Book Description
Literature, 9/e, the most popular introduction of its kind, is organized into three genres¤Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. As in past editions, the authors' collective poetic voice brings personal warmth and a human perspective to the discussion of literature, adding to students' interest in the readings. An introduction to a balance of contemporary and classic stories, poems, and plays. Casebooks offer in-depth look at an author or clusters of works, for example “Latin American Poetry.” Authors Joe Kennedy and Dana Gioia provide inviting and illuminating introductions to the authors included and to the elements of literature. Coverage of writing about literature is also included. For those interested in literature.
Customer Reviews:
One of my personal favorite anthologies!.......2007-04-30
Literature textbooks like these are quite worth the price that you're paying for. First, it lacks the visual colorful photos of another textbooks and focuses in on literature. I am glad to see Philip Roth's story, Conversion of the Jews, to be included in the short story section. Primarily because Roth writes novels, his short stories are few. he should be in the anthologies because he is one of America's foremost writers and most American particularly New Jerseyans don't know who he is. In 2005, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Anyway, I picked this book up at a yard sale. This book is filled with tremendous assortment of authors, writers, and poets like Somerset Maugham, John Updike, James Thurber, William Faulkner, Katherine Mansfield, Toni Cade Bambara, Edgar Allen Poe, Katherine Anne Porter, Jamaica Kincaid, Margaret Atwood, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Kate Chopin, Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Anne Tyler, Stephen Crane, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., John Steinbeck, Shirley Jackson, Alice Munro, Leo Tolstoi, Raymond Carver, Anton Chekhov, Flannery O'Connor, Ambrose Bierce, Jorge Luis Borges, Willa Cather, Langston Hughes, Franz Kafka, D.H. Lawrence, Joyce Carol Oates, Frank O'Connor, Tillie Olsen, Edith Wharton, William Carlos Williams, Charlotte Bronte, Gustave Flaubert, Henry James, William Butler Yeats, Robert Frost, Thoeodore Roethke, Countee Cullen, Anne Bradstreet, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, John Milton, William Wordsworth, W.H. Auden, John Betjeman, Thomas Hardy, JOnathan Swift, William Blake, Robert Grave, John Donne, Herman Melville, Wole Soyinka, Lewis Carroll, Wallace Stevens, E.E. Cummings, Gwendolyn Brooks, Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, Elizabeth Bishop, Oscar Wilde, Jean Toomer, John Keats, Walt Whitman, H.D., Alfred Lord Tennyson, William Shakespeare, Sylvia Plath, Denise Levertov, John Ashbery, Ben Jonson, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Paul Simon, The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Aphra Behn, A.E. Housman, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Dorothy Parker, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Alexander Pope, Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Olson, Louise Bogan, Anne Sexton, and so many countless other authors, writers, poets, playwrights, etc. that makes this book nearly perfect for a classroom without all the notes and nonsense that clutter some textbooks.
Literature: An Introduction Revisited.......2005-09-13
I wrote to complain about the 7th edition of this standard anthology because the editors had removed one of the world's truly great short stories, Leo Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilych," from the volume. I must now eat my words because the editors have replaced that work; I am pleased to say that I once again endorse and use the work. I wrote about the 7th edition; the Tolstoy restoration, I think, occurred in the 8th edition. I am writing now about the 9th edition, which is certainly strong and useful; I know the editors shouldn't try to please everyone.
I do not, however, retract my comments about the use of pop songs to teach poetry; I think the section on "pop" is a major flaw in the work. One person complained (in this space) about my wanting to restore Tolstoy to the textbook--from his comments, I gathered that the person thought Tolstoy (1828-1910) was an American writer, rather than Russian; he kept speaking about "multiculturalism" and "international literature" as though Tolstoy did not represent a "diverse culture." Frankly I think that all the currently popular songs (rap or rock or something else) represent a perverse culture rather than a diverse culture. The same person implied his disgust at "humanism" and "liberalism," labels that I would be proud to wear.
It does matter what is included in a textbook for introducing literature at the college level. I think the current edition of Kennedy and Gioia is a good, solid work. (And if someone is incapable of distinguishing between "poetry" and "verse," I have nothing further to say.) The student essays remain, but I will not quarrel with that. But let me see: if I were a carpenter and teaching students to build a house, would I show them examples of dilapidated, poorly-constructed ones because that is the extent of their current ability, or would I show them a house that was constructed by professionals?
Good solid compilation for traditional approach.......2005-02-03
A very nice textbook, with a broad selection of literature, thought-provoking questions on each selection, short author bios, discussions of literature-related concepts, and even some pictures of authors. By tackling fiction, poetry, and drama all, the book has a very comprehensive and broad approach. A specialist in any of these three areas might look elsewhere for a more focused approach to their field; for a far-ranging english literature, class, the book is very solid.
The Best Teaching Anthology.......2001-01-29
... First of all, it is massive and contains three books in one - fiction, poetry and drama. Each section includes a plethora of selections as well as longer works (like the full length plays of Hamlet and Macbeth). So one is really getting quite a library from this one book.
Even better, the sections are organized along themes in order to teach the student (or interested reader) how to appreciate the various forms. So the poetry section has sections on sound, figures of speech, rhythm, closed and open form, etc. I suppose this comes from it being a textbook for undergraduate courses - in any case, it pays off. I've learned a tremendous amount already. It's all in very easy to understand non-technical language, too.
At the end of the book, there is even a brief section on various forms of literary criticism. The book contains numerous student essays, brief author biographies, reflections by the authors on their own works (this is really great), and it reflects a really broad range of genres and time periods (unfortunately the section on haiku is plagued by bad translations, and there aren't enough examples of Chinese and other Japanese poetry... oh well!). There is also an emphasis on getting the reader to practice (and write for him or herself) what is being taught. So if you want to be a writer, this is great.
