The Longwood Reader

by Dornan, Edward A., (Late); Finnegan, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780321290601
• ISBN10: 0321290607
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-06-27
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

Organized by the common patterns of rhetorical development, this composition reader is particularly distinguished by its selection of readings, all of which have been class-tested and chosen for their ability to stimulate and interest today's college students. The text draws a strong connection between active, critical reading and careful, thoughtful writing. Two introductory units offer step-by-step suggestions for sound reading strategies and for writing as a process. Each unit begins with an extended introduction to a rhetorical pattern and provides an abundance of illustrative examples to help students understand the methods and purposes writers use in employing the pattern. Annotated student essays in each unit introduction illustrate students' thought processes in working with each rhetorical strategy. Extensive post-reading apparatus for each selection includes questions on meaning and purpose, strategy and structure, style and language, and writing tasks.

Table of Contents

Thematic Contents	xvii
Pairs of Essays	xxii
Preface to the Sixth Edition	xxv
1 The Reading Process	1	(24)
The Writer-Reader Contract	4	(1)
Reading for Purpose	5	(2)
Reading for Strategy	7	(2)
Reading for Style	9	(2)
Critical Reading Phases	11	(7)
Writing In-Class Responses to Reading	18	(2)
Reading Critically	20	(5)
BARBARA EHRENREICH
In Defense of Talk Shows	21	(4)
2 The Writing Process	25	(62)
Rhetorical Patterns	26	(2)
College Essays	28	(1)
A Student Essay for Study	29	(6)
LANE WILLIAMS
Who's Come a Long Way, Consumers?	30	(5)
Find a Subject	35	(3)
Use Prewriting Techniques	38	(3)
Sort and Group Information	41	(3)
Craft a Thesis Statement	44	(4)
Draft a Plan with a Reader in Mind	48	(3)
Write Parts of the Essay	51	(10)
Edit and Revise Sentences	61	(2)
Checklist for Revision	63	(16)
Proofread and Prepare the Final Draft	79	(2)
Peer Review	81	(6)
3 Writing about Visual Images: Seeing beneath the Surface	87	(14)
The Method	88	(1)
Strategy	88	(3)
Structuring an Essay about Visual Images	91	(4)
JUDY CHAN
Studies in Tranquility	95	(3)
Reviewing with a Writer's Eye	98	(1)
Peer Review	99	(1)
Writing Tasks	100	(1)
4 Writing a Documented Essay: Investigating Current Issues	101	(28)
The Method	102	(6)
Strategy	108	(4)
A Documented Argumentative Essay	112	(8)
TANYA ROSE
Orange Coast College: 9.18.01	113	(7)
Reviewing with a Writer's Eye	120	(1)
Peer Review	121	(1)
Writing Task	121	(1)
A Brief Documentation Guide	122	(1)
Parenthetical Citations	122	(3)
The Works Cited Page	125	(4)
5 Description: Capturing Sensory Details	129	(68)
The Method	130	(3)
Strategies	133	(5)
Description in College Writing	138	(4)
CLARITA TAN
Imaginatively Chaotic Art	139	(3)
Reviewing with a Writer's Eye	142	(1)
Peer Review	143	(49)
MAXINE HONG KINGSTON
Photographs of My Parents	145	(1)
"The school seal has been pressed over a photograph of my mother at the age of thirty-seven....She stares straight ahead as if she could see me and past me to her grandchildren and grandchildren's grandchildren."
JOANNA GREENFIELD
Hyena	151	(1)
"This must be why the hyena has such a snake of a neck-so it can delve deep into a dying animal and eat the best parts before thieves chase it away"
MARCUS LAFFEY
Cop Diary	163	(1)
"The handcuffs are a tool of the trade and an emblem of it, as are the gun and the nightstick."
GEORGE SIMPSON
The War Room at Bellevue	172	(1)
"Bellevue. The name conjures up images of an indoor war zone: the wounded and bleeding lining the halls, screaming for help while harried doctors in blood-stained smocks rush from stretcher to stretcher, fighting a losing battle against exhaustion and the crushing number of injured."
GRETEL EHRLICH
Struck by Lightning	181	(1)
"I don't know if I am alive, but if not, how do I know I am dead? My body is leaden, heavier than gravity. Gravity is done with me. No more sinking and rising or bobbing in currents."
