1

Connecting Quotations to Your Sentences

Caveat: Do not leave quotations unattached to your own sentences. Those are floating

quotations. Floating quotations are serious errors in ENGL 202. You must physically

connect quotations to your sentences.

Wrong: The Misfit understands this frightening aspect of human nature. “‘She would of been a good woman . . . if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life’” (140).

Wrong: Incredibly, Sarty feels he should defend his father. “‘You done the best you could!’” (64)

The quotations above are unmoored, adrift.

In this course, you may use three methods to connect short quotations to your own sentences:

1) A colon to connect a full sentence you write to a quotation.

2) A comma to connect a quotation to a dialog tag that you write.

3) Seamless run-in (morph) from your prose to quotation.

Do not invent other methods. Restrict yourself to these three methods.

Method One: Use a colon to connect a full sentence you write to a full sentence you

quote. A young concertgoer demolishes Miss Bill’s self-perception: “‘[Her fur] looks exactly like a fried

whiting’” (14).

Bub experiences in that paragraph an intensely personal epiphany: “It was like nothing else in my life up to now” (131).

Method Two: Use a comma to connect quotations to dialog tags that you write.

Examples of dialog tags include she says, he writes, she illustrates, he considers, and she

thinks. Understanding this frightening aspect of human nature, The Misfit remarks, “‘She would of been a

good woman. . . if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life’” (140).

In ironic defense of his father, Sarty says, “‘You done the best you could!’” (64)

Method Three: Employ the sophisticated run-in technique so your prose morphs

seamlessly into the quotation. The Misfit knows the grandmother would have been nice all of her life if someone had been present

to “‘shoot her every minute of her life’” (140).

Tragically, Sarty feels his father did “‘the best [he] could’” (64).

Miss Brill’s fragile world shatters when she learns that others think her precious fur looks “‘exactly like a fried whiting’” (14).

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Some Further Caveats, Concerns, and Rules:

1. Use brackets [ ] to show changes you make for the sake of grammatical tense and

agreement.

2. Always refer to fiction in the present tense.

3. Do not quote an exchange of dialog (two people talking back and forth).

4. Do not embed quotations in a sentence—at the front or in the middle. Instead, for this

course, place quotations at the ends of your sentences.

5. Use ellipsis [. . .] to show you have deleted words.

6. Do not begin or end quotation with ellipsis. Instead, use ellipsis inside of a quotation.

Readers know there are words in the story before and after your quotation.

7. Place a space between the dots in an ellipsis.

8. If a quotation at the end of a sentence ends with a question mark or exclamation point,

do not use a period after parentheses.

9. Resist the temptation to place a comma, semi-colon, or colon in front of a run-in

(morphed) quotation.

10. Never use quotation marks for emphasis.

11. Use internal quotation marks for quoting dialog, never for any other reason.

12. When you follow the title of a short story or poem with a comma or period, place that

punctuation inside of the quotation marks. When quoting the text, place commas and

periods after the parenthesis. Readers admire Faulkner’s “Barn Burning.”

When we consider the rhythms in Hopkins’s “Pied Beauty,” we stand back amazed.

Likely The Misfit is sincere when he says, “‘God never made a finer woman than my mother’” (89).

Faulkner even presents olfactory images: “He could smell the coffee from the room where they would presently eat” (54).

3

Rules of Usage

Usage here means the way educated speakers and writers in the United States use

English on formal and semiformal occasions. Although some rules of usage are arbitrary and

seem to serve no purpose other than convention, most serve several important purposes.

First, they often aid clarity. Punctuation, for example, represents parts of the sentence--

pauses and inflections--that words do not. Marks of punctuation can be as important as the

words. Misplace a comma, and you can change meaning of a sentence. Second, rules of

usage help communicate your ethos. Rules of usage are a form of etiquette; educated people

are expected to follow them. By doing so, you communicate an image of competence and

respect for your readers.

If you are not familiar with the basic rules of usage, they might at first seem

bewildering. But they are not hard to learn. Study and practice using them, and you will

learn them quickly. Get yourself a handbook of usage, and use it as a reference when you

write. A standard handbook of usage is The Harbrace College Handbook; another is the

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers .

Although the rules of usage are important for your writing, in this document we

concentrate on ones common in essays about literature. One set of such rules governs

documentary procedure. Rules for handling documentation vary from discipline to

discipline, but their purpose is the same: to help your readers find your sources and to let

your readers know that you have a solid knowledge of your subject matter. Another area of

usage unavoidable in essays about literature is quotations. We describe rules about

quotations here, as well as a few other rules of usage that pertain to essays about literature.

4

Quotations

Quotations are a frequent and essential part of most essays about literature. They serve

two key purposes: they help to exemplify claims that the writer of the essay makes, and they

represent directly the felicitous of characteristic language of a source.

1. Introduce your quotations. a. For primary sources, identify the author, the work, and the context of quotations.

Wrong: The woman tells her lover that the world “isn’t ours anymore.”

Right: Near the climax of the lovers’ conversation in Hemingway’s “Hills like White

Elephants,” the woman tells the man that the world “isn’t ours anymore.”

The reason for this rule is that quotations take on significance because of what

surrounds them. Often, as in the above example, the quotation is meaningless unless the

reader knows where it occurs in the story.

b. Introduce quotations from secondary sources by giving the author’s name or claim to

authority.

Wrong: “A fully articulated pastoral idea of America did not emerge until the end of

the eighteenth century.”

Right: Leo Marx claims that a “fully articulated pastoral idea of America did not

emerge until the end of the eighteenth century.”

Right: A prominent America critic claims that a “fully articulate...”

There are several reasons for this rule. One is that giving the critic’s name or claim to

authority clearly distinguishes your ideas from other writer’s. Quotation marks help to make

this distinction, of course, but introducing the quote by author makes the distinction

emphatic. A second reason is that when readers see quotation marks, they are naturally

curious about who said the quoted passage. And as they read your essay, they may want to

keep track of the different approaches of the critics you are using. A third reason is that by

giving the author’s name, you distinguish between secondary and primary sources. The

distinction may not be clear just from the quotation itself. A final reason is that it is a matter

of courtesy to give credit in your text to the words and ideas of other people. It is as if you

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are standing before an audience making a speech, and for support of your argument you bring

forth real people to speak on your behalf. In such a situation, you would always introduce

them by name to your audience before the spoke. You are not just giving them credit; in a

way, you are thanking them.

c. Introduce quotations with the correct mark of punctuation. Use a comma for brief,

informal, grammatically incomplete introductions.

