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For courses in Writing across the Curriculum or Writing in the Disciplines.
This version of Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum has been updated to reflect the 8th Edition of the MLA Handbook (April 2016)*
Effective writing skills for students of all majors and interests
One of the best-selling interdisciplinary composition texts for over twenty-five years, Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum guides readers through the essential college-level writing skills of summary, critique, synthesis, analysis, and research.
The 13th Edition is divided into three parts. Part one, “Structures and Strategies,” takes readers step by step through the process of writing papers based on source material, explaining and demonstrating how summaries, critiques, syntheses, and analyses can be generated from the kinds of readings individuals will encounter later in the book–and throughout their academic careers. Part two, “Brief Takes,” bridges the gap between writing instruction and readings with a series of step-by-step exercises. The anthology in part three provides a wide range of carefully selected, cross-disciplinary readings, including two new chapters on rumor and advertising. Topics are engaging and students will appreciate how these topics correspond to their interests in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences.
Laurence Behrens
Laurence Behrens has focused for more than thirty-five years on interdisciplinary approaches to the teaching of undergraduate writing. His Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, co-authored with Leonard J. Rosen, originally published in 1982 and now in its 13th edition, was the first widely-used cross-curricular textbook in freshman composition.
Dr. Behrens earned an A.B. in Theatre Arts from Brandeis University, an M.F.A. in Film, Radio, and Television from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in literature from UCLA. He has taught at UCLA, the University of California at Irvine, The American University in Washington, D.C., and most recently, at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was one of the original members of the interdisciplinary Writing Program at UCSB, where he originated the lower division course in writing about classical music. He has also taught lower-division courses in writing about sociology and psychology. At the upper division level, he has taught business writing, legal writing, and writing about history and film studies, as well as graduate seminars in writing for teaching assistants.
His articles have appeared in College English, College Composition and Communication, The English Journal, The Maryland Composition Review, Freshman English News, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Notes and Queries, Literature/Film Quarterly, and The Journal of the University Film Association. In addition to Sequence for Academic Writing and Writing Across the Curriculum, Dr. Behrens’ other books with Leonard J. Rosen include Writing Papers in College, Reading for College Writers, Theme and Variations: The Impact of Great Ideas, and The Allyn & Bacon Handbook. He has also authored the historically-oriented The American Experience: A Writer’s Sourcebook and the legal casebook for undergraduate writers, Making the Case: An Argument Reader.
Part I: STRUCTURES AND STRATEGIES
1. Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation
What Is a Summary?
Can a Summary Be Objective?
BOX: Where Do We Find Written Summaries?
Using the Summary
The Reading Process
BOX: Critical Reading for Summary
How to Write Summaries
BOX: Guidelines for Writing Summaries
Demonstration: Summary
*The Baby in the Well: The Case Against Empathy–Paul Bloom
Read, Reread, Highlight
Divide into Stages of Thought
Write a Brief Summary of Each Stage of Thought
Write a Thesis: A Brief Summary of the Entire Passage
Write the First Draft of the Summary
Summary 1: Combine Thesis Sentence with Brief Section
Summaries
The Strategy of the Shorter Summary
Summary 2: Combine Thesis Sentence, Section Summaries,
and Carefully Chosen Details
The Strategy of the Longer Summary How Long Should a Summary Be?
EXERCISE 1.1: Individual and Collaborative Summary Practice
Summarizing Graphs, Charts, and Tables
Bar Graphs
EXERCISE 1.2: Summarizing Graphs
Line Graphs
EXERCISE 1.3: Summarizing Line Graphs
Pie Charts
EXERCISE 1.4: Summarizing Pie Charts
Other Charts: Bubble Maps, Pictograms, and Interactive Charts
Tables
EXERCISE 1.5: Summarizing Tables
Paraphrase
BOX: How to Write Paraphrases
EXERCISE 1.6: Paraphrasing
Quotations
Choosing Quotations
Quoting Memorable Language
BOX: When to Quote
Quoting Clear and Concise Language
Quoting Authoritative Language
Incorporating Quotations into Your Sentences
Quoting Only the Part of a Sentence or Paragraph That You Need
Incorporating the Quotation into the Flow of Your Own Sentence
Avoiding Freestanding Quotations
EXERCISE 1.7: Incorporating Quotations
Using Ellipses
Using Brackets to Add or Substitute Words
BOX: When to Summarize, Paraphrase, and Quote
BOX: Incorporating Quotations into Your Sentences
EXERCISE 1.8: Using Brackets
Avoiding Plagiarism
BOX: Rules for Avoiding Plagiarism
2. Critical Reading and Critique
Critical Reading
Question 1: To What Extent Does the Author Succeed in His or Her Purpose?
