Featuring seventy-two brief selections, this accessible compilation features a dual organization with readings that illustrate a specific rhetorical pattern while exploring the chapter’s theme. Selections range from professional essays to annotated student essays, short stories, and poems.  The text also includes full-color fine art as well as advertisements and photographs.

Table of Contents:
Preface   1. On Reading and Writing The Challenges and Rewards of Writing Good Reasons for Reading Guidelines for Active Reading Guided Reading: Ellen Goodman, “Learning to Brake for Butterflies” Writing Focus: Using Summary, Analysis, and Synthesis Getting Started: Richard Wilbur, “The Writer” Gail Godwin, “The Watcher at the Gates” Terry McMillan, “On Reading and Becoming a Writer” Kurt Vonnegut, “How to Write with Style” *Gretel Ehrlich, “Santa Rosa Island, 1998” (Journal) Making Connections: Among the Writers and Online Communicating with Instructors and Peers–In Person and Online Topics for Writing 2. Using Narration: Growing Up, Growing Wiser When to Use Narration How to Use Narration Writing Focus: Preparing Your Essay for Readers Getting Started: Reflections on Growing Up or Growing Wiser Santha Rama Rau, “By Any Other Name” Luis J. Rodriguez, “Always Running” N. Scott Momaday, “The End of My Childhood” Barbara Kingsolver, “How Mr. Dewey Decimal Saved My Life” Gaye Wagner, “Death of an Officer” *Meredith F. Small, “Captivated” Making Connections: Among the Writers and Online Topics for Writing A Checklist for Narration Essays 3. Using Description: Reflecting on People and Places When to Use Description How to Use Description Writing Focus: It’s All about Words Getting Started: Reflections on a Painting Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, The Third of May, 1808 Edgar Degas, The Dance Class Vincent Van Gogh, The Night Café Pablo Picasso, Three Dancers *  Georgia O’Keeffe, Jack-in-the-Pulpit Salvador Dali, The Persistence of Memory Tracy Kidder, “Mrs. Zajac” Amy Tan, “Lost Lives of Women” Pat Mora, “Remembering Lobo” Diane Ackerman, “Let It Snow” Lance Morrow, “Africa” *Jonathan Schell, “Ground Zero” Student Essay–Description: Alexa Skandar, “Time’s Trophy” Making Connections: Among the Writers and Online Topics for Writing A Checklist for Description Essays 4. Using Comparison and Contrast: Ways of Learning When to Use Comparison and Contrast How to Use Comparison and Contrast Writing Focus: Coherence Is Crucial Getting Started: Reflecting on Expectations of College Nancy Masterson Sakamoto, “Conversational Ballgames” E. B. White, “Education” *Brent Staples, “What Adolescents Miss When We Let Them Grow Up in     Cyberspace” Judith Viorst, “Boys and Girls: Anatomy and Destiny” *Amanda Ripley, “Who Says a Woman Can’t Be Einstein?” *Colbert I. King, “Surveying the Damage on Campus USA” Linda Pastan, “Marks” Student Essay–Contrast: Denisse M. Bonilla, “The Faded Stain” Making Connections: Among the Writers and Online Topics for Writing A Checklist for Comparison and Contrast Essays 5. Explaining and Illustrating: Examining Media Images When to Use Examples How to Use Examples Writing Focus: Vary Your Sentences Getting Started: Thinking About Advertising Four Ads: Fila, Got Milk?, Council for Biotechnology Information, Expedia.com Jack McGarvey, “To Be or Not to Be as Defined by TV” Gloria Steinem, “Sex, Lies, and Advertising” *Vincent P. Bzdek, “More Powerful Than . . . Ever: On-Screen and Off, Superheroes Are a Force to Reckon With” Stephanie Mencimer, “Violent Femmes” Suzanne Fields, “Bad Raps: Music Rebels Revel in Their Thug Life” Dave Barry, “Call Hating” *Student Essay–Explaining and Illustrating: Michael King, “Rap’s Refusal of Injustice” Making Connections: Among the Writers and Online Topics for Writing A Checklist for Essays Using Examples 6. Using Process Analysis: How We Work and Play When to Use Process