Synopses & Reviews
Showing Details of People, Places and Things Mary McCarthy, The Paradox of St. Marks (Italy) Tepilit Ole Saitoti, The Initiation of a Maasai Warrior (Kenya) Mark Salzman, Lessons (China) Gordon Parks, Flavio's Home (Brazil) N. Scott Momaday, The Way to Rainy Mountain (Kiowa/United States) Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place (Antigua) Fiction: Natsume Soseki, I Am a Cat (Japan) Student Essay: Peter Granderson, Iwakuni: Truly Unique 5. Exemplification: Discovering Culture Through Examples Lance Morrow, Advertisements for Oneself Judith Ortiz Cofer, The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria (Puerto Rico/United States) Raymonde Carroll, Minor Accidents (France) Daniela Deane, The Little Emperors (China) Robert Levine with Ellen Wolff, Social Time: The Heartbeat of Culture (Brazil) Geeta Kothari, If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I? (India/United States) Fiction: Luisa Valenzuela, The Censors (Argentina) Student Essay: Helene Santos, Refuting the Latina Stereotype 6. Comparison and Contrast: Exploring Similarities and Differences Across Cultures Suzanne Britt, That Lean and Hungry Look Ivan Karp, Good Marx for the Anthropologist John McMurtry, Kill 'Em! Crush 'Em! Eat 'Em Raw! (Canada) William Bryant Logan, Eiffel and Oak (France) Immaculee Ilibagiza, Left to Tell (Rwanda) Stephen Chapman, The Prisoner's Dilemma (Pakistan) Fiction: Machado de Assis, A Canary's Ideas (Brazil) Student Essay: Naomi Nakamura, East Meets West: Zen Buddhism and Psychotherapy 7. Process Analysis: Cultural Rituals Gloria Anzaldua, How to Tame a Wild Tongue (Mexico/United States) Jessica Mitford, Mortuary Solaces Ethel G. Hofman, An Island Passover (Scotland) Rigoberta Menchu, Birth Ceremonies (Guatemala) Colin Turnbull, The Mbuti Pygmies (Republic of the Congo) Mark Shand, An Original Elephant (India) Fiction: Jamaica Kincaid, Girl (Antigua) Student Essay: Edison Baquero, True Life: Life as a Gamer 8. Classification and Division: Categorizing and Analyzing Cultural Features Amy Tan, Mother Tongue (China/United States) Luis Alberto Urrea, Nobody's Son (Mexico/United States) Margaret Visser, Fingers Mimi Sheraton, We Eat What We Are George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia (Spain) Kyoko Mori, Polite Lies (Japan) Fiction: Sembene Ousmane, Her Three Days (Mali) Student Essay: Eunie Park, High on Heels: Society's Obsession with Pain 9. Cause and Effect: Exploring Causal Connections in Society and Culture Paul Barber, The Real Vampire (Serbia/Romania) Joseph K. Skinner, Big Mac and the Tropical Forests Kim Chernin, The Flesh and the Devil C.P. Ellis, Why I Quit the Klan Anwar F. Accawi, The Telephone (Lebanon) Vaughn M. Bryant, Jr., and Sylvia Grider, To Kiss: Why We Kiss Under the Mistletoe Fiction: Hanan al-Shaykh, The Persian Carpet (Lebanon) Student Essay: Cassandra Bjork, Americans: Bigger by the Day 10. Definition: Identifying Meanings in Different Cultures Edward Said, Reflections on Exile Lydia Minatoya, Transformation (Japan/United States) Simone de Beauvoir, The Married Woman (France) Marilyn Yalom, The Wife Today Jose Antonio Burciaga, Tortillas (Mexico) Elizabeth W. Fernea and Robert A. Fernea, A Look Behind the Veil (Saudi Arabia) Fiction: Liliana Heker, The Stolen Party (Argentina) Student Essay: Geeta Patel, Dabbawalas in Action 11. Problem Solving: Resolving Cultural Dilemmas Austin Bunn, The Bittersweet Science Thor Heyerdahl, How to Kill an Ocean (Norway) Dalai Lama, The Role of Religion in Modern Society (Tibet) Gina Kolata, An Incident in Hong Kong (Hong Kong) David R. Counts, Too Many Bananas (New Guinea) Yossi Ghinsberg, Jungle (Bolivia) Luis Sepulveda, Daisy (Chile) Poetry: Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken Student Essay: Brandon Porter, Medicinal Marijuana 12. Argument: Taking a Stand on Issues The Difference Between Argument and Persuasion Writing Effective Arguments Reasoning in