Wrong: Prufrock thinks “I am no prophet--and here’s no great matter.”

Right: Prufrock thinks, “I am no prophet--and here’s no great matter.”

Use a colon to separate your own grammatically complete introductions of

statements(complete sentences) from the quotations.

Wrong: Edith Hamilton describes Hera perfectly, “She was the protector of marriage,

and married women were her peculiar care. There is very little that is attractive in the portrait

the poets draw of her.”

Right: Edith Hamilton describes Hera perfectly: “She was the protector....”

The rules of usage here are to a degree arbitrary, and may find that they vary from

handbook to handbook. But their main function is to separate your thoughts from those of

the quotation--that is, to eliminate ambiguity. Thus, the first examples above mean two

different things. Without the comma, the reader might see the whole sentence as one

complete thought: “Prufrock thinks [that] ‘I am no prophet--and here’s no great matter.”

With the comma, the reader sees that “Prufrock thinks” is merely the introduction to the

quotation; the quotation is the complete thought.

2. Integrate quotations into your own sentences (run-in or morph).

Example: Because of this increasing darkness, Brown cannot be quite sure of what he

does or hears. The devil’s walking stick, for example, seems to turn into a snake, but this

may be “an ocular deception, assisted by the uncertain light” (76). He thinks he hears the

voices of Deacon Gookin and the minister, but “owing doubtless to the depth of the gloom of

that particular spot, neither the travellers now their steeds were visible” (81).

6

Once you have properly introduced your source, you may want to integrate short quotations--

words or phrases--from it into your own sentences, as in the above example. The quotations,

then, become part of your own thoughts rather that thoughts totally separate from yours. This

technique is most useful when you want to summarize a source concisely and yet retain

something of the language and authenticity of the source. If you use this method, you should

obey several rules.

a. Keep all the tenses the same. Change the tenses in the quotation to correspond to your

tenses, putting your words in brackets. When writing about fictional events, for example,

change quoted verbs to the present tense.

Wrong: While the legislators cringe at the sudden darkness, “all eyes were turned to

Abraham Davenport.”

Right: While the legislators cringe at the sudden darkness, “all eyes [turn] to Abraham

Davenport.”

b. Make sure that sentences are complete.

Wrong: Yeats asks if “before the indifferent beak.” [Incomplete sentence; makes no

sense.]

Right: Yeats asks if Leda “put on [the swan’s] knowledge” before his “indifferent

beak could let her drop.”

c. Clarify pronouns that have no clear antecedents.

Wrong: Captain Wentworth says, “It had been my doing--solely mine. She would not

have been obstinate if I had not been weak.” [This quotation is wrongly handled if the

antecedent of “she” is unclear.]

Right: Captain Wentworth says, “It had been my doing--solely mine. [Louisa] would

not have been obstinate if I had not been weak.”

d. Make sure that subject and verb agree.

Wrong: Wilfred Owen says that the only prayer said for those who die in battle is

war’s noise, which “patter out their hasty orisons.” [Subject: “noise”; verb: “patter.” The

subject is singular, the verb plural.]

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Right: Wilfred Owen says that the only prayer said for those who die in battle is the

“rapid rattle” of guns, which “patter out their hasty orisons.” [Subject: “guns”; verb:

“patter.” Both subject and verb are now plural]

In short, when you integrate a quotation into your sentence, it becomes a grammatical

part of the sentence. You need to make the whole sentence, including the quotation, conform

to all the rules of usage that you would normally obey when writing any other sentence. See

section 4 for methods of altering (interpolating) quotations to align them with your sentences.

3. Quote accurately. Copy exactly what the author has written

4. Make editorial changes in quotations correctly. You may legitimately change the

quotation in two ways:

a. By using an ellipsis. The ellipsis (spaced periods) indicates material omitted. You

may want to do this for brevity’s sake. To indicate omitted material within a sentence, use

three periods, with a space before and after each period.

Example: As one critic says, “Oedipus is guilty for two reasons: because of the deeds

he actually committed. . .and because of his desire to commit them.”

In addition to using an ellipsis to indicate the omission of part of a sentence, you can

use four periods to indicate omission of whole sentences, a paragraph, or several paragraphs.

The following example omits part of a long paragraph.

Example: Ruskin gives two reasons for his belief that to demand perfection of art is to

misunderstand it: “The first, that no great man ever stops working till he had reached his

point of failure. . . .The second reason is that imperfection is in some sort essential to all that

we know of life.”

b. By using brackets. Brackets indicate editorial changes that you, not the author, make

to clarify the quotation or to make it fit the grammatical structure of your sentence. Do not

use parenthesis to indicate such changes; otherwise, your reader will see them as part of the

original quote.

Wrong: Alceste says that “sins which cause the blood to freeze / Look innocent beside

(Céliméne’s) treacheries.”

Right: “She looked carefully for the place where [Elizabeth] had entered the garden.”

Right: Flaubert says that “she [has] an excess of energy.”

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5. Indent long quotations. A long quotation is one that is more than three lines of poetry or

four lines of prose. Usually, your introduction to a long quotation will be a complete

sentence. Conclude your sentence, then, with a colon(not a comma or a period). Double-

space from your text. Indent ten spaces from the left margin. Do not put indented quotations

in quotation marks. Double-space the quote.

Example: The duke is chagrined that his own name and presence were not the sole

sources of her joy:

She had

A heart--how shall I say?--too soon made glad,

Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er

She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.

Sir, ‘twas all one! My favour at her breast,

The dropping of the daylight in the West,

The bough of cherries some officious fool

Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule

She rode with round the terrace--all and each

Would draw from her alike the approving speech,

Or blush, at least.

As in this example, keep the first words of a quoted poem exactly where they come in

the line. For those quotations, do not indicate paragraph indentations unless you are quoting

more than one paragraph.

6. Punctuate quotations correctly.

a. Use double quotation marks (“ ”) for quotations. For quotations within

quotations, use double quotation marks for the main quote and single quotation marks (the

apostrophe mark on the typewriter) for the inner quote.

Example: After his interview with Hester, Dimmesdale sinks into self-doubt: “‘Have I

then sold myself,’ thought the minister, ‘to the fiend whom, if men say true, this yellow-

starched and velveted old hag has chosen for her prince and master!”

b. Always put periods and commas inside the quotation marks.

