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Literature & Composition
Essential Voices, Essential Skills for the AP® CourseFourth Edition| ©2027 Renee H. Shea; Robin Dissin Aufses; Lawrence Scanlon; Katherine E. Cordes; Carlos Escobar; Carol Jago
Designed specifically for the AP® English Literature course, the fourth edition of Literature & Composition gives you a flexible framework for building students’ skills from close reading to sophisticated literary analysis. Informed by feedback from hundreds of AP® ed...
Designed specifically for the AP® English Literature course, the fourth edition of Literature & Composition gives you a flexible framework for building students’ skills from close reading to sophisticated literary analysis. Informed by feedback from hundreds of AP® educators and insights from Chief Reader reports, the new edition provides targeted support for the areas where students need it most. Focused anchor texts keep opening-chapter instruction manageable, while intuitive graphic organizers and accessible enrichment help students develop defensible claims, strengthen commentary, and move beyond plot summary.
To simplify course planning, clear cross-referencing now connects skill lessons directly to the anthology’s classic and contemporary readings—including three new thematic chapters: Departures and Arrivals, Art and the Artist, and Creation and Transformation. Supported by "Diving into the Text" exercises, contextual framing, and updated AP® multiple-choice practice matching current exam rigor, Literature & Composition gives you the framework to customize your course while ensuring full alignment with the AP® Course and Exam Description.
Together, these resources make it easier to customize your course, revisit skills throughout the year, and give students structured practice as they prepare for the AP® Exam.
Institutional Prices
The flexibility you want, the alignment you need.
Designed specifically for the AP® English Literature course, the fourth edition of Literature & Composition gives you a flexible framework for building students’ skills from close reading to sophisticated literary analysis. Informed by feedback from hundreds of AP® educators and insights from Chief Reader reports, the new edition provides targeted support for the areas where students need it most. Focused anchor texts keep opening-chapter instruction manageable, while intuitive graphic organizers and accessible enrichment help students develop defensible claims, strengthen commentary, and move beyond plot summary.
To simplify course planning, clear cross-referencing now connects skill lessons directly to the anthology’s classic and contemporary readings—including three new thematic chapters: Departures and Arrivals, Art and the Artist, and Creation and Transformation. Supported by "Diving into the Text" exercises, contextual framing, and updated AP® multiple-choice practice matching current exam rigor, Literature & Composition gives you the framework to customize your course while ensuring full alignment with the AP® Course and Exam Description.
Together, these resources make it easier to customize your course, revisit skills throughout the year, and give students structured practice as they prepare for the AP® Exam.
Features
Targeted Skill-Building that Spirals for Exam Success
- Flexible 3-Section Framework helps you map instruction across three sections tied to AP® Units 1–9, giving students a clear progression from close reading (Units 1–3) to full-length essay writing (Units 4–6) and more sophisticated analysis (Units 7–9).
- Scaffolded FRQ Support combines step-by-step graphic organizers, prompt breakdowns, targeted revision checklists, and scored sample student essays to guide students through every stage of crafting high-scoring AP® Prose Fiction, Poetry, and Literary Argument essays.
- Actionable Test-Taking Strategies use AP® Tips, targeted Key Questions, and formative Culminating Activities informed by Chief Reader reports to help you address common challenges and build students’ confidence with AP®-style tasks throughout the course.
Captivating Literature that Deepens Analysis & Builds Exam-Level Stamina
- Targeted Unit Alignment connects each Chapter Introduction to the chapter theme and AP® Unit, reinforces skills from the opening chapters, and introduces Key Questions that help focus students’ reading and interpretation from page one.
- Scaffolded Anchor Texts for High-Scoring Commentary pair Central Texts by contemporary writers anchor each chapter, while world-renowned Classic Texts and historical framing in “A Broader Context” train students to analyze complex literature and earn the sophistication point.
- Diverse Selections for Broad Prompt Practice bring together canonical benchmarks like Ralph Ellison’s “Boy on a Train” and Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s “Ulysses” with dynamic contemporary voices like Miranda July’s “Roy Spivey” and Jericho Brown’s “Crossing”, giving students experience analyzing a wide range of texts, styles, and perspectives.
- Nuanced Interpretation via TalkBacks pairs challenging literary works with modern responses, modeling multi-layered analysis to help students write beyond surface-level plot summary.
