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Chapter 16: Writing about Literature Chapter Contents Book Title: Steps to Writing Well Printed By: Crystal Cunninham ([email protected]) © 2014, 2011, 2007 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

Chapter 16Writing aout Literature

Chapter Introduction

16-1 Using Literature in the Composition Classroom

16-2 Suggestions for Close Reading of Literature

16-3 Steps to Reading a Story

16-4 Annotated Story

16-5 Sample Student Essay

16-6 Steps to Reading a Poem

16-7 Annotated Poem

16-8 Sample Student Essay

16-9 General Guidelines for Writing about LiteratureProblems to Avoid

16-10 Suggestions for Writing

Chapter 16: Writing about Literature Chapter Introduction Book Title: Steps to Writing Well Printed By: Crystal Cunninham ([email protected]) © 2014, 2011, 2007 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

Chapter IntroductionPeople read literature for many, many reasons, including amusement, comfort, escape, newideas, exploration of values, intellectual challenge, and on and on. Similarly, people writeabout literature to accomplish a variety of purposes. Literary essays may inform readersabout the ideas in a work, analyze its craft, or focus on the work's relationship to the timeor culture in which it was written. Other essays might explore biographical, psychological,archetypal, or personal readings of a work.

Although approaches to literature are diverse and may be studied in depth in other Englishcourses, writing essays about literature is worthwhile in the composition classroom as well.Writing about literature offers an opportunity to practice the important skills of closereading, critical thinking, effective use of supporting evidence, and clear expression ofideas.



Chapter 16: Writing about Literature: 16-1 Using Literature in the Composition Classroom Book Title: Steps to Writing Well Printed By: Crystal Cunninham ([email protected]) © 2014, 2011, 2007 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

16-1 Uing Literature in the Compoition ClaroomTeachers of writing most often use literature in their courses in two ways: as “prompts” toinspire personal essay topics and as subjects of interpretative essays.

1. Prompts: You may be asked to read a poem or short story and then use some aspectof it—its ideas or characters, for example—as a springboard to discover an essaytopic of your own. For instance, after reading John Updike's “A&P,” a story about arather naive young man who receives a real-world lesson, you might write about acoming-of-age experience you had. Or your teacher might assign Shirley Jackson's“The Lottery” and ask you to agree or disagree with the author's views onunexamined conformity to tradition.

2. Literary Analysis: Rather than responding to a piece of literature in a personalessay, you might be assigned a literary analysis, asking you to study a piece ofliterature and then offer your interpretation—that is, your insight into the work (orsome important part of it). Your insight becomes your thesis; the body of your essayexplains this reading, supported by textual evidence (material from the work) to helpyour reader understand your view and perhaps gain greater pleasure from, andappreciation of, the work itself.

Literary analysis assignments may be focused in different ways, as well. Some commonexamples include essays whose main purpose is to show:

how the various parts or elements of a piece of literature work together to presentthe main ideas (for example, how the choices of narrator, stanza form, and figurativelanguage in a poem effectively complement each other);

how one element fits into the complex whole (for example, how setting contributes toa story);

how two works or two elements may be profitably read together (two poems withsimilar ideas but different forms; two characters from one story);

how one interpretation is more insightful than another reading;

how a work's value has been overlooked or misunderstood.

There are as many possibilities for essay topics as there are readers!

Regardless of the exact assignment, you should feel confident about writing an essay of



literary analysis. Working through Part Two of this text, you have already practiced manyof the strategies required. For example, to present a particular reading of a poem, you mayorganize your discussion by dividing it into its major literary elements: point of view,setting, structure, language, and so on. Your essay may offer specific lines or images fromthe work as examples illustrating your reading. Working with more than one piece ofliterature or literary element calls for comparison and contrast techniques. And everypaper—whether it is a personal response or literary analysis—uses the skills you learned inPart One of this text: a clear thesis, adequate development of ideas, coherent organization,and effective use of language.

