High School Edition of 40 Model Essays

INTRODUCTION: READING AND WRITING

EDWARD P. JONES, Shacks

1. DESCRIPTION

E. B. WHITE, Once More to the Lake

WILLIAM LEAST HEAT-MOON, Dance of the Hobs

JOAN DIDION, The Santa Ana

JUDITH ORTIZ COFER, Silent Dancing

2. NARRATION

LANGSTON HUGHES, Salvation

ANNIE DILLARD, The Chase

JENNIFER FINNEY BOYLAN, In the Early Morning Rain

GEORGE ORWELL, Shooting an Elephant

3. EXAMPLE

PERRI KLASS, Shes Your Basic LOL in NAD

ANNA QUINDLEN, Homeless

BRENT STAPLES, Black Men and Public Space

FRANCINE PROSE, Which Came First?

4. DIVISION OR ANALYSIS

MARGARET VISSER, The Ritual of Fast Food

THOMAS DE ZENGOTITA, American Idol Worship

SCOTT RUSSELL SANDERS, The Men We Carry in Our Minds

5. CLASSIFICATION

DEBORAH TANNEN, But What Do You Mean?

STEPHANIE ERICSSON, The Ways We Lie

WALTER MOSLEY, Show Me the Money

6. PROCESS ANALYSIS

FIROOZEH DUMAS, Sweet, Sour, and Resentful

LARS EIGHNER, Dumpster Diving

JESSICA MITFORD, Embalming Mr. Jones

7. COMPARISON AND CONTRAST

NANCY MAIRS, Disability

CHERYL PECK, Fatso

DAVID SEDARIS, Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa

RICHARD RODRIGUEZ, Private Language, Public Language

8. DEFINITION

JUDY BRADY, I Want a Wife

GLORIA NAYLOR, The Meanings of a Word

AMY TAN, Mother Tongue

DAGOBERTO GILB, Pride

9. CAUSE-AND-EFFECT ANALYSIS

MALCOLM GLADWELL, The Tipping Point

STEVEN PINKER, Mind Over Mass Media

BARBARA EHRENREICH, Cultural Baggage

STEPHEN JAY GOULD, Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs

10. ARGUMENT AND PERSUASION

Debate: Can simple living help the environment?

BILL McKIBBEN, Waste Not, Want Not

DERRICK JENSEN, Forget Shorter Showers

VIRGINIA POSTREL, In Praise of Chain Stores

SHERRY TURKLE, Privacy Has a Politics

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., I Have a Dream

JONATHAN SWIFT, A Modest Proposal

Glossary

Index of Authors and Titles