Back
to the
Lake
A READER
FOR WRITERS
I N ST RU C TO R’S R E S O U RC E S
Michal Brody
CIESAS Programa Peninsular,
Yucatán, México
w • w • norton & company • new york • london
,Contents
Sample Syllabus Focusing on Rhetorical Methods A-5
Sample Syllabus Focusing on Themes A-7
Narration A-9
Saira Shah, Longing to Belong A-9
The 9/11 Commission, The Battle for United 93 A-10
Annie Dillard, An American Childhood A-11
Michael Lewis, The Badger A-12
Jeff Gremmels, The Clinic A-13
Toni Morrison, Strangers A-14
Richard Russo, Dog A-15
Description A-17
Judith Ortiz Cofer, More Room A-18
Zora Neale Hurston, How It Feels to Be Colored Me A-19
Lance Armstrong and Sally Jenkins, Pitched Back A-19
Thomas Beller, The Ashen Guy A-20
E. B. White, Once More to the Lake A-21
Ernesto Mestre-Reed, There Is a Spitting Tree in Spanish Brooklyn A-23
Thomas Hitchner, The Places Reading Has Taken Me A-24
Robert Browning, My Last Duchess A-25
Example A-26
David Barboza, Piling On the Cookies A-27
The Onion, All Seven Deadly Sins Committed at Church Bake Sale A-28
Michael Dirda, Commencement Advice A-29
Horace Miner, Body Ritual among the Nacerima A-30
Monica Wunderlich, My Technologically Challenged Life A-31
Adrienne Rich, Ritual Acts vi A-32
Process Analysis A-34
Joshua Piven, David Borgenicht, and Jennifer Worick, How to Pull an All-Nighter A-35
Dave Barry, I Will Survive . . . Or at Least I’ll Be Delayed A-36
Marcia Muller, Creating a Female Sleuth A-37
Robert Connors, How in the World Do You Get a Skunk Out of a Bottle? A-38
Diane Ackerman, Why Leaves Turn Color in the Fall A-39
Victor Pollaci, Exposure, Latency, Responsibility A-40
A-2
, Contents A-3
Emily Dickinson, The Way I read a Letter’s—this— A-41
Comparison and Contrast A-43
Gitangeli Sapra, I’m Happy with an Arranged Marriage A-44
Nina Bernstein, French Sissies vs. German He-Men A-44
Bruce Catton, Grant and Lee A-45
Adam Goodheart, The Skyscraper and the Airplane A-46
David Sedaris, Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa A-48
Jamie Gullen, Self-Discovery and the Danish Way of Life A-49
William Shakespeare, Sonnet 130 A-50
Classification A-51
Stephanie Ericsson, The Ways We Lie A-52
Deborah Tannen, But What Do You Mean? A-53
Amy Tan, Mother Tongue A-54
David Brooks, People Like Us A-55
Michelle Watson, Shades of Character A-56
Gabriel García Márquez, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings A-57
Definition A-59
Bryan Sykes, So, What Is DNA and What Does It Do? A-60
Geoffrey Nunberg, The War of Words A-61
Fatima Mernissi, The Harem Within A-61
Mary Roach, How to Know If You’re Dead A-63
Gail Babilonia, The Celebrity Chef A-64
Flannery O’Connor, A Good Man Is Hard to Find A-65
Cause and Effect A-67
Hal R. Varian, Analyzing the Marriage Gap A-68
Henry Louis Gates Jr., The Way to Reduce Black Poverty in America A-69
Jared Diamond, To Farm or Not to Farm A-70
Henry L. Roediger III, Why Are Textbooks So Expensive? A-71
Paula T. Kelso, Behind the Curtain A-72
Yann Martel, How Pi Got His Name A-73
Argument A-75
Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence A-76
Chief Seattle, Reply to the U.S. Government A-77
Martin Luther King Jr., I Have a Dream A-78
Barack Obama, A More Perfect Union A-80
Andrew Marvell, To His Coy Mistress A-81
, A-4 Contents
Debating the Drinking Age
Ruth C. Engs, Why the Drinking Age Should Be Lowered A-82
Jack Hitt, The Battle of the Binge A-83
Robert Voas, There’s No Benefit to Lowering the Drinking Age A-84
Debating the Drinking Age / Argument Analysis A-85
Debating Intellectual Property Rights
Ellen Goodman, Who Owns Dr. King’s Words? A-85
Marci A. Hamilton, Why Suing College Students for Illegal Music Downloading Is Right A-86
Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture A-87
Debating Intellectual Property Rights / Argument Analysis A-88
Debating Ethics in a Commercial Culture
Gary Cross, Toys for Saps A-89
Robert B. Reich, Don’t Blame Wal-Mart A-90
Bruce Frohnen and Leo Clarke, Scandal in Corporate America A-91
Debating Ethics in a Commercial Culture / Argument Analysis A-91
Combining the Methods A-93
Barbara Ehrenreich, Serving in Florida A-94
Eric Schlosser, What We Eat A-94
Steven Johnson, Watching TV Makes You Smarter A-95
Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point A-95
Billy Collins, Fishing on the Susquehanna in July A-96
