The Contemporary Reader Book

Rhetorical Contents

Preface

Introduction: How to Read and Write Critically

What Is Critical Thinking?

Why Read Critically?

How to Read Critically

Now Cut That Out! John Leo

Keep a Journal on What You Read

Annotate What You Read

Outline What You Read

Summarize What You Read

Question What You Read

Analyze What You Read

What Is Critical Thinking?

Developing Ideas

Brainstorming

Narrowing the Topic

Identifying Your Audience

Developing a Thesis

Understanding Your Paper’s Objective

Researching

Selecting Sources for Your Paper

Documenting Sources

Organizing Your Paper

Drafting Your Essay

Writing Your Introduction

Developing Paragraphs and Making Transitions

Concluding Well

Editing and Revising

Using Active Voice

Grammar and Punctuation

Proofreading Effectively

Approaching Visuals Critically

Images and Advertising

Altoids Ad

Deciphering Editorial Cartoons

Graduation Cartoon

CHAPTER: 1 Fashion and Flesh: The Images We Project

What I Think About the Fashion World, Liz Jones

Culture Shock: Get Real Ad

Out-of-Body Image, Caroline Heldman

The Natural Beauty Myth, Garance Franke-Ruta

My Hips, My Caderas, Alisa Valdes

Weight of the World, Niranjana Iyer

How Men Really Feel About Their Bodies, Ted Spiker

Culture Shock: Mr. Olympia

Never Too Buff, John Cloud

Why I Rue My Tattoo, Beth Janes

Tattoo Me Again and Again, Stephanie Dolgoff

Perspectives: Dress to Please

CHAPTER: 2 Consumer Nation: Wanting It, Selling

Targeting a New World, Joseph Turow

Will Your Recession Be Tall, Grande, or Venti?, Daniel Gross

Just a Little Princess?, Peggy Orenstein

Perspectives: Vital Signs

Culture Shock: A Portfolio of Advertisements

Gap

Boys and Girls Clubs

Skechers

M&M’s

Kenneth Cole

Apple iPod Nano

Honda

United Colors of Bennetton

Which One of These Sneakers Is Me?, Douglas Rushkoff

The Allure of Luxury, James B. Twitchell

With These Words, I Can Sell You Anything, William Lutz

The Language of Advertising, Charles A. O’Neill

CHAPTER: 3 Generation Debt: The Financial Challenges We Face

Generation Debt, Anna Kamenetz

Grow Up? Not So Fast, Lev Grossman

Culture Shock: Boomerang Statistics

Maxed Out, James D. Scurlock

Strapped, Tamara Draut

Debtor’s Prism, Margaret Atwood

Investigating the Nation’s Exploding Credit Squeeze, Danny Schechter

Perspectives: Empty-nesters

Twentysomething: Be Responsible, Go Back Home After College, Ryan Healy

The “Responsible” Child, Florinda Vasquez

CHAPTER: 4 Carbon Footprints: It’s Not Easy Being Green 179

Nobel Lecture on Global Warming, Al Gore

Culture Shock: Earth’s Before and After Pics

Global Warming: Who Loses—and Who Wins?, Gregg Easterbrook

Culture Shock: The House We All Build

Big Foot, Michael Specter

Six Products, Six Carbon Footprints, Jeffrey Ball

Perspectives: It’s Not Easy Being Green!

My Carbon Footprint: A Documentary, a Daughter, and All That Is Dear, Jennifer Davidson

Are Cows Worse than Cars?, Ben Adler

Can Cities Save the Planet?, Witold Rybczynski

CHAPTER: 5 Look at Me!: Celebrity and Our Fifteen Minutes of Fame

The Culture of Celebrity, Joseph Epstein

Death to the Film Critics! Hail the CelebCult!, Roger Ebert

Perspectives: Public Library 256

Return of the Brainless Hussies, Rebecca Traister

Mirror, Mirror, on the Web, Lakshmi Chaudry

Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism, Christine Rosen

Crafting Your Image for Your 1,000 Friends on Facebook, Stuart Wolpert

The Case for Reality TV, Michael Hirschorn

Reality TV: Should We Really Watch?, Elizabeth Larkin

The Strange Life and Impending Death of Jade Goody, Meredith Blacke

CHAPTER: 6 Perspectives on Gender: Bridging the Gap

My Most Attractive Adversary, Madeleine Begun Kane

Perspectives: What She Wore 302

Has Male Bashing Gone Too Far?, Jake Brennan

The New Girl Order, Kay S. Hymowitz

The Men We Carry in Our Minds, Scott Russell Sanders

The Science of Difference, Steven Pinker

Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, Byron Hurt

Culture Shock: 50 Cent

He’s a Laker; She’s a “Looker”, Jennifer L. Knight and Traci A. Giuliano

VIEWPOINTS

Why Men Don’t Watch Women’s Sports, Graham Hays

Gender Inequality, E. M. Swift

Culture Shock: Annika Sorenstam Has Another Remarkable Year For A Lady

CHAPTER: 7 Race and Racism: Can We Be Color-Blind? 347

Inequality, Race, and Remedy, Alan Jenkins

Leaving Race Behind, Amitai Etzioni

People Like Us, David Brooks

Perspectives: History Marches On

Are You a Terrorist, or Do You Play One on TV?, Laura Fokkena

Culture Shock: Which Man Looks Guilty? 378

Why I’m Black, Not African American, John H. McWhorter

Black vs. “Black”, Gary Kamiya

Our Biracial President, James Hannaham

The End of White America?, Hua Hsu

The End of the Black American Narrative, Charles Johnson

CHAPTER: 8 The American University System: Still Making the Grade?

How to Get a College Education, Jeffrey Hart

VIEWPOINTS

A’s for Everyone!, Alicia C. Shepard

Culture Shock: The College Track Onward and Upward

The Disadvantages of an Elite Education, William Deresiewicz

Higher Ed, Inc., James Twitchell

Just Let Go Already, Joe Queenan

Welcome to the Fun-Free University, David Weigel

Animal House at 30: O Bluto, Where Art Thou?, Eric Hoover

Perspectives: Binge Drinking

CHAPTER: 9 Domestic Affairs: The Family in Flux

Family: Idea, Institution, and Controversy, Betty G. Farrell

Perspectives: The New American Family

Numbers Drop for the Married-with-Children, Blaine Harden

Culture Shock: Marriage Trends in the United States

On Not Saying “I Do”, Dorian Solot

Five Non-Religious Arguments for Marriage, Dennis Prager

For Better, For Worse, Stephanie Coontz

Did I Miss Something?, Lowell Putnam

How Getting Married Made Me an Activist, David Jeffers

Less Shouting, More Talking, Richard Mouw

Why I’m Not Getting Married . . . Again, David Shneer

Credits

Index