To navigate a life filled with options and distractions, each of us has to set priorities and answer a tough question: What matters most? The literature in this unit presents a variety of answers to this very personal question. Read thoughtfully. In the end, you might see your own priorities from a new angle. Check out the Additional Questions, Hot Links, Internet Activities, Reading Strategies, and Self-Tests for this unit using the navigation bar at the left.
Joan Aiken	The Third Wish	Short Story	168
Comparing Literary Works
James Ramsey Ullman	A Boy and a Man from Banner in the Sky	Fiction	180
Jon Krakauer	from Into Thin Air	Autobio-graphy	190
Comparing Literary Works
Alfred, Lord Tennyson	The Charge of the Light Brigade	Poem	198
Alice Walker	The Enemy	Poem	201
William Shakespeare	St. Crispian's Day Speech from Henry V	Drama	202
Comparing Literary Works
Mark Twain	The Californian's Tale	Short Story	212
Seamus Heaney	Valediction	Poem	220
Comparing Literary Works
Robert Frost	Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening	Poem	226
Walt Whitman	Miracles	Poem	228
Sandra Cisneros	Four Skinny Trees	Essay	230