Writing the World: Reading and Writing about Issues of the Day Book

N.B. The Writing Guides in Chapters 2-8 follow the same treatment as in Chapter 3. For the sake of brevity, the subheadings are not repeated in this abridged table of contents.

1. Introduction
How This Book Works
Reading
A Writer's Notebook
The Writer's Guides
Additional Writing Projects
Helpful Appendices

2. Reporting Information: What Do Self-Help Books Say about Communicating?
A Look Ahead: Reporting on Advice READINGS Research on How Men and Women Talk
Deborah Tannen, "Put Down That Paper and Talk to Me!": Rapport-Talk and Report-Talk
John Gray, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus
Susan Page, Essential Traits of Couples Who Thrive
John Gottman, The Two Marriages: His and Hers
A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK: Communicating in Relationships Critical Response
Katha Pollitt, Are Women Morally Superior to Men?
Senta Traemel-Ploetz, Selling the Apolitical
Elizabeth Gleick, Tower of Psychobabble
A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK: Critical Responses A WRITER'S GUIDE ADDITIONAL WRITING PROJECTS
Personal Experience Essay
Report on an Observed Conversation
An Interpretation of Humor about Men's and Women's Talk
Essay Taking a Position

3. Taking a Position on a Constitutional Issue: Should Colleges Attempt to Regulate or Ban Offensive Speech?
Glossary: Words about Words A Look Ahead: Writing about Speech Regulations READINGS Campus Speech Incidents
Michael de Courcy Hinds, A Campus Case: Speech or Harassment?
Ralph Frammolino, Suit Forces U.C. Riverside to Rescind Fraternity Penalty
Amy Harmon, Caltech Student's Expulsion over Contents of E-Mail Raises Concerns
A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK: Campus Speech Incidents
Current Campus Speech Guidelines
University of Southern California, Student Life
Virginia Commonwealth University, Rights and Prohibited Conduct
University of Texas at Austin, Sexual Harassment of Students by Faculty and Staff
A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK: Campus Speech Guidelines Supreme Court Cases and Historical Background
U.S. Supreme Court, Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942)
U.S. Supreme Court, Beauharnais v. Illinois(1952)
Samuel Walker, Hate Speech: The History of an American Controversy
Michael W. McConnell, America's First "Hate Speech" Regulation
A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK: Supreme Court Cases and Historical Background Arguments for and against Regulating Speech on College Campuses
Mari J. Matsuda, Assaultive Speech and Academic Freedom
Charles R. Lawrence III, If He Hollers Let Him Go: Regulating Racist Speech on Campus
Richard Delgado and David H. Yun, Pressure Valves and Bloodied Chickens: Paternalistic Objections to Hate Speech Regulation
Timothy C. Shiell, Campus Hate Speech on Trial
Paul McMasters, Free Speech versus Civil Discourse
Susan Gellman, Sticks and Stones Can Put You in Jail, but Can Words Increase Your Sentence?
Henry Louis Gates Jr., Let Them Talk
Franklyn S. Haiman "Speech Acts" and the First Amendment
A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK: Arguments for and against Regulating A WRITER'S GUIDE Planning and Drafting Your Essay The Writing Assignment
Understanding Your Readers
Selecting Materials
Preparing a Prospectus
Organizing Your Essay
Developing Your Argument and Counterargument
Sentences for Taking a Position
Sentences that Keep Readers on Track
Conjunctive Adverbs for Indicating Logical Relationships
Citing Sources
Informal Citation
Formal Citation
Evaluating and Revising
Read to Get a General Impression
Read to Analyze the Draft More Closely
Editing and Proofreading Reflecting on What You Have Learned Gathering Additional Information
Supreme Court Cases
Recent Speech Incidents
Position Statements on Speech Regulations
ADDITIONAL WRITING PROJECTS
Personal Experience Essay
Policy Proposal
Report on an Issue
A Rhetorical Analysis of a Reading

4. Evaluating Civic Stances: Conservatism? Liberalism? Libertarianism?
READINGS Conservatism
Russell Kirk, Who Are the Conservatives?
Sam Brownback, A New Contract with America
Jacqueline R. Kasun, Condom Nation: Government Sex Education Promotes Teen Pregnancy
A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK: Conservatism Liberalism
Roger Rosenblatt, The Triumph of Liberalism
E. J. Dionne Jr., They Only Look Dead: Why Progressives Will Dominate the Next Political Era
Kristin Luker, Dubious Conceptions
A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK: Liberalism Libertarianism
Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom
David Boaz, The Coming Libertarian Age
Thomas Sowell, The Vision of the Annointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy
A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK: Libertarianism A WRITER'S GUIDE ADDITIONAL WRITING PROJECTS
Personal Experience Essay
Essay Taking a Position
Report on a Civic Stance
Report on Controversy

