Literature and Society: An Introduction of Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction

A text/anthology with a difference. Literature and Society, 2nd Edition, provides an extensive, varied, and innovative introduction to four literary genres: fiction, poetry, drama, and non-fictional prose. It offers a broad spectrum of selections, traditional as well as contemporary, and organizes the selection around socially relevant themes that students can relate to easily. In addition, it provides pedagogical support for understanding literary form and writing about it. Literature and Society demonstrates how literary techniques serve larger purposes - and how these larger purposes shape literary form. Among its many unique features, the Second Edition: * Organizes the literature around five socially relevant themes - Growing up and Growing older - Women and Men - Money and Work - Peace and War - Varieties of Protest * Offers a variety of works by women, African American, ethnic, working class, and other writers traditionally under-represented. * Includes an introduction to each literary genre, a process-oriented chapter on how to write about literature, and author biographies, discussion questions, and writing exercises for all stories, plays, works of non-fiction, and key poems. This will remain a trusted resource and reference long after subsequent revisions are released. - 5 Stars.

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.