The Compact Reader

PART ONE: A COMPACT GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING

1 READING
Reading Attentively
Reading Critically
Checklist For Critical Reading
Analyzing a Sample Essay
Edward P. Jones, Shacks
Reading Visuals
Damon Winter, from The Women of West Point (photograph) 

2 DEVELOPING AN ESSAY
Getting Started 
Forming a Thesis
Checklist For An Effective Thesis
Organizing
Drafting
Nicole Lang’s First Draft

3 REVISING 
Reading Your Own Work Critically
Looking at the Whole Draft
Using a Revision Checklist
Checklist For Revision
Nicole Lang’s Revised Draft

4 EDITING
Checking for Common Errors
Making Sentences Clear and Effective
Choosing the Best Words 
Using an Editing Checklist 
Checklist For Editing
Nicole Lang, Foundations (student essay) 

PART TWO: SHORT ESSAYS BY METHOD AND THEME
5 NARRATION
FACING FEAR
Reading Narration
Analyzing Narration in Paragraphs
*Sherman Alexie, from You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me
Michael Ondaatje, from Running in the Family
Developing a Narrative Essay
Focus On Verbs
Langston Hughes, Salvation
*Jennifer Finney Boylan, In the Early Morning Rain
Lauren Fulmore, Chasing Fairy Tales (student essay) 
Writing with the Method
Writing about the Theme

6 DESCRIPTION
EXPERIENCING NEW PLACES
Reading Description
Analyzing Description in Paragraphs
*Joan Didion, from South and West
*Ian Frazier, from Travels in Siberia           
Developing a Descriptive Essay
Focus On Concrete And Specific Language
Marta K. Taylor, Desert Dance (student essay) 
*Amy Tan, The Darkest Moment of My Life  
Ken Chen, City Out of Breath 
Writing with the Method
Writing about the Theme

7 EXAMPLE
USING LANGUAGE
Reading Examples
Analyzing Examples in Paragraphs
Deborah Tannen, from Talking from 9 to 5
William Lutz, from Doublespeak
Developing an Essay by Example 
Focus On Sentence Variety
Perri Klass, She’s Your Basic LOL in NAD
David Sedaris, Me Talk Pretty One Day
*Olivia Melendez, The Chinese Kindergartener (student essay) 
Writing with the Method
Writing about the Theme

8 DIVISION OR ANALYSIS
LOOKING AT POPULAR CULTURE 
Reading Division or Analysis
Analyzing Division or Analysis in Paragraphs
*Moises Velasquez-Manoff, from The Meaning of ‘Despacito’ in the Age of Trump
Luci Tapahonso, from Sign Language 
Developing an Essay by Division or Analysis
Focus On Coherence 
Scott Adams, Funny Business
*Leslie Jamison  Sublime, Revised
*Saanya Ojha, Plastic Perfection: A Closer Look at Barbie (student essay) 
Writing with the Method
Writing about the Theme

9 CLASSIFICATION
DISTINGUISHING OURSELVES FROM OTHERS 
Reading Classification
Analyzing Classification in Paragraphs 
*Scaachi Koul, from One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of this Will Matter
*Joyce Carol Oates, from Refugees in America 
Developing an Essay by Classification
Focus On Paragraph Development 
Jonathan R. Gould, Jr., The People Next Door (student essay) 
David Brooks, People Like Us
*Harrison Candelaria Fletcher, White
Writing with the Method
Writing about the Theme

10 PROCESS ANALYSIS
CONSIDERING THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
Reading Process Analysis
Analyzing Processes in Paragraphs 
Miranda Smith, from Complete Home Gardening
Ted Genoways, from The High Cost of Oil 
Developing an Essay by Process Analysis 
Focus On Consistency 
Brian Doyle, How to Read a Nature Essay
Marina Keegan, Why We Care about Whales (student essay) 
Rick Bass, Gardens of Ice and Stone 
Writing with the Method
Writing about the Theme

11 COMPARISON AND CONTRAST
FEELING AT HOME
Reading Comparison and Contrast
Analyzing Comparison and Contrast in Paragraphs 
*Maya Angelou, from Letter to My Daughter
Firoozeh Dumas, from Laughing without an Accent
Developing an Essay by Comparison and Contrast 
Focus On Parallelism
Antonio Ruiz-Camacho, Souvenirs
*Brian Jaehyung Kim, Double Identity (student essay) 
Barbara Lazear Ascher, The Box Man
Writing with the Method
Writing about the Theme 

12 DEFINITION
PURSUING HAPPINESS
Reading Definition
Analyzing Definition in Paragraphs
Carlin Flora, from The Pursuit of Happiness 
Dagoberto Gilb, from Pride 
Developing an Essay by Definition 
Focus On Unity
Augusten Burroughs, Unhappily Ever After
Jessica Sayuri Boissy, One Cup at a Time (student essay) 
*Julia Alvarez, The Practice of Gracias
Writing with the Method
Writing about the Theme

13 CAUSE-AND-EFFECT ANALYSIS
UNDERSTANDING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Reading Cause-and-Effect Analysis
Analyzing Causes and Effects in Paragraphs 
*Ross Andersen, from Pleistocene Park 
*Diane Ackerman, from The Human Age 
Developing an Essay by Cause-and-Effect Analysis
Focus On Conciseness
*James Kakalios, The Physics of Everyday Traffic
*Derek Thompson, The Making of Hits 
*Kaitlyn Haskie, A Paradigm Shift: Indigenous Peoples in the New Millennium (student essay) 
Writing with the Method
Writing about the Theme

14 ARGUMENT AND PERSUASION
SEEKING SOCIAL JUSTICE
Reading Argument and Persuasion
Analyzing Argument and Persuasion in Paragraphs
Jenny Price, from Gun Violence at UC Irvine 
Martin Luther King, Jr., from Letter from Birmingham Jail 
Developing an Argumentative and Persuasive Essay
Focus On Tone
*Zoe Krey, Questionable Coverage: Police Brutality Is Only Part of the Problem (student essay) 
DEBATE: INCOME INEQUALITY
*Paul Greenberg, The Case for Inequality 
*Nicholas Kristof, Where’s the Empathy? 
CASEBOOK: CONFEDERATE MEMORIALS 
*Brent Staples, Confederate Memorials as Instruments of Racial Terror
*Ernest B. Furgurson, The End of History? 
*Lisa Richardson, Notes from a Black Daughter of the Confederacy
Writing with the Method
Writing about the Theme

PART THREE
BRIEF NOTES ON WORKING WITH SOURCES

15 WRITING WITH SOURCE MATERIAL
RESPONDING TO READINGS 
Using Research to Support a Thesis
Checklist For Evaluating Sources
Synthesizing Sources
Avoiding Plagiarism

16 CITING SOURCES IN MLA STYLE
Documentation Models
Jarrod Ballo, Women and Children First (student essay) 

Glossary 
Index of Authors and Titles 
Guide to the Elements of Writing 

*indicates new reading