5. Speculating about a Social Crisis: What Causes Violence in Young Men?
A Look Ahead: Writing About Violence READINGS Descriptions of Violent Crime
Isabel Wilkerson, Two Boys, a Debt, a Gun, a Victim: The Face of Violence
Luis J. Rodriguez, Always Running
Nathan McCall, Falling
Timothy Egan, From Adolescent Angst to Shooting Up Schools
Rita Williams, The Streets of Los Angeles
A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK: Decriptions of Violent Crime Statistics: Patterns of Violence
Who Commits Violence
Where Violence Is Committed
A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK: Statics: Patterns of Violence Possible Causes of Violence by Young Men
Susan Straight, The Gun in the Closet
William Julius Wilson, When Work Disappears
Elijah Anderson, The Code of the Streets
David Popenoe, Life without Father
Mike A. Males The Scapegoat Generation
Carl M. Cannon, Honey, I Warped the Kids: The Argument for Eliminating Movie and TV Violence
Todd Gitlin, The Symbolic Crusade against Media Violence Is a Confession of Despair
Andrew Lam, Love, Money, Prison, Sin, Revenge
Michael Ramirez Why? -- A Cartoon
Gary Ross, Moving beyond Blame
Myron Magnet, The Dream and the Nightmare: The Sixties' Legacy to the Underclass
A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK: Possible Causes of Violence by Young Men A WRITER'S GUIDE ADDITIONAL WRITING PROJECTS
Personal Experience Essay
Report on Statistical Information
Essay Speculating about Effects
Essay Taking a Position

6. Interpreting Popular Culture: How Does Tabloid TV Represent American Culture?
A Look Ahead: Writing About Tabloid TV
Viewing Tabloid TV Critically
Becoming Oriented
Watching Closely and Gathering Data
Critical Viewing
Gathering Data about a Series
Gathering Data about Program Segments
Interpreting Television from a Social Perspective
A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK: Viewing Tabloid TV Critically
Glossary Words about Words
READINGS Tabloid TV as a Genre: Its History and Features
Max Robins, Here Come the News Punks
Andrea Sachs, News Caliente: Tabloid TV with a Latin Accent
Krista Bradford, The Big Sleaze
Frank Houston, The TV Tabs' New Tone
Steven D. Stark, Glued to the Set
Graham Knight, The Reality Effects of Tabloid Television News
A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK: Tabloid TV as a Television Genre
Social Perspectives on Tabloid Television
Philip Weiss, Bad Rap for TV Tabs
Jim Fowles, Why Viewers Watch
Robert Lichter, Linda S. Lichter, and Stanley Rothman, Prime Time: How Television Portrays American Culture
S. Elizabeth Bird, For Enquiring Minds: A Cultural Study of Supermarket Tabloids
A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK: Social Perspectives on Tabloid TV A WRITER'S GUIDE ADDITIONAL WRITING PROJECTS
Personal Experience Essay
Rhetorical Analysis of a Reading
Report on an Issue
Research Report

7. Speculating about the Future: What Does the Restructured Economy Mean for Your Generation?
Glossary: Words about Words
A Look Ahead: Writing about the Economy READINGS Understanding the Restructured Economy
Andrew Hacker, Meet the Median Family
Lawrence R. Mishel, Jared Bernstein, and John Schmitt, The State of Working America 1998-1999
Edward N. Wolff, How the Pie Is Sliced
Janice Castro, Disposable Workers
Barbara Rudolph, Disconnected
Tony Horowitz, Some Who Lost Jobs in the Early 90s Recession Find a Hard Road Back
Louis Uchitelle, Downsizing Comes Back, but the Outcry Is Muted
Sanford M. Jacoby, Most Workers Find a Sense of Security in Corporate Life
Keith Bradsher, Skilled Workers Watch Their Jobs Migrate Overseas
Sam Dillon, A 20-Year GM Parts Migration to Mexico
Political Cartoons about the Restructered Economy
A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK: Understanding the Restructured Economy Understanding Generational Competition
Leon F. Bouvier and Carol J. De Vita, The Baby Boom -- Entering Midlife
Rob Nelson and John Cowan, Revolution X: A Survival Guide for Our Generation
A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK: Understanding Generational Competition Surveying Consequences of the Restructured Economy
Sue Shellenbarger Future Work Policies May Focus on Teens, Trimming Workloads
Robert Reich, America's Anxious Class
Jeremy Rifkin, The End of Work
Thomas Geoghegan, The Secret Lives of Citizens: Pursuing the Promise of American Culture
Jeffrey Madrick, The End of Affluence
A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK: Surveying Consequences of the Restructured Economy A WRITER'S GUIDE ADDITIONAL WRITING PROJECTS
Personal Experience Essay
Report on a New Phenomenon
Interview-Based Report
Research Report

Appendix 1: Strategies for Reading Critically
Definitions of Close Reading and Critical Thinking
Close Reading
Critical Thinking
Previewing
Guidelines for Preview
Annotating
Guidelines for Annotating
Outlining
Guidelines for Outlining
Summarizing
Guidelines for Summarizing
Synthesizing
Guidelines for Synthesizing
Evaluating
Guidelines for Evaluating an Argument

Appendix 2: Researching Issues and Citing Sources
FINDING SOURCES Types of Information You Need
Formulate a Research Question
Determing Needed Information
Learning about Types of Sources
Types of Published Sources
How Sources Are Organized
Searching for Specific Sources
Search Tools
Search Terms
The Internet
EVALUATING SOURCES DOCUMENTING SOURCES
Citing Your Sources
Quoting
Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and Avoiding Plagiarism
Integrating Source Materials into Your Own Text
Documenting Sources in MLA Style Documenting Sources in APA Style Citing Sources in Writing the World
Citing Readings in Writing the World
Citing Materials Written by the Authors of Writing the World

Index