Cover: Models for Writers, 15th Edition by Alfred Rosa; Paul Eschholz

Models for Writers

info icon

Fifteenth  Edition©2025  Alfred Rosa; Paul Eschholz

ISBN:9781319565756

ISBN:9781319411831

ISBN:9781319608866

ISBN:9781319587666

About

The short, accessible readings in Models for Writers reflect the length of essays that you'll write in college and the topics that matter most. With thorough instruction and ample readings by a diverse range of authors, you'll learn how to make your own essays more effective. This edition includes both classic texts and new selections on relevant themes such as conflict resolution, persuasion, power to effect change, how immigration impacts the environment, and restorative justice.

Achieve

Achieve is a single, easy-to-use platform proven to engage students for better course outcomes

Learn More

Table of Contents

* indicates a chapter, section, or reading selection that is new to this edition.

Thematic Clusters
Introduction for Students

  • Part One: On Reading and Writing Well
    • Chapter 1: The Writing Process
      • Prewriting
      • Writing the First Draft
      • Revising
      • Editing
      • Proofreading
      • Writing a Narrative Essay: A Student Essay in Progress
      • Mya Nunnally, Mixed Results (student essay)
    • Chapter 2: Reading Actively and Critically
      • Reading Actively: Getting a Basic Understanding of the Essay
      • Celeste Headlee, Get Off the Soapbox
      • Reading Critically: Taking Your Analysis to the Next Level
      • From Reading to Writing
      • Writing from Reading: A Sample Student Essay
      • Zoe Ockenga, The Excuse "Not To" (student essay)
  • Part Two: The Elements of the Essay
    • Chapter 3: Thesis
      • James Lincoln Collier, Anxiety: Challenge by Another Name
      • Helen Keller, The Most Important Day
      • Julie Zhuo, Where Anonymity Breeds Contempt
    • Chapter 4: Unity
      • Jonah Berger, How to Make People Feel Heard*
      • Dick Gregory, Shame
      • Thomas L. Friedman, My Favorite Teacher
    • Chapter 5: Organization
      • Cherokee Paul McDonald, A View from the Bridge
      • Bharati Mukherjee, Two Ways to Belong in America
      • Dan M. Kahan, Shame Is Worth a Try
    • Chapter 6: Beginnings and Endings
      • Sona Charaipotra, Flipping the Script: Finding the Love of My Life While Writing the Book of My Heart*
      • Jancee Dunn, Fighting with Your Partner? Use These 4 Phrases*
      • Omar Akram, Can Music Bridge Cultures and Promote Peace?
    • Chapter 7: Paragraphs
      • Judith Ortiz Cofer, My Rosetta
      • Susan Cheever, Johnny Appleseed and America’s Drinking History*
      • Joni Whitworth, Pipe Dream*
    • Chapter 8: Transitions
      • Dan Shaughnessy, Teammates Forever Have a Special Connection
      • Eduardo Porter, What Happiness Is
      • Jonathan Safran Foer, Against Meat
    • Chapter 9: Effective Sentences
      • Erin Murphy, White Lies
      • Jhumpa Lahiri, My Life’s Sentences*
      • Langston Hughes, Salvation
    • Chapter 10: Writing with Sources
      • Use Outside Sources in Your Writing
      • Learn to Summarize, Paraphrase, and Quote from Your Sources
      • Integrate Borrowed Material into Your Text
      • Synthesize Several Sources to Deepen Your Discussion
      • Avoid Plagiarism
      • Write Authentically and With Integrity: Use AI Tools Responsibly*
      • Tara Haelle, How to Teach Children That Failure Is the Secret to Success
      • Aviva Chomsky, Is Immigration Bad for the Environment?*
      • Donna Hicks, Activate Empathy*
  • Part Three: The Language of the Essay
    • Chapter 11: Voice
      • Brooklyn White, A Pleasure to Burn: One Family's Hot-Sauce Heirloom
      • Sloane Crosley, Wheels Up*
      • Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, We Should All Be Feminists
    • Chapter 12: Diction and Tone
      • N. Scott Momaday, Flight of the Eagles*
      • Abby Wambach, Wolfpack*
      • Robert G. Lake-Thom (Medicine Grizzly Bear), An Indian Father's Plea
    • Chapter 13: Figurative Language
      • Robert Ramirez, The Barrio
      • Lauren Groff, Swimming: A Plan B Essay*
      • Hannah Gadsby, Whirl, Interrupted*
  • Part Four: Types of Essays
    • Chapter 14: Illustration
      • Natalie Goldberg, Be Specific
      • Mehdi Hasan, The Rule of Three*
      • Richard Lederer, The Case for Short Words