- Comprehensive AP® Exam Practice & Testing gives you multiple ways to build practice into your course through AP® Multiple-Choice Practice on Central and Classic Texts, versatile Suggestions for Writing (including AP®-style FRQs and synthesis prompts), and a complete full-length AP® English Literature Practice Exam.
Available in Achieve for On-the-Go Learning: BFW’s online courseware platform gives you quick access to student and teacher’s edition eBooks, as well as teacher resources, adaptive quizzing, digital library of full-length works, and a range of post-reading and AP® Exam Practice activities.
New to This Edition
The fourth edition of Literature & Composition gives AP® Literature instructors more targeted support for helping students become stronger readers and writers. Informed by feedback from hundreds of AP® Literature teachers, Chief Reader reports, and a Content Advisory Board of course experts, the new edition focuses on three common challenges: helping students move beyond plot summary, connecting skill instruction to reading, and developing cohesive commentary.
The book’s architecture has been redesigned to make that support easier to find and use—giving instructors practical tools to guide students where they need it most.
Streamlined Instructional Opening Chapters
- Focused Model Texts center each opening chapter now centers on just one or two anchor texts, keeping skill acquisition clear, manageable, and focused.
- Visual Graphic Organizers make literary analysis intuitive, giving students an actionable entry point to build confidence early.
- Accessible Paths to Sophistication provide updated enrichment in Section 3 of each opening chapter provides step-by-step support to help every student scaffold to high-level analysis.
Expanded Thematic Anthology & Reading Tools
- Three New Thematic Collections give you more flexibility to tailor your course with expanded text options in Departures and Arrivals, Art and the Artist, and Creation and Transformation—designed for smooth CED alignment and student engagement.
- On-Ramps to Analytical Essay Writing combine new “Diving into the Text” exercises, targeted Guided Questions, and rich historical context in “A Broader Context” to help students craft defensible claims and build stronger commentary.
Seamless AP® Alignment & Updated Exam Prep
- Integrated Skill Signposts connect opening-chapter activities directly to anthology readings—and anthology readings back to skill instruction—making it easier to revisit and reinforce skills throughout the year.
- High-Impact Writing Instruction provides enhanced guidance that focuses on prompt breakdown, thesis construction, and line-of-reasoning development. Anthology readings feature short-answer questions tagged to AP® Big Ideas and essay prompts using stable exam wording.
- Updated AP® Multiple-Choice Practice gives students practice with question sets updated to reflect the format, skill distribution, and rigor of the current AP® Exam.
Literature & Composition
Fourth Edition| ©2027
Renee H. Shea; Robin Dissin Aufses; Lawrence Scanlon; Katherine E. Cordes; Carlos Escobar; Carol Jago
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Literature & Composition
Fourth Edition| 2027
Renee H. Shea; Robin Dissin Aufses; Lawrence Scanlon; Katherine E. Cordes; Carlos Escobar; Carol Jago
Table of Contents
About the Authors
Letter to Our Colleagues
Guided Tour of Literature & Composition, Fourth Edition
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 Analyzing Short Fiction
Key Concepts
Introduction to Short Fiction
Section 1
Analyzing Literary Element
Edward P. Jones, The First Day
Character
Key Questions: Analyzing Character
Activity: Analyzing Character
Setting
Key Questions: Analyzing Setting
Activity: Analyzing Setting
Plot
Key Questions: Analyzing Plot
Activity: Analyzing Plot
Point of View
First-Person Point of View
Second-Person Point of View
Tommy Orange, from Wandering Stars
