Literature and Ourselves: A Thematic Introduction for Readers and Writers, Second Edition is a thematically arranged anthology representing an extraordinary variety of both traditional and contemporary works as well as the full spectrum of cultures and ethnicities. Designed to encourage critical thought, it invites readers to explore their own lives through literature.Organized into six thematic sections with coverage of essays, fiction, poetry, and drama in each, the book focuses on Family, Men and Women, Human Vulnerability, Freedom and Responsibility, Art and Language, and Quest.Innovative casebooks on six established authors offer both primary works by James Baldwin, Henrik Ibsen, Robert Frost, Ursula K. LeGuin, Alice Walker, and Flannery O'Connor as well as critical essays on their writing.New: enhanced coverage of writing about literature, including a revised and expanded introductory chapter on student writing, new student essays in the writing casebooks, and step-by-step coverage of the writing process in each thematic unit's introduction; a considerably expanded and more culturally diverse poetry selection - a total of 32 new poems by poets such as Rita Dove, Alberto Rios, Rosa Marie Arenas, and Barbara Watkins; six new short stories by Alice Munroe, Margaret Atwood, Harlan Ellison, Bernard Malamud, Zora Neal Hurston, and Amy Hempel as well as four new essays and one new play; and a helpful appendix on basic critical approaches to literary interpretation. Read Less