Responding to Photographs	192	(2)
Additional Writing Tasks	194	(3)
6 Narration: Relating Events	197	(46)
The Method	198	(1)
Strategies	199	(7)
Narration in College Writing	206	(4)
RICHARD McKNIGHT
The Last Ride	208	(2)
Reviewing with a Writer's Eye	210	(1)
Peer Review	211	(28)
RENE DENFELD
The Lady of the Ring	212	(1)
"Sparring with men, I feel liberated from generations of fear, self-doubt, finger-waving and genteel restrictions: Men aren't so tough..."
JEFF Z. KLEIN
Watching My Back	216	(1)
"Loud, menacing and drunk, one ran up and shoved me, then missed with a liquor-slow karate kick. I shoved back. We squared off, staring."
MAY AKABOGU-COLLINS
Coming to Black America	221	(1)
"Black History Month became my Armageddon. I was a walking laboratory-a field trip for African Studies students, something akin to an ornament."
RYAN BOUDINOT
The Littlest Hitler	227	(1)
"By the time our parade made it to the middle school, I was thoroughly demoralized. I had grown so weary of being asked, 'What are you?' that I had taken to wearing the wig over my face and angrily answering, 'I'm lint! I'm lint!'
GABRIELLE HAMILTON
Killing Dinner	234	(1)
"My dad was animated with disgust at his dropout daughter-so morose and unfeminine, with the tips of her braids dyed aquamarine, and unable even to kill a chicken properly."
Responding to Photographs	239	(2)
Additional Writing Tasks	241	(2)
7 Examples: Illustrating Ideas	243	(52)
The Method	244	(1)
Strategies	245	(6)
Examples in College Writing	251	(4)
DANIELA TAYLOR
We Are Not Alone	252	(3)
Reviewing with a Writer's Eye	255	(1)
Peer Review	256	(35)
AMY TAN
Mother Tongue	257	(1)
"I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language-the way it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth. Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all-all the Englishes I grew up with."
BRENT STAPLES
Black Men and Public Space	266	(1)
"My first victim was a woman-white, well dressed, probably in her late twenties. I came upon her late one evening...."
CARYL RIVERS
The Issue Isn't Sex, It's Violence	272	(1)
"After a grisly series of murders in California, possibly inspired by the lyrics of a rock song, we are hearing a familiar chorus: Don't blame rock and roll."
DAVID G. MEYERS
Do We Fear the Right Things?	278	(1)
"Why do we intuitively fear the wrong things? Why do so many smokers (whose habit shortens their lives, on average, by about five years) fret before flying (which, averaged across people, shortens life by one day)?"
JOHN KIFNER
Good as a Gun: When Cameras Define a War	284	(1)
"Last week began and ended with two startling images that seemed to portray the conflict in Iraq in very different ways and reflected the battle over what images will define this war."
Responding to Photographs	291	(2)
Additional Writing Tasks	293	(2)
8 Comparison and Contrast: Presenting Similarities and Differences	295	(52)
The Method	296	(1)
Strategies	297	(5)
Comparison and Contrast in College Writing	302	(4)
JIM CARTOZIAN
Two American Writers: Hemingway and Faulkner	304	(2)
Reviewing with a Writer's Eye	306	(1)
Peer Review	306	(36)
RICHARD RODRIGUEZ
Los Otros, Mis Hermanos	308	(1)
"I remained a child longer than most; I lingered too long, poised at the edge of language-often frightened by the sounds of los gringos, delighted by the sounds of Spanish at home."
BHARATI MUKHERJEE
Two Ways to Belong in America	315	(1)
"This is a tale of two sisters from Calcutta, Mira and Bharati, who have lived in the United States for some 35 years, but who find themselves on different sides in the current debate over the status of immigrants."
DEBORAH TANNEN
Sex, Lies, and Conversation	321	(1)
"How can women and men have such different impressions of communication in marriage?"
TERESA L. EBERT AND MAS'UD ZAVARZADEH
Our American Diet Divides Us	329	(1)
"Like everything else in social life, diets are determined not by what people desire but by the conditions of their class. This is quite an un-American thing to say, but people eat class and not food...."
JASON STELLA
Astroturf. How Manufactured "Grassroots" Movements Are Subverting Democracy	333	(1)
"The creation of illusory grassroots groups is a time-tested process, one which is not exclusive to wartime propaganda."