BOX: Where Do We Find Written Critiques?
Writing to Inform
Evaluating Informative Writing
Writing to Persuade
EXERCISE 2.1: Informative and Persuasive Thesis Statements
Evaluating Persuasive Writing
THE MOON WE LEFT BEHIND–Charles Krauthammer
EXERCISE 2.2: Critical Reading Practice
Persuasive Strategies
Logical Argumentation: Avoiding Logical Fallacies
BOX: Tone
EXERCISE 2.3: Understanding Logical Fallacies
Writing to Entertain
Question 2: To What Extent Do You Agree with the Author?
Identify Points of Agreement and Disagreement
EXERCISE 2.4: Exploring Your Viewpoints–in Three Paragraphs
Explore the Reasons for Agreement and Disagreement: Evaluate Assumptions
Inferring and Implying Assumptions
An Example of Hidden Assumptions from the World of Finance
Critique
How to Write Critiques
BOX: Guidelines for Writing Critiques
Demonstration: Critique
To What Extent Does the Author Succeed in His or Her Purpose?
To What Extent Do You Agree with the Author? Evaluate Assumptions
Model Critique: A Critique of Charles Krauthammer’s “The Moon We Left Behind”–Andrew Harlan
EXERCISE 2.5: Informal Critique of the Model Critique
BOX: Critical Reading for Critique
The Strategy of the Critique
3. Thesis, Introduction, Conclusion
Writing a Thesis
The Components of a Thesis
Making an Assertion
Starting with a Working Thesis
Using the Thesis to Plan a Structure
BOX: How Ambitious Should Your Thesis Be?
EXERCISE 3.1: Drafting Thesis Statements
Introductions
Quotation
Historical Review
Review of a Controversy
From the General to the Specific
Anecdote and Illustration: From the Specific to the General
Question
Statement of Thesis
EXERCISE 3.2: Drafting Introductions
Conclusions
Summary (Plus)
Statement of the Subject's Significance
Call for Further Research
Solution/Recommendation
Anecdote
Quotation
Question
Speculation
EXERCISE 3.3: Drafting Conclusions
4. Explanatory Synthesis
What Is a Synthesis?
Summary and Critique as a Basis for Synthesis
Inference as a Basis for Synthesis: Moving Beyond Summary and Critique
Purpose
Example: Same Sources, Different Uses
BOX: Where Do We Find Written Syntheses?
Using Your Sources
Types of Syntheses: Explanatory and Argument
What Are Genetically Modified (GM) Foods?
Genetically Modified Foods and Organisms–The United States Department of Energy
Why a GM Freeze?–The GM Freeze Campaign
How to Write Syntheses
BOX: Guidelines for Writing Syntheses
The Explanatory Synthesis
Demonstration: Explanatory Synthesis–Going Up? An Elevator Ride to Space
EXERCISE 4.1: Exploring the Topic
The History of the Space Elevator–P. K. Aravind
Applications of the Space Elevator–Bradley C. Edwards
Going Up–Brad Lemley
Consider Your Purpose
EXERCISE 4.2: Critical Reading for Synthesis
Formulate a Thesis
Decide How You Will Use Your Source Material
Develop an Organizational Plan
Summary Statements
Write the Topic Sentences
BOX: Organize a Synthesis by Idea, Not by Source
Write Your Synthesis
Explanatory Synthesis: First Draft
Revise Your Synthesis: Global, Local, and Surface Revisions
Revising the First Draft: Highlights
Global
Local
Surface
EXERCISE 4.3: Revising the Explanatory Synthesis
Model Explanatory Synthesis: Going Up? An Elevator Ride to Space–Sheldon Kearney
BOX: Critical Reading for Synthesis 120
5. Argument Synthesis
What Is an Argument Synthesis?