If you're a beginner interested in getting into literature, this is really a great way to do it. Don't be put off by the massiveness of this book - it's really a resource. Just start in one small place (I started in 'poetry') and work your way around. It will definitely increase your appreciation for literature.
Decent Anthology.......2000-06-05
The Kennedy Anthology is a decent dependable sampler. I studied from it as an undergraduate and I now use it, as a grad student, to teach introductory lit classes (supplementing it, of course, with outside material)
I'm suprised, however, at the reviewer's comments above. Yes, Kennedy includes rock songs in the poetry section, but claims dismissing their inclusion are faulty for two reasons. 1)Rock lyrics, whether you're fond of them or not, do qualify as poetry (they are verse, after all and whether or not rock and roll lyrics stand as "good" poetry is a completely separate issue) and 2)Despite the fact that popular lyrics are included in the poetry section, the canonical giants are still well-represented (no need to fret, Whitman hasn't gone anywhere). In other words, if you dislike the rock lyrics, well, simply don't teach them.
More importantly, in a field as diverse and (usually) liberal as literature, I'm shocked that people still complain about multiculturalism and international literature "taking away" from established great texts. Isn't this PC debate over? Haven't we all now simply accepted the fact that including diverse texts isn't a PC issue but rather an issue of good old common sense? Does anyone really still question the validity of marginalized (yet talented) voices being heard? Hasn't liberal humanism (at least in its problematic manifestations) been successfully deconstructed? Frankly, I'm frightened to think how there are English instructors out there actually arguing AGAINST diversity. Then again, I'm also incredibly naive.
Lastly, I like lit textbooks that include examples of student essays. I employ a workshop method in my class and my students and I look at a variety of essays throughout the term--from established professionals, from students, and from me. Students are too often bombarded with "professional" examples of what they are expected to produce. Why not include examples of reasonable essays that are more or less within their rhetorical reach?
Book Description
Subject of this extraordinary novel is the daily life of an English family in the Hebrides. “Radiant as [To the Lighthouse] is in its beauty, there could never be a mistake about it: here is a novel to the last degree severe and uncompromising. I think that beyond being about the very nature of reality, it is itself a vision of reality.”-Eudora Welty, from her Introduction.
Download Description
Virginia Woolf is one of the greatest novelists of the twentieth century, and To the Lighthouse is perhaps her crowning achievement. The story of the Ramsay family and the guests visiting their summer house in the Hebrides, Woolf?
Customer Reviews:
Perfect for the lit-crit-for-clits claque..........2007-09-22
This is not a book for everyone. It wasn't meant for me, and it is not one that I'll ever re-visit, but I can acknowledge that it is a minor classic.
Much like the far-superior Under the Volcano, this book focuses on how the thing is said, and not the thing itself. The plot is spare and banal, and what little action there is is tangential: what matters to Woolf is the inner psychology, the interpersonal dynamics, the thoughts, perceptions, emotions and feelings.
The book has a calamitous exordium, populated with clunkers such as this:
"Then, up behind the great black rock, almost every evening spurted irregularly, so that one had to watch for it and it was a delight when it came, a fountain of white water, and then, while one waited for that, one watched, on the pale semicircular beach, wave after wave shedding again and again smoothly, a film of mother of pearl."
But, gradually, the lyricism and prose pick up, and become almost sublime in many parts. Woolf does not have much to say, but she says it very beautifully, once she's found her sea-legs.
To the Lighthouse is very overrated at #15 on the MLA 100...it should be ranked far beneath All the King's Men, Appointment in Samarra, and the incredibly brilliant Pale Fire. (Most English professors would doubtless disagree, bless their politically-correct little hearts.) That said, it does deserve a spot on the list, and is not an aesthetically-devoid waste of time like Wide Sargasso Sea.
Big Bad Woolf.......2007-09-01
Ah, "To the Lighthouse." I've never been a fan of it. This coming from an English major... I just don't like the stream of consciousness writing style. You know, there are many that give huge kudos to Woolf for her writing. I do enjoy her grasp on imagery and description, and she has a wonderful understanding of the human experience. This doesn't mean that the book was really all that enjoyable to me either of the two times I've read this now for classes.
Brilliant and Entertaining.......2007-07-22
Virginia Woolf (1882 - 1941) was a well known writer, critic, feminist, and publisher. This was her fifth novel.
As background information, I read her first novel "The Voyage Out" published in 1915, skipped her second novel - which is considered to be a flop, Night and Day from 1919 - and then read "Jacob's Room," her third, then went on and read "Mrs. Dalloway," her fourth, and next read "To The Lighthouse," etc. Also, I read some of Woolf's non-fiction.
"The Voyage Out" is simple and straightforward work and it might remind the reader of a Jane Austen novel, but it set on a ship and then at a remote location. It is over 400 pages long, and has an Austen theme. After her second novel - which did not do very well - Woolf decided to be more risky and creative with the next book. She changed her style and approach to the novel and Woolf uses the stream of consciousness technique to bring a sense of the chaos and shortness of a young man's life around the time of World War I, Jacob's life, i.e.: from the pandemonium of Jacob's life as portrayed by Woolf through the use of the stream of the consciousness technique, we eventually have clarity in the novel. She carries this writing style on into the similarly chaotic story in the novel "Mrs. Dalloway."
This is her third novel using her stream of consciousness technique and she does it in a very dramatic fashion. The story is centered on the life of Mrs. Ramsay, a beautiful woman in her early fifties, and her older husband, and their eight children, plus other guests and neighbors and domestic help all at a beach house somewhere in Scotland on a warm summer day. Her husband is an academic and a bit remote. Mrs. Ramsay is more down to earth, and she is mostly loved and admired by all.
