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Resources for Teaching
John Schilb • John clifford
Joyce hollingSworth • laura SparkS
cover images: a-digit/getty images
Resources for Teaching
Boston | New York
University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Laura Sparks
California State University, Chico
Preface
We designed Arguing about Literature to be a flexible pedagogical tool that
provides students with lots of help to develop their thinking, reading, and writing
abilities, as well as plenty of literary works and arguments for them to think, read,
and write about. But the book is ultimately only a tool, and no text, no matter
how carefully constructed, can substitute for a patient and attentive instructor
willing to guide individual students through the reading and writing process. For
such hard but rewarding work, an instructor’s relationship with students is cru-
cial to making the course a success. We trust that Arguing about Literature will
help you negotiate the challenges of teaching students to read more attentively,
think more critically, and write more skillfully, and we hope that the resources
Brief contents
Planning and Constructing the Course 1
Discussion and Debate 2
Sample Syllabi 3
Annotated Bibliography of Resources 9
PART ONE
A Brief Guide to Arguing about Literature 16
1. What Is Argument? 16
2. Writing Effective Arguments 21
3. How to Argue about Literature 23
4. The Reading Process 27
5. The Writing Process 30
6. Writing about Literary Genres 31
7. Writing Researched Arguments 40
8. Writing with Critical Approaches to Literature 48
v
PART TWO
Literature and Arguments 49
9. Families 49
10. Love 89
11. Freedom and Confinement 127
12. Crime and Justice 163
13. Journeys 216
Brief Contents v
contents
Preface iii
Brief Contents iv
Planning and Constructing the Course 1
Discussion and Debate 2
Sample Syllabi 3
Syllabus #1 Composition 103: Writing about Literature 3
Syllabus #2 English 1102: Critical Thinking and Writing 6
Annotated Bibliography of Resources 9
Basic Principles of Rhetoric and Argument 9
Rhetorical Analysis of Literature and Discussion of
Argument in Literary Criticism 11
Relating Literary Theory and Pedagogy to the
Teaching of Writing 13
PART ONE
A Brief Guide to Arguing about Literature 16
1. What Is Argument? 16
paul goldberger, Disconnected Urbanism 16
david w. barno, A New Moral Compact 17
regina rini, Should We Rename Institutions that
Honor Dead Racists? 19
2. Writing Effective Arguments 21
lee siegel, Why I Defaulted on My Student Loans 21
sophia mcdougall, All Princesses Know Kung Fu 22
3. How to Argue about Literature 23
john milton, When I consider how my light is spent 23
robert frost, Mending Wall 23
LITERATURE AND CURRENT ISSUES
rivka galchen, Usl at the Stadium 24
jon ronson, From “How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine
Sacco’s Life” 24
Jennifer Jacquet, From Is Shame Necessary? 24
4. The Reading Process 27
edward hirsch, Execution 27
t. s. eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock 28
allison alsup, Old Houses 29
6. Writing about Literary Genres 31
Short Fiction 32
Poetry 35
Plays 37
7. Writing Researched Arguments 40
Contexts for Research: Confinement, Mental Illness,
and “The Yellow Wallpaper” 40
charlotte perkins gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper 40
CULTURAL CONTEXTS
charlotte perkins gilman, Why I Wrote “The Yellow
Wallpaper” 43
s. weir mitchell, From “The Evolution of the Rest Treatment” 43
john harvey kellogg, From The Ladies’ Guide in Health and
Disease 43
8. Writing with Critical Approaches to Literature 48
PART TWO
Literature and Arguments 49
9. Families 49
Mothers and Daughters: Stories 49
tillie olsen, I Stand Here Ironing 49
Contents vii
viii Contents
amy tan, Two Kinds 50
alice walker, Everyday Use 51
Siblings in Conflict: Stories 59
tobias wolff, The Rich Brother 59
james baldwin, Sonny’s Blues 60
Returning Home from War: Stories 61
ernest hemingway, Soldier’s Home 61
lauren groff, Good People 62
Reconciling with Fathers: Poems 63
lucille clifton, forgiving my father 63
robert hayden, Those Winter Sundays 63
theodore roethke, My Papa’s Waltz 64