    • Chapter 15: Narration
      • Henry Louis Gates Jr., What's in a Name?
      • Misty Copeland, Life in Motion
      • Josh Bond, Call Me Charlie*
    • Chapter 16: Description
      • Eudora Welty, The Corner Store
      • Lee Skallerup Bessette, Chlorine*
      • Michelle Zauner, Crying in H Mart*
    • Chapter 17: Process Analysis
      • Marie Kondo, Designate a Place for Each Thing
      • Alice Wong, Tiger Tips on Interviewing*
      • Helen Czerski, Spiders' Legs Are Hydraulic Masterpieces*
    • Chapter 18: Definition
      • Catherine Pearson, I Love You, Now Leave Me Alone: What Friendship Means to an Introvert*
      • Akemi Johnson, Who Gets to Be "Hapa"?
      • Saadia Faruqi, Cut from the Same Cloth*
    • Chapter 19: Division and Classification
      • Martin Luther King Jr., The Ways of Meeting Oppression
      • Mia Consalvo, Cheating Is Good for You
      • Amy Tan, Mother Tongue
    • Chapter 20: Comparison and Contrast
      • Toby Morris, On a Plate
      • Brené Brown, Stressed and Overwhelmed*
      • J.D. Vance, Appalachia’s White Working Class*
    • Chapter 21: Cause and Effect
      • Rosie Perez, When a Teacher Sees You, Everything Opens Up*
      • Brent Staples, Black Men and Public Space
      • Stephen King, Why We Crave Horror Movies
    • Chapter 22: Argument
      • Thinking Critically About Argument
      • Writing Arguments
      • Taking a Stand
      • Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Becoming Disabled
      • Mary Sherry, In Praise of the F Word
      • Pamela Paul, Let Children Get Bored Again
      • Should the Government Restrict Social Media for Children and Youth?*
      • Josh Hawley, Congress Must Act to Keep Kids Off Social Media*
      • Trevor Burrus, Nicole Saad Bembridge, The Government Cracking Down on Social Media Won’t Make Kids Less Sad*
      • Is College Worth the Cost?
      • Logan Smith, Think for Yourself and Question the Benefits of Higher Education
      • Peter Cappelli, Will College Pay Off?
      • Should Restorative Justice Programs Be Expanded?*
      • Emma Brown, The Potential for Another Way: Restorative Justice*
      • Martha Minow, When Should Law Forgive?*
  • Part Five: Guides to Research and Editing
    • Chapter 23: A Brief Guide to Writing a Research Paper
      • Establishing a Realistic Schedule
      • Strategies for Supporting Time Management and Focus*
      • Finding and Using Sources
      • Conducting Keyword Searches
      • Evaluating Sources
      • Analyzing Sources for Position and Bias
      • Developing a Working Bibliography
      • Taking Notes
      • Documenting Sources
      • MLA-Style Documentation
      • APA-Style Documentation
    • Chapter 24: Editing for Grammar, Punctuation, and Sentence Style
      • Run-Ons: Fused Sentences and Comma Splices
      • Sentence Fragments
      • Subject-Verb Agreement
      • Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
      • Verb Tense Shifts
      • Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
      • Faulty Parallelism
      • Weak Nouns and Verbs
      • Academic Diction and Tone
      • ESL Concerns (Articles and Nouns)
Glossary of Useful Terms
Acknowledgments
Index

Alfred Rosa

Paul Eschholz and Alfred Rosa are professors emeriti of English at the University of Vermont. They have directed statewide writing programs and conducted numerous workshops throughout the country on writing and the teaching of writing. Eschholz and Rosa have collaborated on a number of best-selling texts for Bedford/St. Martins, including Subject & Strategy; Outlooks and Insights: A Reader for College Writers; Models for Writers; with Virginia Clark, Language Awareness; and, with Virginia Clark and Beth Simon, Language: Readings in Language.

Paul Eschholz

Paul Eschholz and Alfred Rosa are professors emeriti of English at the University of Vermont. They have directed statewide writing programs and conducted numerous workshops throughout the country on writing and the teaching of writing. Eschholz and Rosa have collaborated on a number of best-selling texts for Bedford/St. Martins, including Subject & Strategy; Outlooks and Insights: A Reader for College Writers; Models for Writers; with Virginia Clark, Language Awareness; and, with Virginia Clark and Beth Simon, Language: Readings in Language.