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CONTENTS

THEMATIC CONTENTS xvi

PREFACE xxi

1 THE READING PROCESS 1

Stage 1: Get an Overview of the Selection 2❏� FIRST READING: A CHECKLIST 2Stage 2: Deepen Your Sense of the Selection 3❏� SECOND READING: A CHECKLIST 3Stage 3: Evaluate the Selection 4❏� EVALUATING A SELECTION: A CHECKLIST 4

Ellen Goodman FAMILY COUNTERCULTURE 6Parents are told to switch the dial if they don’t want their kids watchingsomething on TV. But what should parents do if the entire culture war-rants being switched off?

2 THE WRITING PROCESS 12

Stage 1: Prewrite 13

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❏� ANALYZING YOUR AUDIENCE: A CHECKLIST 17Stage 2: Identify the Thesis 27Stage 3: Support the Thesis with Evidence 31Stage 4: Organize the Evidence 38❏� OUTLINING: A CHECKLIST 42Stage 5: Write the First Draft 46❏� TURNING OUTLINE INTO FIRST DRAFT: A CHECKLIST 46Stage 6: Revise the Essay 59Student Essay 64Commentary 67

3 DESCRIPTION 70

What Is Description? 70How Description Fits Your Purpose and Audience 70Suggestions for Using Description in an Essay 72Revision Strategies 76❏� DESCRIPTION: A REVISION/PEER REVIEW CHECKLIST 76Student Essay 77Commentary 78Activities: Description 81

Gordon Parks FLAVIO’S HOME 83Having battled poverty and prejudice himself, writer-photographerGordon Parks visits a Brazilian slum and finds, among the wretchedthousands forgotten by the outside world, a dying yet smiling boy.

Gary Soto THE JACKET 91Everything that was wrong with the author’s sixth-grade world could be traced to a cheap, ugly jacket the color of day-old guacamole.

Maya Angelou SISTER FLOWERS 96Hidden deep within herself after the trauma of a rape, a young girl isescorted back into life by the grand lady of a small town.

Additional Writing Topics 103

4 NARRATION 105

What Is Narration? 105How Narration Fits Your Purpose and Audience 106

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Suggestions for Using Narration in an Essay 106Revision Strategies 112❏� NARRATION: A REVISION/PEER REVIEW CHECKLIST 112Student Essay 113Commentary 114Activities: Narration 117

Annie Dillard THE CHASE 118On a lazy winter morning, several children throw perfectly roundedsnowballs at passing cars. Suddenly, one driver leaps from his car andgives chase.

Langston Hughes SALVATION 124In the course of being “saved” during a revival meeting, a young boy’slife is changed forever.

Adam Mayblum THE PRICE WE PAY 128Adam Mayblum was on the eighty-seventh floor of the World TradeCenter North Tower on September 11, 2001. This is his e-mailedaccount of his harrowing escape, written the following day.

Additional Writing Topics 136

5 EXEMPLIFICATION 138

What Is Exemplification? 138How Exemplification Fits Your Purpose and Audience 138Suggestions for Using Exemplification in an Essay 141Revision Strategies 145❏� EXEMPLIFICATION: A REVISION/PEER REVIEW CHECKLIST 145Student Essay 146Commentary 148Activities: Exemplification 151

Kay S. Hymowitz TWEENS: TEN GOING ON SIXTEEN 153Where have the children gone? According to Hymowitz, they’ve beenhijacked by a culture that urges them to become teenagers at ten. Fromclothes and hairstyles to sex, drugs, and violence, today’s “tweens” arehurled into a prematurely adult world.

Beth Johnson BOMBS BURSTING IN AIR 160Forced to share grim news with her children, the author reflects on life’sfragility—and its beauty.

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Barbara Ehrenreich WHAT I’VE LEARNED FROM MEN 166Do men simper, smile, and chatter aimlessly in an effort to be “nice”?No, says the author, and neither should women.

