America Now : Short Readings from Recent Periodicals

by Robert Atwan

• ISBN13: 9780312417567
• ISBN10: 031241756X
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2005-02-18
• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's

Summary

A key challenge in the first-year composition course is to inspire students as readers and to spark the kind of thoughtful classroom discussion that leads to solid academic writing. As series editor of "The Best American Essays" Robert Atwan constantly scours a wide range of print and online periodicals, bringing to "America Now" an unrivaled awareness of the best writing on today's hottest issues. To make these issues especially relevant for students, Atwan also explores hundreds of campus newspapers on the Internet to find the best student writing on current topics. These models by their peers from across the country show students that they, too, can share ideas through their own discussion and writing.

Table of Contents

Preface for Instructors	vii
Introduction: The Empowered Writer	xxxi
What is America Now?	xxxi
What Are Opinions?	xxxiii
How Do We Form Opinions?	xxxvi
Participating in Class Discussion: Six Basic Rules	xxxix
From Discussion to Writing	xl
The Practice of Writing	xlii
What Is ``Correct English''?	xliii
Writing as a Public Activity	xliv
Expressing Opinions: Two Annotated Student Essays	xlvi
Campus Debate
Calling for a New Dialogue on Rape	xlvii
Darcy Richie
We Need to Acknowledge the Gray Area in Rape Dialogue	li
Kevin Collins
Student Writer at Work: Darcy Richie	lv
Student Writer at Work: Kevin Collins	lvi
Writing as Empowerment	lviii
What's in a Name?	1	(24)
Sparrow Spam I Am	3	(5)
Whose Last Name Should Married Couples Choose? (Student Essay)	8	(4)
R. R. S. Stewart
What's in a Name?	12	(8)
Kendra Hamilton
America Then . . .1982
The Power of Names	20	(1)
Maya Lin
Photograph: Todd A. Gipstein, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 1986	21	(4)
Body Image: Is it a Serious Issue?	25	(26)
Editors of Marketing to Women Unrealistic Body Images	27	(6)
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Are Muscular Men the Best of All?	33	(6)
Nancy Clark
America Then . . . 1947
Advertisement: Charles Atlas, The Insult That Turned a ``Chump'' into a Champ	39	(1)
The Swan: An Extreme Fairy Tale (Student Essay)	40	(5)
Jennifer Kursman
Student Writer at Work: Jennifer Kursman	45	(6)
Cartoon: Lynda Barry, Extreme Poodle Eye	47	(4)
What Are We Afraid Of?	51	(31)
What Really Scares Us?	53	(6)
David Ropeik
Wake Up, Americans, and Prepare for Terrorism	59	(1)
John D. Solomon
Cartoon: Homeland Security Advisory System	60	(5)
John Morin
A Fixation on Fright: How the Media Fuels America's Fears (Student Essay)	65	(2)
Erin Hilsabeck
Cartoon: My Mysterious Illness	67	(4)
Christa Donner
We Must Not Fear Scientific Revolution (Student Essay)	71	(4)
Anthony Quinn
Student Writer At Work: Anthony Quinn	75	(2)
America Then . . . The 1950s
The Cold War and the Fallout Shelter	77	(5)
Do Gender Differences Make a Difference?	82	(27)
Cartoon: The Problem with Dating (Student Cartoonist)	84	(2)
Brian Troyan
Student Cartoonist at Work: Brian Troyan	86	(23)
Does Our Writing Style Give Away Our Gender?	87	(7)
Clive Thompson
A Woman's Work?	94	(2)
Margaret Talbot
Photograph: Boys Roughhousing	96	(1)
Clemens Kalischer
Photograph: Girl Protesting	97	(1)
Martin Fishman
Cartoon: Doonesbury, ``Torturers were Women''	98	(5)
Garry Trudeau
Who's the Real Girl? Who's the Real Guy? (Student Essay)	103	(6)
Melissa Snow
Is America a Nation of Shoppers?	109	(20)
Materialism: Our Consuming Interest	110	(6)
Linda Kulman
My Little Shopping Addiction	116	(4)
Nikki Moustaki
Why Do We Buy? Is It Branding or Brainwashing? (Student Essay)	120	(1)
Luke Brown
Cartoon: If the shoe exists	121	(4)
Matthew Diffee
America Then . . . 1940s
World War II Rationing Posters	125	(4)