Example: After performing her “duties to god,” as she called them, she was ready for

her “duty to man.”

c. Always put colons and semicolons outside of quotation marks.

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Example: She had the “exquisite pleasure of art”; her husband had only envy and

hatred.

d. Put other marks of punctuation (question marks, dashes, exclamation points) inside

quotation marks when they are part of the quoted material, outside when they are not.

Example: As one critic out it, “Could the Pearl Poet really be the author of Sir Gawain

and the Green Knight?”

Example: But can it be, as one critic claims, that “the Pearl Poet really [is] the author

of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?”

e. When quoting a line of poetry of part of a line, make the quotation part of your

sentence. Use a slash mark, with a space before and after the mark, to indicate line divisions.

Example: Hopkins describes God’s grandeur as gathering “to a greatness, like the

ooze of oil / crushed.”

When quoting more than two or three lines of poetry, indent the quotation ten spaces

from the left margin. For indented quotations of poetry, do not use slashes to indicate line

divisions and do not enclose the quotation in quotation marks. Type the lines and words in

exactly the same position as in the original.

Other Rules of Usage Related to Essays about Literature

Essays about literature obey the same rules of usage as other essays, but several rules

deserve special attention.

1. Tense. Describe fictional events, whether in drama, poetry, or prose fiction, in the present

tense.

2. Authors’ names. Use either the full name (Charles Dickens) or last name (Dickens).

Some exceptions are Lord Byron, Mrs. Browning, and Dr. Johnson.

3. Titles. a. Capitalize the first letter of all words in a title except articles, short prepositions, and

conjunctions. And capitalize the first word of a title and the first word after a colon.

Example: “How I Won the World but Lost My Soul to the Devil’s Wiles”

Example: “Exile’s Return: A Narrative of ideas”

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b. Use quotation marks when you give the titles of works included within larger works.

This includes short stories, short poems, songs, chapter titles, articles in journals, magazines,

and newspapers, and unpublished works such as dissertations and master’s theses.

c. Underline or italicize the titles of works published independently, such as books,

plays, long poems published as books, periodicals, pamphlets, novels, movies, works of art,

works of music, and radio and television programs. An exception is sacred writings such as

the Bible, books of the bible, the Koran, and the Talmud.

d. Do not underline, italicize, or put in quotation marks the titles of your own essays.

e. Many instructors prefer that your essay titles include full names of authors and

works.

Wrong: The Four Stages of Knowledge in Twain’s Huck Finn

Right: The Four Stages of Knowledge in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of

Huckleberry Finn.

f. If your instructor approves, in the text of your essay you may use shortened titles for

works you frequently cite: “Prufrock” for “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” or Huck

Finn for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

4. Foreign Language terms. a. Italicize (or underline) foreign words used in an English text, such as sans doute, et

tu Brute, amor vincit omnia.

Example: She objected to her son-in-law’s behavior because it was not commr il faut.

Reproduce, either by hand or in type, all marks and accents as they appear in the

original language: étude, á propus, méme, úbermensch.

b. Some foreign words, like cliché, laissez-faire, and genre, have been naturalized

(made part of) English usage and do not need to be italicized. Use your dictionary to

determine whether the word or phrase needs italics. Foreign words in dictionaries are either

italicized or placed at the back of the book in a separate section.

Example: Adam Smith advocated a laissez-faire economic policy.

c. Do not italicize quotations that are entirely in another language.

Example: Louis XIV once said, “L’état, c’est moi.”

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Physical Format

As with rules of usage, the appearance of your essay also affects your argument. Your

readers want an essay that is easy to read, pleasant to hold, and attractive to see. The more

care you take with the appearance of the essay, the more competent your readers will think

you are. Although your instructor may have specific preferences, the following are standard

guidelines. Most of them come from the MIA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.

1. Paper. Use standard-size paper (8 and one-half by 11-inch), not legal-pad size or notepad

size. Use a sturdy weight of paper. Never use onionskin paper except for carbon copies.

Avoid “erasable” paper; it does not take correction in ink well and it is sticky. In a warm

place it is very unpleasant to handle. Don’t hand in essays written on pages that have been

ripped out of a spiral-bound notebook.

2. Pagination. Number all pages, beginning with the first page. Number pages

consecutively, including pages for endnotes and works cited. Put the page numbers in the

upper right-hand corner of each page following your last name (with a space between the

two).

Example: Caraway 16.

3. Margins. For typewritten essays, leave one-inch margins at top, bottom, and sides. This

gives the page a “frame” and a place for the instructor’s comments. For handwritten essays,

leave margins at top, bottom, and left side.

4. First page. One inch from the top of the first page, on the left hand side put your name,

the instructor’s name, the course title, and the date, each on a separate line. Double-space

between the lines. After the last line (the date), double-space again and center your title. If

your title has more than one line, double-space between lines. Double-space between the title

and the first line of text.

Title pages for the college essays, even research essays, are usually unnecessary, but if

your instructor expects a title page, check with him or her for its content and form, or consult

a handbook of usage.

5. Corrections. You may write corrections on final copies of essays if the corrections are

few and fairly inconspicuous. In typed essays, erase incorrect letters and write or type in the

correct letters. Draw a vertical line through an incorrect letter in a handwritten essay and

write the correct letter just above the line. Separate run-together words with vertical lines

(for example, made/a/mistake). To delete words, phrases, and clauses, draw a single

horizontal line through them. Add words, phrases, and clauses by writing them in above the

line. Use a caret (^) to show where inserted material should go.

6. Putting the essay pages together. Use a spring clip to combine the pages of your essay

unless your instructor specifies some other method.

7. Copies. Make copy of your essay. If your instructor loses your essay, you can

immediately present him or her with the copy of your finished essay. Or if your instructor

keeps your essay indefinitely, you will have the copy for your files. When you turn in the

essay the first time, however, turn in the original, not the copy.

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Modifier Problems

INSTRUCTIONS: Correct the modifier problems below.

1. My parents bought a house from a man with no inside plumbing.

2. The characters find a jewel in the story by Maupassant.

3. My dog was hit by a truck running across the road.

4. I heard my kid outside with the dog yelling and laughing.

5. Leaking in several places, the scouts abandoned their tents.

6. Dressed in a silk nightgown, he thought his wife looked sexy.

7. After reading the article, the meaning became clear.

8. While working for B&W business, writing is the most common communication.

9. People who use drugs frequently suffer health problems.

10. On July 20, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin

landed on the moon, watched by nearly a fifth of the world's population.