Third-Person Point of View
Key Questions: Analyzing Point of View
Perspective
Key Questions: Analyzing Perspective
Activity: Analyzing Literary Elements
Analyzing Literary Techniques
Diction
Key Questions: Analyzing Diction
Syntax
Key Questions: Analyzing Syntax
Imagery
Key Questions: Analyzing Imagery
Figurative Language
Comparisons: Similes and Metaphors
Personification
Zora Neale Hurston, from Their Eyes Were Watching God
Key Questions: Analyzing Figurative Language
Tone and Mood
Key Questions: Analyzing Tone and Mood
Activity: Analyzing Literary Techniques
Putting It All Together: Making a Defensible Claim about a Passage of Fiction
Breaking Down the Prompt
Developing a Claim
Gathering Evidence
Drafting a Paragraph
Culminating Activity: Interpreting Short Fiction: Defending a Claim with Evidence
Section 2
From Reading to Writing: Crafting an AP® Prose Fiction Analysis Essay
Preparing to Write about Short Fiction
Breaking Down the Prompt
Guiding Your First Reading
Key Questions: Guiding Your First Reading
Jamaica Kincaid, Girl
Annotating Short Fiction for Close Analysis
Activity: Annotating Short Fiction for Close Analysis
Moving from Annotation to Analysis
Activity: Moving from Annotation to Analysis
Developing a Thesis Statement
Activity: Developing a Thesis Statement
Supporting Your Thesis
Writing Topic Sentences
Activity: Writing Topic Sentences
Gathering Evidence
Activity: Gathering Evidence
Developing a Line of Reasoning through Commentary
Activity: Developing a Line of Reasoning Through Commentary
Documenting Sources
Introducing Your Essay
Activity: Introducing Your Essay
Concluding Your Essay
Activity: Concluding Your Essay
Revising Your Essay
Activity: Revising Your Essay
Analyzing a Sample AP® Prose Fiction Analysis Essay
Activity: Providing Peer Feedback for Revision
Culminating Activity: Crafting an AP® Prose Fiction Analysis Essay
Section 3
Adding Depth to an AP® Prose Fiction Analysis Essay
Considering Alternative Interpretations
Exploring Multiple Perspectives
Challenging Your Initial Position
Revising Your Thesis to Add Alternative Interpretations
Refining Analysis of Style
Reviewing Literary Elements and Techniques
Revising Your Thesis to Add Literary Elements and Techniques
Incorporating Broader Context
Cultural Setting
Writer’s Environment
Humanity
Revising Your Thesis to Add Broader Context
Putting It All Together: Deepening Your AP® Prose Fiction Analysis Essay
Culminating Activity: Deepening an AP® Prose Fiction Analysis Essay
Chapter 2 Analyzing Poetry
Key Concepts
Introduction to Poetry
Section 1
Step 1: Get Oriented
Seamus Heaney, Digging
Subject
Examine the Title
Read Aloud
Find the Sentences
Paraphrase
Speaker
Emotional Impact
Activity: Getting Oriented
Step 2: Explore Foundational Elements
Diction
Key Questions: Analyzing Diction
Structure
Poetic Syntax
Shifts
Key Questions: Analyzing Structure
Figurative Language
Simile and Metaphor
Personification
Allusion
Symbol
Key Questions: Analyzing Figurative Language
Imagery
Key Questions: Analyzing Imagery
Tone and Mood
Key Questions: Analyzing Tone and Mood
Activity: Exploring Foundational Elements
Step 3: Refine Your Interpretation
William Shakespeare, My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun
Form
Meter
Key Questions: Analyzing Form
Sound
Rhyme
Key Questions: Analyzing Sound
Contrasts
Juxtapositions, Antithesis, and Paradox
Irony
Key Questions: Analyzing Contrasts
Activity: Refining Your Interpretation
Putting It All Together: Making a Defensible Claim about Poetry
Breaking Down the Prompt
Developing a Claim
Gathering Evidence
Drafting a Paragraph
Culminating Activity: Interpreting Poetry: Defending a Claim with Evidence
Section 2
From Reading to Writing: Crafting an AP® Poetry Analysis Essay
Preparing to Write about Poetry
Breaking Down the Prompt
Guiding Your First Reading
Key Questions: Guiding Your First Reading
Maxine Kumin, Woodchucks
Annotating Poetry for Close Analysis
