The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing

by Michael Meyer (Editor)

Reading

Wide and well-balanced range of classic and contemporary
literature includes 62 stories (21 new), 417 poems (100 new), and 22 plays (4 new) by major authors inside and outside the literary canon.
The best in-depth coverage of selected major authors:
Once again, chapters in each genre section provide the option of more intensive study of selected authors. Collections of multiple works by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Flannery O'Connor, Alice Munro (new), Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Sophocles, and Shakespeare include biographical and critical information, chronologies, a wide range of secondary materials, questions for writing and discussion, and complementary critical readings.
Albums of contemporary and world literature
showcase the work of celebrated authors—such as Tobias Wolff, Bessie Head, Martin Espada, Anna Akhmatova, and Brian Friel—who are not frequently anthologized. All selections are accompanied by background information and by questions linking them with more familiar literature.
The most comprehensive drama section in an introduction to literature
again offers 22 plays—4 of them new—with the best selection of contemporary plays. In addition to many classic works of drama and in-depth treatment of Sophocles and Shakespeare, the fifth edition features a Critical Case Study on Henrik Ibsen's A Doll House, a Cultural Case Study on David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly, expanded albums of contemporary and world drama, and a new sampling of photographs featuring plays in performance.



Thinking

149 Perspectives (27 new)
throughout the book—including criticism, interviews, images, and biography—offer discussion and writing topics as well as models of various critical approaches.
The most sensible and useful coverage of literary theory
introduces students to 9 contemporary theoretical approaches, now including discussion of cultural and gender studies. A Critical Case Study for each genre—on "Barn Burning," "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," and A Doll House—further illustrates contemporary theoretical approaches with 4 analyses of each work. In addition, a new Cultural Case Study for each genre focuses students on cultural criticism.
Two Complementary Critical Readings
for each author treated in depth illustrate how different approaches can be applied to a single work. Questions accompanying these readings guide students in analyzing the assumptions behind a particular approach.
A Glossary of Literary Terms
provides thorough explanations of more than 200 terms central to the study of literature.



Writing

Writing material integrated throughout the book
includes five chapters—three on genre-specific writing—that cover every step of the writing process and offer advice on many different kinds of assignments. In addition, Questions for Writing units offer advice on using research, writing about an author covered in depth, and applying a critical approach.
12 sample student papers
illustrate the topics covered in these chapters and offer concrete models for a wide range of assignments.
Questions and assignments
more than 2,000 occasions for writing accompany the selections.
Quick-reference chart
of all the writing about literature features is provided on the inside front cover to make writing advice easy to locate.

About the Author:
Michael Meyer has taught introductory writing and literature courses for over twenty-five years—since 1981 at the University of Connecticut and before that at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the College of William and Mary.

In addition to being an experienced teacher, Meyer is a highly regarded literary scholar. His scholarly articles have appeared in distinguished journals such as American Literature, Studies in the American Renaissance, and Virginia Quarterly Review. An internationally recognized authority on Henry David Thoreau, he is a former president of the Thoreau Society and the coauthor (with Walter Harding) of The New Thoreau Handbook, a standard reference source. His first book, Several More Lives to Live: Thoreau's Political Reputation in America, was awarded the Ralph Henry Gabriel Prize by the American Studies Association. He is also the editor of Frederick Douglass: The Narrative and Selected Writings and the author of The Little, Brown Guide to Writing Research Papers, Third Edition. He is the author or editor of several Bedford Books, including The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature, Fourth Edition (1997); Poetry: An Introduction, Second Edition (1998); and Thinking and Writing about Literature (1995).