As in the novel "Jacob's Room" the reader is left dangling as Woolf moves from character to character, giving the reader glimpses of their inner emotions. It is hard to determine what Woolf is doing and where she is going. But what she seems to be doing is celebrating a moment in a life. This is done very effectively with the stream of consciousness technique, and very dramatically as the story proceeds. The prose is brilliant and awe inspiring in some spots, and we see the genius of Woolf.
To say a lot more would ruin the story for the reader, but most will appreciate the way the story unfolds, and it unfolds very dramatically after a seemingly slow and complex start. The change has an effect on the reader - or so I found. Some think that it is Woolf's finest work and it would be hard to find fault with that assessment. She takes her ideas from "Jacob's Room" and applies them to a more complicated and dramatic setting at a family get together at a beach house, and it works.
This is a must read novel.
Painted lives.......2007-06-01
An extraordinary book, at once light as air and dense with meaning. From the smallest happenings (a family gathered at a seaside house) seen in two brief glimpses (a long summer afternoon before the first world war, and a single morning ten years later), Virginia Woolf distils a profound meditation on love and loss, hope and disappointment, and human relationships, especially the precarious and limiting balance between men and women. But it is impossible to summarize in a sentence what Woolf achieves in two hundred pages, so let me just pick on three specifics: art, thought, and time.
ART. The Harcourt Harvest Book paperback edition has a beautiful cover, apparently a tinted turn-of-the century photograph of a beach with the sea and a lighthouse beyond. It is a perfect evocation of the period and of lazy summers by the sea. Yet the credits say it is adapted from a photo by a much later artist, Herbert List; presumably the period air and the uncanny overtones of Seurat's "Grande Jatte" are the work of the designer, Liz Demeter. I mention this partly because a book's cover is like incidental music; it creates the context in which you start reading, and this is perfect. But also because visual art also plays an important part in the book. One of the guests of the owners of the house, the Ramsays, is Lily Briscoe, an unmarried woman in her thirties. We first see her as she is painting in the garden: "Lily's picture! Mrs. Ramsay smiled. With her little Chinese eyes and her puckered-up face, she would never marry; one could not take her painting very seriously." So of course we take her for a mere amateur; and Lily similarly puts herself down, conditioned by a climate which denied creativity to women except as wives and mothers. But when we get to look closer at Lily's picture we see that it is extremely advanced for its time, and her thought processes are as rigorous as anything we hear from the paterfamilias Mr. Ramsay, a once-celebrated philosopher. Indeed in the glorious closing chapters of the book, it is Lily, struggling to express balance and feeling in paint, who comes closest to giving meaning and permanency to the whole family history. One recalls that one of Virginia Woolf's closest friends in the Bloomsbury Group was the art critic Roger Fry, who coined the term post-impressionism. Lily, far from being a minor character, stands as the alter ego of Woolf herself, achieving in touches of paint a very close analogy to what the author manages so marvelously in words.
THOUGHT. But fine as Virginia Woolf's visual descriptions are, her main medium is not sight but thought. The two days at the seaside are described entirely through the minds of various individual members of the family and their guests. There is occasional dialogue, but no third-person narrator. A paragraph may start with the thoughts of one person about another, switch smoothly to the mind of that other person, and then return to the first again. And often the thoughts of the first character will change significantly between one moment and the next. Affection can switch suddenly to anger and back again; Woolf knows that most emotions, especially given the complex ties that bind families, can seldom be contained by a single label; through her apparent contradictions, she builds up a truth that is richer than could have been attained by consistency alone. Again, I think of the visual arts and the multiple viewpoints of cubism, but though a modern writer, Woolf is not a modern-ist; her technique is concealed, not flaunted; she is not a "difficult" writer in the sense that Joyce or even Faulkner are. As a results, her portraits come through with great warmth, especially that of Mrs. Ramsay, willingly adopting a supporting role to her curmudgeonly husband (or almost willingly -- with Woolf that is important), but blessed with a radiance of personality that illuminates the entire book, even when she is not at the center of it.
TIME. Most novels tell a story that unfolds gradually over the course of time; this doesn't. The outer sections of the book take place virtually in real time; the action happens at about the same speed as it takes to read about it. But for all intents and purposes, these sections are static compared to the ten-year duration of the narrative as a whole. Only one thing happens in either of the outer sections that could really be called an event, and that involves two minor characters whose relationship to the Ramsays is never clearly specified. But that does not mean lack of movement. The rapidly shifting juxtapositions and viewpoints build up a dense texture of relationships and feelings that reach a certain stability at the close of the first (and longest) section, but leave you wanting more. In painting terms again, one might call this opening a still life -- except that the various figures in it are now linked by quasi-electrical charges, so that the balance between them is not static but dynamic, presently in equilibrium but capable of further motion. In effect, you could close the book at this moment and write your own narrative. Instead, Virginia Woolf does something quite extraordinary. In the ten short chapters of the twenty-page interlude entitled "Time Passes," she takes on the role of narrator for the first time, and tells what happens in the next few minutes, the remainder of that night, the ensuing nights, the changing seasons, the course of the War, and the passage of years. She writes of impersonal things -- the house, the garden, the wind, the sea -- throwing in small nuggets of personal information almost as afterthoughts. When the Ramsays finally return, much has changed, and the former golden days seem tarnished. But by the end of this marvelous novel, Virginia Woolf has burnished them to a new shine, less brilliant perhaps, but deeper and more lasting.
To the Lighthouse.......2007-05-31
The book is a poetic third person narration, that takes place on the Isle of Skye around WWI. The book begins as Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay take a summer trip to the Isle, along with their bevy of children. So, begins the story of a lives entwined,and told at a pace of varying rhythms and point of views. One might say that the pages hold a search for meaning in a world of chaos. Life cycles are central, to the themes of preservation and life. The ligthouse itself, sometimes seeming mysterious and ellusive, transitions by the story's end. James, taking note of the contrast in perspective recognizes that "nothing is one thing". In this story, even the wind and furnishings are given a haunting voice. As the house is being packed and cleared , the wind asks "Will you fade? will you perish?" The objects answer, "We will remain."