Chapter 16: Writing about Literature: 16-2 Suggestions for Close Reading of Literature Book Title: Steps to Writing Well Printed By: Crystal Cunninham ([email protected]) © 2014, 2011, 2007 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

16-2 Suggetion for Cloe Reading of LiteratureWriting about literature begins with careful reading—and, yes, rereading. The stepssuggested here are certainly not exhaustive; one can ask literally hundreds of questionsabout a complex piece of literature. Rather, these questions are intended to give you a start.Practicing close reading and annotation should help you generate ideas and lead you toadditional questions of your own.

Our discussion in this chapter is limited to poems and short stories because compositioncourses frequently do not have the time to include novels and plays (or long narrativepoems, for that matter). However, many of the suggestions for reading short stories andpoems may be applied to the reading of longer fiction and drama.

Before you begin reading the suggestions that follow, let's dispel the myth about “hiddenmeanings.” A work of literature is not a trick or puzzle box wherein the author has hiddena message for readers to discover if they can just uncover the right clues. Literary worksare open to discussion and interpretation; that's part of their appeal. They contain ideasand images that the author thought important, and some ideas or elements the writer maynot have consciously been aware of. You, as the reader, will have insights into a poem orstory that your classmates don't. It's your job as the writer of your literary analysis toexplain not only WHAT you see but also WHY and HOW, supporting your interpretation inways that seem reasonable, persuasive, and satisfying to your readers.

Chapter 16: Writing about Literature: 16-3 Steps to Reading a Story Book Title: Steps to Writing Well Printed By: Crystal Cunninham ([email protected]) © 2014, 2011, 2007 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

16-3 Step to Reading a StorIf possible, make your own copy of the story and read with pen in hand. Prepare to makenotes, underline important lines, circle revealing words or images, and put stars, questionmarks, or your own symbols in the margins.



1

Before you begin the piece, read any biographical information that mayaccompany the story. Knowing information about the author and when thestory was written or published may offer some insight. Also, note the title.Does it offer intriguing hints about the story's content?

2

Read through the story at least once to clearly acquaint yourself with its plot,the series of actions and events that make up the narrative. In other words,what happened and to whom? Is there a conflict of some sort? Is it resolvedor is the story left open-ended?

3

Many times in a story you'll see words you don't know. Sometimes you canfigure them out from their context, but if you find unknown words that mightindeed have a critical bearing on your understanding of a character, forexample, look them up now.

4

Jot a few notes describing your initial reactions to the story's main idea(s) ormajor theme(s). (If it's helpful, think of the story in terms of its “about-ness.”What do you, as reader, think this story is about? Loss of innocence? Thebitterness of revenge? The power of sympathy? Tragic lack ofcommunication? The wonder of first love?) In other words, what commentsor observations does this story make about the human condition?

5

As you review the story, begin to think about its parts, always asking yourself“why?”: why did the author choose to do it this way? What is gained (or lost)by writing it this way? What does “X” contribute to my understanding of thestory? You might begin noting point of view—that is, who is narrating thisstory? Is a character telling this story or is it told by an all-knowing(omniscient) narrator? A narrator who is partially omniscient, seeing into thethoughts of only some characters? If the story is told by a character, is thisnarrator informed and trustworthy or “unreliable” to some degree because ofignorance, bias, psychological state, age (a young child, for example), or someother factor? What is gained through the story's choice of narration?

6



Is the story's structure in chronological order, or does the writer shift timesequences through flashbacks or multiple points of view? Does the storycontain foreshadowing, early indications in the plot that signal laterdevelopments? Again, think about the author's choices in terms ofcommunicating the story's ideas.

7

Think about the characters, their personalities, beliefs, motivations. How dothey interact? Do any of them change—or refuse or fail to change? Lookclosely at their descriptions, thoughts, and dialogue. Sometimes names arerevealing, too.

8

What is the relationship between the setting of the story and its action orcharacters? Remember that setting can include place, time of year, hour ofday or night, weather or climate, terrain, culture, and so on. Settings cancreate mood and even function symbolically to reveal character orforeshadow a coming event.