11. After seeing the benefits of reduced employee turnover, absenteeism, and lateness,

onsite daycare is being provided more frequently as a perk for working parents.

12. An author who did not receive much attention until after her death, readers of all ages

enjoy Emily Dickinson's poetry today.

13. Cost-efficient and convenient, many of today's corporate employees are being trained

through computer-assisted instruction.

14. Having submitted the conference registration form after the deadline, special

permission by the chairperson was needed before she could give her presentation.

13

15. When purchasing a cellular phone, the wide variety of calling plans and features

overwhelms many people.

16. New York Stock Exchange members shout out opening bids and offers, acting on

behalf of institutions and individual investors.

17. At the age of six my mother had another baby.

18. Sitting there looking at the ocean, her decision was finally made.

19. I read that the hit-and-run driver had been caught in the morning paper.

20. She is going out with a man who owned a BMW named Herman.

21. A report was made about the holdup by the police.

22. I bought a second-hand car from a man with generator trouble.

23. After smelling up the whole house, I finally gave my dog a bath.

24. Determined to learn to write, the textbook was slowly mastered.

25. She left the meat on the table that was too tough to eat.

26. The bank will make loans to responsible people of any size.

27. Being a conceited fool I didn't much care for his company.

28. Completely smashed, I saw that my car was beyond repair.

29. We gave all the newspapers to the Boy Scouts that have been lying around for months.

30. One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas.

31. Although nearly finished, we left the play early because we were worried about our

sick cat.

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Passive Voice

DIRECTIONS: In the sentences below, change passive voice to active voice.

1. Before the semester was over, the new nursing program had been approved by the

Curriculum Committee and the Board of Trustees.

2. With five seconds left in the game, an illegal time-out was called by one of the players.

3. Later in the day, the employees were informed of their loss of benefits by the boss

herself.

4. The major points of the lesson were quickly learned by the class, but they were also

quickly forgotten by them.

5. For several years, Chauncey was raised by his elderly grandmother.

6. "The Yellow Wallpaper" was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

7. Participants in the survey were asked about their changes in political affiliation.

8. Tall buildings and mountain roads were avoided by Raoul because he had such a fear

of heights.

9. The statue is being visited by hundreds of tourists every year.

10. My books were stolen by someone yesterday.

11. These books had been left in the classroom by a careless student.

12. Coffee is raised in many parts of Hawaii by plantation workers.

13. The house had been broken into by someone while the owners were on vacation.

14. A woman was being carried downstairs by a very strong firefighter.

15

15. The streets around the fire had been blocked off by the police.

16. Have you seen the new movie that was directed by Ron Howard?

17. My car is in the garage being fixed by a dubious mechanic.

18. A great deal of our oil will have been exported to other countries by our government.

19. The particular topic chosen by the instructor for study in his section of English 2 must

be approved by the Steering Committee. [Hint: Start with "The Steering Committee."]

20. Recommendations concerning the type of study needed to assure adequate definition of

the larger problem and develop feasible options in programs designed to eliminate or

greatly reduce both the direct and indirect effects within a reasonable time and at

acceptable cost were presented in the report. [Begin with "The report."]

21. Avoidance of such blunders should not be considered a virtue for which the student is

to be commended, any more than he would be praised for not wiping his hands on the

tablecloth or polishing his shoes with guest towels. [Hint: Begin with "We should

not."]

22. Collaborative analytical determinations were utilized to assess the probable

consequences of mechanical failure. [Start with "Analysts."]

23. The difference between restrictives and nonrestrictives can also be better approached

through a study of the different contours that mark the utterance of the two kinds of

element than through confusing attempts to differentiate the two by meaning. ["One

can."]

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24. Individuals whose income is insufficient to lift them above poverty must be provided

with assistance from public sources. [Start active, and try "Supplement."]

25. In the next thirty-five years it is expected that there will be more engineering work to

be done than has been done in all of recorded history.[Make "The next thirty-five

years" the subject.]

26. If expansion is not accomplished, then two less-efficient alternatives must be acted

upon: either the book sales will have to be in separate quarters or else the whole

enterprise will have to be moved to a new location. [Try "we."]

27. Trees on average sites are expected to be about twenty inches in diameter when they

are eighty years old if they are managed properly since youth. [Start "Managed

properly."]

28. Any amended declaration should be filed with the Internal Revenue Office with whom

the original declaration was filed even if you move to another district.

17

Parallelism

DIRECTIONS: Revise the following sentences so that they are parallel.

1. An actor knows how to memorize his lines and getting into character.

2. Tell me where you were, what you were doing, and your reasons for doing it.

3. Clark's daily exercises include running, swimming, and to lift weights.

4. We followed the path through the forest, over the hill, and we went across the river.

5. Marcie studied for the test by reviewing her class notes and she read her textbook.

6. She likes to listen to music and reading the latest novels.

7. He spent his time studying Spanish, working at the convenience store, and he jogged

every afternoon.

8. The apartment was filled with old newspapers, broken bottles, and the ashtrays were

overflowing.

9. Mary wanted to paint her office, to add some new draperies, and the carpet need

cleaning.

10. When Friday rolls around, do you go to the mall, head for a bar, or are you going to

work?

11. Phuong Tran has wit, charm, and she has an extremely pleasant personality.

18

12. In English class, Tashonda learned to read poems critically and she appreciated good

prose.

13. Coach Espinoza was a brilliant strategist, a caring mentor, and friend.

14. We found the film repulsive, offensive, and we thought it was embarrassing.

15. Not only was Smith after the money but also the girl.

16. Put the lamp on the table, the book in the shelf, and then take this tea cup to the sink in

the kitchen.

17. The students not only have to understand these regulations but also the instructors.

18. To design her own clothes and making them are two of Rebecca’s goals.

19. Not only are migrant workers exploited in the Southwest but also in other parts of the

Sunbelt.

20. Jack Paar, an early host of the "Tonight Show", was a dazzling interviewer and who

was controversial.

21. To complain is easy, but finding solutions is difficult.

22. Even at an early age, Raquel could walk on her hands, do forwards flips, and showed

excellent balance.

23. Although modeling is often perceived as an easy job, it requires talent, patience, and

models must have stamina.

24. The annual report serves two primary functions: (1) The presentation of financial data

to stockholders (2) To build company public relations in the business community.