The Elements of Argument: Claim, Support, and Assumption
Claim
Support
Assumption
EXERCISE 5.1: Practicing Claim, Support, and Assumption
The Three Appeals of Argument: Logos, Ethos, Pathos
Logos
EXERCISE 5.2: Using Deductive and Inductive Logic
Ethos
EXERCISE 5.3: Using Ethos
Pathos
EXERCISE 5.4: Using Pathos
The Limits of Argument
Fruitful Topics for Argument
Demonstration: Developing an Argument Synthesis–Responding to Bullies
*BULLYING STATISTICS–Pacer.org
*THE 2011 NATIONAL SCHOOL CLIMATE SURVERY: THE EXPERIENCES OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER YOUTH IN OUR NATION’S SCHOOLS–Joseph Kosciw, Emily Greytak, Mark Bartkiewicz et al.
*OLWEUS Bullying Prevention Program: Scope and Sequence
*White House Report/Bullying–And the Power of Peers–Philip Rodkin
EXERCISE 5.5: Critical Reading for Synthesis
The Argument Synthesis
Consider Your Purpose
Making a Claim: Formulate a Thesis
Decide How You Will Use Your Source Material
Develop an Organizational Plan
Formulate an Argument Strategy
Draft and Revise Your Synthesis
Model Argument Synthesis: Responding to Bullies–Peter Simmons
The Strategy of the Argument Synthesis
Developing and Organizing the Support for Your Arguments
Summarize, Paraphrase, and Quote Supporting Evidence
Provide Various Types of Evidence and Motivational Appeals
Use Climactic Order
Use Logical or Conventional Order
Present and Respond to Counterarguments
Use Concession
BOX: Developing and Organizing Support for Your Arguments
Avoid Common Fallacies in Developing and Using Support
The Comparison-and-Contrast Synthesis
Organizing Comparison-and-Contrast Syntheses
Organizing by Source or Subject
Organizing by Criteria
EXERCISE 5.6: Comparing and Contrasting
A Case for Comparison-and-Contrast: World War I and World War II
Comparison-and-Contrast Organized by Criteria
Model Exam Response
The Strategy of the Exam Response
Summary of Synthesis Chapters
6. Analysis
What Is an Analysis?
BOX: Where Do We Find Written Analyses?
How to Write Analyses
THE PLUG-IN DRUG–Marie Winn
EXERCISE 6.1: Reading Critically: Winn
Locate and Apply an Analytic Tool
Locate an Analytic Tool
Apply the Analytic Tool
Analysis Across the Curriculum
BOX: Guidelines for Writing Analyses
Formulate a Thesis
Develop an Organizational Plan
Turning Key Elements of a Principle or a Definition into Questions
Developing the Paragraph-by-Paragraph Logic of Your Paper
Draft and Revise Your Analysis
Write an Analysis, Not a Summary
Make Your Analysis Systematic
Answer the “So What?” Question
Attribute Sources Appropriately
BOX: Critical Reading for Analysis
When Your Perspective Guides the Analysis
Demonstration: Analysis
Model Analysis: The Case of the Missing Kidney: An Analysis of Rumor–Linda Shanker
EXERCISE 6.2: Informal Analysis of the Model Analysis
The Strategy of the Analysis
7. Locating, Mining, and Citing Sources
Source-Based Papers
BOX: Where Do We Find Written Research?