Do Words Matter?	129	(27)
You Can't Say That	130	(7)
Diane Ravitch
Terrorism or Terror: How Much Wallop Can a Simple Word Pack?	137	(6)
Geoffrey Nunberg
Editors of Society The Changing Definition of Queer	143	(6)
Feminist Shouldn't Be a Dirty Word (Student Essay)	149	(7)
Christina Libby
How Should We Define Patriotism?	156	(27)
Dying for the Government	158	(6)
Howard Zinn
The America I Love	164	(6)
Elie Wiesel
Opposing Views: Was Pat Tillman a Hero?	170	(13)
Magazine Cover: (1976--2004): An Athlete Dies a Soldier	171	(1)
Pat Tillman
The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man (Student Essay)	172	(2)
Matt Reid
Pat Tillman: Hero or Wasted Life?	174	(9)
Gary Sudborough
What Is an American Identity?	183	(28)
Opinion Advertisement: American Indian College Fund, Have You Ever Seen a Real Indian?	185	(2)
Opinion Advertisement: Council on American-Islamic Relations, We're Americans and We're Muslims	187	(4)
``Blaxicans'' and Other Reinvented Americans	191	(9)
Richard Rodriguez
My Identity Crisis (Student Essay)	200	(4)
Floydina White
Longing to Belong	204	(7)
Saira Shah
Diversity---Do We Really Value It?	211	(26)
People Like Us	213	(8)
David Brooks
What Your Classes Aren't Telling You (Student Essay)	221	(6)
David Goldberg
Our Religious Diversity	227	(4)
Sandy Sasso
Opinion Advertisement: Ad Council, A Priest, A Rabbi, and an Imam Are Walking Down the Street	231	(6)
Is Our News Media Reliable?	237	(28)
Picking Sides for the News	238	(6)
Robert J. Samuelson
Is It Free Press or Filtered Press? (Student Essay)	244	(4)
Diana Fu
Student Writer at Work: Diana Fu	248	(17)
Newspaper Front Pages: Condoleezza Rice Testimony	250	(4)
Toward a New Journalism	254	(11)
Herbert J. Gans
What Should We Drive?	265	(22)
My Mileage Is Better Than Your Mileage	267	(5)
Bill McKibben
Opinion Advertisement: The Evangelical Environmental Network, What Would Jesus Drive?	272	(1)
Opinion Advertisement: SUV Owners of America, What Does Jesus Rivera Drive?	272	(5)
Opposing Views: Should We Drive SUVs?	277	(10)
No Apologies Needed for Driving an SUV	278	(2)
Jerry Taylor
Web Page: Americans for Fuel Efficient Cars, The Detroit Project	280	(1)
Time for a New Car? (Student Essay)	281	(6)
Jenna Sutton
Can We Transcend Racial Conflict?	287	(25)
Resentments Still Run Deep	289	(4)
Claude Lewis
You Got Messed-Up Color	293	(6)
Robin Lentz
The Newspapers Tell Only Half of the Story	299	(5)
Wes Carter
We Still Have a Race Problem in the United States (Student Essay)	304	(4)
Dennis Fritz
America Then . . . 1957
Photograph: Racial Segregation: Little Rock's Central High School	308	(4)
Same-Sex Marriage: What Is Its Future?	312	(28)
The ``M-Word'': Why It Matters to Me	314	(5)
Andrew Sullivan
Opinion Advertisement: Human Rights Campaign, Why Are ``Pro-Family'' Groups Attacking This Family?	319	(4)
Opening Marriage	323	(6)
Cathy Young
The Michigan Daily Editorial Board Separate and Still Unequal (Student Essay)	329	(4)
Are Gay Rights Civil Rights?	333	(7)
Steve Osunsami
``The Dialogue of Democracy'': Whose Voices Get Heard?	340	(28)
The Case for Congress	342	(11)
Lee H. Hamilton
U.S. Democracy: Will the Last One Out Please Turn Off the Lights?	353	(4)
Thomas Prugh
Opposing Views: To Vote or Not to Vote?	357	(7)
A Call to Black Youth (Student Essay)	358	(3)
Moya Bailey
The Validity of Not Voting (Student Essay)	361	(3)
Maggie Ryan
America Then . . . 1920
Photograph: The Nineteenth Amendment: Women Get to Vote	364	(4)
The Death Penalty: How Should We Think about It?	368	(33)
Capital Punishment and Violence	370	(11)
Robert Grant
When Forever Is Far Too Long	381	(6)
Daniel Bergner
Hollywood's Death Row Fetish	387	(5)
Michelle Malkin
Cure the Disease, Not the Symptoms (Student Essay)	392	(5)
William Baude
Student Writer at Work: William Baude	397	(4)
Information for Subscription	401	(6)
Acknowledgments	407	(4)
Index of Authors and Titles	411