to the
Lake
A READER
FOR WRITERS
I N ST RU C TO R’S R E S O U RC E S
Michal Brody
CIESAS Programa Peninsular,
Yucatán, México
w • w • norton & company • new york • london
,Contents
Sample Syllabus Focusing on Rhetorical Methods A-5
Sample Syllabus Focusing on Themes A-7
Narration A-9
Saira Shah, Longing to Belong A-9
The 9/11 Commission, The Battle for United 93 A-10
Annie Dillard, An American Childhood A-11
Michael Lewis, The Badger A-12
Jeff Gremmels, The Clinic A-13
Toni Morrison, Strangers A-14
Richard Russo, Dog A-15
Description A-17
Judith Ortiz Cofer, More Room A-18
Zora Neale Hurston, How It Feels to Be Colored Me A-19
Lance Armstrong and Sally Jenkins, Pitched Back A-19
Thomas Beller, The Ashen Guy A-20
E. B. White, Once More to the Lake A-21
Ernesto Mestre-Reed, There Is a Spitting Tree in Spanish Brooklyn A-23
Thomas Hitchner, The Places Reading Has Taken Me A-24
Robert Browning, My Last Duchess A-25
Example A-26
David Barboza, Piling On the Cookies A-27
The Onion, All Seven Deadly Sins Committed at Church Bake Sale A-28
Michael Dirda, Commencement Advice A-29
Horace Miner, Body Ritual among the Nacerima A-30
Monica Wunderlich, My Technologically Challenged Life A-31
Adrienne Rich, Ritual Acts vi A-32
Process Analysis A-34
Joshua Piven, David Borgenicht, and Jennifer Worick, How to Pull an All-Nighter A-35
Dave Barry, I Will Survive . . . Or at Least I’ll Be Delayed A-36
Marcia Muller, Creating a Female Sleuth A-37
Robert Connors, How in the World Do You Get a Skunk Out of a Bottle? A-38
Diane Ackerman, Why Leaves Turn Color in the Fall A-39
Victor Pollaci, Exposure, Latency, Responsibility A-40
A-2
, Contents A-3
Emily Dickinson, The Way I read a Letter’s—this— A-41
Comparison and Contrast A-43
Gitangeli Sapra, I’m Happy with an Arranged Marriage A-44
Nina Bernstein, French Sissies vs. German He-Men A-44
Bruce Catton, Grant and Lee A-45
Adam Goodheart, The Skyscraper and the Airplane A-46
David Sedaris, Remembering My Childhood on the Continent of Africa A-48
Jamie Gullen, Self-Discovery and the Danish Way of Life A-49
William Shakespeare, Sonnet 130 A-50
Classification A-51
Stephanie Ericsson, The Ways We Lie A-52
Deborah Tannen, But What Do You Mean? A-53
Amy Tan, Mother Tongue A-54
David Brooks, People Like Us A-55
Michelle Watson, Shades of Character A-56
Gabriel García Márquez, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings A-57
Definition A-59
Bryan Sykes, So, What Is DNA and What Does It Do? A-60
Geoffrey Nunberg, The War of Words A-61
Fatima Mernissi, The Harem Within A-61
Mary Roach, How to Know If You’re Dead A-63
Gail Babilonia, The Celebrity Chef A-64
Flannery O’Connor, A Good Man Is Hard to Find A-65
Cause and Effect A-67
Hal R. Varian, Analyzing the Marriage Gap A-68
Henry Louis Gates Jr., The Way to Reduce Black Poverty in America A-69
Jared Diamond, To Farm or Not to Farm A-70
Henry L. Roediger III, Why Are Textbooks So Expensive? A-71
Paula T. Kelso, Behind the Curtain A-72
Yann Martel, How Pi Got His Name A-73
Argument A-75
Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence A-76
Chief Seattle, Reply to the U.S. Government A-77
Martin Luther King Jr., I Have a Dream A-78
Barack Obama, A More Perfect Union A-80
Andrew Marvell, To His Coy Mistress A-81
, A-4 Contents
Debating the Drinking Age
Ruth C. Engs, Why the Drinking Age Should Be Lowered A-82
Jack Hitt, The Battle of the Binge A-83
Robert Voas, There’s No Benefit to Lowering the Drinking Age A-84
Debating the Drinking Age / Argument Analysis A-85
Debating Intellectual Property Rights
Ellen Goodman, Who Owns Dr. King’s Words? A-85
Marci A. Hamilton, Why Suing College Students for Illegal Music Downloading Is Right A-86
Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture A-87
Debating Intellectual Property Rights / Argument Analysis A-88
Debating Ethics in a Commercial Culture
Gary Cross, Toys for Saps A-89
Robert B. Reich, Don’t Blame Wal-Mart A-90
Bruce Frohnen and Leo Clarke, Scandal in Corporate America A-91
Debating Ethics in a Commercial Culture / Argument Analysis A-91
Combining the Methods A-93
Barbara Ehrenreich, Serving in Florida A-94
Eric Schlosser, What We Eat A-94
Steven Johnson, Watching TV Makes You Smarter A-95
Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point A-95
Billy Collins, Fishing on the Susquehanna in July A-96