9

Look closely at the language of the story, paying attention to revealingimages, metaphors, and similes ( for help identifying these, see How toWrite Effective Description). Note any use of symbols—persons, places, orthings that bear a significant meaning beyond their usual meaning. (Forexample, in a particular story, a dreary rain might be associated with a loss ofhope; a soaring bird might emphasize new possibilities.) Overall, would youcharacterize the story's style as realistic or something else? What is the toneof the story? Serious? Humorous? Does irony, the discrepancy betweenappearance and reality, play a part?

10

After you've looked at these and any other important elements of the reading,review your initial reactions. How would you now describe the main ideas ormajor themes of this story? How do the parts of the story work together toclarify those themes?

Remember to add your own questions to this list, ones that address your specific story in ameaningful way. To continue improving your reading skills, turn to the “PracticingWhat You've Learned” exercise on, which offers a story for your analysis. Before you begin



drafting any essay of literary analysis, see the guidelines on General Guidelines for Writingabout Literature.

Chapter 16: Writing about Literature: 16-4 Annotated Story Book Title: Steps to Writing Well Printed By: Crystal Cunninham ([email protected]) © 2014, 2011, 2007 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

16-4 Annotated StorUsing the preceding questions, a composition student annotated the story that follows.Some of the notes she made on imagery became the basis for her short essay, whichappears on Sample Student Essay. Before you read the story, however, cover the marginalnotes with a sheet of paper. Then read the story, making your own notes. Next, uncover thestudent's notes and reread the story. Compare your reactions to those of the student writer.What new or different insights did you have?

The Stor of an Hour

Kate Chopin



© Cengage Learning 2014

Repose, 1911, by John Singer Sargent

Gift of Curt H. Reiinger. Image courte National Galler of Art, Wahington.

Chapter 16: Writing about Literature: 16-5 Sample Student Essay Book Title: Steps to Writing Well Printed By: Crystal Cunninham ([email protected]) © 2014, 2011, 2007 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning



16-5 Sample Student aAfter studying Chopin's story, this student writer decided to focus her essay on importantimagery in the work, to show how contrasting images of illness and health reveal the maincharacter's changes in attitude. Numbers in parentheses following direct quotations referto the paragraphs in the story.



© Cengage Learning 2014

Chapter 16: Writing about Literature: 16-6 Steps to Reading a Poem Book Title: Steps to Writing Well Printed By: Crystal Cunninham ([email protected]) © 2014, 2011, 2007 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

16-6 Step to Reading a PoemClose reading of a poem is similar to reading a story in many ways. Again, try to read withpen in hand so you can take notes, circle important words, and make comments in the



margins.

1

Pay attention to any biographical information on the author and the date ofpublication, which may give you insight into the poem. Also note the title, asit may introduce the poem's main idea or tone.

2

Read through the poem at least twice. Poetry does differ from prose in thatpoets often compress or turn sentence structure in unusual ways, to createnew images and fit rhyme and rhythm patterns. You might find it helpful totry to paraphrase (put into your own words) the lines of shorter poems (orsummarize distinct parts) so that you have a clear understanding of the basiccontent. If you're lost in several lines, try to locate the subject, the verb, andobjects of the action or description. And, always, before you begin to analyzea poem, be sure you know the meaning of all the words. Looking upunfamiliar words is critical here—short poems are compact, so every wordcounts.

3

Some poems are narratives and contain a plot; others, often referred to aslyrics, capture a scene, a series of images, an emotion, or a thought that hasuniversal appeal. At this point, what action, situation, or ideas do you seepresented in this poem? Is there a dominant tone or opinion expressed? Makesome notes about your initial reactions to the poem's issues, themes, or ideas.As in fiction, poets often offer comments on the human condition or socialvalues.

4

Now begin to analyze the elements of the poem. Identifying the speaker (ornarrator) of the poem is a good place to start. Is it someone with recognizablecharacteristics or personality traits? Someone involved in the action of thepoem? Young or old? Male or female? Mother, father, lover, friend? Tone ofvoice (angry, pleading, sad, joyful, etc.)? Remember that a speaker using “I” isnot necessarily the poet but rather a persona or role the poet has assumed. Oris the speaker unidentified as she or he unfolds the poem for the reader? Andto whom is the poem addressed? A specific person, a group of people, anyreaders?