li-young lee, My Father, in Heaven, Is Reading Out Loud 65
Grandparents and Legacies: Poems 67
elizabeth cook-lynn, Grandfather at the Indian Health Clinic 67
nikki giovanni, Legacies 68
linda hogan, Heritage 69
alberto ríos, Mi Abuelo 71
judith ortiz cofer, Claims 74
Gays and Lesbians in Families: Poems 76
essex hemphill, Commitments 76
audre lorde, Who Said It Was Simple 77
minnie bruce pratt, Two Small-Sized Girls 78
richard blanco, Queer Theory: According to My Grandmother 80
Literature and Current Issues: Should Working Women
“Lean In”? 80
deborah garrison, Worked Late on a Tuesday Night 80
ARGUMENTS ON THE ISSUE
sheryl sandberg, From Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to
Lead 81
rosa brooks, Recline, Don’t Lean In: Why I Hate Sheryl Sandberg 81
Literature and Current Issues: Why Do Children Rebel
against Parental Expectations? 82
hanif kureishi, My Son, the Fanatic 82
ARGUMENTS ON THE ISSUE
roger cohen, Why ISIS Trumps Freedom 83
abdelkader benali, From Teenage Angst to Jihad 83
Contents ix
Arguments about a Poem: “Daddy” 84
sylvia plath, Daddy 84
ARGUMENTS ABOUT THE POEM
lynda k. bundtzen, From Plath’s Incarnations 85
steven gould axelrod, From Sylvia Plath: The Wound
and the Cure of Words 85
tim kendall, From Sylvia Plath: A Critical Study 85
Contexts for Research: Human Obligations, Robot
Consciousness, and “The Long Years” 86
ray bradbury, The Long Years 86
CONTEXTS FOR RESEARCH
eric schwitzgebel, We Have a Greater Moral Obligation
to Robots than to Humans 87
kenneth chang, Can Robots Become Conscious? 87
dan falk, How Long Before Robots Can Think Like Us? 87
a. m. turing, From “Computing Machinery and Intelligence” 87
10. Love 89
Romantic Dreams: Stories 89
james joyce, Araby 89
john updike, A & P 90
leslie marmon silko, Yellow Woman 92
Is This Love?: Stories 94
william faulkner, A Rose for Emily 94
raymond carver, What We Talk About When We Talk
About Love 95
True Love: Poems 97
william shakespeare, Let me not to the marriage
of true minds 97
john keats, Bright Star 99
elizabeth barrett browning, How Do I Love Thee? 101
e. e. cummings, somewhere i have never travelled 101
Passionate Love: Poems 103
michael s. harper, Discovery 103
susan minot, My Husband’s Back 104
Melancholy Loves: Poems 106
edna st. vincent millay, What Lips My Lips Have Kissed,
and Where, and Why 106
x Contents
w. h. auden, Funeral Blues 107
pablo neruda, The Song of Despair 109
robin becker, Morning Poem 109
Seductive Arguments: Poems 110
john donne, The Flea 110
andrew marvell, To His Coy Mistress 111
Literature and Current Issues: Are Millennials
Narcissists? 113
tony hoagland, What Narcissism Means to Me 113
ARGUMENTS ON THE ISSUE
brooke lea foster, The Persistent Myth of the Narcissistic
Millennial 113
emily esfahani smith and jennifer l. aaker, Millennial
Searchers 113
colson whitehead, How “You Do You” Perfectly Captures Our
Narcissistic Culture 114
steve kelley and jeff parker, You Know the Great Thing about
Selfies? 114
Literature and Current Issues: Why Marry? 115
kate chopin, The Story of an Hour 115
ARGUMENTS ON THE ISSUE
laura kipnis, Against Love 117
meghan o’rourke, The Marriage Trap 117
bob morris, Gay Marriage? How Straight 117
Arguments about a Play: Othello 119
william shakespeare, Othello 119
ARGUMENTS ABOUT THE PLAY
a. c. bradley, The Noble Othello 121
millicent bell, Othello’s Jealousy 121
jeffrie g. murphy, Jealousy, Shame, and the Rival 121
Contexts for Research: Social Disruption, Personal
Anxiety, and “Dover Beach” 122
matthew arnold, Dover Beach 122
CONTEXTS FOR RESEARCH
charles dickens, From Hard Times 125
friedrich engels, From The Condition of the Working Class
in England 125
james eli adams, Narrating Nature: Darwin 125
11. Freedom and Confinement 127
Oppressive Traditions: Stories 127
shirley jackson, The Lottery 127
caitlin horrocks, The Sleep 129
Freedom for Animals: Poems 129
william blake, The Tyger 129
d. h. lawrence, Snake 131
elizabeth bishop, The Fish 133
Trapped in Stereotypes: Poems 135
chrystos, Today Was a Bad Day like TB 135
louise erdrich, Dear John Wayne 137
dwight okita, In Response to Executive Order 9066 141