Additional Writing Topics 172

6 DIVISION-CLASSIFICATION 174

What Is Division-Classification? 174How Division-Classification Fits Your Purpose

and Audience 175Suggestions for Using Division-Classification in an Essay 177Revision Strategies 181❏� DIVISION-CLASSIFICATION: A REVISION/PEER REVIEW

CHECKLIST 181Student Essay 182Commentary 185Activities: Division-Classification 188

Stephanie Ericsson THE WAYS WE LIE 190“You look great!” you tell a friend who resembles something the cat dragged in. “The check’s in the mail!” you say, knowing youraccount is empty as a drum. Stephanie Ericsson explores how, when, and why we lie.

William Lutz DOUBLESPEAK 200What do you call language that is specifically designed not to communi-cate? William Lutz has a name for it—doublespeak.

Ann McClintock PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES IN TODAY’S ADVERTISING 207

Propaganda is not just a tool of totalitarian states. American advertisersalso use propaganda to get us to buy their products.

Additional Writing Topics 215

7 PROCESS ANALYSIS 217

What Is Process Analysis? 217How Process Analysis Fits Your Purpose and Audience 218Suggestions for Using Process Analysis in an Essay 219Revision Strategies 224❏� PROCESS ANALYSIS: A REVISION/PEER REVIEW CHECKLIST 224

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Student Essay 225Commentary 228Activities: Process Analysis 230

Bill Bryson YOUR NEW COMPUTER 233Anyone who has ever read a computer manual, trying to figure outwhether to insert the red wire into the blue slot or the blue wire intothe red slot, will sympathize with Bryson’s humorous exasperation.

Clifford Stoll CYBERSCHOOL 239Ah, brave new world that relies on CD-ROMs, cubicles, and e-mails and dispenses with such old-fashioned notions as teachers, classrooms,and human interaction! Skeptical techie Stoll casts a jaundiced eye onthe school of the future.

Caroline Rego THE FINE ART OF COMPLAINING 245Shoddy service and malfunctioning products afflict us all, but some of us complain more effectively than others.

Additional Writing Topics 251

8 COMPARISON-CONTRAST 253

What Is Comparison-Contrast? 253How Comparison-Contrast Fits Your Purpose

and Audience 254Suggestions for Using Comparison-Contrast

in an Essay 255Revision Strategies 259❏� COMPARISON-CONTRAST: A REVISION/PEER REVIEW

CHECKLIST 260Student Essay 260Commentary 262Activities: Comparison-Contrast 265

Rachel Carson A FABLE FOR TOMORROW 267Ecologist Rachel Carson warns us that what seems like a nightmare willbecome all too real if we fail to protect the earth.

Joseph H. Suina AND THEN I WENT TO SCHOOL 271The author recollects painful memories of leaving his nurturing NativeAmerican home to attend the white man’s school. Looking back yearslater, he confronts a harsh reality: he ultimately became an outsider inboth worlds.

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Dave Barry THE UGLY TRUTH ABOUT BEAUTY 277Why do men tend to be unconcerned about their appearance whilewomen seem obsessed with how they look? Humorist Dave Barryadvances an interesting theory.

Additional Writing Topics 281

9 CAUSE-EFFECT 283

What Is Cause-Effect? 283How Cause-Effect Fits Your Purpose and Audience 283Suggestions for Using Cause-Effect in an Essay 285Revision Strategies 291❏� CAUSE-EFFECT: A REVISION/PEER REVIEW CHECKLIST 291Student Essay 292Commentary 294Activities: Cause-Effect 297

Stephen King WHY WE CRAVE HORROR MOVIES 299Who should know more about our appetite for horror than StephenKing? This maestro of the macabre shares his thoughts on why movie-goers eagerly pay to be terrified.

John M. Darley and Bibb Latané WHY PEOPLE DON'T HELP IN A CRISIS 304

“Woman attacked; bystanders ignore her screams.” We read such head-lines and shake our heads in despair. What kind of people, we ask, couldreact so callously? The answer may be—people just like us.

Jay Walljasper OUR SCHEDULES, OUR SELVES 311What will you be doing next Thursday at 8 P.M.? Saturday at 11 A.M.? A week from Friday at noon? If you can answer these questions, you justmight be a slave to your schedule. Jay Walljasper offers a few liberatingthoughts.

