A brief reader for courses in Developmental Writing at the paragraph/essay level or Freshman Composition. Respectfully treating developmental students as intelligent, capable students, Breaking Boundaries, a reader for developing writers, provides instruction, readings, and activities that more closely resemble “college-level” work—e.g., longer readings, more varied readings (multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary, multi-genre), specific strategies for becoming stronger readers, direct instruction in the writingprocess, and an array of post-reading writing assignments that are not based solely on personal experiences. Often, there is a significant gap between the work students are asked to do in Basic Writing and what is required of them in Freshman Composition—and, as a result, their successes in developmental writing may still leave them unprepared for baccalaureate-level work. Breaking Boundaries offers an important and significant alternative to typical developmental texts—those that offer only one- to two-paragraph readings and worksheet drills.

Table of Contents:
Note to Students. Note to Instructors. Acknowledgments. I. READING, THINKING, WRITING AND REVISION: THE INTERTWINED PARTS OF THE WRITING PROCESS. 1. Acts of Reading: Making Meaning from Texts. Reading Strategies. Making Sense of Reading. Reading as a Process. Reading Speed. Visualizing. Reading and Writing Connections. Reading with and Against the Grain. 2. Moving from Reading to Writing: Reader's Journals. Sample Reader's Journal Entries. 3. Drafting an Essay. The Body of an Essay. Beginnings and Endings. Revising and Editing. Student Essays. II. WRITING AND WORD PROCESSING. 4. Reading, Writing and Word Processing. Introduction. The Dark Side of Computer Assisted Writing. Time to Exercise. Exercises for Generating Ideas. Exercises for Shaping Ideas. Exercises for Drafting. Exercises for Revision. Exercises for Editing. Miscellaneous Debris. The Internet. When All is Said and Done. III. THE READINGS. PAULA GUNN ALLEN,Where I Come From Is Like This. MAYA ANGELOU, Graduation. GLORIA ANZALDÚA, How to Tame a Wild Tongue. MARGARET ATWOOD, Rape Fantasies. BLACK ELK (as told through John G. Neihardt), Grandmother's Land. MICHAEL DORRIS, The Broken Cord. FREDERICK DOUGLASS, The Pathway from Slavery to Freedom. GABRIEL GARCÍA MAÁRQUEZ, The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World: A Tale for Children. SUSAN GLASPELL, Trifles. ERNEST HEMINGWAY, Hills Like White Elephants. E.D. HIRSCH, JR., The Decline of Teaching Cultural Literacy. BELL HOOKS, keeping close to home: class and education. HARRIET JACOBS, Flight and a Safe Retreat. MAXINE HONG KINGSTON, No Name Woman. JOHNATHAN KOZOL, The Savage Inequalities of Public Education in New York. NANCY MAIRS, Carnal Acts. BARBARA MELLIX, From Outside, In. RICHARD RODRIGUEZ, Aria. LYNN SMITH, Minorities: Alienation and Failure in Academia. IV. THEMATIC WRITING ASSIGNMENTS. Section I: Equal Education: Is Education Fair to Everyone? JONATHAN KOZOL, “Savage Inequalities of Public Education in New York”. LYNN SMITH, “Minorities: Alienation and Failure in Academia”. MAYA ANGELOU, “Graduation”. BELL HOOKS, “keeping close to home: class and education”. Section II: The Power of Language. RICHARD RODRIGUEZ, “Aria”. BELL HOOKS, “keeping close to home: class and education”. BARBARA MELLIX, “From Outside, In”. GLORIA ANZADÚA, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”. Section III: Defining Literacy: Whose Agenda Hits the Mark? RICHARD RODRIGUEZ, “Aria”. BELL HOOKS, “keeping close to home: class and education”. FREDERICK DOUGLASS, “The Pathway from Slavery to Freedom”. E.D. HIRSCH, JR., “The Decline of Teaching Cultural Literacy”. Section IV: Reading People's Stories: Why Should We Care? NANCY MAIRS, “Carnal Acts”. HARRIET JACOBS, “Flight and a Safe Retreat”. BLACK ELK (as told through John G. Neihardt), “Grandmother's Land”. FREDERICK DOUGLASS, “The Pathway from Slavery to Freedom”. Section V: Women's Bodies: Women's Lives. MAXINE HONG KINGSTON, “No Name Woman”. HARRIET JACOBS, “Flight and a Safe Retreat”. NANCY MAIRS, “Carnal Acts”. PAULA GUNN ALLEN, “Where I Come From Is Like This”. MICHAEL DORRIS, “The Broken Cord”. Section VI: Fiction Writers: Do These Stories Reflect or Define Society and Culture? MARGARET ATWOOD, “Rape Fantasies”. GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ, “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World”. SUSAN GLASPELL, “Trifles”. ERNEST HEMINGWAY, “Hills Like White Elephants”. Section VII: Ways of Telling: Does Gender Shape Reality? RICHARD RODRIGUEZ, “Aria”; and GLORIA ANZALDÚA, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”. FREDERICK DOUGLASS, “The Pathway from Slaver to Freedom”; and BELL HOOKS, “keeping close to home: class education”.