BOX: Writing the Research Paper
The Research Question
BOX: Narrowing the Topic via Research
EXERCISE 7.1: Constructing Research Questions
LOCATING SOURCES
BOX: Types of Research Data
Preliminary Research
Consulting Knowledgeable People
Familiarizing Yourself with Your Library’s Resources
Locating Preliminary Sources
Encyclopedias
BOX: Wikipedia: Let the Buyer Beware
EXERCISE 7.2: Exploring Specialized Encyclopedias
Biographical Sources
Almanacs and Yearbooks
Literature Guides and Handbooks
Overviews and Bibliographies
Subject-Heading Guides
Focused Research
Databases
Smartphones and Database Searching
Discovery Services
Web Searches
BOX: Constructing an Effective Database Search Query
Searching Databases Effectively
BOX: Using Keywords and Boolean Logic to Refine Online Searches
Evaluating Web Sources
Other Pitfalls of Web Sites
EXERCISE 7.3: Exploring Online Sources
EXERCISE 7.4: Practice Evaluating Web Sources
Periodicals: General
Magazines
Newspapers
Periodicals: Specialized
EXERCISE 7.5: Exploring Specialized Periodicals
Books
Book Reviews
Government Publications and Other Statistical Sources
Interviews and Surveys
BOX: Guidelines for Conducting Interviews
BOX: Guidelines for Conducting Surveys and Designing Questionnaires
MINING SOURCES
BOX: Critical Reading for Research
The Working Bibliography
Note-Taking
Getting the Most from Your Reading
BOX: Guidelines for Evaluating Sources
Arranging Your Notes: The Outline
Research and Plagiarism
Time Management and Plagiarism
Confidence and Plagiarism
Note-Taking and Plagiarism
Digital Life and Plagiarism
Determining Common Knowledge
A Guideline for Determining Common Knowledge
Plagiarism, the Internet, and Fair Use
Internet Paper Mills
BOX: Fair Use and Digital Media
CITING SOURCES
BOX: Types of Citations
APA Documentation Basics
APA In-Text Citations in Brief
APA References List in Brief
MLA Documentation Basics
MLA In-Text Citations in Brief
MLA Works Cited List in Brief
Part II: BRIEF TAKES
MUSIC
8. “Stormy Weather” and the Art of the Musical Cover
Whose version of “Please Don’t Stop the Music” do you prefer? Rihanna’s or Jamie Cullum’s? Such questions are at the heart of this chapter on music–specifically, the art of the musical “cover,” in which a musician or band puts a unique spin on a previously recorded song. Because music isn’t a verbal art form, writing about it might seem challenging–but we offer a model example of how to go about it. We also provide a useful glossary of key musical terms, both in print and as a series of online videos. A review of a Paul McCartney album of cover songs makes some provocative claims about what makes for a successful cover and why so many cover albums disappoint. We conclude with Rolling Stone’s list of “greatest covers” for you to explore and debate.
*A CLOUDFUL OF “STORMY WEATHER”– Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler
*HOW TO TALK–AND WRITE–ABOUT POPULAR MUSIC–Gregory Blair
*COMPARING AND CONTRASTING THREE COVERS OF “STORMY WEATHER”–GregBlair
*WHY DO SOME COVERS DISAPPOINT?–Jeff Turrentine
*A HEARTFUL OF “HALLELUJAH”–Leonard Cohen
”THE GREATEST COVERS OF ALL TIME–Rolling Stone magazine and other listings
Musical Cover Chapter Final Assignment
ETHICS
9. Ethical Dilemmas in Everyday Life
Would you steal to save a life? Sacrifice one life to save five? In this chapter we provide a variety of sources on the ways that “thought experiments” in ethics–scenarios that ask you to decide on courses of right action (and to justify your decisions)–can serve as a guide for facing everyday ethical dilemmas. When there is no clear right and wrong choice, how do you decide? To what principles can you turn for guidance? Your task in the chapter will be to wrestle with ethical dilemmas and to argue for a clear course of action based on principles you make plain to your readers.
Read; Prepare to Write
BOX: Group Assignment #1: Make a Topic List
BOX: Group Assignment #2: Create a Topic Web
BOX: Group Assignment #3: Decide for Yourself
The Readings and Videos
*WHAT IF . . . –Daniel Sokol
*BOX: Video Link: The Trolley Car
*THE CASE OF THE COLLAPSED MINE–Richard T. De George
*A FRAMEWORK FOR THINKING ETHICALLY–Manual Velasquez, et al.