Deductive and Inductive Arguments Transitions Organizing an Argument Essay William Saletan, Overabundance, Not Hunger, Is the World's New Peril Alan T. Durning, Asking How Much Is Enough Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream Bernard Rudofsky, The Unfashionable Human Body Nawal El Saadawi, Circumcision of Girls (Egypt) Debate: Trends in Animal Research Carol Grunewald, Monsters of the Brave New World Caroline Murphy, Genetically Engineered Animals (England) Debate: Torture and Terrorism Michael Levin, The Case for Torture Henry Porter, Now the Talk Is About Bringing Back Torture Debate: Steroids in Sports Thomas H. Murray, The Coercive Power of Drugs in Sports Norman C. Fost, Ethical and Social Issues in Antidoping Strategies in Sport Student Essay: Christopher Denice, Emphasize Teaching, Not Technology 13. Using Combined Patterns Elizabeth Kolbert, Shishmaref, Alaska Diane Ackerman, The Social Sense Lucy Grealy, Autobiography of a Face Margaret Sanger, The Turbid Ebb and Flow of Misery Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal
Synopsis
Patterns Across Cultures is a rhetorically-organized reader driven by the principle that as the world gets smaller, students should be exposed to a wide variety of cultural perspectives--both from within the United States and from other countries. Many of the reading selections in the text are by writers who have never been anthologized, providing an invigorating alternative to traditional readers. Post-reading features for each selection, including questions on author's "Meaning," "Technique," and "Language," help students examine how the selection utilizes both the primary mode and other modes as well; calls out key vocabulary terms; highlights thematic connections between selections; and provides prompts for both personal and critical writing. To assist those instructors who prefer a thematic framework for discussing the selections, a thematic Table of Contents and Thematic Links questions connecting each essay with one or more others on similar themes will provide inspiration for theme-based discussions and writing assignments.
About the Author
Stuart Hirschberg is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engish at Rutgers: The State University of New Jersey, Newark. He has written scholarly works on Yeats and on Ted Hughes, and with co-author Terry Hirschberg, has authored eleven college textbooks. His research interests include cross-cultural and multicultural studies, visual rhetoric, and popular culture. Terry Hirschberg has written eleven college textbooks with Stuart Hirschberg in the field of rhetoric and composition.
Table of Contents
Note: Chapters 3-12 conclude with Strategies for Writing Essays, Guidelines for Writing an Essay, Grammar Tips, Checklist for Revising Essays, and Additional Writing Assignments and Activities. 1. Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing What Is Reading Critically? The Process of Reading Critically Sample Annotated Essay: Octavio Paz, Fiesta What Is Writing Critically? The Process of Writing Critically Sample Student Essay: Joanna Richmond, My Cousin's Wedding Words Create Images, Images Convey Ideas 2. Finding, Using, and Documenting Sources Limiting Your Topic Using and Evaluating Print Sources Using and Evaluating Internet Sources Developing a Thesis Statement Note-Taking Procedures Avoiding Plagiarism Using MLA Style to Document Your Sources A Brief Note on the APA Style of Documentation Sample Student Research Paper in MLA Style: Megan Hanel, Mediocre Media 3. Narration: Telling Stories of Culture and Customs Frederick Douglass, Learning to Read and Write Maya Angelou, Champion of the World Frank McCourt, Irish Step Dancing (Ireland) Guanlong Cao, Chopsticks (China) Fatima Mernissi, Moonlit Nights of Laughter (Morocco) R. K. Narayan, The Misguided "Guide" (India) Fiction: Evgeny Zamyatin, The Lion (Russia) Student Essay: Melissa Roberts, A New Horizon 4.