Activity: Annotating Poetry for Close Analysis
Moving from Annotation to Analysis
Activity: Moving from Annotation to Analysis
Developing a Thesis Statement
Activity: Developing a Thesis Statement
Supporting Your Thesis
Writing Topic Sentences
Activity: Writing Topic Sentences
Gathering Evidence
Activity: Gathering Evidence
Developing a Line of Reasoning through Commentary
Activity: Developing a Line of Reasoning through Commentary
Documenting Sources
Introducing Your Essay
Activity: Introducing Your Essay
Concluding Your Essay
Activity: Concluding Your Essay
Revising Your Essay
Activity: Revising Your Essay
Analyzing a Sample AP® Poetry Analysis Essay
Activity: Providing Peer Feedback for Revision
Culminating Activity: Crafting an AP® Poetry Analysis Essay
Section 3
Adding Depth to an AP® Poetry Analysis Essay
Considering Alternative Interpretations
Reconsidering the Speaker’s Perspective
Challenging Your Initial Position
Revising Your Thesis to Add Alternative Interpretations
Refining Analysis of Style
Reviewing Literary Elements and Techniques
Revising Your Thesis to Add Literary Elements and Techniques
Incorporating Broader Context
Writer’s Environment
Humanity
Revising Your Thesis to Add Broader Context
Putting It All Together: Deepening Your AP® Poetry Analysis Essay
Culminating Activity: Deepening an AP® Poetry Analysis Essay
Chapter 3 Analyzing Longer Fiction and Drama
Key Concepts
Introduction to Longer Fiction and Drama
Section 1
Susan Glaspell, Trifles
Plot in Longer Fiction and Drama
Significant Events
Conflict
Resolution
Key Questions: Analyzing Plot in Longer Fiction and Drama
Activity: Analyzing Plot in Longer Fiction and Drama
Character in Longer Fiction and Drama
Character Types
Contrasting Characters
Complexities of Character
Character Arcs
Key Questions: Analyzing Character in Longer Fiction and Drama
Activity: Analyzing Character in Longer Fiction and Drama
Narration in Longer Fiction and Drama
Point of View and Perspective
Tone and Mood
Complexities of Narration
Unreliable Narrators
Stream of Consciousness
Key Questions: Analyzing Narration in Longer Fiction and Drama
Activity: Analyzing Narration in Longer Fiction and Drama
Setting in Longer Fiction and Drama
Key Questions: Analyzing Setting in Longer Fiction and Drama
Activity: Analyzing Setting in Longer Fiction and Drama
Symbol in Longer Fiction and Drama
Allegory and Archetype
Key Questions: Analyzing Symbol in Longer Fiction and Drama
Activity: Analyzing Symbol in Longer Fiction and Drama
Theme in Longer Fiction and Drama
Key Questions: Analyzing Theme in Longer Fiction and Drama
Activity: Analyzing Theme in Longer Fiction and Drama
Collecting Interpretations about Longer Fiction and Drama
Activity: Collecting Interpretations about Longer Fiction and Drama
Putting It All Together: Making a Defensible Claim about Longer Fiction or Drama
Breaking Down the Prompt
Developing a Claim
Gathering Evidence
Drafting a Paragraph
Culminating Activity: Interpreting Longer Fiction and Drama: Defending a Claim with Evidence
Section 2
From Reading to Writing: Crafting an AP® Literary Argument Essay
Preparing to Write a Literary Argument
Breaking Down the Prompt
Reviewing for Literary Argument
Developing a Thesis Statement
Activity: Developing a Thesis Statement
Supporting Your Thesis
Writing Topic Sentences
Activity: Writing Topic Sentences
Gathering Evidence
Activity: Gathering Evidence
Developing a Line of Reasoning through Commentary
Activity: Developing a Line of Reasoning through Commentary
Introducing Your Essay
Activity: Introducing Your Essay
Concluding Your Essay
Activity: Concluding Your Essay
Revising Your Essay
Activity: Revising Your Essay
Analyzing a Sample AP® Literary Argument Essay
Activity: Providing Peer Feedback for Revision
Culminating Activity: Crafting an AP® Literary Argument Essay
Section 3
Adding Depth to an AP® Literary Argument Essay
Considering Alternative Interpretations
Exploring Inconvenient Evidence