*MORAL INQUIRY–Ronald F. White
*BOX: Video Link: Grey’s Anatomy (a medical dilemma)
*HEINZ’S DILEMMA: KOHLBERG’S SIX STATES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT–William Crain
*BOX: Video Link: The Heinz Dilemma
A Casebook of Ethical Dilemmas
*THE LIFEFBOAT–Rosetta Lee
*LIFEBOAT ETHICS: THE CASE AGAINST HELPING THE POOR–Garrett Hardin
*SHOULD I PROTECT A PATIENT AT THE EXPENSE OF AN INNOCENT STRANGER?–Chuck Klosterman
*NO EDIT–Randy Cohen
*THE TORTURED CHILD–Kelley L. Ross
*THE ONES WHO WALK AWAY FROM OMELAS–Ursula Le Guin
*BOX: Video Link: The Drowning Child by Peter Singer
*A CALLOUS PASSERBY
The Assignments
Summary Ï Alternate Summary Assignment Ï Critique
Ï Explanatory Synthesis Ï Analysis
Ï Alternate Analysis Assignment Ï Argument
Ï Alternate Argument Assignment #1
Ï Alternate Argument Assignment #2
SOCIOLOGY
10. The Roar of the Tiger Mom
“Here are some things my daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do,” announces Yale law school professor Amy Chua in "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.” Among her list of prohibitions: having a playdate, watching TV, playing computer games, and getting any grade less than A. Chua’s writing provoked a deluge of responses from readers and professional commentators, some outraged, some cheering her on. Here is a sampling of some of those responses, part of what became a national debate over the best way to raise children to be-come successful adults.
Read; Prepare to Write
BOX: Group Assignment #1: Make a Topic List
BOX: Group Assignment #2: Create a Topic Web
THE READINGS
*Adapted from 'BATTLE HYMN OF THE TIGER MOTHER"–Amy Chua
MOTHER INFERIOR?–Hanna Rosin
AMY CHUA IS A WIMP–David Brooks
*TIGER MOTHER STIRS REFLECTIONS ON PARENTHOOD–Tina Griego
TIGER MOM VS. TIGER MAILROOM–Patrick Goldstein
AMERICA’S TOP PARENT–Elizabeth Kolbert
*TIGER MOMS DON’T RAISE SUPERIOR KIDS, SAYS NEW STUDY–Susan Adams
THE ASSIGNMENTS
Summary Ï Critique Ï Explanatory Synthesis
Ï Analysis Ï Argument
Part III: AN ANTHOLOGY OF READINGS
LITERATURE AND FILM
11. First Impressions: The Art and Craft of Storytelling
The Art and Craft of Starting Your Story
*THE HOOK–K.M. Weiland
“Readers are like smart fish,” suggests novelist K.M. Weiland, “They aren’t about to surrender themselves to the lure of your story unless you’ve presented them with an irresistible hook.”
*STARTING YOUR STORY– Michael Kardos
Novelist and short story writer Michael Kardos discusses the five narrative tasks the beginning of a story must accomplish. Among the most crucial: “Give us a reason to keep reading.”
*THE MAGIC SHOW–Tim O’Brien
The author of the classic Vietnam novel The Things They Carried explains how a storyteller is like a magician and how mystery is central to both plot and character.
Chapter Ones: The Novels
*EMMA–Jane Austen
Austin’s fourth published novel chronicles the intrusive matchmaking of a privileged young woman, Emma Woodhouse, in 19th-century England.
*WUTHERING HEIGHTS–Emily Brontë
Set on the English moors, this novel explores love and revenge and madness through the love story of Catherine Earnshaw and Mr. Heathcliff.
*JANE EYRE–Charlotte Brontë
This coming-of-age novel chronicles the life of its title character from childhood to marriage.
*GREAT EXPECTATIONS–Charles Dickens
Often considered Dickens’s finest novel, this is the coming-of-age story of an English orphan named Pip.
*THE SIGN OF THE FOUR–Arthur Conan Doyle
This is Doyle’s second novel starring Sherlock Holmes, the world’s greatest–and only–“consulting detec-tive.”
*THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE–Stephen Crane
Set in Virginia in 1863, Crane’s second novel depicts a young man, Henry Fleming, who is fighting for the Un-ion army during the American Civil War.
*DRACULA–Bram Stoker
This is the classic vampire novel to which all subsequent vampire novels (and shows, and movies) are indebted.
Scene Ones: The Films
*JANE EYRE–directed by Robert Stevenson
This is only one–but an influential one–of numerous film versions of Bronte’s romantic novel.