Book Description
Literature, 9/e, the most popular introduction of its kind, is organized into three genres¤Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. As in past editions, the authors' collective poetic voice brings personal warmth and a human perspective to the discussion of literature, adding to students' interest in the readings. An introduction to a balance of contemporary and classic stories, poems, and plays. Casebooks offer in-depth look at an author or clusters of works, for example “Latin American Poetry. Authors Joe Kennedy and Dana Gioia provide inviting and illuminating introductions to the authors included and to the elements of literature. Coverage of writing about literature is also included. For those interested in literature.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Text.......2007-01-04
I had to pick this up for a college course...it has an excellent sampling of various literature written in different styles and at different time periods.
Whether you want to have a collection of short stories, poetry, drama, etc, this book deserves a place on your shelf.
Thanks, Doc Staley.
Nice collection of Literature.......2005-10-24
I'm using this for a Lit. class. There's a good collection of works here.
Book Description
An enriching introduction to the diverse and exciting world of literature, this anthology offers a broad collection of short fiction, poetry, drama and nonfiction selections written by a diverse group of writers who represent different social classes, races, genders, cultures, and sexual orientations. Organizes selections around five socially relevant themes—Growing Up and Growing Older; Women and Men; Money and Work; Peace and War; and Varieties of Protest. Shows how literary technique serves larger purposes—the recreation of experience, the exploration of ideas, the analysis of social issues—and how these larger purposes themselves shape literary form. Explains the ways in which literary form creates meaning, and provides a strong emphasis on writing about literature throughout, with a full chapter on all stages of the writing process —generating ideas, developing a thesis, discovering a form, drafting, revising, and editing—plus numerous excerpts from sample papers and journals. Now contains 42 new works, with more by Native American and Latino/Latina writers, as well as Bertolt Brecht's play
Mother Courage and Shakespeare's
Othello; also includes 18 works of nonfiction prose that have been chosen both for their literary technique as well as for their exploration of the five major themes.
Customer Reviews:
A Quality Text for College-Level Introduction to Literature.......2005-03-18
I respectfully disagree with reviewer Jeffrey Leeper; this is a solid text for a college-level introductory course in literature. The selections assume an intelligent reader, which covers most of my students.
I specifically chose this text because I wanted to approach the course from a societal perspective, and I was impressed by the editors'/authors' arrangement: "Growing Up and Growing Older," "Women and Men," "Money and Work," "Peace and War," and "Varieties of Protest." Sometimes, I switch works into other categories, for example, Sylvia Plath's poetry and play THREE WOMEN from "Growing Up and Growing Older" to "Varieties of Protest." But that's a matter of personal preference.
Mr. Leeper is probably correct that a professor may not want to use this particular text for an introductory literature course emphasizing a standard approach or for a writing about literature course. But, certainly, for a higher-level thematic course, such as Literature and Society, this text would no doubt offer an excellent choice.
I like the variety of works; this text could easily cover one or even two semesters of literature, covering not only fiction and poetry thoroughly, but also drama, including known and lesser known playwrights: William Shakespeare, Henrik Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Lorraine Hansberry, Susan Glaspell and Alice Childress, among others. I would like to see more in-depth creative nonfiction, but, for now, I supplement the text with an inexpensive trade edition of HIROSHIMA. In later editions, the editors might consider adding some longer current and classic creative nonfiction selections, such as memoirs, journalistic features, and biography.
I have only one quibble: cost. I teach at a medium-sized, four-year college in Pennsylvania; most of our students come from blue collar families who struggle to pay for books and supplies, and I like to assign inexpensive books that won't break their budgets.
In this case, however, quality wins out over price, and I can only hope that my students feel that they're getting their money's worth.
Not My Favorite Literature Text.......2002-05-26
If you are looking for a literature textbook for a survey course, then this book is not for you. It is designed for students, but it is also designed to illustrate literature's place in our society.
The beginning goes into the writing process and writing about literature. There is an example of writing on poetry, but it is only two paragraph's worth. Most students would like to see the whole essay.
The bulk of the book is arranged in topics, which have subtopics of fiction, poetry, drama, and nonfiction. The topics, "Growing up and Growing Older," "Women and Men," "Money and Work," "Peace and War," and "Varieties of Protest," give you a wide variety of selections to illustrate the idea. Unless you plan on structuring your course this way, this isn't the easiest text to navigate a class through.
The end of the book has a section devoted to each of the subtopics: fiction, poetry, drama, and nonfiction. Here, strategies and elements of each of these subtopics are illustrated here. The examples used here refer to selections from the text, which allows the student to refer back. This is a good touch.
I would not recommend this book as long as you are teaching a survey course.
Book Description
During her many years of teaching introduction to fiction courses, Ann Charters developed an acute sense of which stories work most effectively in the classroom. She also discovered that writers, not editors, have the most interesting and useful things to say about the making and the meaning of fiction. Accordingly, her choice of fiction in the first edition of her The Story and Its Writer was as notable for its student appeal as it was for its quality and range. And to complement these stories, she introduced a lasting innovation: an array of the writers' own commentaries on the craft and traditions of the short story. In subsequent editions her sense of what works was confirmed as the book evolved into the most comprehensive, diverse-- and bestselling -- introduction to fiction anthology. Instructors rely on Ann Charters' ability to assemble an authoritative and teachable anthology, and anticipate each edition's selection of new writers and stories.
Customer Reviews:
An Outstanding Collection of Stories and Writers.......2007-05-18
This anthology was something I stumbled upon in college and completely changed the way I approached reading and writing. The stories are a wide variety and the writers writing about writing is a fantastic resource. This is one of the most precious pieces to my library and a must for any serious reader and writer.
