Introduction to Literature

This book is perfectly suitable for the content that can fit into a single semester. Each of the sections on fiction, drama and poetry provides the most essential definitions and concept related to these fields, without becoming repetitive. Within lies a shake up of the traditional introductory literature course textbook formula, with a unique perspective on literature. Among these are some theories that have not even been published in scholarly journals before, like the examination of the merchants' language that Swift uses to disguise his meaning. Across this book readings are mixed with commentary on these readings. These readings include three short stories from Edgar Allan Poe, novel segments from Don Quixote, and Gulliver's Travels, various poems, and a classic Greek play, Lysistrata. The uniting element in these stories is satire, sarcasm, and other forms of derisive humor. The political, social and cultural questions that this canonical criticism veiled under the guise of fiction should inspire students to want to write about them.