Includes index.

Preliminary: the process of reading, responding to, and writing about literature -- Writing about likes and dislikes: responding to literature -- Writing about character: the people in literature -- Writing about setting: the background of place, objects, and culture in literature -- Writing about plot: the development of narratives and drama -- Writing about point of view: the position or stance of the work's narrator or speaker -- Writing about an idea or a theme: the meaning and the message in literature --Writing about I. Metaphor and simile and II: Symbolism and allegory: sources of depth and range in literature -- Writing about tone: the writer's control over attitudes and feeling -- Writing an essay of comparison and contrast: learning by seeing literary works together -- Appendix A: Critical approaches important in the study of literature -- Appendix B: Writing examinations on literature -- Appendix C: The integration of quotations and other important details, documentation, and the use of tenses in writing about literature -- Appendix D: Works used for sample essays and references.