The original, best selling interdisciplinary composition text, Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, 7/e, teaches students of all majors and interests to communicate more effectively. Hallmarks of the text include its sound writing instruction combined with engaging, thematic readings that provide depth of coverage in each discipline-specific chapter. Updated, streamlined pedagogy and class-tested new thematic chapters add excitement and currency to this new edition.

Table of Contents:
A Note to the Student. I: HOW TO WRITE SUMMARIES, CRITIQUES, AND SYNTHESES. 1. Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation. What Is a Summary? Can a Summary Be Objective? Using the Summary. How to Write Summaries. Demonstration: Summary. For the Infertile, a High-Tech Treadmill, Sheryl Gay Stolberg. Reread, Underline, Divide into Stages of Thought. Write a One-Sentence Summary of Each Stage of Thought. Write a Thesis: A One- or Two-Sentence Summary of the Entire Passage. Write the First Draft of the Summary. Summary 1: Combine Thesis Sentence with One-Sentence Section Summaries. Summary 2: Combine Thesis Section Summaries and Carefully Chosen Details. Discussion. Summarizing a Narrative. Crossing the Moon: A Journey Through Infertility, Paulette Bates Alden. Summarizing Figures and Tables. Paraphrase. Quotations. Choosing Quotations. Incorporating Quotations into Your Sentences. Exercise. Body Body Double, Alexander M. Capron. 2. Critical Reading and Critique. Critical Reading. Question Category 1: What Is the Author's Purpose in Writing? Does He or She Succeed in This Purpose? Informative Writing. Persuasive Writing. A Message to President Clinton and the 105th Congress: A Simple One-Step Plan to Solve the Education Crisis, J. Morton Davis. Writing That Entertains. Question Category 2: To What Extent Do You Agree With the Author? Critique. How to Write Critiques. Demonstration: Critique. Discussion. Exercise. An Avenue to High Academic Standards (and threaded discussion), Lynn Olson. School-to-Work Will Train, Not Educate (and threaded discussion), Phyllis Schlafly. 3. Introductions, Theses, and Conclusions. Writing Introductions. Quotation. Historical Review. Review of a Controversy. From the General to the Specific. From the Specific to the General: Anecdote, Illustration. Question. Statement of Thesis. Writing a Thesis. The Components of a Thesis. Limiting the Scope of the Thesis. Using the Thesis. Writing Conclusions. Statement of the Subject's Significance. Call for Further Research. Solution/Recommendation. Anecdote. Quotation. Question. Speculation. 4. Synthesis. What Is a Synthesis? Purpose. Using Your Sources. How to Write Syntheses. The Explanatory Synthesis. The Y2K Problem, or The Millenium Bug. The Story of '00, Joseph Nocera. Countdown to Chaos, Simon Reeve, James Adams, John Davidson. Ghost in the Machine, Jeff Green. Beat the Clock, Jan Newberry. Walking on Thin Ice, Peter de Jaeger. Preventing Time from Marching Backward, Nation's Business. You've Got to be Kidding!, (web page) Peter de Jaeger. The Day the World Shuts Down, Steven Levy, Katie Hafner, Larry Gonick, Dante Chinni. Beware the Millennium, Economist. The Next Date Crisis and the One After That, Robert L. Glass. Consider Your Purpose. Formulate a Thesis. Decide How You Will Use Your Source Material. Develop an Organizational Plan. Write the Topic Sentences. Write Your Synthesis. Discussion and Suggestions for Revision. Writing Exercise: An Expanded Explanatory Synthesis Drawing Upon More Sources. Year 2000: 1000 Days Away, Survey Results (charts and graphs; web page), Howard A. Rubin, Heidi Albrecht Battaglia. Year 2000 Fixes: Top Priority, General Dennis J. Reimer. Year 2000 Upgrades: A Small Price to Pay, Leon Kappelman. Breakthrough May Help Squish Y2K Bug, Kevin Maney. How to Profit from the Coming Y2K Glitch, Bruce