Responding to Photographs	342	(2)
Additional Writing Tasks	344	(3)
9 Cause and Effect: Identifying Reasons and Results	347	(48)
The Method	348	(1)
Strategies	349	(7)
Cause and Effect in College Writing	356	(4)
TOM KIM
Cheating: A Growing Campus Problem	358	(2)
Reviewing with a Writer's Eye	360	(1)
Peer Review	361	(28)
STEPHEN KING
Why We Crave Horror Movies	362	(1)
"The mythic horror movie, like the sick joke, has a dirty job to do. It deliberately appeals to all that is worst in us. It is morbidity unchained, our most base instincts let free, our nastiest fantasies realized...and it all happens, fittingly enough, in the dark."
NEAL GABLER
How Urban Myths Reveal Society's Fears	367	(1)
"In these stories, anything can happen, not because the world's a magical place rich with wonder-as in folktales of yore-but because our world is so utterly terrifying."
GINA GREENLEE
No Tears for Frankie	373	(1)
"I was in the fifth grade when Frankie died....My whole class planned to attend the funeral, since we knew him. My father thought going might give me nightmares, but I insisted. I had never seen a dead person before. Most of all, I wanted to be sure that the little creep would never touch me again."
MICHAEL MOORE
Why Doesn't GM Sell Crack?	378	(1)
"If we wouldn't let GM sell crack because it destroys our communities, then why do we let them close factories? That, too, destroys our communities."
MARSHALL BRAIN
Relax, Wage Slaves-Robots Promise You an Endless Vacation	384	(1)
"For many millenniums, Earth has been the home of a single intelligent species. Humans are now engineering the second one."
Responding to Photographs	389	(2)
Additional Writing Tasks	391	(4)
10 Process Analysis: Explaining Step by Step	395	(36)
The Method	396	(1)
Strategies	396	(6)
Process Analysis in College Writing	402	(3)
JOHN BARTON
Friendly Smile, Clenched Fist	403	(2)
Reviewing with a Writer's Eye	405	(1)
Peer Review	405	(22)
GARRY TRUDEAU
Anatomy of a Joke	406	(1)
"The polish man, usually a woman, is the joke's editor, charged with burnishing the joke until it gleams."
FRANK GANNON
Rat Patrol: A Saga	412	(1)
"He has been showing...an unhealthy interest in explosives, detonation, carnage, destruction, and other allegedly unhealthy aspects of life."
DONALD M. MURRAY
The Maker's Eye: Revising Your Own Manuscripts	420	(1)
"Rewriting isn't virtuous. It isn't something that ought to be done. It is simply something that most writers find they have to do to discover what they have to say and how to say it. It is a condition of the writer's life."
Responding to Photographs	427	(2)
Additional Writing Tasks	429	(2)
11 Classification and Division: Establishing Categories	431	(40)
The Method	432	(2)
Strategies	434	(3)
Classification and Division in College Writing	437	(3)
MARK FREEMAN
In Search of the Comic	439	(1)
Reviewing with a Writer's Eye	440	(1)
Peer Review	440	(27)
WILLIAM LUTZ
Doublespeak	442	(1)
"Sometimes gobbledygook may sound impressive, but when the quote is later examined in print it doesn't even make sense."
PAUL SHEEHAN
My Habit	450	(1)
"As I have wandered around rough neighborhoods, talking to addicts and cops and scholars, the underground world of crack has revealed some of itself to me."
JIM SPRING
Exercising the Brain	459	(1)
"Norma Puzzle invited Charlie to a concert a month away, and Charlie said he 'really wanted to go.' Norma considered it a date. But when she showed up to take him, Charlie wasn't home."
Responding to Photographs	467	(2)
Additional Writing Tasks	469	(2)
12 Definition: Limiting Meaning	471	(40)
The Method	472	(1)
Strategies	472	(5)
Definition in College Writing	477	(4)
CHRIS SCHNEIDER
Myth Redefined	479	(2)
Reviewing with a Writer's Eye	481	(1)
Peer Review	481	(26)
MARIE WINN
TV Addiction	482	(1)
"When we think about addiction to drugs or alcohol we frequently focus on negative aspects, ignoring the pleasures that accompany drinking or drug-taking."
FRANCINE PROSE
Gossip	487	(1)
"Gossip must be nearly as old as language itself. It was, I imagine, the earliest recreational use of the spoken word."
