Reading and Writing from Literature

by John E. Schwiebert

Reading and Writing from Literature is ideal for instructors who wish to support students with significant writing instruction accompanied by a robust literary anthology that includes fiction, poetry, drama, and essays. Using an approachable, conversational tone, this thematic anthology and writing text emphasizes intertextuality--the way in which texts, including the student's own writing, grow out of other texts. Thirteen chapters of guidance on writing about literature (Parts I-III) cover such topics as planning, drafting, and revising essays on literature, research and documentation in a literature-based context, writing argumentative literary essays, and creating a writing portfolio. Part IV introduces students to the genres--short stories, poems, plays, and essays. Part V provides a thorough overview of figurative language. Part VI, the text's thematic anthology, is organized around themes of particular interest to students: Gender and Relationships, Families, Experience and Identity, Individual and Society, People and Cultures in Conflict and Change, and Work and the Quality of Life. It contains 45 new poems, essays/nonfiction writing, and short stories, with an emphasis on the contemporary. This edition features a stronger representation of international and multicultural authors, including such writers as Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Derek Walcott, Yusef Komunyaka, Sei Shonagon, and Allan Gurganus.

1248 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1997

Reviews

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book serves as a textbook for at least one of Dr. Schwiebert’s classes. It is one of those gems that is both accessible and compelling. Dr. Schwiebert champions journaling, notebooks, and annotating as you read. By the end of the semester, he had me hooked on all three. Sincerely, I would recommend this book even if you aren’t taking his class at Weber State University. He offers practical and enjoyable inroads to making the most of literature and writing.

DISCLAIMER: Dr. Schwiebert is a friend and mentor. Like I’m going to give a bad rating to a professor who wrote me a letter of recommendation last year. Seriously, this is an excellent companion to a personal course of reading and writing.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several good essays and short stories in the book.