Additional Writing Topics 317

10 DEFINITION 319

What Is Definition? 319How Definition Fits Your Purpose and Audience 320Suggestions for Using Definition in an Essay 321

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Revision Strategies 324❏� DEFINITION: A REVISION/PEER REVIEW CHECKLIST 324Student Essay 325Commentary 327Activities: Definition 330

K. C. Cole ENTROPY 332A noted science writer observes that disorder is the natural order ofthings—in her life and in the universe at large.

Alexandra Robbins and Abby Wilner WHAT IS THE QUARTERLIFE CRISIS? 337

Everybody knows about the midlife crisis. But there’s an earlier periodof major life change that can spark a crisis of equal or greater intensity.Its victims suffer silently, unaware that they are not alone in their distress.

William Raspberry THE HANDICAP OF DEFINITION 345Raspberry looks at the expectations that many of his fellow African-Americans have for themselves—and sees a serious problem.

Additional Writing Topics 349

11 ARGUMENTATION-PERSUASION 351

What Is Argumentation-Persuasion? 351How Argumentation-Persuasion Fits Your Purpose

and Audience 352Suggestions for Using Argumentation-Persuasion

in an Essay 356Revision Strategies 372❏� ARGUMENTATION-PERSUASION: A REVISION/PEER REVIEW

CHECKLIST 372Student Essay 373Commentary 379Activities: Argumentation-Persuasion 383

Yuh Ji-Yeon LET’S TELL THE STORY OF ALL AMERICA’S CULTURES 385

In school, the author’s history books taught about the settling of theWest but not about the massacre of the native peoples living there;about the American belief in equality, but not about Americans deniedcitizenship because of their race.

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James Barszcz CAN YOU BE EDUCATED FROM A DISTANCE? 390Sure, you can earn college credit via online courses. But is that the high-est aim of a college education? In order to answer that question, Barszczasks us to consider what characterizes a genuinely educated person.

Examining an Issue: Date Rape

Camille Paglia RAPE: A BIGGER DANGER THAN FEMINISTS KNOW 395

The widespread prevalence of date rape, says the author, is evidence thatfeminism has failed young women.

Susan Jacoby COMMON DECENCY 401According to Jacoby, a man who forces himself on a woman is neithermisled nor confused; he’s simply a rapist.

Examining an Issue: Affirmative Action

Roger Wilkins RACISM HAS ITS PRIVILEGES 406A longtime civil rights activist argues that the call to eliminate affirmative-action programs is rooted in wrongheaded thinking, willful ignorance,even outright lies.

Shelby Steele AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: THE PRICE OF PREFERENCE 416

Black writer and scholar Shelby Steele describes the discomfort he expe-riences at the prospect of his own children being offered preferentialtreatment because of their color.

Additional Writing Topics 423

12 COMBINING THE PATTERNS 425

The Patterns in Action: During the Writing Process 425The Patterns in Action: In an Essay 426Student Essay 427

Virginia Woolf THE DEATH OF THE MOTH 433Watching the death throes of a moth leads Woolf to wonder at themystery of life and at the force that opposes it.

Martin Luther King, Jr. WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE: COMMUNITY OR CHAOS? 438

America’s most influential civil rights leader pleads eloquently for adrastic change in the way that governments pursue world peace.

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Joan Didion MARRYING ABSURD 442Essayist Joan Didion turns her curious gaze on the wedding industry ofLas Vegas, a city created to gratify the illusions of hopeful gamblers,whether at the roulette wheel or in love.

APPENDIX A: A CONCISE GUIDE TO FINDING AND DOCUMENTING SOURCES 445

Using the Library to Find Books on Your Subject 445Using the Library to Find Reference Works on

Your Subject 447Using the Library to Find Articles on Your Subject 448Using the Internet to Research Your Subject 451❏� FOCUSING A WEB SEARCH: A CHECKLIST 456

❏� EVALUATING INTERNET MATERIALS: A CHECKLIST 457Documenting Sources 458What to Document 458How to Document 459❏� CITING SOURCES: A CHECKLIST 462List of Works Cited 464

APPENDIX B: AVOIDING TEN COMMON WRITING ERRORS 472

1 Fragments 4732 Comma Splices and Run-ons 4733 Faulty Subject-Verb Agreement 4744 Faulty Pronoun Agreement 4765 Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers 4776 Faulty Parallelism 4787 Comma Misuse 4798 Apostrophe Misuse 4819 Confusing Homonyms 482