Great!!!.......2006-07-16
My book arrived when it said it would and it was in perfect condition. Thanks.
Course Book I Actually Want to Keep Reading.......2006-05-29
This compilation of short stories was used for my Intro. to the Short Story college course. Our professor only picked out certain stories but I found myself reading unassigned stories myself. Some of these stories are wonderful. My favorite was "The Widow's Son" by Mary Lavin. Some other noteworthy stories: "Hills Like White Elephants" Hemingway, "Girl" by J. Kincaid. Too many more to list, a course book I am actually keeping so I can finish reading it. Usually I can't wait to close them after the course and not see them anymore! :)
Nice Job.......2006-02-28
This is a very comprehensive compilation of the most important classic short stories as well as some newer stories from today's writers. I thought the book was very well organized, especially with the case files and interviews that accompany several of the stories.
There are a few omissions of some classics but nonetheless I felt it was a very good collection.
A must have if studying Fiction.
Teaching manual at its best.......2005-11-30
Charters' book is both a great read and a valuable teaching tool. The book lives up to its title: it successfully places the emphasis on the story and its writer rather than on the story and its editor or the story and its teacher. As a textbook/anthology this is sure to be more helpful - and interesting - to students than to read a lot of pedagogical and prescriptive information from a secondhand source. Whether you are a teacher or a student, new to the short story or old hand, the opportunity to read about writers' processes and intentions firsthand is invaluable, and Charters' selection of short stories is exceptional. Charters obviously cares about the project of teaching the short story well, and her dedication shines through in this volume.
Book Description
The most popular introductory anthology of its kind, Kennedy/Gioia’s Literature continues to inspire students with engaging insights on reading and writing about stories, poems, and plays.
Poets in their own right, editors X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia bring personal warmth and a human perspective to this comprehensive anthology. Organized into three genresâLiterature, Tenth Edition, presents readable discussions of the literary devices, illustrated by apt works, supported by useful writing tips, and followed by (now) seven full chapters devoted to writing. A broad scope of traditional and contemporary works is provided, most headed by author images and richly detailed biographical notes and some followed by author commentary. While maintaining the characteristics of its previous editions–accessible apparatus, expansive author representation–this tenth edition of Literature has been re-imagined to include new casebooks, a lively new design, and more writing coverage than ever before.
New students of literature.
Customer Reviews:
Surprsingly Wonderful!.......2007-09-28
I picked this book up for a class, expecting to be perfectly bored. Instead, this book woke up my sleeping love of learning and literature. The book is easy to understand and contains MANY great stories and poems in it. It also has a great glossary and index was well. It came with an additional feature, MyLiteratureLab, which is an accompanying web page. That is also very helpful indeed.
This book is so good, there were even people at work wanting to check it out!
Book Description
This delightfully illustrated "chapter book," geared for eight-to-twelve year olds, tells the charming tale of five family members (each with a different sensory processing challenge) and their naughty dog, and how they get in sync after a tough day. The book is designed with the action of the story in larger print for younger readers to read or hear. Explanations of sensory processing disorders are woven through the story in regular type, for proficient readers to linger over at leisure.
This wonderful book from the best-selling author of The Out-of-Sync Child and The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun, is a must-have for every family challenged by sensory processing problems.
Customer Reviews:
The Good Enoughs Get In Sync.......2007-08-03
It was very interesting as the children in the story shared what activites help them get in sync. What was relaxing and what elements of the activities were useful to relaxation, organization etc. Although I did not notice the age group recomendation I will keep the book as it is useful to the parents and grandma and will become my grandson's book when it is more level appropriate. I say that because he is very advanced when it comes to stories and reading.
What a Help!.......2006-06-29
While my child is too young to read this book on his own, I know it will be helpful for him in the future. As a parent of a child with sensory issues, I found that it helped enhance my understanding of his issues immensely (e.g, what HE is experiencing on a daily basis and how it might make him feel). The more insight and understanding a parent has on these issues, the better you can help your child. I highly recommend purchasing it.
A fun book for kids with SID and extended family members..........2006-06-21
We really enjoy this book. It helps our daughter understand what is going on with her senses, and why we need to do heavy work acivities and other parts of her sensory diet. It is also the book we have shown her grandparents because it touches on a lot of definitions related to sensory integration, and gives examples of characters with the traits. I highly recommend you buy this for your child with SID and people who spend a lot of time with your child.
The Goodenoughs Get in Sync Review by Lisa Angel.......2005-03-03
The Goodenoughs Get in Sync by Carol Stock Kranowitz was a great book to read because it so helpful in the classroom. Many times we think that a child is just being mean or annoying when in reality it is a sensory disorder and the child can not help it. I felt the definitions provided to certain words such as sensory under-responsivity, auditory defensiveness and visual defensiveness, to name a few, were extremely enlightning. My son has a friend who has a sensory disorder. I didn't know about the disorder until he came over to spend the night. When it came time to go up the stairs to my son's bedroom he began to freak out. Of course, I called his mom and she explained everything to me and I began to understand. This is a wonderful book to recommend to her. I also enjoyed reading about each family member and how the sensory disorders varied so much. However, each had their own issues to deal with, they really stuck together as a family and supported one another. Even the dog had sensory issues. I would really recommend this book to teachers so that they have better sense of some of the behaviors that go on in the classroom.
The Goodenoughts Get In Sync.......2005-01-17
It is NOT AMAZING to me that Carol Kranowitz has done it again! I know how LIFE CHANGING her book: The Out-of-Sync Child was for me and for my son! That book made LIGHT BULBS go off in my head and I was able to read it inserting my son's name on every page after I had read page number two! Her resources brought HOPE and took away so much self-doubt, guilt, fear, sadness, frustration, etc...! All of her books are something I could put my hands around, my head into and helped open my heart! Her books CHANGED my life and changed "WHO" my son is FOREVER! Doctors, parent, teacher, grandparents,etc...need to read this book as well and share it with the children they are trying to understand/help! Perhaps they will see themselves on these pages?
