The Writer's Presence

Description

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 Halftitle Page Title Page Copyright Page Preface for Instructors Contents Alternate Tables of Contents Short Essay Contents Introduction for Students: The Writer’s Presence On Writing: Practical Advice from Successful Writers Getting Started Dealing with Procrastination Generating Ideas Envisioning an Audience Drafting Revising Working with Words Reading 1. Personal Writing: Exploring Our Own Lives What Is Personal Writing? Strategies for Establishing Your Personal Presence Strategies for Turning Your Story into a Compelling Narrative Strategies for Writing Literary Prose Reading Personal Essays: A Checklist Maya Angelou, “What’s Your Name, Girl?” (Classic) James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son (Classic) The Writer at Work James Baldwin on Black English Raymond Carver, My Father’s Life Judith Ortiz Cofer, Silent Dancing The Writer at Work Judith Ortiz Cofer on Memory and Personal Essays Frederick Douglass, Learning to Read and Write (Classic) Andre Dubus III, The Land of No: Love in a Class-riven America The Writer at Work Andre Dubus III on the Risks of Memoir Writing Anne Fadiman, Under Water The Writer at Work Anne Fadiman on the Art of Editing Henry Louis Gates Jr., In the Kitchen Michihiko Hachiya, From Hiroshima Diary Silas Hansen, What Real Men Do Edward Hoagland, On Stuttering The Writer at Work Edward Hoagland on What an Essay Is Langston Hughes, Salvation (Classic) The Writer at Work Langston Hughes on How to Be a Bad Writer (in Ten Easy Lessons) Margo Jefferson, From Negroland Ha Jin, Arrival Jamaica Kincaid, The Estrangement Jamaica Kincaid, Girl (Classic) The Writer at Work Jamaica Kincaid on “Girl” Geeta Kothari, If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I? Jhumpa Lahiri, My Two Lives Laila Lalami, My Life as a Muslim in the West’s “Gray Zone” Yiyun Li, To Speak Is to Blunder Barry Lopez, Six Thousand Lessons Nancy Mairs, On Being a Cripple The Writer at Work Nancy Mairs on Finding a Voice Dinaw Mengestu, Home at Last Manuel Muñoz, Leave Your Name at the Border Student Essay Milos Kosic, It’s Not the Name That Matters George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant (Classic) The Writer at Work George Orwell on the Four Reasons for Writing Claudia Rankine, From Citizen: An American Lyric Marjane Satrapi, My Speech at West Point The Graphic Memoirist at Work Marjane Satrapi on the Language of Words and Images David Sedaris, Me Talk Pretty One Day Patti Smith, Sticky Fingers Brent Staples, Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space (Classic) The Writer at Work Another Version of Just Walk on By Alex Tizon, Small Man in a Big Country Maria Venegas, The Devil’s Spine Alice Walker, Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self (Classic) Jerald Walker, Scattered Inconveniences The Writer at Work Jerald Walker on Telling a Good Story Student Essay Lauren Carter, Isn’t Watermelon Delicious? Jillian Weise, Why I Own a Gun E. B. White, Once More to the Lake (Classic) The Writer at Work E. B. White on the Essayist Elie Wiesel, Eight Simple, Short Words Thomas Chatterton Williams, Black and Blue and Blond 2. Expository Writing: Shaping Information What Is Expository Writing? Strategies for Sharing Information Strategies for Analyzing Information Strategies for Interpreting Information Reading Expository Essays: A Checklist Kwame Anthony Appiah, Race in the Modern World Michael Bérubé, Analyze, Don’t Summarize Eula Biss, Sentimental Medicine Charles Bowden, Our Wall David Brooks, People Like Us Ta-Nehisi Coates, From Between the World and Me The Writer at Work Ta-Nehisi Coates on the Culture of Scholastic Achievement Amy Cunningham, Why Women Smile Edwidge Danticat, Message to My Daughters Joan Didion, The Santa Ana (Classic) The Writer at Work Joan Didion on Why I Write Brian Doyle, A Writing Portfolio Dawn and Mary His Last Game A Note on Mascots The Writer at Work Brian Doyle on the Pleasures and Craft of Writing and Reading Lars Eighner, On Dumpster Diving (Classic) The Writer at Work Lars Eighner on the Challenges of Writing While Homeless Megan Garber, Barbie’s Hips Don’t Lie Malcolm Gladwell, Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted Amanda Hess, Multiple Choice Walter Isaacson, The Great Connectors Pico Iyer, The Terminal Check Student Essay Meher Ahmed, My Homeland Security Journey Hope Jahren, From Lab Girl Leslie Jamison, Mark My Words. Maybe. Jon Kerstetter, Triage Stephen King, Everything You Need to Know about Writing Successfully — In Ten Minutes Naomi Klein, The Change Within Student Essay Maddy Perello, Climate Change: A Serious Threat Alan Lightman, Our Place in the Universe Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address (Classic) The Writer at Work Abraham Lincoln’s Hay Draft of the Gettysburg Address James Mcbride, Hip-Hop Planet Azar Nafisi, From Reading Lolita in Tehran Danielle Ofri, Sat Katha Pollitt, Why Boys Don’t Play with Dolls Eric Schlosser, Why McDonald’s Fries Taste So Good Rebecca Solnit, Men Explain Things to Me The Writer at Work Rebecca Solnit on Writing “Men Explain Things to Me” Virginia Woolf, The Death of the Moth (Classic) The Writer at Work Virginia Woolf on the Practice of Freewriting 3. Argumentative Writing: Contending with Issues What Is Argumentative Writing? Strategies for Presenting the Issue Strategies for Making a Claim Strategies for Building a Case Strategies for Coming to a Conclusion Reading Argumentative Essays: A Checklist Amy Chua, Tough Love: Parents and Children John Taylor Gatto, Against School Roxane Gay, The Careless Language of Sexual Violence Christopher Hitchens, Believe Me, It’s Torture Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence (Classic) The Writer at Work Another Draft of the Declaration of Independence Greg Lukianoff And Jonathan Haidt, From The Coddling of the American Mind Laura Kipnis, Against Love Bill Mckibben, A Moral Atmosphere John Mcwhorter, Thick of Tongue Marisa Meltzer, The Last Feminist Taboo Walter Benn Michaels, The Trouble with Diversity Walter Mosley, Get Happy Camille Paglia, The Pitfalls of Plastic Surgery Student Essay Sabrina Verchot, A Response to Camille Paglia’s “The Pitfalls of Plastic Surgery” Steven Pinker, Violence Vanquished Student Essay Jacob Ewing, Steven Pinker and the Question of Violence Michael J. Sandel, What Isn’t for Sale? Barry Schwartz, The Tyranny of Choice Peter Singer, The Singer Solution to World Poverty Lauren Slater, The Trouble with Self-Esteem The Writer at Work Lauren Slater on Writing Groups Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal (Classic) Simon Tam, Trademark Offense Sherry Turkle, The Empathy Gap David Foster Wallace, Consider the Lobster The Writer at Work Another Version of “Consider the Lobster” John Edgar Wideman, Fatheralong Wendy Willis, Boxed In Howard Zinn, Stories Hollywood Never Tells Back Matter Footnotes Acknowledgments Index of Authors and Titles A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Z Inside Back Cover Back Cover