10 Misuse of Italics and Underlining 483

GLOSSARY 485

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 499

INDEX 503

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xvi

THEMATICCONTENTS

COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGE

Maya Angelou, Sister Flowers 96Barbara Ehrenreich, What I’ve Learned From Men 166Stephanie Ericsson, The Ways We Lie 190William Lutz, Doublespeak 200Ann McClintock, Propaganda Techniques in Today’s Advertising 207Bill Bryson, Your New Computer 233Clifford Stoll, Cyberschool 239Caroline Rego, The Fine Art of Complaining 245Joseph H. Suina, And Then I Went to School 271Dave Barry, The Ugly Truth About Beauty 277John M. Darley & Bibb Latané, Why People Don’t Help in a Crisis 304Jay Walljasper, Our Schedules, Our Selves 311William Raspberry, The Handicap of Definition 345James Barszcz, Can You Be Educated From a Distance? 390Camille Paglia, Rape: A Bigger Danger Than Feminists Know 395Susan Jacoby, Common Decency 401

EDUCATION AND WORK

Gary Soto, The Jacket 91Maya Angelou, Sister Flowers 96

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Kay S. Hymowitz, Tweens: Ten Going on Sixteen 153Barbara Ehrenreich, What I’ve Learned From Men 166Clifford Stoll, Cyberschool 239Caroline Rego, The Fine Art of Complaining 245Joseph H. Suina, And Then I Went to School 271Jay Walljasper, Our Schedules, Our Selves 311Alexandra Robbins & Abby Wilner, What Is the Quarterlife Crisis? 337William Raspberry, The Handicap of Definition 345Yuh Ji-Yeon, Let’s Tell the Story of All America’s Cultures 385James Barszcz, Can You Be Educated From a Distance? 390Roger Wilkins, Racism Has Its Privileges 406Shelby Steele, Affirmative Action: The Price of Preference 416

ETHICS AND MORALITY

Ellen Goodman, Family Counterculture 6Gordon Parks, Flavio’s Home 83Annie Dillard, The Chase 118Langston Hughes, Salvation 124Adam Mayblum, The Price We Pay 128Kay S. Hymowitz, Tweens: Ten Going on Sixteen 153Stephanie Ericsson, The Ways We Lie 190William Lutz, Doublespeak 200Ann McClintock, Propaganda Techniques in Today’s Advertising 207Clifford Stoll, Cyberschool 239Joseph H. Suina, And Then I Went to School 271Stephen King, Why We Crave Horror Movies 299John M. Darley & Bibb Latané, Why People Don’t Help in a Crisis 304Alexandra Robbins & Abby Wilner, What Is the Quarterlife Crisis? 337Camille Paglia, Rape: A Bigger Danger Than Feminists Know 395Susan Jacoby, Common Decency 401Roger Wilkins, Racism Has Its Privileges 406Shelby Steele, Affirmative Action: The Price of Preference 416Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go From Here:

Community or Chaos? 438

FAMILY AND CHILDREN

Ellen Goodman, Family Counterculture 6Gordon Parks, Flavio’s Home 83Gary Soto, The Jacket 91Maya Angelou, Sister Flowers 96Annie Dillard, The Chase 118Kay S. Hymowitz, Tweens: Ten Going on Sixteen 153Beth Johnson, Bombs Bursting in Air 160

Thematic Contents xvii

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Clifford Stoll, Cyberschool 239Joseph H. Suina, And Then I Went to School 271Stephen King, Why We Crave Horror Movies 299William Raspberry, The Handicap of Definition 345

GOVERNMENT AND LAW

Adam Mayblum, The Price We Pay 128William Lutz, Doublespeak 200John M. Darley & Bibb Latané, Why People Don’t Help in a Crisis 304Roger Wilkins, Racism Has Its Privileges 406Shelby Steele, Affirmative Action: The Price of Preference 416Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go From Here:

Community or Chaos? 438

HEALTH AND MEDICINE

Gordon Parks, Flavio’s Home 83Kay S. Hymowitz, Tweens: Ten Going on Sixteen 153Alexandra Robbins & Abby Wilner, What Is the Quarterlife Crisis? 337