BRAVO CAROL!
Book Description
Hailed as one of the finest novels to come out of the Second World War, The Naked and the Dead received unprecedented critical acclaim upon its publication and has since enjoyed a long and well-deserved tenure in the American canon.This fiftieth anniversary edition features a new introduction created especially for the occasion by Norman Mailer.Written in fascinating detail, the story follows a platoon of foot soldiers who are fighting for the possession of the Japanese-held island of Anopopei.Composed in 1948 with the wisdom of a man twice Mailer's age and the raw courage of the young man he was, The Naked and the Dead is representative of the best in twentieth-century American writing.
Customer Reviews:
Solid, but not the classic I envisioned........2007-09-11
Maybe it's the movies.......Maybe it's the movies that have de-sensitized me to expect that the subtle, internal nature of literature could possibly match the over-the-top, external stimuli of cinema. I guess this is probably no more apparent than in "war stories", where I was expecting something along the lines of "Saving Private Ryan", or "Flags of Our Fathers".
Throughout most of this book, I found myself about as lost as the platoon that was sent out to "recon" the rear lines of the Japanese Army. I struggled in the first half of the book, admittedly. Where were the battles? Where was the karnage? I was rather disappointed that nothing was really happening; that all the U.S. company was doing was preparing to prepare for a battle that they knew was possibly months away.
However, As I was finishing this book, I realized that maybe war is more properly illustrated by stories like this. Maybe war is monotonous; boring; anti-climactic; as the nature of this book describes. Maybe war involves a battle of wills and personalities more so than the battle between armies.
Probably more so than any novel I've read, the author brings you deep into the lives and backgrounds of the major players. You're given an opportunity to actually know each character, to the point where you feel it when something happens to them.
This book is not for everyone, and it took me a while to really understand and accept what the author had intended. Nevertheless, if you have time and patience it is worth it.
Not Your Grandpa's War Story.......2007-08-09
Or maybe it is your grandpa's war story; I wouldn't know because my grandpa was in the navy. Anyway, those looking for a rollicking action adventure about WWII in the Pacific had better look elsewhere. It's not a John Wayne movie or even "Saving Private Ryan." This is a psychological study of men grappling with the elements and themselves in a hellish environment. (Substitute the jungle for sand dunes and tropical humidity for 130-degree heat and Japanese soldiers for Arab terrorists and it would fit perfectly into modern times.)
This is a fictional account of the taking of an island in the Pacific by American forces. The story focuses primarily on a recon platoon lead by the abusive tyrant Sergeant Croft. There are about a dozen men in the platoon at the beginning including the Mexican sergeant Martinez, the former hobo Red, the Jew trying to fit in Goldstein, the intellectual Jew/platoon runt Roth, a couple good ol' boys Wilson and Ridges, gangster wanna-be Polack, brownnoser corporal Stanley, and seemingly All-American boy Brown. There's also General Cummings and his surly Ivy League aide Hearn, who have a very conflicted and adversarial relationship.
This relationship ends with Hearn being assigned to the recon platoon for a quixotic mission to explore behind the Japanese lines. This patrol leads to three men dying, two quickly and one very slowly.
But again this isn't a book about the war. There's really only one real battle and a couple of skirmishes. The real war for the soldiers is with the jungle and themselves--physically and mentally. A lot of the book details the platoon's fatigue as they tramp through the jungle or work on constructing a road to resupply the front.
None of these guys come off as your stereotypical characters from a war movie and Mailer's greatest strength is delving beneath the tough guy surfaces to show the fragile individuals underneath. Several sections of the book are referred to as the "time machine" and detail the platoon members before they went to war. None of them are heroes, but just ordinary guys who don't care about causes and flags, only about getting back home to their families and friends.
There's no glory to be had anywhere in this very long, very detailed narrative. If you're looking for action and excitement, look elsewhere--maybe ask your grandpa to tell one of his stories. If you want a realistic portrait of war, then look no further.
That is all.
How else can you explain the impact of war on the participants except.......2007-08-01
by reflecting the tension everyone in it is under while they prepare and prepare and wait and wait for something to happen? The agony of anticipation and the unknown. Then the suddeness of what does happen. Norman Mailer does this very well and I especially liked that there were no answers to anything - just life in a brutal situation. And it goes on....
Don't misunderstand me, for me it was a page turner. I thought it was great.
Could've been better - Could've been worse.......2007-06-30
Yes this is a World War II book. It is not really packed full of action, it is more a psychological study of some of the American soldiers. It is a slow book, but it is really, really slow in the beginning. It is like meeting a group of people it takes a while to know and remember who is who. Some reviewers didn't like the semi-profanities. I can live with it, my mind can simply substitute the proper four letter word in each case. What I did not like is that the book is over written, even though you find signs of great writing. Many of the characters are questioning what causes some soldiers to be killed and others not killed, luck, fate, etc. What I did like is when one protagonist was shot their was little explanation. It was left out which leaves the reader as shocked as the other soldiers probably would've been. This leaves the reader to try and provide and explanation, which is what I believe the author is trying to achieve. The description of the humid jungle weather was beaten into the ground. The "Time Machine" was an interesting literary tool to provide background on many of the soldiers in the platoon. I also wonder if this book would be popular with readers who were not to familiar with this time period.
Overwritten Work of a Young Writer.......2007-06-01
It's the overwritten work of a young writer.
He feels he has something to say, and boy, does he say it. And say it. And say it.
Am I starting to annoy you?