Challenging Your Initial Position
Revising Your Thesis to Add Alternative Interpretations
Incorporating Broader Context
Cultural Setting
Writer’s Environment
Humanity
Revising Your Thesis to Add Broader Context
Putting It All Together: Deepening Your Literary Argument Essay
Culminating Activity: Deepening an AP® Literary Argument Essay
Chapter 4 Departures and Arrivals
Chapter Introduction
Central Text: Naguib Mahfouz, Half a Day (short fiction)
Classic Text: Eudora Welty, A Worn Path (short fiction)
A Broader Context: “A Worn Path” and the Power of the Literary Journey
1. Joseph Campbell, from The Hero with a Thousand Faces (nonfiction)
2. Original Super Mario Bros. game cartridge (photograph)
3. Carrie Law Morgan Figgs, We are Marching (poetry)
4. Eudora Welty, Is Phoenix Jackson’s Grandson Really Dead? (nonfiction)
Short Fiction
Ralph Ellison, Boy on a Train
Helena María Viramontes, The Moths
Miranda July, Roy Spivey
Emma Binder, Roy
Poetry
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Ulysses
TALKBACK: Amorak Huey, We Were All Odysseus in Those Days
Edgar Lee Masters, George Gray
Linda Pastan, To a Daughter Leaving Home
Rita Dove, Exit
Ellen Bass, Gate C22000
John Lee Clark, On My Return from a Business Trip
Jason Koo, I’ll Follow You
Jericho Brown, Crossing
Elizabeth Acevedo, My mother is the first one in her family to leave the Dominican Republic for the United States
AP® Multiple-Choice Practice
Naguib Mahfouz, from Half a Day
Eudora Welty, from A Worn Path
Suggestions for Writing: Departures and Arrivals
Chapter 5 Home and Family
Chapter Introduction
Central Text: Richard Blanco, Mother Country (poetry)
Classic Text: Langston Hughes, Mother to Son (poetry)
A Broader Context: “Mother to Son” and the Harlem Renaissance
1. Alain Locke, from The New Negro (nonfiction)
2. Countee Cullen, Heritage (poetry)
3. Zora Neale Hurston, Spunk (short fiction)
4. Jacob Lawrence, From every southern town migrants left by the hundreds to travel north(Migration Series #3) (painting)
Short Fiction
Tillie Olsen, I Stand Here Ironing
Susan Choi, Flashlight
Poetry
Ben Jonson, On My First Son
Theodore Roethke, My Papa’s Waltz
TALKBACK: Robert Hayden, Those Winter Sundays
Mary Oliver, The Black Walnut Tree
Sharon Olds, High School Senior
Li-Young Lee, The Hammock
Victoria Redel, Bedecked
Mohja Kahf, My Grandmother Washes Her Feet in the Sink of the Bathroom at Sears
Adrienne Su, Peaches
Monica de la Torre, Equivalents
Maggie Smith, Good Bones
Ada Limón, The Raincoat
Louise Glück, Second Wind
CooXooEii Black, On Mindfulness
Clint Smith, In the Grocery Store You Are Wrapped Tightly onto My Chest
AP® Multiple-Choice Practice
Richard Blanco, Mother Country
Langston Hughes, Mother to Son
Suggestions for Writing: Home and Family
Chapter 6 Tradition and Progress
Chapter Introduction
Central Text: August Wilson, Fences (drama)
Classic Text: Kate Chopin, The Awakening (novel)
A Broader Context: The Awakening and Nineteenth-Century Marriage
1. Elizabeth Gilmer, from Dorothy Dix Talks (nonfiction)
2. Kate Chopin, Madame Célestin’s Divorce (short fiction)
3. George Meredith, Modern Love: I (poetry)
4. Knut Ekwall, The Proposal (painting)
Short Fiction
Edith Wharton, Roman Fever
Alice Walker, Everyday Use
Poetry
William Wordsworth, The World Is Too Much with Us
TALKBACK: Denise Lajimodiere, Tawkwaymenahnah
Christina Rossetti, No, Thank You, John
William Butler Yeats, The Second Coming
Yehuda Amichai, The Eve of Rosh Hashanah
Franny Choi, Gentrifier
Angela C. Trudell Vasquez, In the Discount Lot
Jared Harél, Numbers
Frank X Walker, Canning Memories
AP® Multiple-Choice Practice
August Wilson, from Fences
Kate Chopin, from The Awakening
Suggestions for Writing: Tradition and Progress
Chapter 7 Self and Society
Chapter Introduction
Central Text: Jhumpa Lahiri, Interpreter of Maladies (short fiction)
Classic Text: James Baldwin, Sonny’s Blues (short fiction)
A Broader Context: “Sonny’s Blues” and the Influence of Jazz