McCall. A Grave Problem with Y2K, Janet Wilson. The Argument Synthesis. The Elements of Argument: Claim, Support, Assumption. The Three Appeals of Argument: Logos, Ethos, Pathos. Developing an Argument Synthesis. The Wal-Mart Controversy. Ban the Bargains, Bob Ortega. Eight Ways to Stop the Store, Al Norman. Wal-Mart's War on Main Street, Sarah Anderson. Who's Really the Villain?, Jo-Ann Johnston. Chart: Wal-Mart Takes Off, James F. Moore. Data Sheet: Wal-Mart reports August Sales (web page), Wal-Mart. Sprawl-Busting Victories (web page), Al Norman. Shopping With the Enemy, Economist. Consider Your Purpose. Making a Claim: Formulate a Thesis. Decide How You Will Use Your Source Material. Develop an Organizational Plan. Argument Strategy. Draft and Revise Your Synthesis. Discussion. Developing and Organizing the Support For Your Arguments. Summarize, Paraphrase, and Quote Supporting Evidence. Provide Various Types of Evidence and Motivational Appeals. Use Climactic Order. Use Logical or Conventional Order Present and Respond to Counterarguments. Use Concession. Avoid Common Fallacies in Developing and using Support. The Comparison-and-Contrast Synthesis. A Case for Comparison-Contrast: Murder or Manslaughter? Rowland v. State. People v. Ashland. Instructions to the Jury. Comparison-Contrast (Organized by Criteria). Essay: Murder or Manslaughter? Discussion. Summary. 5. Research. Going Beyond This Text. Research Papers in the Academic Disciplines. Finding A Subject. Writing the Research Paper. The Research Question. Preliminary Research. Consulting Knowledgeable People. Encyclopedias. Overviews and Bibliographies in Recent Books. Bibliographic Index. Subject-Heading Guides. Focused Research. Books. Electronic Databases. The Benefits and Pitfalls of the World Wide Web. Periodicals: General. Periodicals: Specialized. Biographical Indexes. Dictionaries. Other Sources/ Government Publications. Interviews and Surveys. From Research to Working Thesis. The Working Bibliography. Evaluating Sources. Note-taking. Arranging Your Notes: The Outline. Writing the Draft. Avoiding Plagiarism. Citing Sources: MLA. In-Text Citation: MLA. Parenthetical (In-Text) Citation of Electronic Sources: MLA. Content Notes: MLA. Reference Page MLA. Examples of MLA Citations: Books. Examples of MLA Citations: Periodicals. Examples of MLA Citations: Other Sources. Modern Language Association (MLA) Format: Electronic Sources. Citing Sources: APA. In-Text Citation: APA. Parenthetical (IN-Text) Citation of Electronic Sources: APA. Examples of APA Citations: Books. Examples of APA Citations: Periodicals. Examples of APA Citations: Other Sources American Psychological Association. II. AN ANTHOLOGY OF READINGS. 6. Left, Right, Center: The American Political Spectrum (POLITICAL SCIENCE). Political Quiz: Are You a Liberal or a Conservative?, Victor Kamber and Bradley S. O'Leary. The Debate Beneath the Debate: What American Politics is Really About, Jeff Smith. Liberalism, Conservatism, Socialism, Libertarianism, James MacGregor Burns, J.W. Peltason, Thomas E. Cronin, and David B. Magelby. Guides to the Political Conflicts, Donald Lazere. A Progressive Compact, Jeff Faux. A Social Conservative Credo, Charles Krauthammer. The Origin of Conservatism, John O. McGinnis. When Government Gets Mean: Confessions of a Recovering Statist, Barbara Ehrenreich. The Only Kind of Air, Florence King. Is the Left Nuts? (Or Is It Me?), Michael Moore. Mystery Readings: A "Final Exam" Assignment. Who Makes the Clothes We Wear?, Jesse Jackson. America at Risk: Can We Survive Without Moral Values?, William J. Bennett. Family Values Gain Ground, The Wall Street Journal. The Family Values Party, Meg Greenfield. Curb Your Dog!, Virginia I. Postrel. Real Scandal: Betrayal of the Poor, Robert Scheer. The Criminalization of Homelessness, Celine-Marie Pascal. Wrong Way to Help the Homeless, Dwight Hobbs. Synthesis Activities. Research Activities. 