The story lacks drama and wit, and portrays characters who are all uniformly narrow, prejudiced, cynical, and, it seems, clinically depressed. The writing confirms this picture of each character, over and over.
It seems as if Mailer tried to turn an ordinary adventure story into something more profound by padding it with "insights."
And yet we never really get inside the characters. What is intended as insight is rarely any deeper than what they themselves might say out loud. Mailer could have left out most of the narrative and just let us listen to them.
The device of interspersing the story with flashbacks was irritating. I suppose this is a backhanded compliment to the writer, since he made me want to know what was going to happen next in the present, without interruption.
James Jones's "The Thin Red Line" has everything this book is missing. Jones's book is a wry, sardonic masterpiece. And it's succinct.
The reason I give Mailer three stars is that he showed remarkable command of his craft for one so young, and so, despite hating something on almost every page, I was drawn in by the vividness of some of the writing, however self-indulgent.
And being first on the scene with this kind of story made Mailer something of an innovator. Enough to convince the Pulitzer judges.
Book Description
The most popular introductory anthology of its kind, Kennedy/Gioia’s Literature continues to inspire students with engaging insights on reading and writing about stories, poems, and plays.
Poets in their own right, editors X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia bring personal warmth and a human perspective to this comprehensive anthology. Organized into three genres–Literature, Tenth Edition, presents readable discussions of the literary devices, illustrated by apt works, supported by useful writing tips, and followed by (now) seven full chapters devoted to writing. A broad scope of traditional and contemporary works is provided, most headed by author images and richly detailed biographical notes and some followed by author commentary. While maintaining the characteristics of its previous editionsâaccessible apparatus, expansive author representationâthis tenth edition of Literature has been re-imagined to include new casebooks, a lively new design, and more writing coverage than ever before.
New students of literature.
Customer Reviews:
Let the Revolution Begin.......2005-10-31
This book is revolutionary. It really shows us how to get back to the natural way of farming and living. Like Thoreau once said Simplify, simplify, simplify. Fukuoka brings one back to the essence of life. Life was not meant ot be difficult, we must simplify to succeed, the more complex tends to be more difficult. Nature does not need the hand of man to thrive. She only needs to be. In mans pursuit to control and dominate we have succeeded in corrupting. Fukuoka's natural way would help humanity to redeem themselves and reach a state of peace.
Seeing reality as it is.......2004-12-31
There are thousands of Self-realized people , but only a handful of those have experienced that. This Japanese farmer/scientist is one among the rare who understood the truth that unless one put the "Truth" (Self-realization) into practise in daily life, one cannot experience it. He used farming to validate his realization and shares great truth to us through this book. The truth he shares about natrual food is amazing and is in tune with the truth given by other cultures. This book is highly recommended for someone who seeks Truth in every moment of life.
Zen and the Art of Farming?.......2004-06-22
Masanobu Fukoka was a laboratory agricultural scientist who worked on fighting plant diseases. He also had many unanswered questions about the interrelationship between man and nature. After a long sabbatical he resigned his position and took over his father's rice and mandarin orange farm. Fukuoka thought that by putting the subjects of his questions into actual material challenges he might find the answers he sought.
Fukoka was immediately drawn to organic and natural farming methods, and over the years developed a type of natural farming that he refers to as "do-nothing farming". Contrary to what you may imagine, this method does involve work, much of it menial, but at least in Fukoka's experience the benefits outweight the negatives. His method of farming is thus:
After the seasonal heavy rains, the rice is planted by scattering it by hand throughout the farming area. The planting rice is rolled in a type of clay that will help prevent animals from eating it but will not inhibit sprouting. Clover seeds are also sewn at the same time in the same method. The clover acts as a natural barrier to the young rice shoots, and helps the soil from eroding.
The rice will grow naturally over the course of the next few months without constant pools of water as are often seen in traditional(from 1600-1940s) Japanese rice farming, albeit shorter and stockier than the cultivated rice. After the rice harvest, the leftover straw is scattered over the field to decompose, adding nutrients back into the soil. Afterwards, barley is planted as a winter crop and to further enrich the soil for the next rice season.
Fukoka does not use compost on his rice fields or on his citrus orchard as he finds that the byproducts of the plant provides all the soil nutrients needed. He does maintain a small compost pile for his vegetable garden, however. Outside of the rice season, he tends to his mandarin orange orchard, which is also kept on a "do-nothing" method of growth. From using this technique, he has not only kept up with modern(tractor, fertilizer, pesticide) farmers in quantity, but has a much higher quality of rice, barley, and oranges. He spends very little out of pocket and sells his produce for a very fair price.
The great thing about this short book (192pp) is that it is not exclusively about farming. In fact, there are many pages where Fukoka expands on philosophy, history, nutricion, intentional communities, and sustainibility. There is also an excellent forward by Wendell Berry, one of my favorite authors(Jayber Crow is a must read) Highly reccomended although it seems to be out of print. I borrowed mine from a local library.
my little green book.......2004-03-04
A critique of current farming practices as well as consumer values, Masanobu Fukuoka's One Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming outlines a more simple life that strives to work with the earth rather than against it. Mr. Fukuoka states that natural farming is not just a method of agricultural production but it is a way of life.
In The One Straw Revolution Mr. Fukuoka explains that modern methods of agriculture work to control nature with the assumption that humans can understand nature and there by improve on it, but modern techniques using synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are only temporary solutions that humans have discovered in order to correct the imbalance they have caused. "Human Beings with their tampering do something wrong, leave the damage unrepaired (SIC), and when the adverse results accumulate, work with all their might to correct them. When the corrective actions appear to be successful, they come to view these measures as splendid accomplishments."
