Subject and Strategy: A Writer's Reader

With engaging readings and proven writing instruction, Subject & Strategy guides students in selecting, practicing, and mastering writing strategies that will help them succeed in any discipline. Example-driven instruction models writing strategies in action, and innovative classroom exercises and writing assignments help students identify strategies in the readings and put them into practice. Students are encouraged to see themselves as writers, and comprehensive, accessible coverage of reading and writing, research, documentation, and grammar provides a foundation for success.

In this edition, students are more at the forefront than ever. Student feedback helped to inform the selection of readings, and with every student essay featured in the book, real students share and reflect on reading and writing strategies that work.  In the words of one student, “Subject & Strategy made my freshman year of college much easier. I learned how to actually read, not just say the words but to look deep into them and understand what the writer is trying to tell us.”

New reading selections are identified by an asterisk (*)

Preface for Students
Preface for Instructors 
Thematic Contents
Thematic Writing Assignments
1. Reading 
 Developing an Effective Reading Process
Step 1: Prepare Yourself to Read the Selection
Step 2: Read the Selection
Step 3: Reread the Selection
Step 4: Annotate the Selection
 An Example: Annotating Cherokee Paul McDonald’s “A View from the Bridge”
Student Reflection: Julie Dwire on Annotating a Reading
Step 5: Analyze and Evaluate the Selection
The Reading Process in Action: Thomas L. Friedman’s “My Favorite Teacher”
Student Reflection: Gary Ortiz on Answering Study Questions
 Reading Photographs and Visual Texts
 The Reading-Writing Connection
 Reading as a Writer

2. Writing 
  Developing an Effective Writing Process
Step 1: Understand Your Assignment
Step 2: Gather Ideas and Formulate a Thesis 
Step 3: Organize and Write Your First Draft
Step 4: Revise Your Essay
Step 5: Edit and Proofread Your Essay
 A Student Essay in Progress
Step 1: Keith’s Assignment
Step 2: Keith’s Ideas
Step 3: Keith’s First Draft
Step 4: Keith’s Revised Essay
Step 5: Keith’s Edited Essay
Keith Eldred, Secular Mantras (student essay)

3. Writers on Writing
*Ricardo Rodriguez-Padilla, Learning to Write Dumb Things Again (student essay)
Russell Baker, Discovering the Power of My Words
Anne Lamott, Shitty First Drafts
Linda S. Flower, Writing for an Audience
Stephen King, Reading to Write

 4. Narration
What Is Narration?
Understanding Narration as a Writing Strategy
Using Narration Across the Disciplines
Practical Advice for Writing an Essay of Narration
Andrew Kauser, Challenging My Fears (student essay)
Junot Díaz, The Terror
David P. Bardeen, Not Close Enough for Comfort
*Toni Morrison, The Work You Do, The Person You Are
*James Rebanks, A Shepherd’s Life

5. Description
Understanding Description as a Writing Strategy
Using Description Across the Disciplines
Practical Advice for Writing an Essay of Description
Jim Tassé, Trailcheck (student essay)
Jeannette Walls, A Woman on the Street
Robert Ramírez, The Barrio
Maya Angelou, Sister Flowers
*Philip Connors, A Talent for Sloth

6. Illustration
Understanding Illustration as a Writing Strategy
Using Illustration Across the Disciplines
Practical Advice for Writing an Essay of Illustration
Paula Kersch, Weight Management: More Than a Matter of Good Looks (student essay)
Natalie Goldberg, Be Specific
*Jennifer Ackerman, The Genius of Birds
Mitch Albom, If You Had One Day with Someone Who’s Gone
Tim Krieder, The Busy Trap

7. Process Analysis
Understanding Process Analysis as a Writing Strategy
Using Process Analysis Across the Disciplines
Practical Advice for Writing an Essay of Process Analysis
William Peterson, Juggling Is Easier Thank You Think (student essay)
Mortimer Adler, How to Mark a Book
*Cody Cassidy and Paul Doherty, What Would Happen If You Were Attacked by a Great White Shark?
*Ashlie Stevens, Why We All Scream When We Get Ice Cream Brain Freeze
Alicia Ault, How Do Spiders Make Their Webs?

