For developmental writing courses at the paragraph/essay level and freshman composition courses. This collection of non-traditional readings for writers encourages students to create and cultivate an idea, then develop a style to showcase that idea. Its selections appeal to those instructors who are interested in a more unique blend of readings that are literary, thought-provoking, experimental and multicultural, spanning a broad range of universal and individual themes, issues, and concerns. Through the use of multimedia examples and activities, this reader trains students in effective group and autonomous process thinking and learning, reading and writing, discussing and arguing.

Table of Contents:
I. WHAT'S IN THE MIND OF GOD?  1. Door Gods and Dragon, C.A.S. Williams.  2. The Story of False Face, Doug Boyd.  3. The African Fang Legends—Eboka, John Miller and Randall Koral, eds.  4. The End of Firpo in the World, George Saunders.  5. The Descent of the Gods, Serge Bramly.  6. There's a Man in the Habit of Hitting Me on the Head with an Umbrella, Fernando Sorrentino.  7. Collecting kids' stories of past lives, Edward Colimore from The Philadelphia Inquirer Internet site.  8. Sri Venkateswara Swami Temple of Greater Chicago, from the Internet site www.balaji.org/ddetail.htm.  9. The Three Day Grin, Thanhha Lai from the Internet site www.orangecoast.com/tet.htm . 10 From Baroque to Ultra—Baroque, Ichiro Ono. 11. Heaven's Gate: A Twee Paradise for Wimps, Cintra Wilson. 12. Out of All Them Bright Stars, Nancy Kress. II. FASHION VICTIMS, FASHION PLATES, OR FASHION SCHOLARS?  1. Tattooed Charms, Diane L. Umemoto.  2. Weight for Me: Food, Kaz Cooke.  3. excerpts, interviews, and photos from Art on the Edge of Fashion from the Internet site http://asuam.fa.asu.edu/ artedge/curator.htm http://asuam.fa.asu.edu/ artedge/per 1 0.htm and http://asuam.fa.asu.edu/ artedge/per 1 2.htm.  4. What the Indian means to America, Luther Standing Bear.  5. Charlie: Peripheral Realist and Misty: Formal Expansionist, Heather Busch and Burton Silver.  6. Courtly Vision, Bharati Mukherjee.  7. Miss Snake Charmer Queen/The Rattle Snake Roundup, Beverly Stoeltje.  8. Our People Say... a list of African Proverbs from Internet site www.demon.co.uk/africa/proverbs/ docs/proverbl.htm.  9. Color Therapy by Deandra, Lisa Jones. 10. The Symbol “Taco Bell” or was Leonardo da Vinci Right Brain Dominant?, Allen Ross. 11. Until I Got Here—America Boring, Andrei Codrescu. III. MEDIA RARE, MEDIOCRE, OR WELL-DONE?  1. Proverb Prints of Kawanabe Kyosai (artwork with proverbs) from Internet site www.alc.co. jp: 80/proverbs/e3.htm.  2. Teaching as an Amusing Activity, Neil Postman.  3. Notes from Nicotine Hell: Quitting smoking may be hazardous to your health, Susan Shapiro Internet site www.utne.com/lens/bms/ 20msquitsmoke.html.  4. Warlukurlangu: What Happened at The Place of Fire, Uni Nampijinpa.  5. The Origin of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Snopes Urban Legends Reference Pages Internet site www.snopes.com/holidays/xmas/ rudolph.htm.  6. Of the Sorrow Songs, W.E.B. Du Bois.  7. A Sorcerer's Bottle: The Visual Art of Magic in Haiti, Elizabeth McAlister.  8. Fading Nations, Stewart Brand.  9 Acid Tatto [sic] Scare: Why do people persist in believing that children are under threat from psychedelic transfers?, Paul Sieveking Internet site www.forteantimes.com/artic/ cabnet/acid.html. 10. Summary Description of the Warnings, Internet site www.lvcaeum.org/drugs/other/tattoo/summary.html. IV. TECHNOLOGY: GENIUS, NIGHTMARE, OR POSSIBILITY?  1. The Virtual Pet Cemetery, Internet site www.lavamind.com/pet.html.  2. An Egg A Month From All Over, Margaret St. Clair.  3. Germs, Lewis Thomas.  4. Male Birth Control Pill, Brad Wieners and David Pescovitz.  5. Man A Machine, David Paul.  6. First Cryonic Reanimation, Brad Wieners and David Pescovitz.  7. Spanish Cats and the Body Electric, Arthur Kroker and Michael A. Weinstein.  8. One Student, One Computer, Stewart Brand.  9. Oil Spills: Dispersing Pollution, Edward Tenner. 10. Tiny Indian Tribe Stalls Columbia's Rush for Oil, Michael McCaughan. 11. Twenty Evocations, Bruce Sterling. 12. Medical Technology, Neil Postman. Index.