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ISBN:9781319413330
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ISBN:9781319244613
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ISBN:9781319443788
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Flexible, effective, compact.
The current and compelling essays in The Compact Reader offer excellent models for new writers like you. The readings in this book explore engaging topics that relate to your other college courses; comprehensive and approachable advice in each chapter guides you from critical reading to successful writing; and a final section gives you the tools you need to research and document sources.
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Learn MoreTable of Contents
PART ONE: A COMPACT GUIDE TO READING AND WRITING
1 READING
Reading Attentively
Reading Critically
Analyzing a Sample Essay
*Toni Morrison, The Work You Do, The Person You Are
Reading Visuals
Visual Image: Father and Daughter, photograph by Clay Benskin
2 DEVELOPING AN ESSAY
Getting Started
Forming a Thesis
Drafting
3 REVISING
Reading Your Own Work Critically
Using a Revision Checklist
Clara Marquez’s Revised Draft
4 EDITING
Checking for Common Errors
Making Sentences Clear and Effective
Choosing the Best Words
Using an Editing Checklist
Clara Marquez’s Editing and Final Draft
*Clara Marquez, A Fair Balance (student essay)
PART TWO: SHORT ESSAYS BY METHOD AND THEME
5 NARRATION: Facing Fear
Reading Narration
Analyzing Narration in Paragraphs
*David Treuer, from The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee
Michael Ondaatje, from Running in the Family
Developing a Narrative Essay
Langston Hughes, Salvation
Jennifer Finney Boylan, In the Early Morning Rain
*Eric Rowley, A Flight to Remember (student essay)
Additional Writing Topics
6 DESCRIPTION: Experiencing a Sense of Place
Reading Description
Analyzing Description in Paragraphs
Joan Didion, from South and West
*Pam Houston, from Deep Creek
Developing a Descriptive Essay
*Maisha M. Prome, Momentum (student essay)
*Dagoberto Gilb, The Quake That Rocked Mexico City, and Brought Its People Together
Amy Tan, The Darkest Moment of My Life
Additional Writing Topics
7 EXAMPLE: Seeking Education
Reading Examples
Analyzing Examples in Paragraphs
*Gish Jen, from The Girl at the Baggage Claim
*Jimmy Santiago Baca, from Stories from the Edge
Developing an Essay by Example
Perri Klass, She’s Your Basic LOL in NAD
David Sedaris, Me Talk Pretty One Day
Olivia Melendez, The Chinese Kindergartener (student essay)
Additional Writing Topics
8 DIVISION OR ANALYSIS: Looking at Popular Culture
Reading Division or Analysis
Analyzing Division or Analysis in Paragraphs
*Andy Mulvihill, from Action Park
Luci Tapahonso, from Sign Language
Developing an Essay by Division or Analysis
*Dan Kois, It’s Time for the Muppets to Give a Different Couple the Spotlight
Leslie Jamison, Sublime, Revised
Saanya Ojha, Plastic Perfection: A Closer Look at Barbie (student essay)
Additional Writing Topics
9 CLASSIFICATION: Confronting Stereotypes
Reading Classification
Analyzing Classification in Paragraphs
Scaachi Koul, from One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter
*Joy Harjo, from Crazy Brave
Developing an Essay by Classification
*Mindy Kaling, Types of Women in Romantic Comedies Who Are Not Real
Jonathan R. Gould, Jr., The People Next Door (student essay)
Harrison Candelaria Fletcher, White
Additional Writing Topics
10 PROCESS ANALYSIS: Working Together
Reading Process Analysis
Analyzing Process Analysis in Paragraphs
*Edward O. Wilson, from Letters to a Young Scientist
*Trevor Noah, from Born a Crime
Developing an Essay by Process Analysis
*Mary Roach, Forty-Two Minutes and Holding . . .
*Lauren Collins, Fragrant Harvest
*Kristen Shaul, Coffee (student essay)
Additional Writing Topics
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
Antonio Ruiz-Camacho, Souvenirs
Brian Jaehyung Kim, Double Identity (student essay)
Barbara Lazear Ascher, The Box Man
Additional Writing Topics
12 DEFINITION: Pursuing Happiness
Reading Definition
Analyzing Definition in Paragraphs
Carlin Flora, from “The Pursuit of Happiness”
*Zadie Smith, from “Joy”
Developing an Essay by Definition
*Peter Singer, Chimpanzees Are People, Too
Jessica Sayuri Boissy, One Cup at a Time (student essay)
Julia Alvarez, The Practice of Gracias
Additional Writing Topics
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
*Richard Preston, What New Things Are Going to Kill Me?
Derek Thompson, The Making of Hits
Kaitlyn Haskie, A Paradigm Shift: Indigenous Peoples in the New Millennium (student essay)
Additional Writing Topics
14 ARGUMENT AND PERSUASION: Protesting Racism
Reading Argument and Persuasion
Analyzing Argument and Persuasion in Paragraphs
*Jose Antonio Vargas, from Dear America
Martin Luther King, Jr., from “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
Developing an Argumentative and Persuasive Essay
Zoe Krey, Questionable Coverage: Police Brutality Is Only Part of the Problem (student essay)
Brent Staples, Confederate Memorials as Instruments of Racial Terror
Ernest B. Furgurson, The End of History?
*Sarah Vowell, America’s Statue Wars Are a Family Feud
Additional Writing Topics
Part Three: Brief Notes on Writing Research Papers
15 WORKING WITH SOURCES
Responding to Readings
Researching a Subject
Writing a Research Paper
16 CITING SOURCES IN MLA STYLE
Documentation Models
Sample Research Paper
Jarrod Ballo, Women and Children First (student essay)
Glossary
Index of Authors and Titles
Guide to the Elements of Writing