5

What is the setting or occasion of the poem? Is the place, time, season,climate, or historical context important to understanding the poem? Why, orwhy not?

6

What characters, if any, appear in the poem? What is the relationshipbetween the speaker and others in the poem? What values, opinions, andmotivations do these characters present? What conflicts or changes occur?

7

Look carefully at the poem's diction (choice of words). Most poems containdescription and figurative language to create imagery, the vivid pictures thatcreate meaning in the reader's mind. Look for similes and metaphors, asillustrated on Vague Modifiers and How to Write Effective Description, thatmake abstract or unfamiliar images clear through comparisons, as well aspersonification and synecdoche How to Write Effective Description. Poetsoften use patterns or groups of images to present a dominant impression andconcrete objects as symbols to represent abstract ideas within the poem (coldrain as death, a spring flower as rebirth). They also use allusions, briefreferences to other well-known persons, places, things, and literary worksthat shed light on their subject by association (for example, a reference toRomeo and Juliet might suggest ill-fated lovers). Underline or circle thosewords and images that you find most effective in communicating ideas oremotions.

8

How is the poem structured? There are too many poetic forms to define eachone here (ballads, sonnets, odes, villanelles, etc.), so you might consult a moredetailed handbook to help you identify the characteristics of each one.However, to help you begin, here is a brief introduction. Some poems arewritten in patterns called “fixed” or “closed” form. They often appear instanzas, recognizable units frequently containing the same number of linesand the same rhyme and rhythm pattern in those lines. They often presentone main idea per unit and have a space between each one. Some poems arenot divided into stanzas but nevertheless have well-known fixed forms, suchas the Shakespearean sonnet, which traditionally challenges the poet to writewithin fourteen lines, in a predictable line rhythm and rhyme scheme. Themodern English version of the Japanese haiku calls for three lines andseventeen syllables but no rhyme. Other poems are written in free verse (or



… free, a

… sky, b

… sea, a

… fly. b

“open” form), with no set line length or regular rhyme pattern; these poemsmay rely on imagery, line lengths, repetition, and sound devices to maintainunity and show progression of ideas.

Study your poem and try to identify its form. How does its structure helpcommunicate its ideas? Why might the poet have chosen this particularstructure?

9

Sound devices may help unify a poem, establish tone, emphasize adescription, and communicate theme. There are many kinds of rhyme (end,internal, slant, etc.), which often help unify or link ideas and parts of poems.For example, stanzas often have set patterns of end rhyme that pull a unittogether; a quatrain (four-line stanza), for example, might rhyme abab, asshown here:

The

following are four other common sound devices:

Alliteration: repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words (“The Soulselects her own Society”), often used to link and emphasize a relationship amongwords;

Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds (“child bride of time”) to link and underscorea relationship among the words;

Onomatopoeia: a word whose sound echoes, and thus emphasizes, its meaning(buzz, rustle, hiss, boom, sigh);

Repetition: the repeating of the same words, phrases, or lines for unity, emphasis, ormusical effect (“Sing on, spring! Sing on, lovers!”).

Sound devices not only unify poems but also add to their communication of images and



meaning. Harsh-sounding, monosyllabic words (“the cold stone tomb”) may slow lines andcreate a tone vastly different from one produced by multisyllabic words with soft, flowingsounds. Poets pick their words carefully for their sounds as well as their connotations anddenotations. Ask yourself: what sound devices appear in the poem I'm reading, and why?

10

Rhythm, the repetition of stresses and pauses, may also play an importantpart in the creation of tone and meaning. A poem about a square dance, forexample, may reflect the content by having a number of quick stresses toimitate the music and the caller's voice. You can discover patterns of rhythmin lines of poetry by marking the accented (') and unaccented (ˇ) syllables:

Many poems demand a prescribed rhythm as part of their fixed form; lines from aShakespearean sonnet, as illustrated earlier, contain an often-used pattern called iambicpentameter: five units (called feet) of an unaccented syllable followed by an accentedsyllable.

