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How to Study Literature

The books in this series – all written by eminent scholars renowned for their teaching abilities – show students how to read, understand, write, and criticize literature. They provide the key skills which every student of literature must master, as well as offering a comprehensive introduction to the field itself.


Published

How to Study Theory Wolfgang Iser

How to Write a Poem John Redmond

How to Read a Shakespeare Play David Bevington

How to Read the Victorian Novel George Levine

How to Read World Literature David Damrosch

Literary Theory A Practical Introduction Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan

LITERARY THEORY

A PRACTICAL INTRODUCTION



THIRD EDITION






Michael Ryan














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For E. P. Kuhl and Robert Scholes, for teaching me how to read


Note to Teachers

This book should be used with the following literary texts:


Elizabeth Bishop, The Complete Poems

Elizabeth Bishop, “In the Village” (see Appendix)

Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

Kiran Desai, The Inheritance of Loss

Louise Erdrich, Love Medicine

F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye

Alice Munro, Selected Stories

Alice Munro, Family Furnishings: Selected Stories, 1995–2014

William Shakespeare, King Lear

Mary Shelley, Frankenstein


The 1997 National Theatre production of King Lear directed by Richard Eyre and starring Ian Holm is an especially good way to get students to engage with the play. It is available on DVD.