About the Book
This rhetorically organized reader, maintains the best features of the earlier editions: lively reading selections supported by helpful apparatus to integrate reading and writing in college composition and reading courses. In working through the text, the student progresses from key aspects of the writing and reading processes to chapters on the essential patterns of writing and then to more rigorous forms of analysis and argument. Each chapter provides diverse and lively prose models suited for discussion, analysis, and imitation.
Table of Contents:
The Short Prose Reader 12/eContentsThematic ContentsPrefaceChapter 1 On WritingJennifer Lee I Think, Therefore IMA journalist and author explains how text messaging, Weblogs, and e-mail are changing the ways students write—and driving some teachers to distraction. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. How to Write with StyleOne of America’s most imaginative authors offers young writers the secrets of his success. William Zinsser SimplicityAccording to this writer-teacher, “clutter is the disease of American writing.” We must, Zinsser declares, simplify. Amy Tan Mother Tongue (Mixing Patterns)Novelist Amy Tan explains how her writing style achieved both passion and simplicity when she learned to value the criticism of her mother, who said after reading her daughter’s novel, “So easy to read.” Summing Up: Chapter 1From Seeing to WritingChapter 2 On ReadingJudith Ortiz CoferVolarA Latina writer recalls how reading helped her overcome her childhood circumstances. Malcolm X Prison Studies “Reading had changed forever the course of my life,” writes Malcolm X, who explains movingly how reading is both an activity of love and a tool of power. Ellen Tashie Frisina “See Spot Run”: Teaching My Grandmother to ReadThe writer recalls the pleasure she found in smuggling home grade-school books so that she could teach her 70-year-old Greek grandmother to read. Norman Mailer One Idea (Mixing Patterns)This literary celebrity lashes out at television and the disastrous effect commercials have had on students’ reading abilities. Summing Up: Chapter 2From Seeing to WritingChapter 3 DescriptionDiane Ackerman Farewell to Summer and Its Buzzing CreaturesAn award-winning poet and essayist bids good-bye to a season and its passing signs. Annie Dillard In the JungleAn acclaimed nature writer discovers in the Ecuadorian jungle the depths of experience that can be found in “the middle of nowhere.” Maxine Hong Kingston Catfish in the BathtubSquirming turtles, swimming catfish, pungent skunks, city pigeons: Why did Kingston’s mother bring the culture of China to their California kitchen? Suzanne Berne My Ticket to the Disaster (Mixing Patterns)A novelist evokes a puzzling and emotional visit to the site of the destroyed World Trade towers. Summing Up: Chapter 3From Seeing to WritingChapter 4 NarrationElizabeth Wong The Struggle to Be an All-American GirlIn a narrative of her youth, a writer remembers her efforts to obtain “a cultural divorce” from the heritage into which she was born. Langston Hughes SalvationOne of America’s foremost poets tells of his childhood disillusionment as he struggled desperately to see Jesus. David Sedaris Let It SnowHumorist and storyteller David Sedaris turns to his childhood and recounts a strange winter day when his mother sent him and his sisters out to play. George Orwell A Hanging (Mixing Patterns)The renowned author of Animal Farm and 1984 discovers how precious human life is as he tells of witnessing an execution in Burma. “It is curious,” he recalls, “but till that moment I had never realized what it means to destroy a healthy, conscious man.” Summing Up: Chapter 4From Seeing to WritingChapter 5 Process AnalysisBill Bryson Your New ComputerEver been confused by the owner’s manual that came with electronic equipment? Well, Bryson’s instructions are even more frustrating. Nora Ephron How to Foil a Terrorist Plot in Seven Simple StepsA popular essayist, novelist, and screenwriter offers a hilarious spoof on our preoccupation with terrorism and terrorists. Ernest Hemingway Camping OutAvoiding insects. Getting a good rest. Cooking trout just right. This essay can make anyone’s next camping trip a success. Henry Louis Gates Jr. In the Kitchen (Mixing Patterns)A prolific writer and winner of a 1989 National Book