7. Obedience to Authority (PSYCHOLOGY). Group Minds, Doris Lessing. Opinions and Social Pressure, Solomon E. Asch. The Perils of Obedience, Stanley Milgrim. Review of Stanley Milgram's Experiments on Obedience, Diana Baumrind. The Stanford Prison Experiment, Philip K. Zimbardo. Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem, Erich Fromm. The Lottery, Shirley Jackson. Synthesis Activities. Research Activities. 8. The Book of Job (PHILOSOPHY/RELIGION). The Bible and Suffering, Peter Gomes. The Book of Job (Revised Standard Version). An Introduction to Job, David Neiman. The Book of Job and Ancient Near Eastern Tradition, Carol A. Newsom. When Bad Things Happen to Good People, Harold S. Kushner. The Myth of Justice, Michael Dorris. Job: Implications for Today, Dianne Bergant. God Has Need of Man, Archibald MacLeish. Synthesis Activities. Research Activities. 9. The Brave New World of Biotechnology (BIOLOGY/GENETICS). Brave New World, Aldous Huxley. Recombinant DNA and Genetic Engineering, Cecie Starr and Ralph Taggart. Tinkering with Destiny, Shannon Brownlee, Gareth G. Cook, and Viva Hardigg. The Grandiose Claims of Geneticists, Dorothy Nelkin. The Human Genome Project: A Personal View, James D. Watson. Iceland's Blond Ambition, Eliot Marshall. The Ultimate Therapy: Commercial Eugenics on the Eve of the Biotech Century, Jeremy Rifkin. Fatalist Attraction: The Dubious Case Against Fooling Mother Nature, Virginia Postrel. When Science Takes the Witness Stand, Peter J. Neufeld and Neville Colman. DNA in Court, William Tucker. Synthesis Activities. Research Activities. 10. Fairy Tales: A Closer Look at “Cinderella” (FOLKLORE). Universality of the Folktale, Stith Thompson. Nine Variants of “Cinderella”. Cinderella, Charles Perrault. Ashputtle, Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm. When the Clock Strikes, Tanith Lee. A Chinese “Cinderella”, Tuan Ch'Eng-Shih. The Maiden, the Frog, and the Chief's Son (An African “Cinderella”). Oochigeaskw—The Rough-Faced Girl (A Native American “Cinderella”). Walt Disney's “Cinderella”, Adapted by Campbell Grant. Cinderella, Anne Sexton. On Location: Airy Fairy Tale, Richard Covington. “Cinderella”: A Story of Sibling Rivalry and Oedipal Conflicts, Bruno Bettelheim. Pretty Woman: A Modern Cinderella, Karol Kelley. Cinderella's Stepsisters, Toni Morrison. Synthesis Activities. Research Activities. 11. You, The Jury (LAW). The Maiden and the Pot of Gold: A Case of Emotional Distress. The American Legal System, David Hricik. How to Present Your Case Systematically and Logically, Veda R. Charrow, Myra K. Erhardt, Robert P. Charrow. Venezia v. Miller Company: A Defective Beer Bottle, Ruthi Erdman. The Ridiculed Employee: An Additional Case of Emotional Distress. Assault and Battery on the Gridiron: A Case of Reckless Disregard of Safety. Of Accidents and Injuries: Some Cases of Negligence. “Urban War Zone”: A Case of Public Nuisance. The Felled Stop Signs: Some Cases of Homicide. Drag Racing and Death: Some Cases of Manslaughter. Chevrolet v. Tree: A Case of Poetic Justice. Legal Glossary. Research Activities. Legal Research. Research Topics. 12. The Beast Within: Perspectives on the Horror Film (FILM STUDIES). Why We Crave Horror Movies, Stephen King. Horror Films, Tim Dirks. The Nightmare World, Stanley J. Solomon. Blowing the Lid Off the Id, Harvey Greenberg. Metamorphosis: Humans into Animals, Joyce E. Salisbury. The Company of Wolves, Angela Carter. Wolf at the Door: An Interview with Neil Jordan, Neil Jordan. Two Reviews of Company of Wolves, Lawrence O'Toole and J. Hoberman. Reviews of Wolf, Caryn James, David Denby, and Janet Maslin. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson. Reviews of Jekyll and Hyde Films, Mordaunt Hall. “T.S.”, Roger Ebert. Synthesis Activities. Research Activities.