Based on the belief that writing successful fiction is a balance between making the right conscious choices and trusting one's own instincts, this text shows readers how to combine the instinctive process of creation with sound technical ingenuity.

    Geared toward students, teachers, readers, and writers alike, The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory explains critical jargon (intertextuality, aporia), schools of literary theory (structuralism, feminist criticism), literary forms (sonnet, ottava rima), and genres (elegy, pastoral) and examines artifacts, historic locales, archetypes, origins of well-known phrases, and much, much more. Scholarly, straightforward, comprehensive, and even entertaining, this is a resource that no word-lover should be without.

    This all-new fourth edition of the best-selling classic continues that tradition with its clear and precise definitions, its expert usage guidance, and its wealth of illustrations. Newly updated to reflect our changing language, this revised edition is the most up-to-date and authoritative dictionary available today.* More than a thousand new entries for such terms as e-tailer, zine, bioreserve, chatroom, red card, domestic partner * More biographical and geographical entries than any other paperback, thoroughly updated for the new millennium* The most lavishly illustrated dictionary on the market -- with over 400 images* Expert usage guidance based on the American Heritage® Usage Panel* Regional notes from around the country* Hundreds of synonym lists, fascinating etymologies, and much more

    Yet The Origin of Species (1859) is also a humane and inspirational vision of ecological interrelatedness, revealing the complex mutual interdependencies between animal and plant life, climate and physical environment, and—by implication—within the human world. Written for the general reader, in a style which combines the rigour of science with the subtlety of literature, The Origin of Species remains one of the founding documents of the modern age.

    Punctuation reveals the writer: haphazard commas, for example, reveal haphazard thinking; clear, lucid breaks reveal clear, lucid thinking. Punctuation can be used to teach the writer how to think and how to write. This short, practical book shows authors the benefits that can be reaped from mastering punctuation: the art of style, sentence length, meaning, and economy of words. There are full-length chapters devoted to the period, the comma, the semicolon, the colon, quotation marks, the dash and parentheses, the paragraph and section break, and a cumulative chapter on integrating them all into "The Symphony of Punctuation." Filled with exercises and examples from literary masters (Why did Poe and Melville rely on the semicolon? Why did Hemingway embrace the period?), A Dash of Style is interactive, highly engaging, and a necessity for creative writers as well as for anyone looking to make punctuation their friend instead of their mysterious foe.

    To illustrate the various theories, and to reveal their implications, important current issues such as abortion, euthanasia, the treatment of nonhuman animals, racial discrimination, and nuclear weapons are discussed in depth.

    Learn the origins of popular phrases in the English language through this exciting book of games perfect for language lovers.Do you know the connection between the expression A HARROWING EXPERIENCE and agriculture, between BY AND LARGE and sailing, between GET YOUR GOAT and horses, or between STEAL YOUR THUNDER and show business? You probably have heard the comparisons HAPPY AS A CLAM, SMART AS A WHIP, PLEASED AS PUNCH, DEAD AS A DOORNAIL—but have you ever wondered why a clam should be happy, a whip smart, punch pleased, and a doornail dead? Through the fifty games included in The Play of Words you'll discover the answers to these questions as well as hundreds of other semantic delights that repose in our marvelous English language.

    Frey, are the basis of all storytelling, and their structures and motifs are as powerful for contemporary writers as they were for Homer.In The Key, novelist and fiction-writing coach Frey applies his popular "Damn Good" approach to Joseph Campbell's insights into the universal structure of myths, providing a practical guide for fiction writers and screenwriters who want to shape their ideas into a powerful mythic story.

    In Patterns for College Writing, they provide students with exemplary rhetorical models and instructors with class-tested selections that balance classic and contemporary essays. Along with more examples of student writing than any other reader, Patterns has the most comprehensive coverage of active reading, research, and the writing process, with a five-chapter mini-rhetoric; the clearest explanations of the patterns of development; the most thorough apparatus of any rhetorical reader; and the most comprehensive coverage of argumentative writing—all reasons why Patterns for College Writing is the best-selling reader in the country. And the new edition includes exciting new readings, images, and debate and casebook topics. Patterns is now available as a Bedford e-Book to Go and in a variety of formats that can be downloaded to a computer, tablet, or e-reader. And now with the new edition, you can meet students where they are: online. Our newest set of online materials, LaunchPad Solo, provides all the key tools and course-specific content that you need to teach your class. Get all our great course-specific materials in one fully customizable space online; then assign and mix our resources with yours.  To package LaunchPad Solo free with Patterns for College Writing, use ISBN 978-1-319-01312-7.

    One of the world's most respected classical scholars offers translations of the complete texts of "The Republic, Apology of Socrates, " "Crito, " "Phaedo, " "Ion, " "Meno, " and "Symposium."

    This text for advanced grammar courses is a comprehensive description of sentence structure that encourages students to recognise and use their innate language expertise as they study the systematic nature of sentence grammar.

    Few things are as exciting—and potentially life-changing—as discovering an old letter. And while etiquette books still extol the practice, letter writing seems to be disappearing amid a flurry of e-mails, texting, and tweeting. The recent decline in letter writing marks a cultural shift so vast that in the future historians may divide time not between BC and AD but between the eras when people wrote letters and when they did not. So New York Times bestselling author Simon Garfield asks: Can anything be done to revive a practice that has dictated and tracked the progress of civilization for more than five hundred years?In To the Letter, Garfield traces the fascinating history of letter writing from the love letter and the business letter to the chain letter and the letter of recommendation. He provides a tender critique of early letter-writing manuals and analyzes celebrated correspondence from Erasmus to Princess Diana. He also considers the role that letters have played as a literary device from Shakespeare to the epistolary novel, all the rage in the eighteenth century and alive and well today with bestsellers like The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. At a time when the decline of letter writing appears to be irreversible, Garfield is the perfect candidate to inspire bibliophiles to put pen to paper and create “a form of expression, emotion, and tactile delight we may clasp to our heart.”

    How can students with widely varied levels of literary experience learn to write poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and drama — over the course of only one semester? In Creative Writing: Four Genres in Brief, David Starkey offers some solutions to the challenges of teaching the introductory creative writing course: (1) concise, accessible instruction in literary basics; (2) short models of literature to analyze, admire and emulate; (3) inventive and imaginative assignments that inspire and motivate.

    The book presents a balanced picture that connects the newer histories of society and culture with the more traditional stories of politics, diplomacy, and great public events and individuals.

    But there are common threads that link all stories--from "Beowulf" and "Hamlet" to "Gone With the Wind" and "The Godfather" to the story you're drafting right now in your head. These threads form the foundation that supports story--a foundation Nancy Lamb shows you how to access and master.Whether you're writing a novel, a memoir, or a screenplay, "The Art and Craft of Storytelling" offers time-tested ways to translate a concrete idea into a polished work. In this book, you will find strategies for:- Creating a successful a beginning, middle, and end while moving smoothly from one stage to the next- Crafting memorable characters, choosing the best point of view for your story, and constructing authentic, compelling dialogue- Integrating and navigating the more subtle elements of story, such as voice, tone, premise, and theme- Understanding genres and subgenres and how they apply to your story- Structuring plots that transform a ho-hum story into a page-turning read"The Art and Craft of Storytelling" gives you all the tools you need to contribute your own story to our great tradition, to open new worlds to your readers, and to introduce new ways of thinking. This is the power and purpose of story. And by your writing, this is the tradition you honor.