*GREAT EXPECTATIONS--directed by David Lean
Lean’s version of the terrifying encounter on an English marsh between Dickens’s young Pip and the escaped convict has never been surpassed.
*EMMA–directed by Robert McGrath, and CLUELESS–directed by Amy Heckerling
Here are two versions of Austen’s classic novel–the first a period piece, like Austen’s novel, set in county Sur-rey, England, the second set in Beverly Hills.
*DRACULA–directed by Tod Browning and BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA--directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Here are two film versions of Bram Stoker’s classic vampire story, created more than sixty years apart by di-rectors with very different artistic visions.
*THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE–directed by John Huston
Crane’s novel of a Civil War soldier wondering how he will act in battle is faithfully filmed–and then heavily edited by the studio bosses.
*CITIZEN KANE–directed by Orson Welles
This is the work most frequently cited as the greatest film of all time. Whether or not you agree, the opening scene of a newspaper magnate’s final moments make for compelling viewing.
*BRIEF ENCOUNTER–directed by David Lean
This is one of the greatest romantic dramas ever filmed–in a typically restrained British fashion.
*SHANE–directed by George Stevens
In many ways, this is the archetypal western: set against magnificent Wyoming scenery, the film depicts an epic battle between a reluctant gunfighter and a rancher trying to drive homesteaders off their land.
*THE GODFATHER, PART ONE–directed by Francis Ford Coppola
The greatest gangster film ever made is also a family drama–which begins at a wedding celebration.
*SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE–directed by Nora Ephron
In the tradition of classic romantic dramas, Ephron focuses on two people thousands of miles apart gravitating (haltingly) toward each other.
*DO THE RIGHT THING–directed by Spike Lee.
A simmering racial conflict on the hottest day of the year in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn is the focus of Spike Lee’s controversial film.
*THE DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS–directed by Carl Franklin
The classic private detective formula is re-imagined along racial lines in Carl Franklin’s story of an unemployed African-American World War II veteran tasked to find the missing fiancé of a Los Angeles mayoral candidate.
*CHICAGO–directed by Rob Marshall
Kander and Ebb’s scintillating musical about two female murderers begins with two knockout songs set partial-ly in the characters’ heads.
*THE HURT LOCKER–directed by Kathryn Bigelow
This tense film chronicles the daily life-and-death struggles of a bomb disposal unit during the Iraq War.
*GRAVITY–directed by Alfonse Cuarón
This visually stunning film about an astronaut trying to return to earth after a catastrophic accident kept audiences on the edge of their seats.
*12 YEARS A SLAVE–directed by Steve McQueen
A brutally intense drama about a free black man sold into slavery is unforgettably depicted in McQueen’s film, which won the Academy Award for Best picture of 2013.
· Synthesis Activities
ECONOMICS
12. The Changing Landscape of Work in the Twenty-First Century
The Puzzling U.S. Labor Market
A POST-COLLEGE FLOW CHART OF MISERY AND PAIN–Jenna Brager
A graphic artist offers a sardonic view of the job prospects for those holding a humanities degree.
JOB OUTLOOK FOR 2014 COLLEGE GRADS PUZZLING–Hadley Malcolm
A reporter for USA Today investigates job prospects for recent grads and concludes that for many “young Americans . . . the recession never ended.”
*WHY FOCUSING TOO NARROWLY IN COLLEGE COULD BACKFIRE--Peter Cappelli
A business professor acknowledges that in a tough job market there’s a strong temptation to acquire practical, immediately employable skills; but he questions the wisdom of turning the college years into narrowly focused vocational training.
WILL YOUR JOB BE EXPORTED?–Alan S. Blinder
An economist argues that the quality and security of future jobs in America’s services sector will be determined by how “offshorable” those jobs are. Even jobs requiring a college degree are at risk.
*THEY’RE WATCHING YOU AT WORK: THE JOB INTERVIEW–Don Peck
You've landed that coveted job interview. During your face to face with the recruiter, you’re asked to play a video game while a computer monitors your every keystroke, assessing your potential as a prospective employee. Sound appealing?
