Many instructors prefer to teach critical reading and writing without using a full-scale rhetoric. For them, Axelrod and Cooper have adapted the immensely successful approach of The St. Martins Guide to Writing and applied it to a reader, creating a book that provides both structure for students and flexibility for instructors. Chapter One introduces two general approaches to critical reading, showing students how to "read for meaning" and "read like a writer." Each of the following chapters then provides step-by-step guides to applying this knowledge in reading and writing a specific genre, ranging from autobiography to argument.
N.B. The Guide to Writing sections of Chapters 3 - 9 include the same subsections as Chapter 2; however, for the sake of brevity, the subheadings are not repeated in this abridged table of contents. Similarly, the subsections Reading for Meaning, Reading Like a Writer, and Reflecting on Your Experience follow the first readings in Chapters 3 - 9, though they are included only under Chapter 2 in this listing.1. Introduction
Reading Critically
Reading for Meaning
Reading Like a Writer
Reading to Compare
Writing Well
The Writing Assignments
The Guide to Writing
2. Autobiography
Writing Situations for Autobiography
A Guide to Reading Autobiography
Readings
Annie Dillard, An American Childhood
Reading for Meaning
Reading Like a Writer
Reflecting on Your Experience with Autobiography
Saira Shah, Longing to Belong
Luis J. Rodriguez, Always Running
]Anne Morgan Gray, Daddy's Loss
Brad Benioff, Rick (student)
Jean Brandt, Calling Home
A Guide to Writing Autobiography
Invention
Drafting
Reading a Draft Critically
Revising
Editing and Proofreading
Reflecting on What You Have Learned
3. Observation
Writing Situations for Observational Essays
A Guide to Reading Observational Essays
Readings
The New Yorker, Soup
John T. Edge, I'm Not Leaving Until I Eat This Thing
]William L. Hamilton, At Ole Miss, the Tailgaters Never Lose
]Peggy Orenstein, The Daily Grind: Lessons in the Hidden Curriculum
Brian Cable, The Last Stop (student)
]Katie Diehm, "Paddlers Sit Ready!": The Enduring Sport of Dragon Boating (student)
A Guide to Writing Observational Essays
4. Reflection
Writing Situations for Reflective Essays
A Guide to Reading Reflective Essays
Readings
Brent Staples, Black Men and Public Space
]Carl Safina, Comes a Turtle, Comes the World
]Steven Doloff, A Universe Lies on the Sidewalks of New York
]Carolina A. Miranda, Diving into the Gene Pool
Wendy Lee, Peeling Bananas (student)
Katherine Haines, Whose Body Is This? (student)
A Guide to Writing Reflective Essays
5. Explaining Concepts
Writing Situations for Essays Explaining Concepts
A Guide to Reading Essays Explaining Concepts
Readings
David Quammen, Is Sex Necessary? Virgin Birth and Opportunism in the Garden
Deborah Tannen, Marked Women
Beth L. Bailey, Dating
]Chip Heath and Dan Heath, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
Linh Kieu Ngo, Cannibalism: It Still Exists (student)
]Clayton Strothers, Flow (student)
A Guide to Writing Essays Explaining Concepts
6. Evaluation
Writing Situations for Evaluation
A Guide to Reading Evaluations
Readings
Amitai Etzioni, Working at McDonald's
]Farhad Manjoo, iPod: I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change
]Ella Taylor, Hooverville: Little Miss Sunshine Lights into the American Family
]Stacy Shiff, Know It All
Christine Romano, "Children Need to Play, Not Compete" by Jessica Statsky: An Evaluation (student)
]Wendy Kim, Grading Professors (student)
A Guide to Writing Evaluations
7. Speculating about Causes or Effects
Writing Situations for Essays Speculating about Causes or Effects
A Guide to Reading Essays Speculating about Causes or Effects
Readings
Stephen King, Why We Crave Horror Movies
Natalie Angier, Intolerance of Boyish Behavior
]John Dutton, Toxic Soup
Jonathan Kozol, The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society
]Amber Ripplinger, Declining Coral Reefs (student)
]Joshua Slick, Not Just for Nerds Anymore (student)
A Guide to Writing Essays Speculating about Causes or Effects
8. Proposal to Solve a Problem
Writing Situations for Proposals
A Guide to Reading Proposals
Readings
]Michael Pollan, The Vegetable-Industrial Complex
]William F. Shughart II, Why Not a Football Degree?
]Gary Beck, Not Your Everyday Homeless Proposal
]Karen Kornbluh, Win-Win Flexibility
Patrick O'Malley, More Testing, More Learning (student)
]Jeff Varley, High School Starting Time (student)
A Guide to Writing Proposals
9. Position Paper
Writing Situations for Position Papers
A Guide to Reading Position Papers
Readings
]Vinod Khosla, My Big Biofuels Bet
]Karen Stabiner, Boys Here, Girls There: Sure, If Equality's the Goal
]David Brooks, A Nation of Grinders
]David Moberg, Class Consciousness Matters
]Amber Dahlke, Sex Education in Schools (student)
Jessica Statsky, Children Need to Play, Not Compete (student)
A Guide to Writing Position Papers
Appendix 1: A Catalog of Critical Reading Strategies
Annotating
Martin Luther King, Jr., An Annotated Sample from "Letter from Birmingham Jail"
Previewing
Outlining
Summarizing
Paraphrasing
Synthesizing
Questioning to Understand and Remember
Contextualizing
Reflecting on Challenges to Your Beliefs and Values
Exploring the Significance of Figurative Language
Looking for Patterns of Opposition
Evaluating the Logic of an Argument
Using a Toulmin Analysis
Recognizing Emotional Manipulation
Judging the Writer's Credibility
Considering Logical Fallacies
Comparing and Contrasting
Related Readings
Lewis H. Van Dusen, Jr., Legitimate Pressures and Illegitimate Results
Public Statement by Eight Alabama Clergymen
Appendix 2: Strategies for Research and Documentation
Conducting Research
Evaluating Sources Critically
Integrating Sources with Your Own Writing
Documenting Sources
] new to this edition