Analysis How to Use Process Analysis Writing Focus: Punctuating Properly Getting Started: Reflections on Your Favorite Game John P. Aigner, “Putting Your Job Interview into Rehearsal” Suzette H. Elgin, “Improving Your Body Language Skills” *Caroline Hwang, “How to Turn No into Yes!” *Gail Saltz, “How to Get Unstuck Now!” Carol Krucoff, “Restoring Recess” Ernest Hemingway, “Camping Out” Making Connections: Among the Writers and Online Topics for Writing A Checklist for Process Essays 7. Using Division and Classification: Examining Ways We Connect--or Fail to Connect–to Others When to Use Division and Classification How to Use Division and Classification Writing Focus: Words to Live Without! Getting Started: Classifying Recent Reading or Viewing Russell Baker, “The Plot Against People” Judith Martin, “The Roles of Manners” Franklin E. Zimring, “Hot Boxes for Ex-Smokers” Curt Suplee, “The Science and Secrets of Personal Space” *Stephanie Ericsson, “The Ways We Lie” Ralph Whitehead, Jr., “Class Acts: America’s Changing Middle Class” Student Essay–Division and Classification: Garrett Berger, “Buying Time” Making Connections: Among the Writers and Online Topics for Writing A Checklist for Division and Classification Essays 8. Using Definition: Understanding Ideas and Values When to Use Definition How to Develop an Extended Definition Writing Focus: Using Metaphors, Avoiding Cliches Getting Started: Reflections on E. B. White’s Ideas of Democracy Margaret Mead and Rhoda Metraux, “On Friendship” John Ciardi, “Is Everybody Happy?” Robert Keith Miller, “Discrimination Is a Virtue” *William Lutz, “Doubts about Doublespeak” Andrew Vachss, “The Difference Between `Sick’ and `Evil’” *David Hackett Fischer, “Freedom’s Not Just Another Word” Alistair Reid, “Curiosity” Student Essay–Definition: Laura Mullins, “Paragon or Parasite?” Making Connections: Among Writers and Online Topics for Writing A Checklist for Definition Essays 9. Using Causal Analysis: Examining Family and Community Issues When to Use Causal Analysis How to use Causal Analysis Writing Focus: References to Authors, Works, and the Words of Others Getting Started: Reflections on Why You Are in College or Why You Have a Particular Trait/Interest Amitai Etzioni, “Duty: The Forgotten Virtue” Keith Ablow, “When Parents Are Toxic to Children” Linda J. Waite, “Social Science Finds: `Marriage Matters’” Stephanie Coontz, “Not Much Sense in Those Census Stories” *Judith D. Auerbach, “The Overlooked Victims of AIDS” *David Ropeik, “What Really Scares Us?” Langston Hughes, “Dream Deferred” Making Connections: Among Writers and Online Topics for Writing A Checklist for Causal Analysis Essays 10. Using Argument and Persuasion: Preserving a Safe and Sane World The Characteristics of Argument How to Use Argument and Persuasion Writing Focus: Logical Fallacies Getting Started: Reflections on the Challenges Facing our World Molly Ivins, “Ban the Things. Ban Them All” Ned Andrews, “Why Guns Matter” Linda J. Collier, “Adult Crime, Adult Time” Richard Cohen, “Kids Who Kill Are Still Kids” *John Borneman and Laurie Kain Hart, “An Elastic Institution” *Michael Kinsley, “Abolish Marriage” *Laura W. Murphy, “No Safer and Less Free” *Robert Kuttner, “Try National ID Card–You Might Like It” *Andrew Sullivan, “The Case for Compromise on Abortion” Student Essay–Refutation: David M. Ouellette, “Blame It on the Media and Other Ways to Dress a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” Making Connections: Among the Writers and Online Topics for Writing A Checklist for Argument Essays 11. Works for Further Reading and Analysis Elizabeth Cady Stanton, “Declaration of Sentiments” Kate Chopin, “The Story of an Hour” *Amy Lowell, “Taxi” Richard Rodriguez, “Border Hazards: An Obsession to Become Unhealthy” Suzanne Britt, “Neat People vs. Sloppy People” Lisa Mundy, “A Date to Remember” Glossary   Credits   Index