Imagination for this new and compact edition, we havekept most of the original features and added others. The new anthology is lighter,more attractive, and easier to handle and at the same time more effective asa tool for teaching, both because of our own second thoughts and the helpfulsuggestions of users. As we observe recent trends toward "practical" education in our colleges anduniversities--which means, more often than not, narrowly vocational education--it seems to us more important than ever to introduce students to the idea thatthe imagination is practical, and that literature is uniquely valuable in its capacityto widen vision and clarify perspectives. To support this point, we have madethis book both an anthology and an introduction to literature. As an anthology,it includes many forms and varieties of fiction, poetry, and drama. As an intro-duction to literary study, it moves from simple to more subtle and complexelements. At each step of the way, explanations, discussions, and questionsinform students of the principles under consideration and help them to engagein imaginative and intellectual dialogue with the literary texts. Each sectionbegins with an introduction to the genre, broadly surveying the ground to becovered. At the end of the first chapter of the fiction section, we providestudents with a few brief suggestions to help them frame their thoughts intoessays. At the end of the book, we provide a glossary as a ready reference toterminology. -,Our generic survey introducing fiction emphasizes the relationship betweenoral and written traditions. In Chapter 1, "The Narrative Impulse," we begin withthe oral tale--"Rumpelstiltskin" and "Stone Soup"--and examine the ways theancient theme of wish-fulfillment has been shaped by three sophisticated mod-xvii