Historical Strategies 793

18. Sophocles and Shakespeare: Three Case Studies 795

Oedipus the King 795Oedipus and the Rest of Us 796Aristotle and Tragedy 797The Greek Theatre 798The Play Itself 801Sophocles, Oedipus the King 802

Writing about Oedipus the King: Critical Viewpoints 837James C. Hogan: Historical and Cultural Criticism 837Bernard Knox: New Critical Reading 838Sigmund Freud: Psychological Reading 839Adrian Poole: A Comment on Freud 840

Suggestions for Writing 840Hamlet 841

The Weight of Hamlet 841

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The Author, the Theatre, the Play 844

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark 845Writing about Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: Critical Viewpoints 950

H. D. F. Kitto: Historical Criticism 950Eleanor Prosser: Historical Criticism 952Maynard Mack: Close Reading 954Norman Holland: Reader Response Criticism 955Coppelia Kahn: Cultural and Political Criticism 957Elaine Showalter: Psychological and Feminist Criticism 957Janet Adelman: Psychological and Feminist Criticism 959John Updike: Creative Interpretation 961

Suggestions for Writing 964A Midsummer Night’s Dream 964

Your Shakespeare 965

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, A Midsummer Night’s Dream 967Writing about A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Critical Viewpoints 1027

Sidney Homann: The Director’s View 1027C. Walter Hodges: Reader-Response Criticism 1029David Bevington: New Criticism 1030Norman Holland: Reader Response and Psychological Criticism 1034Richard Wilson: Political Criticism 1037Shirley Nelson Garner: Feminist Criticism 1038Douglas Green: Queer Theory 1041Philip McGuire: Deconstructive and Historical Criticism 1045Leonard Tennenhouse: New Historical Criticism 1050Louis Montrose: New Historical Criticism 1052

Suggestions for Writing 1053

19. More Plays 1055

MARSHA NORMAN, The Laundromat 1056DAVID IVES, Sure Thing 1075AUGUST WILSON, The Janitor 1083CATHERINE CELESIA ALLEN, Anything for You 1084MILCHA SANCHEZ-SCOTT, The Cuban Swimmer 1088

Appendix A: Research and Documentation 1101

Investigating the Work 1101The Purposes of Research 1102

The Topic and the Task 1102How To Do Research 1106

xxiv Detailed Contents

Background Sources 1107Bibliographies and Indexes 1108Securing Resources, Taking Notes, Finding a Thesis 1109

The Writing Process 1112Principles of Documentation 1113WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS, Sailing to Byzantium 1113

A Sample Research Paper 1116Getting Ideas 1116Organizing 1121Drafting 1122

Appendix B: Editing and Revising 1127

Editing 1127Tightening 1127Brightening 1130Connecting 1131

Revising 1133The Hard-to-Please Reader 1133Proofing 1138Format and Appearance 1139Revising Checklist 1142

Appendix C: Brief Biographies of Selected Poets 1143

Glossary of Literary and Critical Terms 1160Acknowledgments 1181Index of First Lines of Poems 1199Index of Authors and Titles 1203Index of Literary and Critical Terms Inside Back Cover