Nearly 100 of the 268 literary works are NEW, showcasing the relevance and vitality of the contemporary literary landscape against a backdrop of classic writing. Some highlights:
new examples of contemporary fiction by Ha Jin, Bharati Mukherjee, and Z Z Packer; contemporary poetry by Natasha Tretheway, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, and Tony Hoagland; and contemporary drama by Suzan Lori-Parks, Mark Lambeck, and Marco Ramirez.
classic selections from canonical writers such as William Wordsworth, John Donne, Robert Frost, Thomas Hardy, Joyce Carol Oates, Tennessee Williams, and Lorraine Hansberry.
double the graphic literature, including new work by Marjane Satrapi, Richard McGuire, and Art Spiegelman.
Provocative pairings of classic and current literary works are now accompanied by entry point discussions that make the teachable, thematic connections clear. For example, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” is paired with Ha Jin’s “Saboteur” to explore marriage and identity; William Wordsworth’s “The World is to Much with Us” is paired with Cheryl Savageau’s “Bones—A City Poem” to prompt discussion of environmental impact.
Clusters of short-short works begin each genre’s anthology. Works such as Lydia Davis’ “What She Knew”; Randall Jarrell’s “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” and Suzan Lori-Parks’ “Father Comes Home from the Wars” can be read quickly but examined deeply. Brief introductions to these sections explain how these forms—Flash Fiction, very short poems, and 10-minute plays—relate to the larger framework of the main genres.
Lively Biographical Asides draw students into the literature. Many selections are accompanied by short call-outs that highlight surprising and humanizing insights into the writers’ lives—for example, Gwendolyn Brooks published 75 poems by the age of 16; Wendell Berry doesn’t use a computer; and it’s rumored Sophocles died by attempting to recite a lengthy passage of Antigone without taking a breath. These asides—some of which include photographs of the authors—allow students to engage further with authors as well as with their work and enliven their reading experiences.
More accessible coverage of reading and writing makes the stages of planning, drafting, and revising clearer and easier to follow. The writing instruction is infused with student voices, with more drafts of student papers and a student describing his or her own experience at nearly every stage of the writing process.