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Words of Transition

To add: also, and then, too, plus, in addition,

furthermore, moreover, again, on top of that,

another, first, second, third…likewise, equally

important, finally

To put in time order: now, then, before, after,

afterwards, earlier, later, immediately, soon, next,

meanwhile, gradually, finally, previously, in the

past

To put in space order: near, near to, far, far from,

in front of, beside, in the rear of, beyond, above,

below, to the right, to the left, around,

surrounding, on one side, inside, outside,

alongside, adjacent to, opposite to

To compare: in the same way, similarly, just like,

just as, likewise, in like manner, in a similar

fashion

To contrast: but, still, however, on the other

hand, on the contrary, yet, nevertheless, despite, in

spite of, even though, in contrast, instead,

notwithstanding, otherwise, although this may be

true

To show cause and effect: because, since, for this

purpose, to this end, thereupon, accordingly,

consequently, thus

To show purpose: for this reason, for this

purpose, so that this may happen

To emphasize: indeed, in fact, surely, necessarily,

certainly, without any doubt, in any event, truly,

again, to repeat, to be sure, in any event

To give examples: for example, for instance, as

an illustration, to illustrate, specifically, to be

specific, as a case in point

To summarize: in short, in other words, as has

been noted, in brief

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Commercial vs. Literary

Commercial Literary

Purpose: Purpose:

pure entertainment, enjoyment enjoyment plus understanding

Structure: Structure:

1. sympathetic, attractive hero(ine) a unique, complex

2. exciting, suspenseful action-filled plot arrangement of characters

3. happy ending and actions organized to

4. either no theme, or one expressed in platitude; yield an authentic insight

e.g., virtue will be rewarded into human life or

behavior

Result: Result:

Sustains readers’ fantasies by simplifying and A generalized truth about

falsifying life human beings, not a particular

fact about a particular person

Commercial-Literary Scale

Pure Commercial_____________________________________________________Pure Literary

A. The first question:

--Why bother to read fiction? Why spend precious time on works of the imagination?

Answer: Enjoyment and Understanding. Aristotle: Delight and instruct.

--Since the invention of language, people have taken pleasure in imaginary adventures and imaginary people.

--But to be worthy of study, to be greater than Ping-Pong or checkers, it must give more than enjoyment. It

must provide understanding.

--The experience of human beings through the ages is that literature provides insights, authentic

understanding of the world in which we live.

--Not all literature provides understanding of the world in which we live.

B The distinction:

Commercial Fiction: written purely for entertainment—to help us pass time agreeably.

Literary Fiction: written to broaden and deepen and sharpen our awareness of life.

Commercial Literature takes us away from the real world.

Literary Fiction takes us deeper into the real world.

Commercial fiction has as its only object pleasure.

Literary fiction has as its object pleasure and understanding.

This is not on-off, good-bad, all-or-nothing. Opposite ends of the scale: two poles.

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D. The Difference

--The difference does not lie in the absence of presence of a moral; shallow stories may have proper

morals.

--The difference does not lie in the absence or presence of facts; a historical fiction may be full of

facts, but strive to give us only escape.

--The difference does not lie in the absence or presence of fantasy; commercial may have the surface

of the everyday, and a wild fantasy may present some hidden truth about human nature.

--A literary story presents us with an insight, large or small, into the nature and conditions of our

existence.

E. Two kinds of readers: Only commercial readers, and literary readers

--Unschooled readers want what they read to return them always some pleasant and exciting image of

the world, or some flattering image of themselves.

--They are dogmatic; they have narrow latitudes of acceptance. They are afraid of the new and what

they don’t understand.

--They see the world as the way they want it to be, and expect literature to portray the world that way

rather than some other way.

--They stick to one type of subject matter (subgenre)

F. Common expectations of commercial readers

1. a sympathetic hero or heroine

2. an exciting plot and strong suspense

3. a happy outcome that does not disturb the reader

4. a theme which is pre-received knowledge

--These characteristics are not bad; what’s bad is to make them rigid requirements. The requirements

limit what we can learn. They reduce literature to formula.

--Discriminating readers take pleasure in fictions that deal with life rather than in fictions that deal

with escape.

--Discriminating readers do not reject commercial literature. They often enjoy it. Some commercial

literature is beautifully written.

But readers of literary fiction recognize two dangers in commercial fiction:

1. A steady diet of commercial fiction, because it exposes us to limited ideas, gives us a

superficial view of life.

2. A steady diet of commercial fiction may actually distort our view of reality and give

us false concepts and false expectations.

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Plot

Plot: The sequence of incidents or events composing a story

Includes: what characters do, say and think

Excludes: Description and analysis

In a good story: Is inextricable from character and total meaning, and is significant

for what it reveals about character and life

Usually involves: Conflict and suspense and should have artistic unity

Conflict: Clash of actions, ideas, desires, or wills

Protagonist: Central character in conflict;

May be sympathetic or unsympathetic, good or bad

versus

Antagonists: Forces opposing central character;

May be persons, things, social conventions, internal traits

Two ways of analyzing conflict:

1. By nature of antagonist: a. man vs. man (person or persons)

b. man vs. environment (nature, society, fate)

c. man vs. himself (some element within)

2. By nature of conflict a. physical

b. mental

c. emotional

d. moral

Suspense: The quality in a story that makes readers ask what will happen next and (in more

sophisticated fiction) why events occur

Usually involves curiosity and anxiety over the fate of a character

Associated devices:

a. Mystery: Unusual set of circumstances for which the readers craves explanation

b. Dilemma: Position requiring choice among undesirable alternatives

c. Surprise: Unexpected turn of events, may supply ending of short story

Endings: Happy: Characteristic of escape fiction, wraps things up,

discourages further thinking about the story

Unhappy: Frequent in interpretive fiction

Justified by real life

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Encourages reader to ponder

Indeterminate: Occurs in interpretive fiction

Justified by real life and encourages further pondering

Surprise: More frequent in escape than interpretive fiction

May be evaluated in two ways:

1. Fairness by which it is achieved:

a. Unfair: Achieved through unlikely coincidences or withholding of

essential information earlier

b. Fair: Appears perfectly logical and natural upon reflection

2. Purpose served:

a. Trivial: Exists for its own sake, to shock and titillate

b. Fraudulent: Attempts to hide earlier weaknesses

c. Worthwhile: Opens up or reenforces meaning, illuminating

Criteria for judging surprise endings relate to artistic unity

Artistic Unity: All elements in a story must contribute to total meaning, advance central purpose

Nothing must be irrelevant or be present for only its own sake

Events and incidents in a plot should be selected and arranged to advance central

purpose most effectively

Given a set of characters and an initial situation, plot should unfold logically, inevitably

and not through manipulation of chance and coincidence

Chance: Occurrence of an event with no apparent cause in antecedent events

Coincidence: Chance occurrence of two events having a peculiar correspondence

Chance and coincidence objectionable in proportion to:

improbability

importance in story

nearness to end

A story may begin with an improbable initial situation, but artistic unity demands that it develop logically

from that point: fact is stranger than fiction in that any combination of improbable events may occur in life

but not in art.