pat mora, Legal Alien 143
toi derricotte, Black Boys Play the Classics 145
naomi shihab nye, Blood 146
A Creative Confinement: Poems by Emily Dickinson 149
emily dickinson, Wild Nights — Wild Nights! 149
emily dickinson, Tell all the Truth but tell it slant — 150
emily dickinson, Much Madness is divinest Sense 151
emily dickinson, I’m Nobody! Who are you? 151
Domestic Prisons: Plays 152
susan glaspell, Trifles 152
lynn nottage, POOF! 153
Literature and Current Issues: Does Our Happiness
Depend on Others’ Misery? 154
ursula k. le guin, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas 154
ARGUMENTS ON THE ISSUE
david brooks, The Child in the Basement 155
john r. ehrenfeld, The Error of Trying to Measure Good and Bad 155
Literature and Current Issues: What Aren’t You
Free to Say? 156
xii Contents
geoffrey r. stone and will creeley, Restoring Free Speech on
Campus 157
nicholas kristof, Mizzou, Yale and Free Speech 157
Contexts for Research: Domesticity, Women’s
Rights, and A DOLL’S HOUSE 158
henrik ibsen, A Doll’s House 158
CONTEXTS FOR RESEARCH
august strindberg, Woman in A Doll’s House 160
emma goldman, Review of A Doll’s House 160
joan templeton, From “The Doll House Backlash: Criticism,
Feminism, and Ibsen” 160
susanna rustin, Why A Doll’s House Is More Relevant
than Ever 160
12. Crime and Justice 163
Discovering Injustice: Stories 163
nathaniel hawthorne, Young Goodman Brown 163
toni cade bambara, The Lesson 166
ha jin, Saboteur 167
Racial Injustice: Poems 167
countee cullen, Incident 167
natasha trethewey, Incident 169
Justice for Workers: Poems 170
william blake, The Chimney Sweeper 170
philip levine, What Work Is 171
philip shultz, Greed 173
Punishments: Poems 173
seamus heaney, Punishment 173
carolyn forché, The Colonel 178
He Said/She Said: Poems 180
robert browning, My Last Duchess 180
gabriel spera, My Ex-Husband 183
A Dream of Justice: Poems by Langston Hughes 185
langston hughes, Open Letter to the South 185
langston hughes, Theme for English B 187
langston hughes, Harlem 190
Contents xiii
How Can Injustice Be Resisted?: Plays 191
sophocles, Antigone 191
ida fink, The Table 196
Literature and Current Issues: Should Neuroscience
Redefine Criminal Law? 197
edgar allan poe, The Tell-Tale Heart 197
ARGUMENTS ON THE ISSUE
david eagleman, From Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain 198
raymond tallis, Why Blame Me? It Was All My Brain’s Fault 198
Literature and Contemporary Debates: How Just Is
Capital Punishment? 200
sherman alexie, Capital Punishment 200
ARGUMENTS ON THE ISSUE
george will, Capital Punishment’s Slow Death 204
bill otis, George Will’s Limp Case against the
Death Penalty 204
charles j. ogletree jr., Condemned to Die Because
He’s Black 204
Arguments about a Story: “A Good Man Is Hard to
Find” 206
flannery o’connor, A Good Man Is Hard to Find 206
ARGUMENTS ABOUT THE STORY
flannery o’connor, From Mystery and Manners 210
martha stephens, From The Question of Flannery
O’Connor 210
stephen bandy, From “ ‘One of My Babies’: The Misfit
and the Grandmother” 210
john desmond, From Flannery O’Connor’s Misfit and the
Mystery of Evil 210
Contexts for Research: Innocence, Evil, and
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” 212
joyce carol oates, Where Are You Going, Where Have
You Been? 212
CONTEXTS FOR RESEARCH
don moser, The Pied Piper of Tucson: He Cruised in a Golden Car,
Looking for Action 213
joyce carol oates, Smooth Talk: Short Story into Film 213
meghan daum, Jaycee Dugard and the Feel-Good Imperative 213
13. Journeys 216
Fairy Tale Journeys: Stories 216
charles perrault, Little Red Riding Hood 216
jacob and wilhelm grimm, Little Red Cap 218
angela carter, The Company of Wolves 221
Wartime Journeys: Stories 226
tim o’brien, The Things They Carried 226
ambrose bierce, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge 228
Roads Taken: Poems by Robert Frost 229
robert frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening 229
robert frost, The Road Not Taken 230
robert frost, Acquainted with the Night 231
Visionary Journeys: Poems 232
samuel taylor coleridge, Kubla Khan 232
percy bysshe shelley, Ozymandias 233
