The Writer's Presence: A Pool of Readings, 9th Ed

Memorable. Provocative. Timely. Luminous. The Writer's Presence brings together the best of the essay genre in a teachable, flexible compendium, because great reading inspires great academic writing. Edited by Best American Essays series editor Robert Atwan and composition teacher and scholar Donald McQuade, The Writer's Presence offers a rich pool of readings you'll enjoy dipping into. The essays here address topics students care about, from race in America to transgender identity, with careful attention to voice, tone, and figurative language. Classic authors like Langston Hughes and George Orwell join rising stars like Roxane Gay and Eula Biss for a grand tour of masterful writing. Divided into three parts--personal writing, expository writing, and argumentative writing--The Writer's Presence also provides practical strategies for student writers, giving them tools to sharpen their own voices and imagination. Inside Front Cover 2 Halftitle Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Preface for Instructors 6 Contents 14 Alternate Tables of Contents 38 Short Essay Contents 60 Introduction for Students: The Writer’s Presence 64 On Writing: Practical Advice from Successful Writers 71 Getting Started 72 Dealing with Procrastination 73 Generating Ideas 75 Envisioning an Audience 78 Drafting 80 Revising 83 Working with Words 85 Reading 87 1. Personal Writing: Exploring Our Own Lives 92 What Is Personal Writing? 94 Strategies for Establishing Your Personal Presence 95 Strategies for Turning Your Story into a Compelling Narrative 97 Strategies for Writing Literary Prose 101 Reading Personal Essays: A Checklist 103 Maya Angelou, “What’s Your Name, Girl?” (Classic) 105 James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son (Classic) 112 The Writer at Work James Baldwin on Black English 132 Raymond Carver, My Father’s Life 137 Judith Ortiz Cofer, Silent Dancing 146 The Writer at Work Judith Ortiz Cofer on Memory and Personal Essays 155 Frederick Douglass, Learning to Read and Write (Classic) 159 Andre Dubus III, The Land of No: Love in a Class-riven America 166 The Writer at Work Andre Dubus III on the Risks of Memoir Writing 172 Anne Fadiman, Under Water 177 The Writer at Work Anne Fadiman on the Art of Editing 182 Henry Louis Gates Jr., In the Kitchen 185 Michihiko Hachiya, From Hiroshima Diary 196 Silas Hansen, What Real Men Do 204 Edward Hoagland, On Stuttering 210 The Writer at Work Edward Hoagland on What an Essay Is 214 Langston Hughes, Salvation (Classic) 216 The Writer at Work Langston Hughes on How to Be a Bad Writer (in Ten Easy Lessons) 219 Margo Jefferson, From Negroland 222 Ha Jin, Arrival 228 Jamaica Kincaid, The Estrangement 237 Jamaica Kincaid, Girl (Classic) 241 The Writer at Work Jamaica Kincaid on “Girl” 243 Geeta Kothari, If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I? 245 Jhumpa Lahiri, My Two Lives 256 Laila Lalami, My Life as a Muslim in the West’s “Gray Zone” 260 Yiyun Li, To Speak Is to Blunder 266 Barry Lopez, Six Thousand Lessons 276 Nancy Mairs, On Being a Cripple 280 The Writer at Work Nancy Mairs on Finding a Voice 292 Dinaw Mengestu, Home at Last 294 Manuel Muñoz, Leave Your Name at the Border 301 Student Essay Milos Kosic, It’s Not the Name That Matters 306 George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant (Classic) 310 The Writer at Work George Orwell on the Four Reasons for Writing 317 Claudia Rankine, From Citizen: An American Lyric 320 Marjane Satrapi, My Speech at West Point 323 The Graphic Memoirist at Work Marjane Satrapi on the Language of Words and Images 327 David Sedaris, Me Talk Pretty One Day 330 Patti Smith, Sticky Fingers 336 Brent Staples, Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space (Classic) 340 The Writer at Work Another Version of Just Walk on By 345 Alex Tizon, Small Man in a Big Country 348 Maria Venegas, The Devil’s Spine 355 Alice Walker, Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self (Classic) 359 Jerald Walker, Scattered Inconveniences 368 The Writer at Work Jerald Walker on Telling a Good Story 372 Student Essay Lauren Carter, Isn’t Watermelon Delicious? 373 Jillian Weise, Why I Own a Gun 381 E. B. White, Once More to the Lake (Classic) 390 The Writer at Work E. B. White on the Essayist 397 Elie Wiesel, Eight Simple, Short Words 400 Thomas Chatterton Williams, Black and Blue and Blond 412 2. Expository Writing: Shaping Information 425 What Is Expository Writing? 