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Character

CHARACTER is inseparable from PLOT, but a story may emphasize one or the other:

ESCAPE/COMMERCIAL FICTION tends to emphasize PLOT (actions done by characters)

INTERPRETIVE/LITERARY FICTION tends to emphasize CHARACTER (characters doing actions)

Characters in interpretive fiction more varied and more complex than those in escape fiction.

In a sense we can know fictional characters better then real people because

1) We always see them in significant situations.

2) Author can tell us what's going on in his characters' minds.

MEANS OF CHARACTER PRESENTATION:

DIRECT: Author or another character tells us, by exposition or analysis, what a character is like.

Cannot be used alone or story will become essay.

May not be emotionally convincing.

INDIRECT: Author shows us the character in action, forces us to infer what he is like from what he thinks, says, or does.

Characters are DRAMATIZED--shown speaking and acting.

More emotionally convincing than direct presentation.

Should be used more than direct for a successful story and and may be used

entirely.

PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE CHARACTERIZATION:

1. Characters should be DRAMATIZED.

2. Characters must be CONSISTENT in their behavior--must not arbitrarily behave one way on one occasion and a

different way on another without a clearly sufficient reason.

3. Characters' behavior must be clearly MOTIVATED--we must be able to understand the reasons for what they do, at

least by the end of the story, and especially if their behavior changes.

4. Characters must be PLAUSIBLE or life-like--should be neither purely good nor monstrously evil nor an impossible

combination of contradictory traits; should be characters such as could exist.

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TYPES OF CHARACTERS--by extent of DEVELOPMENT

ROUND: Complex, many-sided, can't be summed up in a sentence or two.

FLAT: Have only one or two traits, may be summed up in a sentence.

STOCK: A fictional stereotype whose nature is immediately known, e.g., strong silent

sheriff, cruel stepmother.

A special kind of flat character.

Often found in inferior fiction, should be avoided.

Decision to use round or flat character depends upon that character's role in the story. Each character should be developed

fully enough to justify his role and be convincing. Minor characters normally remain flat. If focus of story is not on

character, none of the characters need be fully developed.

TYPES OF CHARACTERS--by presence or absence of BASIC CHARACTER CHANGE:

STATIC: Does not undergo change, is the same sort of person at the end of the story as

at the beginning.

DEVELOPING (DYNAMIC): Undergoes a permanent change in some aspect of his character, personality,

or outlook.

Change must be in something important or basic, not a mere change in

condition or minor change in opinion.

Most short stories have only one developing character.

Many stories revolve around basic changes in protagonist as a result of a crucial situation in his life.

Change must meet three conditions to be convincing:

1) Be within the possibilities of the character.

2) Be sufficiently motivated by the circumstances.

3) Be allowed a sufficient time for a change of its magnitude to take place believably.

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Theme

Theme Defined: The controlling idea or central insight of a story, its unifying generalization about life

Present in all interpretive fiction, but only some escape fiction

In Escape Fiction: Theme is often a widely accepted platitude that may or may not be true to life; will usually represent

life as we would like it to be.

Theme may not be organically embodied in the specifics of the story but

introduced mechanically as a peg from which to hang the story; i.e., the

story may be designed explicitly to illustrate a theme.

In Interpretive Theme is equated with the central purpose of the story.

Fiction:

A theme may be stated explicitly by the narrator or a character but is more frequently implied by and

revealed through the characters and their actions.

Good interpretive fiction is not normally written to illustrate a theme;

instead theme arises naturally from the author's portrayal and revelation of life. Theme is implicit in

and organically related to the events and characters portrayed.

Hence, implicit theme may be arrived at often by tracing the story's central conflict and/or central

character change. The title may also provide a clue.

NOTE: Although theme may be stated as an abstract statement, it is usually revealed to our emotions,

senses, and imaginations, not merely to our intellects; it is revealed through our reactions to the

characters and their actions.

Usually interpretive theme is not a didactic pronouncement or moral but a revelation about life with

which we may disagree rather than a teaching which we are urged to follow.

Principles for

Stating a Theme:

1. Theme must be expressible as a statement with a subject and predicate.

2. Theme must be stated as a generalization about life, not a statement relating only to specific characters.

3. But thematic generalization must not be stated in broader terms than are justified

by the story; it may refer to some people, not to all.

4. As the central and unifying concept of the story, theme must

a. account for all major details.

b. not be contradicted by any detail.

c. rely only upon facts actually stated or clearly implied within the

story, not brought in from our experience outside it.

5. Theme may be stated in more than one way.

6. Theme should be more than a cliché.

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Point of View

1. What is point of view in fiction?

Point of view determines who tells a story, and therefore, how it gets told.

2. How do we determine point of view?

We ask ourselves three questions:

a) Who tells the story?

b) How much is this person allowed to know?

c) To what extent does the author look inside the

characters and report their thoughts and feelings?

3. What are the major points of view?

-- Omniscient

-- Limited omniscient

a) Major Character

b) Minor Character

-- First Person

a) Major Character

b) Minor Character

c) Reliable

d) Unreliable

-- Objective

4. What is omniscient point of view?

The story is told by the author as if he is a god. The author's knowledge and prerogatives are unlimited; he can

enter any character's mind and he knows all, sees all. The author enters the minds of at least two characters.

Advantages: Omniscient is the most flexible point of view and has the widest scope. It provides full

opportunity for authorial interpretation to the reader.

Disadvantages: There is a danger of the author coming between the reader and the story. Also, unity may be

lost through excessive shifting of viewpoint, and thus the illusion of reality may be destroyed.

5. What is limited omniscient point of view?

The author tells the story in the third person through one character. We

enter the mind and know the soul of only one of the characters.