william butler yeats, Sailing to Byzantium 233
Final Journeys: Poems 234
mary oliver, When Death Comes 234
john donne, Death Be Not Proud 235
dylan thomas, Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night 236
emily dickinson, Because I could not stop for Death 238
Literature and Current Issues: Do Immigrants
Take Jobs from Native-Born Workers? 239
jimmy santiago baca, So Mexicans Are Taking Jobs from
Americans 239
ARGUMENTS ON THE ISSUE
steven camarota, Unskilled Workers Lose Out to
Immigrants 240
maria e. enchautegui, Immigrants Are Replacing,
Not Displacing, Workers 240
ted widmer, The Immigration Dividend 240
Literature and Current Issues: What Makes a
Woman? 241
adrienne rich, Diving into the Wreck 241
ARGUMENTS ON THE ISSUE
elinor burkett, What Makes a Woman? 242
leela ginelle, Trans Women Are Women. Why Do We
Have to Keep Saying This? 242
Contents xv
Contexts for Research: Race, Social Equality,
and “Battle Royal” 243
ralph ellison, Battle Royal 243
CONTEXTS FOR RESEARCH
booker t. washington, Atlanta Exposition Address (The Atlanta
Compromise) 246
w. e. b. du bois, Of Mr. Booker T. Washington 246
gunnar myrdal, Social Equality 246
Planning and constructing the course
discussion and debate
Your students will become more proficient at writing arguments if you give them
plenty of opportunities to bring up issues and advance claims in oral discussion.
Consider requiring members of the class to make oral reports on particular
authors. You might even call for entire panels on particular issues, authors, and
texts. Another possibility is to break the class into small groups and require each
to collaborate on a particular task, with the group eventually reporting back to
the class as a whole. Bear in mind that small groups are unlikely to be productive
if the task you assign them is vague; try to make it precise as well as manageable.
Students can also get valuable practice in discussion if you have them undertake
various kinds of role play, even when the text under consideration is not a script.
For example, you might have students enact a meeting of characters from various
short stories.
1. Cogent “meaning making” is most likely to occur in a literate environ-
ment of reading, responding, writing, discussing, and more writing.
2. Arguing about literature is a process of inquiry that entails revision,
reason, and reexamination.
3. Finding literary topics to write about involves asking questions.
4. Writing is best thought of as a process involving exploring, planning,
composing, and revising.
The first idea, about “meaning making,” is the foundational structure for the
course. We read, write, discuss, write, make comparisons, and write again. It is
in this cycle of literate acts that good writing is most likely to occur. A discussion
4 Sample Syllabi
students. A class discussion of the writing exercises on pages 105 and 109 will
help students see the multiple topics that are possible in writing about literature.
If you want to expand in a more theoretical direction, you can have students read
Chapter 8, “Writing with Critical Approaches to Literature,” although you may
process applied to specific literary works. You can draw on Chapter 3, “How to
Argue about Literature,” and Chapter 4, “The Reading Process,” as students
make their way through Chapter 6, “Writing about Literary Genres,” to see how
models of the writing process proceed. It may be especially useful for them to
look at the student responses and freewrites in both Chapter 4 and Chapter 6. It
ters. Students write an essay (four typed pages) for each chapter. They begin
with Chapter 9, “Families,” and they can work through several clusters in class;
it is not possible to work with all the clusters, of course, but students can read
other clusters on their own, responding in their journals to questions. Students
spend two to three weeks on each essay, from exploring to revising. For
Chapter 9, the following clusters are discussed in class: “Reconciling with
Fathers,” “Mothers and Daughters,” “Siblings in Conflict,” and “Grandparents
and Legacies.” Depending on the time, you may want the class to read one
other cluster.
