The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing

by Michael Meyer

The Bedford Introduction to Literature is a best-seller for a reason: It brings literature to life for students — helping to make them lifelong readers and better writers. Classic works drawn from many periods and cultures exist alongside a hefty representation of today’s authors, including women, writers of color, and voices that reflect the quirkiness and humor of modern life. There is plenty of support for students, with a dozen chapters of critical reading and writing support, helpful sample close readings, writing assignments, and student papers. And, because everyone teaches and learns a little differently, there are lots of options for working with the literature, including in-depth chapters on major authors and case studies on individual works and themes that everyone can relate to.

Genres: Textbooks, Nonfiction, Literature, Writing, Reference, School, Read For School

Hardcover

Published January 1, 2004

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Michael Meyer has taught writing and literature courses for more than thirty years—since 1981 at the University of Connecticut and before that at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the College of William and Mary. In addition to being an experienced teacher, Meyer is a highly regarded literary scholar. His scholarly articles have appeared in distinguished journals such as American Literature, Studies in the American Renaissance, and Virginia Quarterly Review. An internationally recognized authority on Henry David Thoreau, Meyer is a former president of the Thoreau Society and coauthor (with Walter Harding) of The New Thoreau Handbook, a standard reference source. The American Studies Association awarded his first book, Several More Lives to Live: Thoreau’s Political Reputation in America, the Ralph Henry Gabriel Prize. . He is also the editor of Frederick Douglass: The Narrative and Selected Writings. He has lectured on a variety of American literary topics from Cambridge University to Peking University. His books for Bedford/St. Martin's include The Bedford Introduction to Literature; The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature; Literature to Go; Poetry: An Introduction; and Thinking and Writing about Literature.

Reviews

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, this book contains a lot of good stories and some were even fun to read. My main complaint is that it is so big and heavy it does not fit into my backpack. This means I have to carry this book around 5 days a week for an entire year. However, it is very useful to prop the door to my dorm room open if I need to carry out laundry or a heavy and large object and I cannot open the door. The main use this book has seen in my intro lit class is to prop open the window. It also works great if you are into weightlifting. The writing is fine, I just wish it were lighter and smaller.

[Abby · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing against the author(s), but this is the worst book I have ever read, purely due to the circumstances in which I am forced to read it.

Don't support the textbook industrial complex, and don't purchase this book.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hamlet remains one of the greatest achievements in literature because it marries the personal and the universal, the political and the philosophical, the intimate and the cosmic. It is, at its core, a study of the paralysis that can come from overthinking, the destructive potential of unchecked ambition, and the inevitability of death.

For readers, the play is not just a story about revenge but a mirror held up to human nature. Hamlet’s indecision, his flashes of brilliance and cruelty, and his ultimate tragic fall speak to the contradictions within us all. Shakespeare’s genius lies in his ability to make one man’s struggle with grief and duty feel like a universal truth.

Even after centuries of analysis, Hamlet continues to provoke fresh interpretations. Is Hamlet mad, or merely feigning madness? Is Claudius a calculating villain or a man wracked with guilt? Is revenge ever justifiable? These unanswered questions ensure that every encounter with the play feels new, as though Shakespeare has written not a fixed story, but a prism through which we view ourselves.

In the end, Hamlet is inexhaustible. It is both literature and philosophy, drama and poetry, art and inquiry. For anyone who seeks to understand not only Shakespeare, but the human soul itself, Hamlet is indispensable.

[Jarrodtrainque]

This best-selling anthology continues to combine a generous and vibrant selection of stories, poems, and plays with editorial features proven to help students read, think, and write effectively about literature. Now featuring unique visual portfolios and a CD-ROM packed with activities and contextual material, the new edition brings literature to life for students as never before./

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the book for my Introduction to Literature Course at Bakersfield College.
It was an intense read as it has many examples for each of the sections it's divided into (Fiction, Poetry, Drama).
I don't have any specific complaints...It holds many excellent excerpts, short stories, poems, and plays. It also does a pretty decent job of defining things.
It's just A LOT to take in.

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one has been laying about for quite a while now and I pick it up and read something from it every now and then. But now all that's left to read is the poetry section and that's just not my cuppa.
But the rest was very good.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an assigned textbook for a literature class I took this fall. It was very well written, had lots of great short stories and poems, and had lots of amazing tips for writing essays on literature! All together, this was a really nice textbook!

[Amanda Brass · Rating 5 out of 5]

a fun collection of fiction, drama, and poetry. Delightful to read aloud, not too long.

[Nicole Baratta]

Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature Reading Thinking and Writing by M. Meyer (1996)

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection!! With helpful questions and definitions. I will continue reading this from years to come...perhaps even use in my classroom.

[Crystal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bah!

[Weiwei Kong]

11

[Zewar Khan]

vvvvvv

[Tiffany Stuart]

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