Advantages: Limited omniscient is closer to real life than omniscient.

Stories in this point of view are unified by the perceptions of a single

character.

Disadvantages: This point of view is limited to the knowledge and

perceptions of only one character. Sometimes this character cannot gain

access to all the essentials of the story.

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6. What is first person point of view?

A character tells the story in first person: "I."

Advantages: The first person point of view is similar to the limited omniscient but may be more immediate

because the author's voice does not intervene between the speaker of the story and the reader. This point of view

provides an excellent opportunity for irony if the narrator is unreliable.

Disadvantages: This point of view provides no opportunity for direct

commentary or interpretation by the author. Thus the narrator's

commentary may become more perceptive than his character allows.

7. What is the objective (or dramatic) point of view?

We see the story as if it were a movie. We don't know what any character thinks. We make all the inferences.

The burden of making interpretations, of determining motives and theme, are entirely upon the reader.

Advantages: This is the fastest point of view. Also, the readers must make their own interpretations.

Disadvantages: The reader must rely completely upon external action and dialogue. The objective point of

view provides no opportunity for authorial interpretation.

8. Why should we examine point of view?

We should know whether events are interpreted by the author or by a character. If the events are interpreted by a

character, to what extent is the story filtered by his imitations, flaws, (dis)honesty, intelligence and maturity?

9. On what basis do writers choose a point of view?

-- The good reason: For maximum revelation of material

-- The bad reason: Merely to trick the readers

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Irony

Defined --a situation, or use of language, involving some kind of incongruity or discrepancy.

--a contrast in which one term mocks another term in some way.

--not to be confused with sarcasm (language designed to cause pain, language that "tears the flesh").

--used to suggest the complexity of experience, to furnish an indirect evaluation of the material, to suggest

unstated meanings.

Three Types of Irony:

1. Verbal Irony: A figure of speech in which what is said is the opposite of what is meant.

Example: In "Dulce Et Decorum Est," the speaker of the poem refers to the listener as "my

friend." The speaker means the opposite.

2. Dramatic Irony: An incongruity or displacement between what a character says or thinks and what a reader

knows to be true, or between what a character perceives and what the author intends the reader to perceive.

Example: In "The Chrysanthemums," Eliza says, "That's a bright direction." We know that she will soon learn it

is not a bright direction at all.

3. Irony of situation: A situation in which there is an incongruity between appearance and reality, or between

expectation and fulfillment, or between the actual situation and what would seem appropriate.

Example: Miss Brill enjoys eavesdropping on conversations. In the final conversation, the young

lovers decide that her fur looks like a fried fish.

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Poetry Concepts and Terms

Quotation: Using “/” to indicate line breaks

Speaker (Persona)

Dramatic Situation

Auditor, Apostrophe

Caesura, Enjambment, End-stop

Denotation & Connotation

Stanza Structure/Form

Couplet

Tercet-Triplet

Quatrain

Quintain

Sestet

Septet

Octave

Shape

Haiku

Sestina

Epigram

Villanelle

Sonnet

. Italian/Petrarchan

. English/Elizabethan/

Shakespearean

Musical Devices

Alliteration

Consonance

Assonance

Rhyme

. Internal Rhyme

. End Rhyme

. Masculine Rhyme

. Feminine Rhyme

. Slant/Near/Approx.

Tropes

Simile

Metaphor

Hyperbole

Synecdoche

Personification

Litotes

Kenning

Metonymy

Onomatopoeia

Paradox-Oxymoron

Irony

Verbal

Dramatic

Situational

Meter & Rhythm

Scansion

Feet

Iambic foot

Trochaic foot

Anapestic foot

Dactylic foot

Rising, Falling

Double, Triple

Line Length

Trimeter line

Tetrameter line

Pentameter line

Imagery

Gustatory

Tactile

Olfactory

Visual

Symbolism

Theme

. Occasions

. Carpe Diem

. Aubade

. Elegy

. Epigram

. Epithalamion

. Rant

. Ubi Sunt

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Musical Devices

Music The poet, unlike the writer who writes only to convey

information, chooses words for sound as well as meaning.

In Bad Poetry The music, the sound, is held in importance above all else.

In Good Poetry The music plays an equal role with meaning, image, symbol,

meter and other devices to create an organic whole.

Repetition Essential in all music, and so is variation.

All things we enjoy greatly and lastingly have these elements.

The sea--with its waves--always the same, yet always

different.

We enjoy baseball because it contains the same complex

combination of pattern and variation.

We like the familiar, we like variety, but we like them

combined.

If we get too much sameness the result is monotony and

tedium: doggerel.

If we get too much variety, the result is bewilderment and

confusion.

Alliteration The repetition of initial consonant sounds: safe and sound, fish

or fowl, rhyme or reason.

Assonance The repetition of vowel sounds: mad as a hatter, time out of

mind, free and easy.

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Consonance The repetition of final consonant sounds: first and last, stroke

of luck.

In Combination "Malt does more than Milton can..."

Alliteration and consonance and assonance in combination

create interlocking connection among and between lines and

stanzas.

Rhyme The repetition of accented vowel sounds and all succeeding

sounds.

Masculine Rhyme sounds involve only one syllable:

support and retort.

Feminine Rhyme sounds involve two or more

syllables: mellow and yellow; fertile and

turtle.

Internal When one or more of the words rhyming are

within the line.

End When the rhyming words are at the ends of

lines. Because it comes at the end of the

line, it receives emphasis as a musical effect.

Also, end rhyming words are often the most

important.

Approximate Also called "slant." Words with any kind of

similarity. Especially noticeable in modern

verse.

Enjambment When one line of verse runs into the next line of verse without

punctuation at the end of the line.

Caesura Punctuation within a line of verse.

33

Figurative Language

or

Tropes Are Our Friends

Purpose: We use figures of speech in fiction and poetry because we can say

what we want more vividly and forcefully than we can by saying it directly.

Figurative language adds extra dimensions to what we write.

Effect: Tropes are effective in fiction and poetry because they:

a) Afford imaginative pleasure--helps the mind to leap.

b) Bring additional imagery to fiction and poetry, makes the

abstract more concrete and sensuous. Figures multiply the

sense appeal.

c) Tropes add emotional intensity. Owen's comparison of a

man caught in a gas attack to a man drowning in the sea

conveys despair and suffocation as well as visual image.

d) Tropes add concentration and compression--a way of saying

much. "Out, out brief candle" (Macbeth) says much about life.

