Highlights
One Step at a Time
- Short, straightforward readings at the beginning of the book—can be read and reread quickly.
- Longer, more challenging readings toward the end of the book that require and develop increased attention spans, greater vocabulary skills, and more advanced comprehension and critical abilities.
High-Interest Selections
- 85 contemporary pieces include essays, editorials, memoirs, short fiction, poetry, and biography.
- Wide-ranging and varied, the reading cover the following topics popular—dating, family, literacy, food, movies; controversial—race identity and relations, gene therapy; political—the poor, crime; and philosophical—Zen, our relationship to the environment and animals.
Reading and Writing "In Focus"
- Short, pithy, and packed with information, "In Focus" essays following almost every selection pinpoint a key aspect of reading or writing, then explore that aspect in the context of the selection.
- "In Focus" essays are progressive, moving from topics like subject, theme, purpose, and thesis to critical analysis, using evidence, and literary language. See the Table of Contents for a complete listing of "In Focus" topics.
Additional Apparatus
- Chapter Introductions
- Study Questions
- Writing Topics
- Thematic and Rhetorical Table of Contents
- Biographical Sketches
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