Award explores the politics of the hairdo by recalling his experiences as a child in his mother’s home beauty parlor. Summing Up: Chapter 5From Seeing to WritingChapter 6 IllustrationBrent Staples Night WalkerAn avid “night walker” explains how his seemingly innocent habit has turned him into “an accomplice in tyranny.” Barbara Ehrenreich What I’ve Learned from MenThe feminist social critic discovers that there is something useful to be learned from men after all: how to be tough. Eleanor Bader Homeless on Campus “Advocates for the homeless report countless examples of students sleeping in their cars and sneaking into a school gym to shower and change clothes.” Jared Diamond Globalization Rocked the Ancient World Too (Mixing Patterns)Globalization, Diamond claims, is nothing new: Early farmers carried their genes, foods, technologies, cultures, and languages around the world. Summing Up: Chapter 6From Seeing to WritingChapter 7 Comparison and ContrastRachel Carson A Fable for TomorrowOne of America’s most celebrated naturalists warns us of the future in a grim contrast between a flourishing environment and a destroyed landscape plagued by a mysterious curse. Dave Barry Punch and JudyThe newspaper humorist takes a close look at the war of the sexes and isn’t quite sure which side he should be on. Michele Ingrassia The Body of the BeholderThis writer focuses on a study that discovered why white girls dislike their bodies, but black girls are proud of theirs.” Erica GoodeHome Alone (Mixing Patterns)A writer investigates the provocative issue of whether ethnic and racial diversity fosters community or social isolation. Summing Up: Chapter 7From Seeing to Writing Chapter 8 Cause-and-Effect AnalysisStephen King Why We Crave Horror MoviesThe acknowledged master of horror shares his thoughts on why people love to be frightened. Elie Wiesel The America I LoveHolocaust survivor, author, and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Elie Wiesel explains what prompted him to become an American citizen more than forty years ago and how he feels about his adopted country today. Harry CrewsWhy I Live Where I LiveThis fiction writer offers a colorful, compelling explanation of why he has come to settle in one place. Steve Olson Who’s Your Daddy? (Mixing Patterns)A science writer explores the unintended consequences of genetic screening for disease. Summing Up: Chapter 8From Seeing to WritingChapter 9 ClassificationJudith Viorst Friends, Good Friends—and Such Good FriendsThis popular writer believes that friendships fall into numerous categories,“are conducted at many levels of intensity,” and “meet different needs.” Jedediah PurdyShades of GreenA law professor takes a critical look at “several environmentalisms.” Amy Rashap The American Dream for Sale: Ethnic Images in MagazinesThis writer claims that advertisements and other images in American magazines classify ethnic groups on the basis of prevailing stereotypes. James T. BakerHow Do We Find the Student in a World of Academic Gymnasts and Worker Ants? (Mixing Patterns)This gently satirical essay introduces a dozen student types that everyone knows and loves—among others, the performer, the jock, the lost soul, the worker ant, and finally, the student. Summing Up: Chapter 9From Seeing to WritingChapter 10 DefinitionNicholas Handler The Posteverything GenerationA junior history major at Yale University defines his generation as “post-cold war, postindustrial, post-baby boom, post-9/11.” Dagoberto GilbPrideThe popular Chicano writer takes a poetic approach to explaining how a common but complicated human emotion manifests itself in the deserts of Texas. Thomas L. Friedman Generation QCelebrated New York Times contributor and best-selling author Thomas Friedman takes pride in the current generation of college students. Gloria Naylor A Word’s Meaning (Mixing Patterns)Novelist and short fiction writer Gloria Naylor asserts that the meaning of a word goes beyond the dictionary—especially when it is the N-word. Summing Up: Chapter 10From Seeing to WritingChapter 11Argumentation and PersuasionArguments Pro and Con: Can Torture Be Justified?Mirko BagaricA Case for TortureA professor of law in Australia argues that at times the unthinkable becomes permissible. John McCainTorture’s Terrible TollThe war hero and United States senator, who was tortured during more than five years in captivity, rejects cruelty in the treatment of prisoners. Perspectives on Identity: Who Are We, and How Are We Formed?Jonathan KozolAre the Homeless Crazy?With biting precision, a noted educator and social critic disputes a commonly accepted opinion about the cause of the ever-increasing problem of homelessness. Richard RodriguezThe American Neighborhood “Not enough is written or said about the