Definition: Broadly speaking, a figure of speech is any way of saying something

other than the ordinary way. More specifically, it's a way of saying one thing and

meaning another.

Metaphor and Simile: Writers use these as a way of comparing things that are essentially

unlike. A simile is a comparison between unlike objects or ideas expressed with

like, as, than, similar, etc. A metaphor is implied--the figurative term is

substituted for or identified with the literal term.

Simile: Freddy is like a rabid dog when he's angry.

Not a simile: I like pizza more than liver.

Metaphor: Freddy's a mad dog when he's angry.

Metaphor: Freddy was so angry he foamed at the mouth.

34

Four Forms of Metaphor:

Literal Figurative

Named Named

Life the hound

Named Implied

Leaves got up in a coil and hissed

Implied Named

It powders all the wood

Implied Implied

It sifts from leaded sieves

Personification: Attributes human life to an animal, object, or concept. Leaves

whispered in the wind. The engine coughed twice, then died.

Apostrophe: Addressing someone absent or dead or something non human as if

that person or thing were present and alive and could reply. Keat's "Ode to a

Grecian Urn" would be an example.

Synecdoche: The use of the part for the whole. Eliot's Prufrock whines, "I should

have been a pair of ragged claws/ Scuttling across the floors of silent seas."

Metonymy: The use of something closely related for the thing actually meant:

"Flowers paint the meadow with delight." Delight replaces bright color--which

produces delight.

Hyperbole: Overstatement--a lie in the service of truth. If I say that my one-

pound trout is one pound and two ounces, I'm deceiving you. But if I say I caught

a trout the size of a Shetland pony, then I'm communicating that I'm happy with the

size of the fish.

Understatement:. When the great white shark attacked me, he had my full

attention.

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Cliché: Dead metaphor. Overused figure of speech. Pre-fabricated phrase.

Avoid clichés. Busy as a bee. When all is said and done. Right there and then.

Like a bolt from the blue. Like a hot knife through butter. Blushing bride. Basket

case. Bite the dust. Do not write clichés unless your characters speak in clichés

for character development.

Symbol: A symbol is itself and something more. In poetry and fiction writers do

not accidentally toss around storms, caves, winter, the sea, rivers, night, paths,

graves, snakes, sleep, etc., etc., etc. Some symbols are universal--they have the

same meaning for all members of a culture or all people on the planet. Other

symbols are specific to a certain work, as Moby Dick becomes a symbol in

Melville's work. Symbols often indicate theme. Warning: it's easy to see symbols

everywhere. 'Tis better to under-interpret than over-interpret symbols. The

symbol is the richest and at the same time the most difficult of the poetical figures.

This richness and difficulty result from the imprecision, but the symbol is therefore

able to suggest a great variety of meanings.

Distinctions: Image, metaphor and symbol shade into each other and are

sometimes difficult to distinguish. To help with the distinction remember:

a) An image means only what it is,

b) the figurative term of a metaphor means something other than

what it is,

c) and a symbol means what it is, and something more too.

36

The Sonnet From the Italian for “little song.” Perhaps the most important formal, closed form in our

language, the sonnet attains power through the compression necessary to convey emotion and

imagery in such a confined space and within the strict format. Almost every great poet has

achieved greatness in this form.

Typically sonnets contain liberal amounts of enjambment and caesura. The traditional sonnet is

in iambic pentameter (u / u / u / u / u / ), but accomplished poets employ liberal metrical

substitution to achieve rhetorical/poetic effects.

Poets continue to write sonnets today. In modern poetry, any poem of fourteen lines evokes the

sonnet with all of the power and significance in the tradition of that form.

Two main types of sonnets:

Petrarchan/Italian

Fourteen lines

Organized in an octave and a sestet

First stanza (octave) introduces the subject and problem metaphorically.

Second stanza (sestet) comments upon the problem.

The break between the octave and sestet is the turn signaling the shift in

tone and stance.

The typical rhyme scheme is abbacddc efgefg. This pattern varies

between poets.

English/Shakespearean/Elizabethan

Fourteen lines

Organized in three quatrains and a concluding couplet

Each quatrain expresses the subject or problem with a different metaphor.

The turn occurs between the third quatrain and the concluding couplet.

Thus the poet must rely upon wit, irony, paradox, and symbol for his

commentary and closing effect.

The typical rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg.

The Petrarchan and English sonnets are not alone in the world of sonnets—other forms exist, but

these two forms are the most important, and other types of sonnets generally derive from one of

those forms. Many great poets have developed their own formats for sonnets.

37

My Grandmother’s Ghost

She skimmed the yellow water like a moth,

Trailing her feet across the shallow stream;

She saw the berries, paused and sampled them

Where a slight spider cleaned his narrow tooth.

Light in the air, she fluttered up the path,

So delicate to shun the leaves and damp,

Like some young wife holding a slender lamp

To find her stray child, or the moon, or both.

Even before she reached the empty house,

She beat her wings ever so slightly, rose,

Followed a bee where apples blew like snow;

And then, forgetting what she wanted there,

Too full of blossom and green light to care,

She hurried to the ground, and slipped below.

James Wright

from The Green Wall

Saint Judas

When I went out to kill myself, I caught

A pack of hoodlums beating up a man.

Running to spare his suffering, I forgot

My name, my number, how my day began,

How soldiers milled around the garden stone

And sang amusing songs; how all that day

The javelins measured crowds; how I alone

Bargained the proper coins, and slipped away.

Banished from heaven, I found this victim beaten,

Stripped, kneed, and left to cry. Dropping my rope

Aside, I ran, ignored the uniforms:

Then I remembered bread my flesh had eaten,

The kiss that ate my flesh. Flayed without hope,

I held the man for nothing in my arms.

James Wright from Saint Judas

38

Final Experience

DIRECTIONS: Answer the questions that follow on a separate paper in

paragraphs as an essay. For each item prepare a justification for your response.

Spend about two hours in preparing it. Bring the responses to class and submit the

responses to TurnItIn.

1. Which story and poem we studied are the most interpretive?

2. Which story and poem would you recommend to a friend?

3. What element of fiction provides the most enlightenment when held to a

story? What element of poetry provides the most enlightenment when held

to a poem?

4. Five hundred years from now, which story and which poem will provide

scholars with the best insight into our time?

5. Which three of the authors would you most like to meet? Why?

6. Overall, are the literary works hopeful or not hopeful?