Another device that contributes to the rhythm of a line is the caesura, a heavy pause in aline of poetry. Caesuras (indicated by a || mark) may be used to isolate and thus emphasizewords or slow the pace. Sometimes they are used to show strong contrasts, as in thefollowing line: “Before, a joy proposed; || behind, a dream.” Caesuras may followpunctuation marks such as commas, semicolons, or periods, marks that say “slow down” tothe reader.

After you have looked at the various elements of a poem (and there are many others inaddition to the ones mentioned here), reassess your initial reaction. Do you understand thepoem in a different or better way? Remember that the elements of an effective poem worktogether, so be sensitive to the poet's choices of point of view, language, structure, and soon. All these choices help communicate the tone and underscore the ideas of the poem. Askyourself: what is gained through the poet's choice? What might be different—or lost—if thepoet had chosen something else?

To continue working on your close-reading skills, you may turn to the “Practicing WhatYou've Learned” exercise on, which includes two poems for your analysis. Before you begindrafting a discussion of a poem, consult the on general guidelines for writing aboutliterature.

Chapter 16: Writing about Literature: 16-7 Annotated Poem Book Title: Steps to Writing Well Printed By: Crystal Cunninham ([email protected]) © 2014, 2011, 2007 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning



16-7 Annotated PoemUsing the suggestions of this chapter, a student responded to the Walt Whitman poem“When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer” that follows. The student essay on Sample StudentEssay presents an analysis developed from some of the notes shown there.

Starry Night, 1889, by Vincent van Gogh

Digital Image ©The Mueum of Modern Art/Licened SCALA/Art Reource, NY

When I Heard the Learn'd Atronomer

Walt Whitman



Chapter 16: Writing about Literature: 16-8 Sample Student Essay Book Title: Steps to Writing Well Printed By: Crystal Cunninham ([email protected]) © 2014, 2011, 2007 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

16-8 Sample Student aAfter studying the Whitman poem, the student writer wrote this essay to show how manypoetic elements work together to present the main idea. Do you agree with his analysis?Which of his claims seems the most or least persuasive, and why? What differentinterpretation(s) might you suggest?



Chapter 16: Writing about Literature: 16-9 General Guidelines for Writing about Literature Book Title: Steps to Writing Well Printed By: Crystal Cunninham ([email protected]) © 2014, 2011, 2007 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

16-9 General Guideline for Writing aout LiteratureHere are some suggestions that will improve any essay of literary analysis:

1. Select a workale topic. If the choice of subject matter is yours, you must decide ifyou will approach a work through discussion of several elements or if you will focuson some specific part of it as it relates to the whole work. You must also select a topicthat is interesting and meaningful for your readers. If your topic is too obvious or



insignificant, your readers will be bored. In other words, your essay should informyour readers and increase their appreciation of the work.

2. Preent a clear thei. Remember that your purpose is to provide new insight to yourreaders. Consequently, they need to know exactly what you see in the work. Don'tjust announce your topic (“This poem is about love”); rather, put forth yourargumentative thesis clearly and specifically (“Through its repeated use of sewingimagery, the story emphasizes the tragedy of a tailor's wasted potential as an artist”).And don't waltz around vaguely talking about something readers may not have seenthe first time through (“At first the warehouse scene doesn't look that important, butafter reading it a few times you see that it really does contain some of the meaningfulideas in the story”). “Get on with it!” cries your impatient reader. “Tell me what yousee!”

3. Follow literar convention. Essays of literary analysis have some customs youshould follow, unless instructed otherwise. Always include the full name of theauthor and the work in your introductory paragraph; the author's last name is fineafter that. Titles of short poems and stories are enclosed in quotation marks. Mostliterary essays are written in present tense (“the poet presents an image of a witheredtree”), from third-person point of view rather than the more informal first-person “I.”So that your readers may easily follow your discussion, include a copy of the work orat least indicate publication information describing the location of the work (thename of volume, publisher, date, pages, and so forth). Within your essay, it's alsohelpful to include a poem's line number following a direct quotation: “the silentschoolyard” (1. 10). Some instructors also request paragraph or page numbers inessays on fiction.

