Reading and Writing about Literature

by Janet E. Gardner, Joanne Diaz

Reading and Writing about Literature provides the essentials of reading and writing about literature in a brief and very affordable package.

Genres: School

425 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2020

Reviews

[⋆.˚ Ariana ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀི · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m proud of myself to have read every single short story, poem, and play in this book

[☀︎El In Oz☀︎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5

Read for school. Was a textbook. Had some helpful information but I can’t say it was a riveting read

[Emily Kroening · Rating 4 out of 5]

Assigned to me within an intensive English university class, but surprised me in its reliability to non-academic literature. It has important and genuinely useful information regarding the literary field. Not only does it lay down assistance for reading and analyzing works, but also writing about them in both professional and non-professional ways. It provides concise and helpful examples of the concepts it discusses with well-known works that are understandable through the practices present in the book.

I've read quite a few English textbooks but this was a favorite. I genuinely enjoyed this and will carry it on my shelf always. It serves as a simple guide to everything English including reading and writing about poetry, plays, stories, articles, and more. It also provides some new concepts on literary theory that I had not considered to be as intelligent and convincing as they were. Not to mention the voice of this book actually held my attention. The language used was not boring but intriguing and informative in a way none of my other textbooks have been written. Janet E. Gardner did an amazing job of speaking directly to the reader in an appealing and intuitive manner.

I highly recommend this for anyone in the English or writing field. No matter your reading level or age, these concepts are necessary and contribute greatly to literary understanding. Even if you are just a reader looking to better understand literature, this is a book for you. Go further than simply reading something and instead understand the linguistic and stylistic elements that make writing more.

[Nanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little book for students beginning to write about literature. I am using this in my ENG 298 Writing About Literature course for English majors at my college. I like it because it's small, inexpensive, and unimposing. I have assigned several of the chapters applicable to my students, especially in the beginning of the course as they "get their feet wet." It echos many of the arguments I will make for taking the course, adding credibility to my words concerning the value of reading critically and bothering to write about what you read. Furthermore, many examples of effective writing are given, i.e. writing about poetry and writing about stories. One of the best inclusions is the annotation of the Yeats poem (p 11) and the accompanying analytical essay (p 168). This shows how strong annotations develop into successful essays. There are a couple pages on preparring to write essays about literature in exams. Additionally, a lot of modeling goes on in the book, i.e. MLA conventions and formatting. It's a great referrence for practical use.

My only criticism of the book is its failure to include writing about literary nonfiction. This is a dissapointment for me since my students will be reading "Braiding Sweetgrass" as our primary text which we discuss and write about. The book obviously takes a vary narrow view of what's literary, which I would argue against. If only it'd included some literary nonfiction (like "The Gettysburg Address") as an artifact of study, the book would earn 5-stars.