The River Reader / Edition 11

by Joseph F. Trimmer

Overview

THE RIVER READER, 11th Edition (formerly THE RIVERSIDE READER), is a collection of expository essays arranged by rhetorical modes: narration and description, process and analysis, comparison and contrast, division and classification, definition, cause and effect, and persuasion and argument. A final thematic unit illustrates all of these modes. The readings represent diverse voices and views from some of the most respected professional essayists working in the English language, along with short stories. Essays in this edition serve as structural models for students to emulate in their writing and as sources of content for classroom discussion and paper topics. Headnotes and post-reading material analyze each reading in context, helping students better understand the craft of writing and apply what they learn to their own work.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781133310310
Publisher:	Cengage Learning
Publication date:	01/01/2013
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	656
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Joseph F. Trimmer is Professor of English Emeritus and Director Emeritus of The Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry at Ball State University. He is the author of numerous articles on literature, culture, and literacy, including THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION: THE FIRST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS (1978), UNDERSTANDING OTHERS: CULTURAL AND CROSS-CULTURAL STUDIES AND THE TEACHING OF LITERATURE (1992), and NARRATION AS KNOWLEDGE: TALES OF THE TEACHING LIFE (1997). Professor Trimmer has also worked on 20 documentary films for PBS, including the six-part series, "Middletown" (1982). His textbooks include WRITING WITH A PURPOSE, 14th Edition (2004), THE RIVER READER, 12th Edition (formerly the RIVERSIDE READER (2016), and eFICTIONS (2002). Trimmer's A GUIDE TO MLA DOCUMENTATION, 9th Edition is a perennial bestseller; he has also published A GUIDE TO APA DOCUMENTATION.

Table of Contents

Thematic Table of Contents. Preface. INTRODUCTION. Guidelines for Reading an Essay. Sample Analysis of an Essay: Virginia Woolf, Shakespeare's Sister. Forming a Working Purpose: The Hypothesis. Testing Your Hypothesis: The Discovery Draft. Purpose and Thesis. Guidelines for Determining Your Purpose. Guidelines for Analyzing Your Audience. Guidelines for Selecting Your Strategy. Student Essay: Kristie Ferguson, The Scenic Route. 1. NARRATION AND DESCRIPTION. Marjane Satrapi, The Veil (visual text). Maya Angelou, My Name Is Margaret. David Sedaris, I Like Guys. George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant. Richard Russo, Dog. 2. PROCESS ANAYSIS. James Stevenson, How Many It Takes. P. J. O'Rourke, Third World Driving Hints and Tips. Scott Adams, How to Get a Real Education. Lars Eighner, My Daily Dives in the Dumpster. Elizabeth Winthrop, The Golden Darters (story). 3. COMPARISON AND CONTRAST. Joseph Rosenthal, Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. Thomas Franklin, Raising the Flag at Ground Zero. Mark Twain, Two Views of the River. Howard Moody, Sacred Rite or Civil Right? Bruce Catton, Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts. Alice Walker, Everyday. 4. DIVISION AND CLASSIFICATION. Different Types of Guitar Music. Judith Viorst, The Truth About Lying. David Cole, Five Myths About Immigration. James H. Austin, Four Kinds of Chance. Flannery O'Connor, Revelation (story). 5. DEFINITION. Charles Barsotti, Cute is whatever you can get away with (visual text). Gloria Naylor, A Word's Meaning Can Often Depend on Who Says It. James Gleick, Attention! Multitaskers. Joseph Epstein, Duh, Bor-ing. Toni Cade Bambara, The Lesson (story). 6. CAUSE AND EFFECT. Rosa Parks Riding a Bus (visual text). Calvin Trillin, Comforting Thoughts. Daniel Goleman, Peak Performance: Why Records Fall. Brent Staples, Black Men in Public Spaces. Alice Adams, Truth or Consequences. 7. PERSUASION AND ARGUMENT. Healthcare Reform (visual text). A Debate about College Sports. Taylor Branch, The Shame of College Sports. Seth David, Should College Athletes Be Paid? Why, They Already Are. A Debate About Liberal Arts. Peter Cohan, To Boost Post-College Prospects, Cut Humanities Departments. William Deresiewicz, What Is College For? Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Harrison Bergeron (story). 8. RESOURCES FOR WRITING. Food: A Casebook. Images of Food: A Visual Essay. Teresa Lust, The Same Old Stuffing (narration and description). Laurie Colwin, How to Fry Chicken (process analysis). Suzanne Britt Jordon, That Lean and Hungry Look (comparison and contrast). Alexander Theroux, The Candy Man (discussion and classification). Michael Pollan, Eat Food: Food Defined (definition). Eric Schlosser: Why McDonald's French Fries Taste So Good (cause and effect). Peter Singer, Equality for Animals (persuasion and argument). Laura Fraser, Why I Stopped Being a Vegetarian (persuasion and argument). Andres Dubus, The Fat Girl (story). Glossary. Credits. Index.

Editorial Reviews

THE RIVER READER is an ideal mix of classical and contemporary readings. It engages readers to think about issues of social justice in American society. It combines creative and expository pieces."

"THE RIVER READER is wide-ranging in terms of its coverage of different types of writing and thorough in terms of its many examples."

From the Publisher