4. Organize effectivel. Your method of organization may depend heavily on yoursubject matter. A poem, for example, might be best discussed by devoting aparagraph to each stanza; on the other hand, another work might profit from aparagraph on imagery, another on point of view, another on setting, and so on. Youust decide what arrangement makes the best sense for your readers. Experiment ymoving your ideas around in your prewriting outlines and drafts.

5. Ue ample evidence. Remember that you are, in essence, arguing your interpretation—you are saying to your reader, “Understand this work the way I do.” Therefore, it isabsolutely essential that you offer your reader convincing evidence, based onreasonable readings of words in the work itself. The acceptance of your viewsdepends on your making yourself clear and convincing. To do so, include plenty ofreferences to the work through direct quotation and paraphrase. Don't assume thatyour reader sees what you see—or sees it in the way you do. You must fight for yourinterpretation by offering clearly explained readings substantiated with references to



6

the work.

Unsupported claim: Robert feels sorry for himself throughout the story.

Claim supported with text: Robert's self-pity is evident throughout the story as herepeatedly thinks to himself, “No one on this earth cares about me” (4) and “Thereisn't a soul I can turn to” (5).

Ask yourself as you work through your drafts: am I offering enough clear, specific,convincing evidence here to persuade my reader to accept my reading?

Find a pleaing concluion. At the end of your literary analysis, readers shouldfeel they have gained new knowledge or understanding of a work or someimportant part of it. You might choose to wrap up your discussion with a creativerestatement of your reading, its relation to the writer's craft, or even yourassessment of the work's significance within the author's larger body of writing.However you conclude, the readers should feel intellectually and emotionallysatisfied with your discussion.

Chapter 16: Writing about Literature Problems to Avoid Book Title: Steps to Writing Well Printed By: Crystal Cunninham ([email protected]) © 2014, 2011, 2007 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

Prolem to Avoid

Don't aign meaning. By far the most common problem in essays of literary analysisinvolves interpretation without clear explanation of supporting evidence. Remember thatyour readers may not see what you see in a particular line or paragraph; in fact, they maysee something quite different. The burden is on you to show cause—how you derived yourreading and why it is a valid one. Don't represent claims as truth without support even ifthey ever-so-conveniently fit your thesis: “It is clear that the moon is used here as a symbolof her family's loss.” Clear to whom besides you? If it helps, each time you make aninterpretative claim, imagine a classmate who immediately says, “Uh, sorry, but I don't getit. Show me how you see that?” Or imagine a hostile reader with a completely differentreading who sneers, “Oh yeah, says who? Convince me.”

Ue quoted material effectivel. Many times your supporting evidence will come fromquotations from the text you're analyzing. But don't just drop a quoted line onto your page,as if it had suddenly tumbled off a high cliff somewhere. You run the risk of your readersreading the quoted material and still not seeing in it what you do. Blend the quotedmaterial smoothly into your prose, in a way that illustrates or supports your clearly statedpoint:

Dropped in: Miranda is twenty-four years old. “After working for three years on a



morning newspaper she had an illusion of maturity and experience” (280). [Whatexact point do you want your reader to understand?]

Point clarified: Although Miranda is twenty-four and has worked on a newspaperfor three years, she is not as worldly wise as she thinks she is, having acquired onlythe “illusion of maturity and experience” (280).

Review Incorporating Your Source Material for some ways to blend your quotations intoyour prose. Always double-check to ensure you are quoting accurately; refer to QuotationMarks (“ “ and ‘ ‘) P and Choosing the Documentation Style for Your Essay for help withproper punctuation and block indention of longer quoted material.

