In an innovative approach to teaching Modern Standard Arabic, this new content-based book aims to bolster study for advanced high students in both linguistic skills and literary appreciation through the reading of a wide variety of original modern Arabic poetry by ten prominent writers: Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi, Mahmoud Darwish, Abd al-Mu'ti Higazi, Said Aql, Fadwa Touqan, Elia Abu Madi, Salah Abdel Sabour, Adonis, Nizar Qabbani, and Ahmad Shawqi. The book aims at enabling students to read, enjoy, and appreciate Arabic poetry through a set of activities-pre-reading; reading; follow-up; and reading alone. These activities facilitate the student's grasp of the structural complexity, lack of conformity to standard grammatical rules, and unfamiliar cultural perspectives that are known to make reading poetry difficult in any language. Mastering Arabic through Literature, Volume 3: Poetry adopts an integrated skills approach that emphasizes all language skills in the effective articulation of ideas and meaningful communication. It also fosters the learning of vocabulary and idiomatic expressions and boosts learners' metaphoric use of the language. The book is divided into four units, each unit drawing on the works of the ten poets to explore and analyze a particular aspect of Arabic poetry. It begins with coverage of the literary theory on modern Arabic poetry. Unit 1 then outlines main topics and issues in modern Arabic poetry, using reading and analysis of excerpts from the works of the poets covered; Unit 2 focuses on imagery in modern Arabic poetry with samples for study from the works of the ten poets; Unit 3 focuses on music in Arabic poetry and how rhythm is used by different poets for different purposes; and Unit 4 focuses on poetic language and style in modern Arabic literature.

Author Biography

Iman A. Soliman is the executive director of CASA (the Center for Arabic Study Abroad) at the American University in Cairo, and an instructor in the university's Arabic Language Institute.Saeed Alwakeel is an associate professor of modern literature and literary criticism at Ain Shams University, Cairo, and an instructor in the Arabic Language Institute of the American University in Cairo.