Natural farming allows for nature's processes to take care of most of the work that farmers find necessary in conventional methods of agriculture. Mr. Fukuoka claims "there is no time in modern agriculture for a farmer to write a poem or compose a song." When he first began, Mr. Fukuoka thought, "How about not doing this? How about not doing that?" By allowing for the natural processes of decomposition and growth to occur there is very little work to be done and the farmers have more time to enjoy life. This line of thought has been central to Mr. Fukuoka's natural farming philosophy. Eventually he came to the realization that "there are few agricultural practices that are really necessary."
Mr. Fukuoka's method of natural farming follows four basic principals; "No Cultivation", "No Chemical Fertilizer Or Prepared Compost", "No Weeding By Tillage Or Herbicides", and "No Dependence On Chemicals". Although many of the practices described in the book relate specifically to farming rice, wheat, roots, and oranges in southern Japan, it is these four principals that can be applied to farming anywhere in the world.
To give a good example of natural farming, Mr. Fukuoka's method of cultivating rice and winter grain is as follows. In the fall Mr. Fukuoka sows the seeds of white clover, rice, and winter grain onto the same fields and covers them with a mulch of rice straw. The grains and the clover sprout up right away but the rice seeds will lie dormant until spring. When spring arrives the grains are harvested and the straw is scattered over the fields as mulch. The fields are flooded for a short period during the monsoon season giving the rice a chance to sprout through the cover. Once the fields are drained the clover recovers and spreads beneath the growing rice plants. As you can see, this is a far cry from the labor-intensive methods of paddy farming that is common throughout Southeast Asia.
The One Straw Revolution is a great book, it is insightful, practical, easy to read, and the chapters are short and give the reader concise, to the point information. Mr. Fukuoka gives readers a viable alternative to the current consumer lifestyle. The strong beliefs and successes of natural farming found in this book make Mr. Fukuoka's arguments extremely convincing. However, I'm sure the sheer simplicity will create doubt among readers, as we are used to the complexities of fertilization and pesticide use. Even organic farmers who swear by compost and manure are doing unnecessary work according to Mr. Fukuoka.
The farming techniques found in this book are extremely important as our use of fertilizers and pesticide use has skyrocketed over the past century creating many environmental problems, and life on earth is facing serious consequences as a result.
Another important point made in the book is "Humanity must stop indulging the desire for material possessions and personal gain and move instead toward spiritual awareness." This sentence outlines what I feel to be the reason for the problems of humanity today. Without a deep respect for nature and our place within her we have no limits on what we expect from her. We have increased our material wealth greatly and yet we have not become more contented, in fact we become more stressed. By creating a simpler life where our days are spent outside tending to the fields under natures guidance. We not only would curb the destruction that is related to consumption but we also are given a chance to breathe and become truly aware of our surroundings and ourselves.
I feel that the words of Masanobu Fukuoka have only increased in importance since the time in which they were written. People's lives have become increasingly urbanized and we now have generations of people who have been cut off from Mother Nature's wisdom. Although Mr. Fukuoka's sentiment that "if 100% of the people were farming it would be ideal." may seem extreme to some, it would be a plausible solution to many of the problems we face today.
The environmental movement was just beginning when The One Straw Revolution was first printed we now have scientific studies reinforcing what people have been noticing for years and the lands and waters that were once healthy are now being poisoned. I would recommend reading The One Straw Revolution to anyone interested in spirituality, globalization, farming or the environment, but I would also recommend it to anyone with an interest in preserving the quality of life on earth.
Phenomenology or Farming?.......2003-04-07
Some have said that the Fukuokan philosophy is the tap root of what is now more broadly called Permaculture, only Masanobu Fukuoka was a Japanese farmer, working with rice and winter grain in a southern Japanese climate. Both are no-till methods that shun the use of chemicals. However, Fukuoka should be set apart from farming in general and Permaculture in particular, in that The One-Straw Revolution is essentially a profound work of literary philosophy. Indeed, in many cases it reads like a naturalist's bible. Although the book is dressed in the language and anecdotes of a farmer, the message looms much larger. We read of a man who came to terms with the problem of death, and then decided to form a profoundly new (or is it old?) relationship with nature. In essence, the nugget of his wisdom is that, instead of struggling to control and command nature, we must learn to work with and learn from nature. Allow me to share one quote:"To build a fortress is wrong from the start. Even though he gives the excuse that it is for the city's defense, the castle is the outcome of the ruling lord's personality, and exerts a coercive force on the surrounding area. Saying he is afraid of attack and that fortification is for the town's protection, the bully stocks up weapons and puts the key in the door." Now I ask you, does the following paragraph sound like the words of a farmer or a philosopher? From the face of it, one might think Fukuoka is here criticizing the nuclear arms race, but he is actually talking about the warlike mindset of farmers who see leaf-munching pests as evil enemies that must be fortified against, sought out and destroyed. Whether we are talking about bull weevils or communities, though, his advice is sound. We must change our frame of reference and establish a different relationship with the world. Concise and yet elegant, Fukuoka's prose is pregnant with meaning. Altogether, this work provides poetic an intelligent critique of industrial agricultural practices and the linear notions of nature and progress that underlay those practices. In fact, Fukuoka goes as far as to declare that the scientific method itself limits our experience and knowledge of nature. An invaluable, timeless work that will move you, even if you have never picked up a hoe.
j.w.k.
Books:
- Margarita
- Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog
- Men Like Women Who Like Themselves: (And Other Secrets That the Smartest Women Know)
- Metamorphoses (Oxford World's Classics)
- Money for Nothing
- Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles
- Mr. Pusskins: A Love Story
- Murder by Moonlight and Other Mysteries: New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Volumes 19-24 (New Adventures of Shelock Holmes)
- Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis (Aimee Leduc Investigation)
- Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: GET OUT THE SHOVEL -- WHY EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG
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A Companion to Ethics (Blackwell Companions to Philosophy)
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