Anali i not plot ummar. Sometimes you may want to offer your readers a briefoverview of the work before you begin your in-depth analysis. And certainly there will betimes in the body of your essay, especially if you are writing about fiction, that you willneed to paraphrase actions or descriptions rather than quote long passages directly.Paraphrasing can indeed provide effective support, but do beware a tendency to fall intounproductive plot-telling. Remember that the purpose of your paper is to provide insightinto the work's ideas and craft—not merely to present a rehash of the story line. Keep aneye on each of your claims and quote or paraphrase only those particular lines orimportant passages that illustrate and support your points. Use your editing skill as a sharpstick to beat back plot summary if it begins taking over your paragraphs.

Practicing What You've Learned

Practice your skills of literary analysis on the following story. A few pre-reading questions are offered here to start your thinking.

“Geraldo No Last Name” is an excerpt from Sandra Cisneros' award-winningnovel The House on Mango Street (1984), which presents a series of scenesoften told by Esperanza, a young girl of Mexican heritage growing up inChicago. In this story, Esperanza's older teenage friend Marin has had achance meeting with Geraldo. How does this story comment on stereotypingand human misunderstanding? Who “misunderstands”? Overall, what newinsights do you think Cisneros wanted her readers to take away from thisbrief story, and did she succeed? In what way does Geraldo's having no lastname universalize this story?

Geraldo No Lat Name

Sandra Cinero

Sandra Cisneros is an award-winning author of poetry, short stories, and novels.



Best known for The House on Mango Street (1984), she has also published acollection of stories, Woman Hollering Creek (1991); two books of poetry, MyWicked, Wicked Ways (1992) and Loose Woman (1994); a children's book,Hairs/Pelitos (1997); and a novel, Caramelo (2002). Her most recent work is HaveYou Seen Marie? (2012), an illustrated fable for adults.

1 She met him at a dance. Pretty too, and young. Said he worked in a restaurant,but she can't remember which one. Geraldo. That's all. Green pants and Saturdayshirt. Geraldo. That's what he told her.

2 And how was she to know she'd be the last one to see him alive. An accident, don'tyou know. Hit and run. Marin, she goes to all those dances. Uptown. Logan.Embassy. Palmer. Aragon. Fontana. The Manor. She likes to dance. She knows howto do cumbias and salsas and rancheras even. And he was just someone she dancedwith. Somebody she met that night. That's right.

3 That's the story. That's what she said again and again. Once to the hospital peopleand twice to the police. No address. No name. Nothing in his pockets. Ain't it ashame.

4 Only Marin can't explain why it mattered, the hours and hours, for somebody shedidn't even know. The hospital emergency room. Nobody but an intern working allalone. And maybe if the surgeon would've come, maybe if he hadn't lost so muchblood, if the surgeon had only come, they would know who to notify and where.

5 But what difference does it make? He wasn't anything to her. He wasn't herboyfriend or anything like that. Just another brazer who didn't speak English.Just another wetback. You know the kind. The ones who always look ashamed. Andwhat was she doing out at three A.M. anyway? Marin who was sent home with hercoat and some aspirin. How does she explain?

6 She met him at a dance. Geraldo in his shiny shirt and green pants. Geraldo goingto a dance.

7 What does it matter?

8 They never saw the kitchenettes. They never knew about the two-room flats andsleeping rooms he rented, the weekly money orders sent home, the currencyexchange. How could they?

9 His name was Geraldo. And his home is in another country. The ones he leftbehind are far away, will wonder, shrug, remember. Geraldo—he went north … wenever heard from him again.

Practicing What You've Learned

Practice your skills of literary analysis on one or both of the following



poems. A few pre-reading questions are presented here to help you beginyour analysis.

Consider the point of view in both “Those Winter Sundays” by RobertHayden and “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. Who is speaking in eachpoem? How old might each speaker be? What actions are described in eachpoem? What new insight does each person have? What descriptive wordsand word-sounds help Hayden present vivid images? How might a readersee Frost's “diverging roads” as a metaphor?

Thoe Winter Sunda

Roert Haden

Robert Hayden was a poet and professor at Fisk University and at the University ofMichigan; he also served as Poetry Consultant to the Library of Congress. A Balladof Remembrance (1962) first won him international honors at the World Festival ofNegro Arts in Senegal; many other volumes of poetry followed, including Words inMourning Time (1970), American Journal (1978), and Complete Poems (1985). Thispoem originally appeared in Angle of Ascent: New and Selected Poems (1975).

