This is a textbook anthology of literature in English and English translation. It begins with an explanation of why the author
feels we should study literature: to explore, to experiment, and to expand our viewpoints, understandings and consciousness. The book then has sections discussing each of the three major types of literature: fiction, poetry, and drama. This is followed by a section on writing about literature, both generally and with reference to particular types of literature (as well as more detailed material on researching the internet, and proper form
). This is followed by the meat of the book: the actual short stories, poems, and dramas which are the flesh-and-blood that illlustrates, exemplifies, and actually opens the world of literature in a new way, one hopes, to the eager reader. There are thirty-seven (37) short stories, over three hundred (300+) poems, and nine (9) dramas (one-act to full-length, ancient Greece to modern times). Each author's work is preceded by a brief headnote with biographical information (including other works by that same author written up to the date of this book). One of the amazing features of this book is a listing of various themes and approaches one might wish to use in reading these literary works, with a topic-by-topic listing of the works in this book relevant to the given theme. (These themes range from Language to Art, War to Parents and Children; from Women's Issues and Racial Identity and Racism to Physical Handicaps; from Love to Inspiration). There is, finally, a section on the various critical approaches to literature, plus some very extensive indexes of terms, authors, titles, and first lines.