GLORIA NAYLOR
A Word's Meaning Can Often Depend on Who Says It	492	(1)
"The spoken word, like the written word, amounts to a nonsensical arrangement of sounds or letters without a consensus that assigns 'meaning.'...Words themselves are innocuous; it is the consensus that gives them true power."
ROSE DEL CASTILLO GUILBAULT
Americanization Is Tough on "Macho"	498	(1)
"What is macho? That depends which side of the border you come from....Take the newspaper descriptions of alleged mass murderer Ramon Salcido. That an insensitive, insanely jealous, hard-drinking, violent Latin male is referred to as macho makes Hispanics cringe."
S.I. HAYAKAWA
What It Means to Be Creative	503	(1)
"The creative person...is able to entertain and play with ideas that the average person may regard as silly, mistaken, or downright dangerous."
Responding to Photographs	507	(2)
Additional Writing Tasks	509	(2)
13 Persuasion and Argument: Convincing a Reader	511	(72)
The Method	512	(3)
Strategies	515	(11)
Logical Fallacies in Writing	526	(4)
Persuasion and Argument in College Writing	530	(4)
ROLANDA BURRIS
Here's Looking at Reality, Kid	532	(2)
Reviewing with a Writer's Eye	534	(1)
Peer Review	535	(43)
TOM REGAN
Animal Rights, Human Wrongs	536	(1)
"It would be grotesque to suggest that the whale, the rabbit, the gibbon, the bobbie calf, the millions of animals brought so much pain and death at the hands of humans are not harmed, for harm is not restricted to human beings."
STEPHEN ROSE
Proud to Be a Speciesist	544	(1)
"Many human diseases and disorders are found in other mammals-which is why we can learn how to treat them by research on animals."
KATHA POLLITT
Adam and Steve-Together at Last	550	(1)
"As a matter of law, however, marriage is not about Adam and Eve verses Adam and Steve. It's not about what God blesses, its about what the government permits."
MICHAEL EDWARDS
A Case Against Gay Marriage	555	(1)
"From earliest times there seems to have been the universal recognition...that the complementary union of opposites, the yin yang principle applied to individual people, was the most stabilizing force that society could have."
GERARD JONES
Violent Media Is Good for Kids	564	(1)
"My parents, not trusting the violent world of the late 1960's, built a wall between me and the crudest elements of American pop culture...Then the Incredible Hulk smashed through it."
GREGG EASTERBROOK
Watch and Learn	570	(1)
"Defenders of bloodshed in film, television, and writing often argue that depictions of killing don't incite real violence because no one is really affected by what they see or read: it's all just water off a duck's back."
Responding to Photographs	578	(2)
Additional Writing Tasks	580	(3)
14 The Reflective Essay: Combining the Modes to Explore Personal Experience	583	(54)
Meaning and Purpose	584	(1)
Strategy	585	(1)
Style	585	(35)
GEORGE ORWELL
A Hanging	587	(1)
"The hangman climbed down and stood ready, holding the lever. Minutes seemed to pass. The steady, muffled crying from the prisoner went on and on...never faltering for an instant."
E.B. WHITE
Once More to the Lake	593	(1)
"You remember one thing, and that suddenly reminds you of another thing. I guess I remembered clearest of all the early mornings, when the lake was cool and motionless..."
LEWIS THOMAS
On Natural Death	601	(1)
"...when it is end game, and no way back, pain is likely to be turned off, and the mechanisms for this are wonderfully precise and quick."
RICHARD SELZER
The Mashed Marvel's Last Toehold	605	(1)
"One after the other, a pair of wrestlers enter the ring. The two men join, twist, jerk, tug, bend, yank, and throw. Then they leave and are replaced by another pair. At last it is the main event. 'The Angel vs. The Masked Marvel.'"
PHYLLIS ROSE
Tools of Torture	611	(1)
"The secret of torture, like the secret of French cuisine, is that nothing is unthinkable."
MARY McNAMARA
A Gentle Man and His Love of Guns	617	(1)
"My father has always wanted me to have a gun....[H]e offered to buy me a handgun. A small one, ladylike, to keep in my nightstand. I told him I did not have a nightstand, and he offered to buy me one of those as well."
Writing Task: The Reflective Essay	620	(1)
Five Weeks of Notebook Entries	621	(9)
Writing a Reflective Essay	630	(7)
LARRY SWANSON
Allie, Allie Oxen Free	632	(5)
Glossary	637	(28)
Text Credits	665	(6)
Photo Credits	671