Sundays too my father got up earlyand put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,then with cracked hands that achedfrom labor in the weekday weather madebanked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.When the rooms were warm, he'd call,and slowly I would rise and dress,fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,who had driven out the coldand polished my good shoes as well.What did I know, what did I knowof love's austere and lonely offices?

The Road Not Taken

Roert Frot



Robert Frost was a twentieth-century poet whose poems frequently focus on thecharacters and scenes of New England. Three of his many volumes of poetry wonPulitzer Prizes: New Hampshire (1923), Collected Poems (1930), and A Further Range(1936). Frost taught at Amherst College, Dartmouth, Yale, and Harvard and was oneof the founders of the Bread Loaf School of English in Vermont. This poem was firstpublished in 1916.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that the passing thereHad worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh, I kept the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.

Chapter 16: Writing about Literature: 16-10 Suggestions for Writing Book Title: Steps to Writing Well Printed By: Crystal Cunninham ([email protected]) © 2014, 2011, 2007 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

16-10 Suggetion for WritingThe two stories and three poems in this chapter may be used as stepping-stones to yourown essays. Here are a variety of suggestions:



1. Write an essay of literary analysis presenting your interpretation of “Geraldo No LastName,” “Those Winter Sundays,” or “The Road Not Taken.” Support your analysiswith ample references to the work you've chosen. Consider, if appropriate, discussionof such elements as point of view, characterization, narrative structure, imagery anddiction, among other features.

2. Write an essay comparing/contrasting themes and techniques in two of the literaryworks from this chapter. For example, how do Hayden and Frost use the past in theirpoems? How do Cisneros and Hayden treat the effects of human misunderstanding?How are stereotypical roles examined in Chopin's and Cisneros' stories? Frost andChopin on life's key choices?

3. Use one of the works in this chapter as a “prompt” for your own personal essay. Forexample, have you ever taken people for granted or devalued their help, as did thenarrator in the Hayden poem? Perhaps the Whitman poem reminded you of a timewhen you learned something through hands-on experience rather than study? Orperhaps the opposite was true: you didn't fully appreciate an experience until youhad studied it? Or, if you prefer, use Cisneros' story “Geraldo No Last Name” to startyou thinking about a research essay on some specific aspect of the compleximmigration situations facing nations today.

4. Collaborative Activity: In both academia and the business world, people are oftenasked to work together on a joint proposal or committee report. To practice writingwith others, meet with another student and discuss the notes you have each taken on“Geraldo No Last Name” or on another story approved by your instructor (manystories are now free and easy to access online). Your assignment calls for a briefessay of analysis (two page maximum) that shows how some significant part of thestory (setting, imagery, point of view, a particular character, tone, etc.)contributes toits overall effectiveness. Together, focus a topic and craft a working thesis; thensketch out a plan for presenting your interpretation. Perhaps working on a singlecomputer for ease of revision, draft the mini-essay with your partner, selecting thebest supporting evidence from your shared ideas. (Hint: Writing with other peopleoften takes longer than drafting alone, so give this project the time it deserves. Formore discussion of collaborative writing, see Collaborative Activities: Group Work,Peer Revision Workshops, and Team Projects in Chapter 5.)

5. Practice your audience-awareness skills by writing a letter from the point of view of acharacter who appears in one of the literary works in this chapter. What, forexample, might Marin, the young woman in Cisneros' story, write to Geraldo'sfamily? What might Hayden's narrator say to his father? Frost's narrator, to one ofhis children on the eve of high school or college graduation?

Chapter 16: Writing about Literature: 16-10 Suggestions for Writing



Book Title: Steps to Writing Well Printed By: Crystal Cunninham ([email protected]) © 2014, 2011, 2007 Wadsworth, Cengage Learning Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

© 2015 Cengage Learning Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this work may by reproduced or used in any form or by anymeans - graphic, electronic, or mechanical, or in any other manner - without the written permission of the copyright holder.

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