427 Strategies for Sharing Information 428 Strategies for Analyzing Information 430 Strategies for Interpreting Information 431 Reading Expository Essays: A Checklist 432 Kwame Anthony Appiah, Race in the Modern World 434 Michael Bérubé, Analyze, Don’t Summarize 444 Eula Biss, Sentimental Medicine 450 Charles Bowden, Our Wall 466 David Brooks, People Like Us 475 Ta-Nehisi Coates, From Between the World and Me 482 The Writer at Work Ta-Nehisi Coates on the Culture of Scholastic Achievement 490 Amy Cunningham, Why Women Smile 494 Edwidge Danticat, Message to My Daughters 503 Joan Didion, The Santa Ana (Classic) 512 The Writer at Work Joan Didion on Why I Write 516 Brian Doyle, A Writing Portfolio 519 Dawn and Mary 520 His Last Game 522 A Note on Mascots 525 The Writer at Work Brian Doyle on the Pleasures and Craft of Writing and Reading 529 Lars Eighner, On Dumpster Diving (Classic) 535 The Writer at Work Lars Eighner on the Challenges of Writing While Homeless 547 Megan Garber, Barbie’s Hips Don’t Lie 551 Malcolm Gladwell, Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted 556 Amanda Hess, Multiple Choice 569 Walter Isaacson, The Great Connectors 574 Pico Iyer, The Terminal Check 580 Student Essay Meher Ahmed, My Homeland Security Journey 584 Hope Jahren, From Lab Girl 589 Leslie Jamison, Mark My Words. Maybe. 593 Jon Kerstetter, Triage 597 Stephen King, Everything You Need to Know about Writing Successfully — In Ten Minutes 607 Naomi Klein, The Change Within 615 Student Essay Maddy Perello, Climate Change: A Serious Threat 621 Alan Lightman, Our Place in the Universe 625 Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address (Classic) 636 The Writer at Work Abraham Lincoln’s Hay Draft of the Gettysburg Address 637 James Mcbride, Hip-Hop Planet 641 Azar Nafisi, From Reading Lolita in Tehran 653 Danielle Ofri, Sat 665 Katha Pollitt, Why Boys Don’t Play with Dolls 674 Eric Schlosser, Why McDonald’s Fries Taste So Good 679 Rebecca Solnit, Men Explain Things to Me 693 The Writer at Work Rebecca Solnit on Writing “Men Explain Things to Me” 699 Virginia Woolf, The Death of the Moth (Classic) 703 The Writer at Work Virginia Woolf on the Practice of Freewriting 706 3. Argumentative Writing: Contending with Issues 709 What Is Argumentative Writing? 711 Strategies for Presenting the Issue 711 Strategies for Making a Claim 713 Strategies for Building a Case 714 Strategies for Coming to a Conclusion 716 Reading Argumentative Essays: A Checklist 718 Amy Chua, Tough Love: Parents and Children 720 John Taylor Gatto, Against School 724 Roxane Gay, The Careless Language of Sexual Violence 734 Christopher Hitchens, Believe Me, It’s Torture 742 Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence (Classic) 750 The Writer at Work Another Draft of the Declaration of Independence 754 Greg Lukianoff And Jonathan Haidt, From The Coddling of the American Mind 757 Laura Kipnis, Against Love 762 Bill Mckibben, A Moral Atmosphere 772 John Mcwhorter, Thick of Tongue 778 Marisa Meltzer, The Last Feminist Taboo 789 Walter Benn Michaels, The Trouble with Diversity 796 Walter Mosley, Get Happy 807 Camille Paglia, The Pitfalls of Plastic Surgery 812 Student Essay Sabrina Verchot, A Response to Camille Paglia’s “The Pitfalls of Plastic Surgery” 816 Steven Pinker, Violence Vanquished 820 Student Essay Jacob Ewing, Steven Pinker and the Question of Violence 827 Michael J. Sandel, What Isn’t for Sale? 833 Barry Schwartz, The Tyranny of Choice 841 Peter Singer, The Singer Solution to World Poverty 851 Lauren Slater, The Trouble with Self-Esteem 859 The Writer at Work Lauren Slater on Writing Groups 867 Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal (Classic) 870 Simon Tam, Trademark Offense 879 Sherry Turkle, The Empathy Gap 887 David Foster Wallace, Consider the Lobster 893 The Writer at Work Another Version of “Consider the Lobster” 908 John Edgar Wideman, Fatheralong 911 Wendy Willis, Boxed In 918 Howard Zinn, Stories Hollywood Never Tells 925 Back Matter 936 Footnotes 936 Acknowledgments 956 Index of Authors and Titles 966 A 966 B 966 C 966 D 967 E 967 F 967 G 968 H 968 I 968 J 968 K 969 L 969 M 969 N 970 O 970 P 970 R 971 S 971 T 972 U 972 V 972 W 972 Z 973 Inside Back Cover 974 Back Cover 975 Humanites "The Writer's Presence collects the very best readings by great writers, showcasing distinctive voices and clear points of view on a broad range of engaging topics. With selections that span different communities, time periods, levels of difficulty, and fields of study, The Writer's Presence shines a spotlight foremost on writers who establish a strong presence and whose writing will encourage you to explore your own. This book includes readings and assignments you need in order to do your work. You can't pass your course without it." -- back cover.