Literature: Art and Artifact is designed for students taking freshman composition and literature courses. As the title indicates, we have made the selections and writtent the apparatus with a double intention: to present works of literature as works of art worthy of being apprehended and appreciated for their beauty and expressiveness, while at the same time being viewed as objects to be analyzed, evaluated and writtent about. The arrangement of the book, along with our consistent emphasis on writing about literature, underscores our belief that the appreciation and analysis of literature should occur simultaneously, that the two intentions should be united.
Literature: Art and Artifact is organized by genre: fiction, poetry and drama. We have chosen this mode of organization not because it has been perennially popular (which it has), but because it focuses students' attention equally on both the how and the what of literary art. Moreover, it reminds students that when they write about literature they are writing about techniques and forms as well as ideas.
Each section of Literature: Art and Artifact begins with an exemplary text or texts, offered without commentary and designed to introduce students to the pleasures of meeting the gven genre on its own terms, without medition from editors or instructors. We believe that this one-on-one encounter between student and text is the most logical place for the study of literature to begin and end. The exemplary texts are floowed by apparatus that describes the major elements of the genre in questions, and by texts that illustrate that element "in action." Throughout the book we have striven to keep the apparatus as clear as possible for ints intended audience; furthermore, we have tried to cover only essential points so that the instructor has full room to supplement or amplify what we have offered. We have attempted to aid the instructor, not to assume his or her proper role.
After each element, we have included a separate section that concers writing about that element. In these sections we include advice about writing, further general questions concerning analysis and a sample essay that embodies the key points discussd in the text. Thus, the student receives - chapter by chapter - practical suggestions for comleting written assignments. These suggestions occur along the way; they are not relagated to an appendix.
After all the elements of a given genre have been described, we have included a section entitled "Integration and Evaluation," which ties together the concerns of the previous chapters, leaving the student poised to reconsider the whole work in light of what he or she has learned and to move more confidenetly toward answering questions of evaluation. To encourage the student's interest in evaluating literature, we have added to each section a group of "Critical Touchstones," which highlight major critical issues and provide a basis for further discussion and writing.
In the "Further Readings" for each section, as well as in the texts that accompany our description of the elements, we have presented a broad sampling of literature that is varied in its difficulty and in the themes it takes up, but that should inspire students with its consistent high quality.
Literature: Art and Artifact is organized by genre: fiction, poetry and drama. We have chosen this mode of organization not because it has been perennially popular (which it has), but because it focuses students' attention equally on both the how and the what of literary art. Moreover, it reminds students that when they write about literature they are writing about techniques and forms as well as ideas.
Each section of Literature: Art and Artifact begins with an exemplary text or texts, offered without commentary and designed to introduce students to the pleasures of meeting the gven genre on its own terms, without medition from editors or instructors. We believe that this one-on-one encounter between student and text is the most logical place for the study of literature to begin and end. The exemplary texts are floowed by apparatus that describes the major elements of the genre in questions, and by texts that illustrate that element "in action." Throughout the book we have striven to keep the apparatus as clear as possible for ints intended audience; furthermore, we have tried to cover only essential points so that the instructor has full room to supplement or amplify what we have offered. We have attempted to aid the instructor, not to assume his or her proper role.
After each element, we have included a separate section that concers writing about that element. In these sections we include advice about writing, further general questions concerning analysis and a sample essay that embodies the key points discussd in the text. Thus, the student receives - chapter by chapter - practical suggestions for comleting written assignments. These suggestions occur along the way; they are not relagated to an appendix.
After all the elements of a given genre have been described, we have included a section entitled "Integration and Evaluation," which ties together the concerns of the previous chapters, leaving the student poised to reconsider the whole work in light of what he or she has learned and to move more confidenetly toward answering questions of evaluation. To encourage the student's interest in evaluating literature, we have added to each section a group of "Critical Touchstones," which highlight major critical issues and provide a basis for further discussion and writing.
In the "Further Readings" for each section, as well as in the texts that accompany our description of the elements, we have presented a broad sampling of literature that is varied in its difficulty and in the themes it takes up, but that should inspire students with its consistent high quality.