1. Gerald Early, from Jazz and the African American Literary Tradition (nonfiction)
2. Robert O’Meally, from Seeing Jazz (nonfiction)
3. Stuart Davis, Swing Landscape (painting)
4. Gwendolyn Brooks, We Real Cool (poetry)
Short Fiction
John Steinbeck, The Chrysanthemums
Doris Lessing, Through the Tunnel
Joyce Carol Oates, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Apollo
Poetry
John Milton, When I consider how my light is spent
TALKBACK: Emma Lazarus, City Visions I
Mahmoud Darwish, Identity Card
Ai, The Man with the Saxophone
Natalie Diaz, The Facts of Art
Aracelis Girmay, You Are Who I Love
José Olivarez, (citizen) (illegal)
Dorothy Chan, So Chinese Girl
Tommye Blount, The Pedestrian
José Angel Araguz, Every S in This Poem Is Telling on Me
AP® Multiple-Choice Practice
Jhumpa Lahiri, from Interpreter of Maladies
James Baldwin, from Sonny’s Blues
Suggestions for Writing: Self and Society
Chapter 8 Love and Relationships
Chapter Introduction
Central Text: Terrance Hayes, Wind in a Box (poetry)
Classic Text: Edna St. Vincent Millay, Love is not all (poetry)
A Broader Context: “Love is not all” and How the Sonnet Still Sings
1. Edward Hirsch, My Own Acquaintance (nonfiction)
2. William Wordsworth, Nuns Fret Not at Their Convent’s Narrow Room (poetry)
3. Marilyn Nelson, How I Discovered Poetry (poetry)
4. Oliver de la Paz, Diaspora Sonnet 40 (poetry)
Short Fiction
William Faulkner, A Rose for Emily
Lauren Groff, Mother of Men
Poetry
Sappho, The Anactoria Poem
John Donne, A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
TALKBACK: Adrienne Rich, A Valediction Forbidding Mourning
Lord Byron, She Walks in Beauty
John Keats, Bright Star, would I were stedfast as thou art
Emily Dickinson, Wild Nights — Wild Nights!
Nikki Giovanni, Nikki-Rosa
Elizabeth Bishop, One Art
Jimmy Santiago Baca, I love the wind . . .
Philip Levine, What Work Is
Eavan Boland, Pomegranate
Chen Chen, I Invite My Parents to a Dinner Party
Amy Alvarez, How to Date a White Boy
Julian Talamantez Brolaski, What to Say Upon Being Asked to Be Friends
Ethelbert Miller, Crossing the Line
AP® Multiple-Choice Practice
Terrance Hayes, Wind in a Box
Edna St. Vincent Millay, Love is not all
Suggestions for Writing: Love and Relationships
Chapter 9 Conformity and Rebellion
Chapter Introduction
Central Text: Nella Larsen, Passing (novel)
Classic Text: William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (drama)
A Broader Context: Hamlet and the Evolution of Character
1. Marjorie Garber, from Hamlet: The Matter of Character (nonfiction)
2. William Hazlitt, from Characters of Shakespeare’s Plays (nonfiction)
3. C. S. Lewis, from Hamlet: The Prince or the Poem? (nonfiction)
4. Zbigniew Herbert, Elegy of Fortinbras (poetry)
Short Fiction
Flannery O’Connor, A Good Man Is Hard to Find
Lesley Nneka Arimah, Light
Poetry
Emily Dickinson, Much Madness is divinest Sense —
TALKBACK: W. H. Auden, The Unknown Citizen
Dylan Thomas, Do not go gentle into that good night
Carol Ann Duffy, Penelope
Diana García, On the First Day She Made Birds
Lorna Goodison, Reporting Back to Queen Isabella
Kaveh Akbar, Ultrasound
Rachel McKibbens, Remember the Boys
Ruth Awad, Reasons to Live
Kristiana Rae Colón, a remix for remembrance
AP® Multiple-Choice Practice
Nella Larsen, fromPassing
William Shakespeare, from Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Suggestions for Writing: Conformity and Rebellion
Chapter 10 War and Remembrance
Chapter Introduction
Central Text: Jamil Jan Kochai, Playing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (short fiction)
Classic Text: Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried (short fiction)
A Broader Context: “The Things They Carried” and Voices of the Vietnam Conflict
1. Viet Thanh Nguyen, from On True War Stories (nonfiction)
2. Quan Barry, Napalm (poetry)
3. Paul Tran, East Mountain View (poetry)
4. Ann Le, Between Home and Here(Woman Soldier 1) (collage)
Short Fiction