*Data on the U.S. Labor Market: Charts, Graphs, Tables
Multiple charts, graphs, and tables provide snapshots of current conditions in the job market. You’ll learn how graduates in different majors are faring in their search for jobs–and what they earnwhen hired. The data is culled from several authoritative sources: Pew Research, Georgetown Public Policy Institute, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
*THE RISING COST OF NOT GOING TO COLLEGE–Pew Research
*UNEMPLOYMENT AND EARNINGS FOR COLLEGE MAJORS–Georgetown Public Policy Institute/ Center for Education and the Workforce
*EARNINGS AND UNEMPLOYMENT RATES BY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT–Bureau of Labor Statistics
*OCCUPATION FINDER–Bureau of Labor Statistics
Debate: Should You Do What You Love?
*DO WHAT YOU LOVE–Steve Jobs
In this famous commencement address at Stanford University in 2005, a titan of the computer industry advises graduating seniors to follow their passion in the search for work. His advice provokes a furious debate.
*DO WHAT YOU LOVE? #@&** THAT!–Jeff Hayden
This columnist believes that “[t]elling someone to follow their passion . . . has probably resulted in more failed businesses than all the recessions combined.”
DEAR GRADS: DON’T DO WHAT YOU LOVE–Carl McCoy
Perhaps more young people would be happier in their jobs, according to this writer and musician, if “love [was] a consequence of meaningful work instead of . . . the motivation for it.”
I*N THE NAME OF LOVE–Miya Tokumitsu
An art historian brings a socialist critique to the “do what you love” debate, arguing that people who work for love of the job often achieve their goals by employing others who come to hate their jobs.
Synthesis Activities • Research Activities
SOCIOLOGY
13. Have You Heard This? The Latest on Rumor
THE GOSSIPS–Norman Rockwell
A famous Saturday Evening Post cover tracks a fast-moving rumor as it wends its way to, from, and around the local townsfolk, who react with amusement, surprise, and dismay.
FRANKENCHICKEN–Snopes.com
Would you like fries with your genetically engineered chicken? How one fast food chain lost control of its secret recipe.
TRUTH IS IN THE EAR OF THE BEHOLDER–Gregory Rodriguez
Won’t the truth make us free? No, reports a Los Angeles Times columnist: “we tend to reject theories and rumors–and facts and truths–that challenge our worldview and embrace those that affirm it.”
*ANATOMY OF A RUMOR: IT FLIES ON FEAR–DANIEL GOLEMAN
“Rumors are a kind of opportunistic information virus, thriving because of their ability to create the very anxieties that make them spread,” notes psychologist Daniel Goleman. This introduction to the world of rumor explains what con-temporary social scientists are doing to understand–and prevail against–a timeless and universal human phenomenon.
FIGHTING THAT OLD DEVIL RUMOR–Sandra Salmans
How Procter & Gamble fought a rumor that would not die, about the Satanic significance of its corporate logo.
A PSYCHOLOGY OF RUMOR–Robert H. Knapp
In this groundbreaking analysis, conceived during a time when wartime rumors were everywhere, a psychologist classifies the main types of rumors and explains what qualities make them so effective.
“PAUL IS DEAD!” (SAID FRED)–Alan Glenn
Look closely at that album cover showing the four Beatles crossing Abbey Road. Why is Paul not wearing shoes? Could that clue be evidence that . . . he’s really crossed over?
*THE RUNAWAY GRANDMOTHER–Jan Harold Brunvand
Car with dead granny on roof stolen–News at 11!
*HOW AND WHY RUMORS WORK–AND HOW TO STOP THEM–Nicholas DiFonzo
A psychology professor explains how rumors help people who are “trying to figure out or make sense of an unclear or ambiguous situation.”
HOW TO FIGHT A RUMOR–Jesse Singal
Rumors are more than just “idle and malicious gossip.” Throughout history they have served important social functions. To fight rumors, particularly political rumors, we must study these functions.
*THE RUMOR–John Updike
A suburban wife tells her husband she’s heard a rumor that he’s gay. He laughs it off, but then, like a worm, the rumor burrows deep, with surprising results.
Synthesis Activities • Research Activities
PHILOSOPHY
14. Happiness and its Discontents
The Difficulty of Defining Happiness
*HAPPINESS–Jane Kenyon
A former poet laureate of New Hampshire compares happiness to an unknown uncle who appears at your door to wake you from a midafternoon sleep “during the unmerciful / hours of your despair.”