Genres: Textbooks, Nonfiction, Literature, Writing, School, Reference, Read For School

2188 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1999

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Michael Meyer has taught writing and literature courses for more than thirty years—since 1981 at the University of Connecticut and before that at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the College of William and Mary. In addition to being an experienced teacher, Meyer is a highly regarded literary scholar. His scholarly articles have appeared in distinguished journals such as American Literature, Studies in the American Renaissance, and Virginia Quarterly Review. An internationally recognized authority on Henry David Thoreau, Meyer is a former president of the Thoreau Society and coauthor (with Walter Harding) of The New Thoreau Handbook, a standard reference source. The American Studies Association awarded his first book, Several More Lives to Live: Thoreau’s Political Reputation in America, the Ralph Henry Gabriel Prize. . He is also the editor of Frederick Douglass: The Narrative and Selected Writings. He has lectured on a variety of American literary topics from Cambridge University to Peking University. His books for Bedford/St. Martin's include The Bedford Introduction to Literature; The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature; Literature to Go; Poetry: An Introduction; and Thinking and Writing about Literature.

Reviews

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, this book contains a lot of good stories and some were even fun to read. My main complaint is that it is so big and heavy it does not fit into my backpack. This means I have to carry this book around 5 days a week for an entire year. However, it is very useful to prop the door to my dorm room open if I need to carry out laundry or a heavy and large object and I cannot open the door. The main use this book has seen in my intro lit class is to prop open the window. It also works great if you are into weightlifting. The writing is fine, I just wish it were lighter and smaller.

[Abby · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing against the author(s), but this is the worst book I have ever read, purely due to the circumstances in which I am forced to read it.

Don't support the textbook industrial complex, and don't purchase this book.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hamlet remains one of the greatest achievements in literature because it marries the personal and the universal, the political and the philosophical, the intimate and the cosmic. It is, at its core, a study of the paralysis that can come from overthinking, the destructive potential of unchecked ambition, and the inevitability of death.

For readers, the play is not just a story about revenge but a mirror held up to human nature. Hamlet’s indecision, his flashes of brilliance and cruelty, and his ultimate tragic fall speak to the contradictions within us all. Shakespeare’s genius lies in his ability to make one man’s struggle with grief and duty feel like a universal truth.

Even after centuries of analysis, Hamlet continues to provoke fresh interpretations. Is Hamlet mad, or merely feigning madness? Is Claudius a calculating villain or a man wracked with guilt? Is revenge ever justifiable? These unanswered questions ensure that every encounter with the play feels new, as though Shakespeare has written not a fixed story, but a prism through which we view ourselves.

In the end, Hamlet is inexhaustible. It is both literature and philosophy, drama and poetry, art and inquiry. For anyone who seeks to understand not only Shakespeare, but the human soul itself, Hamlet is indispensable.

[Jarrodtrainque]

This best-selling anthology continues to combine a generous and vibrant selection of stories, poems, and plays with editorial features proven to help students read, think, and write effectively about literature. Now featuring unique visual portfolios and a CD-ROM packed with activities and contextual material, the new edition brings literature to life for students as never before./

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the book for my Introduction to Literature Course at Bakersfield College.
It was an intense read as it has many examples for each of the sections it's divided into (Fiction, Poetry, Drama).
I don't have any specific complaints...It holds many excellent excerpts, short stories, poems, and plays. It also does a pretty decent job of defining things.
It's just A LOT to take in.

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one has been laying about for quite a while now and I pick it up and read something from it every now and then. But now all that's left to read is the poetry section and that's just not my cuppa.
But the rest was very good.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an assigned textbook for a literature class I took this fall. It was very well written, had lots of great short stories and poems, and had lots of amazing tips for writing essays on literature! All together, this was a really nice textbook!

[Amanda Brass · Rating 5 out of 5]

a fun collection of fiction, drama, and poetry. Delightful to read aloud, not too long.

[Nicole Baratta]

Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature Reading Thinking and Writing by M. Meyer (1996)

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection!! With helpful questions and definitions. I will continue reading this from years to come...perhaps even use in my classroom.

[Crystal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bah!

[Weiwei Kong]

11

[Zewar Khan]

vvvvvv

[Tiffany Stuart]

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