Literature: Reading and Writing with Critical Strategies

Rating:
Summary: Introduction to Literary Theory Without Tears
Review: Lynn's book is an engagingly edited anthology of literature with a smattering of literary theory applied. I will be teaching a university course, Introduction to Literature (but for non-majors) in spring of 2005. In the past I have taught the course like a high-school English course, but with harder stuff. That hasn't worked very well. I thought if I could find a decent anthology with a little bit of literary theory thrown in (especially if my students--not to mention myself--could understand it more or less simply and straightforwardly).
Those huge anthologies that I was used to using were impossibly long and expensive. I realize that they offer choice for the teacher, but my students were laying out $60-80 for a large book most of which they would never use. Furthermore, they hardly mention literary theory at all.
Lynn's book is light in weight and lighthearted in its approach. It contains many non-literary examples to help students understand the several literary theories it presents. Moreover, the "how-to-write-a-paper" stuff is helpful--not a bore.
I highly recommend it for anyone teaching a similar course.