Leo Tolstoy, After the Dance
Bharati Mukherjee, The Management of Grief
Scholastique Mukasonga, Grief
Beth Bachmann, The Boy at War and Home
Poetry
Sara Teasdale, There Will Come Soft Rains
Wilfred Owen, Dulce et Decorum Est
Pablo Neruda, I Explain a Few Things
Czesław Miłosz, Dedication
TALKBACK: Matthew Olzmann, Letter Beginning with Two Lines by Czesław Miłosz
Henry Reed, Naming of Parts
Claribel Alegría, Not Yet
Laura Da’, Passive Voice
Dujie Tahat, Veterans Day Assembly
Gbenga Adesina, Citizen
AP® Multiple-Choice Practice
Jamil Jan Kochai, fromPlaying Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Tim O’Brien, from The Things They Carried
Suggestions for Writing: War and Remembrance
Chapter 11 Art and the Artist
Chapter Introduction
Central Text: Ada Limón, The End of Poetry (poetry)
Classic Text: Marianne Moore, The Steeple-Jack (poetry)
A Broader Context: “The Steeple-Jack” and the Modernist Vision
1. T. S. Eliot, from Tradition and the Individual Talent (nonfiction)
2. Amy Lowell, A London Thoroughfare. 2 A.M. and The Emperor’s Garden (poetry)
3. Fernand Léger, La Ville (“The City”) (painting)
4. Virginia Woolf, from Mrs. Dalloway (fiction)
Short Fiction
Willa Cather, A Wagner Matinee
Weike Wang, A Children’s Story
Poetry
Alexander Pope, Sound and Sense
Robert Browning, My Last Duchess
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, A Musical Instrument
TALKBACK: Percy Bysshe Shelley, Hymn of Pan
Claude McKay, Poetry
Richard Wilbur, The Writer
Naomi Shihab Nye, Valentine for Ernest Mann
Billy Collins, The Blues
Ocean Vuong, Essay on Craft
Tracy K. Smith, Wade in the Water
Denice Frohman, Lady Jordan
Danielle DeTiberus, The Artist Signs Her Masterpiece, Immodestly
TALKBACK: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Judith Beheading Holofernes and Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Beheading Holofernes
Caridad Moro-Gronlier, I Did Not Take My Camera to Paris
Amit Majmudar, Critical Theory
AP® Multiple-Choice Practice
Ada Limón, The End of Poetry
Marianne Moore, The Steeple-Jack
Suggestions for Writing: Art and the Artist
Chapter 12 Creation and Transformation
Chapter Introduction
Central Text: Sarah Ruhl, Eurydice (drama)
Classic Text: Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (novel)
A Broader Context: Frankenstein and the Ethics of Creation
1. Jon Turney, from Frankenstein’s Footsteps (nonfiction)
2. Brian Aldiss, Super-Toys Last All Summer Long (fiction)
3. Kelly McKinney, Thoughts on Frankenstein, AI and the Perils of Our Unfinished Creation (nonfiction)
4. David Sipress, What to Expect When You’re Expecting (cartoon)
Short Fiction
Rosario Ferré, The Youngest Doll
Rivka Galchen, Unreasonable
Poetry
William Cullen Bryant, Mutation
Gerard Manley Hopkins, Spring and Fall
May Swenson, The Centaur
Howard Nemerov, Figures of Thought
Jesús Papolito Meléndez, EcologicHumanitarianIsm
TALKBACK: Mary TallMountain, Poem 167: The Last Wolf
Lucille Clifton, The earth is a living thing
Wendell Berry, The Peace of Wild Things
Arthur Sze, Downwind
Camille Dungy, Sanctuary
AP® Multiple-Choice Practice
Sarah Ruhl, from Eurydice
Mary Shelley, from Frankenstein
Suggestions for Writing: Creation and Transformation
AP® English Literature Practice Exam
Glossary / Glosario
MLA Guidelines for a List of Works Cited
Text Credits
Index
Literature & Composition
Fourth Edition| 2027
Renee H. Shea; Robin Dissin Aufses; Lawrence Scanlon; Katherine E. Cordes; Carlos Escobar; Carol Jago
Authors
Renee Shea
Robin Aufses
Lawrence Scanlon
Katherine Cordes
Carlos Escobar
Carol Jago
Literature & Composition
Fourth Edition| 2027
Renee H. Shea; Robin Dissin Aufses; Lawrence Scanlon; Katherine E. Cordes; Carlos Escobar; Carol Jago
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Literature & Composition
Fourth Edition| 2027
Renee H. Shea; Robin Dissin Aufses; Lawrence Scanlon; Katherine E. Cordes; Carlos Escobar; Carol Jago
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