HUMAN GROUPS AND SOCIETY

Ellen Goodman, Family Counterculture 6Gordon Parks, Flavio’s Home 83Maya Angelou, Sister Flowers 96Annie Dillard, The Chase 118Langston Hughes, Salvation 124Adam Mayblum, The Price We Pay 128Kay S. Hymowitz, Tweens: Ten Going on Sixteen 153Barbara Ehrenreich, What I’ve Learned From Men 166Stephanie Ericsson, The Ways We Lie 190Clifford Stoll, Cyberschool 239Joseph H. Suina, And Then I Went to School 271Dave Barry, The Ugly Truth About Beauty 277Stephen King, Why We Crave Horror Movies 299John M. Darley & Bibb Latané, Why People Don’t Help in a Crisis 304Jay Walljasper, Our Schedules, Our Selves 311Alexandra Robbins & Abby Wilner, What Is the Quarterlife Crisis? 337William Raspberry, The Handicap of Definition 345Yuh Ji-Yeon, Let’s Tell the Story of All America’s Cultures 385James Barszcz, Can You Be Educated From a Distance? 390Camille Paglia, Rape: A Bigger Danger Than Feminists Know 395Susan Jacoby, Common Decency 401

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Roger Wilkins, Racism Has Its Privileges 406Shelby Steele, Affirmative Action: The Price of Preference 416Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go From Here:

Community or Chaos? 438Joan Didion, Marrying Absurd 442

HUMOR AND SATIRE

Gary Soto, The Jacket 91Annie Dillard, The Chase 118Barbara Ehrenreich, What I’ve Learned From Men 166Bill Bryson, Your New Computer 233Clifford Stoll, Cyberschool 239Caroline Rego, The Fine Art of Complaining 245Dave Barry, The Ugly Truth About Beauty 277Alexandra Robbins & Abby Wilner, What Is the Quarterlife Crisis? 337

MEANING IN LIFE

Gordon Parks, Flavio’s Home 83Gary Soto, The Jacket 91Maya Angelou, Sister Flowers 96Annie Dillard, The Chase 118Langston Hughes, Salvation 124Adam Mayblum, The Price We Pay 128Beth Johnson, Bombs Bursting in Air 160Stephanie Ericsson, The Ways We Lie 190Rachel Carson, A Fable for Tomorrow 267Joseph H. Suina, And Then I Went to School 271Alexandra Robbins & Abby Wilner, What Is the Quarterlife Crisis? 337William Raspberry, The Handicap of Definition 345Yuh Ji-Yeon, Let’s Tell the Story of All America’s Cultures 385Virginia Woolf, The Death of the Moth 433Joan Didion, Marrying Absurd 442

MEMORIES AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Gary Soto, The Jacket 91Maya Angelou, Sister Flowers 96Annie Dillard, The Chase 118Langston Hughes, Salvation 124Adam Mayblum, The Price We Pay 128Beth Johnson, Bombs Bursting in Air 160Joseph H. Suina, And Then I Went to School 271

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Yuh Ji-Yeon, Let’s Tell the Story of All America’s Cultures 385Joan Didion, Marrying Absurd 442

MEN AND WOMEN

Barbara Ehrenreich, What I’ve Learned From Men 166Dave Barry, The Ugly Truth About Beauty 277Camille Paglia, Rape: A Bigger Danger Than Feminists Know 395Susan Jacoby, Common Decency 401

NATURE AND SCIENCE

Rachel Carson, A Fable for Tomorrow 267John M. Darley & Bibb Latané, Why People Don’t Help in a Crisis 304K. C. Cole, Entropy 332Virginia Woolf, The Death of the Moth 433

MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY

Ellen Goodman, Family Counterculture 6Kay S. Hymowitz, Tweens: Ten Going on Sixteen 153Ann McClintock, Propaganda Techniques in Today’s Advertising 207Bill Bryson, Your New Computer 233Clifford Stoll, Cyberschool 239Dave Barry, The Ugly Truth About Beauty 277Stephen King, Why We Crave Horror Movies 299Jay Walljasper, Our Schedules, Our Selves 311James Barszcz, Can You Be Educated From a Distance? 390

xx Thematic Contents

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