Literature has always been difficult to define: what’s the difference between a literary classic and a book you just happen to like?  We usually decide that “literature” is specifically a subset of all writing, and attempt to include the most interesting, the most creative, the most influential, or the most intellectually challenging texts, but of course, these evaluations are all subjective and heavily dependent on the culture in which they’re employed.  Literature can include almost any type of writing and is not limited to prose, although it does generally refer only to fiction and not reference materials. Along with the visual fine arts and architecture, literature is one of the defining characteristics of any culture and has a tradition as old as civilization itself. Rhetoric, specifically, refers to the art of persuasion -- in addition to persuasive speech, it can also be applied to persuasive writing.

This volume is a great survey of hundreds of famous and important pieces of writing -- as the name implies, poems and dramas are included along with the prose fiction.  The goal is to introduce literature as a whole to undergraduate students and cultivate a love of reading while instilling values of judgement and critical thinking. The editors include breakdowns of plot and theme on the many included texts and aimed to make their selection grab the reader’s attention.  Designed with modern values of introspection and questioning rote memorization, and conforming with recent updates to MLA standards and learning methods for citation in the digital age.

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