impact of the American neighborhood—officially secular, informally tolerant of many faiths.” Ronald TakakiThe Harmful Myth of Asian SuperiorityA leading scholar argues that not only is the idea of uniform Asian-American superiority a myth, but a myth that often veils racist sentiment directed at other groups. Perspectives on the Mommy Wars: Should Mothers Work?Linda HirshmanOff to Work She Should GoHirshman argues that men should share the burden of child care, and that educated women harm their cause when they leave the workforce. Susan CheeverBaby BattleA well-known novelist and nonfiction writer declares, “There is a war going on in the streets of New York City” between the Stay-at-Home Mothers and their adversaries, the Working Mothers and Women Without Children. Anna QuindlenThe Good Enough MotherA celebrated novelist and newspaper and magazine columnist admits that by “the new standards of mothering,” her mother was “a bust.” Perspectives on Political Rights: Are We Truly Free?Molly Ivins Get a Knife, Get a Dog, But Get Rid of GunsA witty, sharp-tongued columnist and political critic argues that the Bill of Rights ought not to protect “gun nuts.” Martin Luther King Jr. I Have a DreamIn one of the great pieces of American oratory, King argues logically, emotionally, and ethically for equality of the races. Orlando PattersonJena, O.J. and the Jailing of Black AmericaA Harvard professor decries “the use of the prison system as a means of controlling young black men.” Summing Up: Chapter 11From Seeing to WritingAPPENDIX: A GUIDE TO RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATIONWhat Are Research and Documentation?The Research ProcessPhase I: Choosing and Limiting a TopicPhase II: Gathering and Organizing MaterialPhase III: Writing the PaperPhase IV: Documenting SourcesSample Student Research PaperGLOSSARYCREDITSINDEX OF AUTHORS AND TITLES
About the Author :
Gilbert H. Muller, who received a Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Stanford University, is currently professor of English and Special Assistant to the President at the LaGuardia campus of the City University of New York. He has also taught at Stanford University, Vassar College, and several universities overseas. Dr. Muller is the author of the award-winning Nightmares and Visions: Flannery OConnor and the Catholic Grotesque, Chester Himes , and other critical studies. His essays and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, The Nation, The Sewanee Review, The Georgia Review, and elsewhere. He is also a noted author and editor of textbooks in English and composition, including The Short Prose Reader with Harvey Wiener, and with John A Williams, The McGraw-Hill Introduction to Literature, Bridges: Literature across Cultures, and Ways In: Reading and Writing about Literature. Among Dr. Mullers awards are National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships, a Fulbright Fellowship, and a Mellon Fellowship.
Harvey S. Wiener is currently affiliated with Marymount Manhattan College after serving as Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at Adelphi University. Previously University Dean for Academic Affairs, the City University of New York, he was founding president of the Council of Writing Program Administrators. Dr. Wiener is the author of many books on reading and writing for college students and their teachers, including The Writing Room (Oxford, 1981). He is co-author of The McGraw-Hill College Handbook, a reference grammar and rhetoric text. Dr. Wiener has chaired the Teaching of Writing Division of the Modern Language Association (1987). He has taught writing at every level of education from elementary school to graduate school. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brooklyn College, he holds a Ph.D. in Renaissance literature. Dr. Wiener has won grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, and the Exxon Education Foundation.