8. Comparison and Contrast
Understanding Comparison and Contrast as a Writing Strategy
Using Comparison and Contrast Across the Disciplines
Practical Advice for Writing an Essay of Comparison and Contrast
Barbara Bowman, Guns and Cameras (student essay)
Suzanne Britt, Neat People vs. Sloppy People
Bharati Mukherjee, Two Ways to Belong in America
Andrew Vachss, The Difference between Sick and Evil
*Paulina Porizkova, America Made Me a Feminist

9. Division and Classification
Understanding Division and Classification as a Writing Strategy
Using Division and Classification Across the Disciplines
Practical Advice for Writing an Essay of Division and Classification
Katie Angeles, The Forgotten Personality Type (student essay)
Judith Viorst, The Truth about Lying
*Sarah Gilbert, The Different Ways of Being Smart
*Richard Lederer, All-American Dialects
Amy Tan, Mother Tongue

10 .Definition
Understanding Definition as a Writing Strategy
Using Definition Across the Disciplines
Practical Advice for Writing an Essay of Definition
Sample Student Essay Using Definition as a Writing Strategy
Howard Solomon Jr., Best Friends (student essay)
Jo Goodwin Parker, What Is Poverty?
Deborah M. Roffman, What Does Boys Will Be Boys Really Mean?
Ellen Goodman, The Company Man
*Mark Peters, Virtue Signaling and Other Inane Platitudes

11. Cause and Effect Analysis
Understanding Cause and Effect Analysis as a Writing Strategy
Using Cause and Effect Analysis Across the Disciplines
Practical Advice for Writing an Essay of Cause and Effect Analysis
Kevin Cunningham, Gentrification (student essay)
Jon Katz, How Boys Become Men
Michael Jonas, The Downside of Diversity
Anahad O'Connor, Coca-Cola Funds Effort to Alter Obesity Battle
*Pamela Paul, Save your Sanity. Downgrade Your Life

12. Argumentation
Understanding Argumentation as a Writing Strategy
Using Argumentation Across the Disciplines
Practical Advice for Writing an Essay of Argumentation
Mundy Wilson-Piper, The State of My Plate (student essay)
Sojourner Truth, Ain’t I a Woman?
*Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address
Nancy Armour, Participation Awards Do Disservice
William Galston, Telling Americans to Vote, Or Else
Roger Cohen, The Organic Fable
Nikki Giovanni, Campus Racism 101
Siobhan Crowley, On the Subject of Trigger Warnings
*Roger McNamee, I Invested Early in Google and Facebook. Now They Terrify Me.
ARGUMENT CLUSTER: Race and Privilege: How to Address A System of Bias?
John Metta, I, Racist
Derald Wing Sue, Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Is Subtle Bias Harmless?
*Shaun King, No, I Won’t Be Writing about Black on Black Crime
ARGUMENT CLUSTER: The Changing Nature of Work: What Is the Value of a Career - Now and in the Future?
*Caitlin McCormick, The Gingham Apron
*Ilana Gershon, The Quitting Economy
*Noah Smith, Don’t Assume Robots Will Be Our Future Co-Workers

13. Combining Strategies
What Does It Mean to Combine Strategies?
Using a Combination of Strategies in Written Texts
Practical Advice for Using a Combination of Strategies in an Essay
Hesterly Goodson, The Ducks on Corrigan’s Pond (student essay)
Lars Eighner, On Dumpster Diving
*Issa Rae, The Struggle
*Linda Holmes, The Sad Beautiful Fact That We’re All Going to Miss Almost Everything

14. Writing with Sources
What Does It Mean to Write with Sources?
Writing with Sources
Learning to Summarize, Paraphrase, and Quote from Your Sources
Avoiding Plagiarism
Using Quotation Marks for Language Borrowed Directly
Using Your Own Words and Word Order When Summarizing and Paraphrasing
*Katherine Kachnowski, Skin Cancer Is Not Just for Grandparents: Disspelling Widespread Misconceptions about This Disease (student essay)
*Jason G. Goldman, How a Kids’ Cartoon Created a Real-Life Invasive Army
*Lisa Wade, American Hookup
Jake Jamieson, The English-Only Movement: Can America Proscribe Language with a Clear Conscience? (MLA model)

15. A Brief Guide to Researching and Documenting Essays
Establishing a Realistic Schedule
Finding and Using Sources
Evaluating Your Sources
Analyzing Your Sources
Developing a Working Bibliography for your sources
Taking Notes
Documenting Sources
List of Works Cited

16. Editing for Grammar, Punctuation, and Sentence Style
Run-Ons: Fused Sentences and Comma Splices
Sentence Fragments
Comma Faults
Subject-Verb Agreement
Unclear Pronoun References
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers
Faulty Parallelism
Weak Nouns and Verbs
Shifts in Verb Tense, Mood, and Voice
Wordiness
Sentence Variety

Glossary of Rhetorical Terms

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.