PIG HAPPINESS?–Lynne McFall
John Stuart Mill once wrote that “[i]t is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.” Philosopher Lynn McFall riffs on this pronouncement with a playful–yet serious–run of questions.
IN PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS–Mark Kingwell
For thousands of years philosophers, religious leaders, and poets have attempted to define happiness, yet no one has come up with a universally accepted definition. Is the effort futile? A contemporary philosopher doesn’t think so.
*THE DALAI LAMA’S SKI TRIP: WHAT I LEARNED IN THE SLUSH WITH HIS HOLINESS–Douglas Preston
A writer making a “shabby” living plays host to a revered religious leader–and learns the meaning of life.
Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness
A BALANCED PSYCHOLOGY AND A FULL LIFE–Martin E. P. Seligman, Acacia C. Parks, and Tracy Steen
A founder of positive psychology explains key principles of the young science and claims that “three routes to happi-ness (pleasure, gratification, and meaning)” can be taught and nurtured.
FINDING FLOW–Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Another founder of positive psychology defines a key component of happiness as “flow”–the state of being so im-mersed in an activity that all awareness of time and effort dissolves. Athletes call it “being in the zone.”
*YES, MONEY CAN MAKE YOU HAPPY–Cass R. Sunstein
Conventional wisdom tells us that money can’t buy happiness. Researchers think that it can–up to a point.
Critiques of Positive Psychology
HAPPINESS: ENOUGH ALREADY–Sharon Begley
“On a scale from 1 to 10, where 10 is extremely happy, 8s were more successful than 9s and 10s, getting more education and earning more.” Might there be a downside to being too happy?
HAPPY LIKE GOD–Simon Critchley
“Happiness is not quantitative . . . and it is not the object of any science, old or new. It cannot be gleaned from empirical surveys or programmed into individuals through . . . behavioral therapy and anti-depressants.”
*HIGH PERFORMANCE HAPPY–Cliff Oxford
An entrepreneur rejects the application of happiness studies to business–labeling Human Resources personnel “happy-employee propagandists.”
*WHAT SUFFERING DOES–David Brooks
Happiness is but one part of the human drama; suffering is another. In this essay, Brooks reflects on what we learn, and how we change, from suffering.
Synthesis Activities • Research Activities
PSYCHOLOGY
15. Obedience to Authority
DISOBEDIENCE AS A PSYCHOLOGICAL AND MORAL PROBLEM–Erich Fromm
“If mankind commits suicide,” argues this psychologist and philosopher, “it will be because people will obey those who command them to push the deadly buttons; because they will obey the archaic passions of fear, hate, and greed; because they will obey obsolete clichés of State sovereignty and national honor.”
THE POWER OF SITUATIONS–Lee Ross and Richard E. Nisbett
Think you can predict whether or not a student walking across campus will stop to help a man slumped in a doorway? Don’t bet on it.
*THE MILGRAM EXPERIMENT–Saul McLeod
A psychologist devises an experiment to test the extent to which people will obey immoral orders. His startling conclusion: “ordinary people . . . without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process.”
THE FOLLOWER PROBLEM–David Brooks
It’s sometimes difficult for Americans to square our belief that all people are created equal with the reality that a functioning society requires some people to lead and others to follow. A prominent social commentator explains that good leaders require people who “recognize just authority, admire it, [are] grateful for it and emulate it.”
GROUP MINDS–Doris Lessing
The flattering picture we paint of ourselves as individuals leaves most of us “helpless against all kinds of pressures…to conform.”
OPINIONS AND SOCIAL PRESSURE–Solomon E. Asch
How powerful is group pressure upon the individual? A landmark experiment demonstrates that most people will deny the evidence of their own eyesight sooner than risk appearing out of step with the majority.
PRISONER AND GUARD: THE STANFORD EXPERIMENT
You will be directed to a dramatic online video documenting a now-famous experiment in which college-age men take on the roles of guard and prisoner–with surprising (and sometimes chilling) results.
Synthesis Activities • Research Activities
Credits
Index
Checklists for Writing Summaries, Critiques, Syntheses, Analyses
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