Major Themes for Modern Writers (Penguin Academics Series) Book

Preface

Rhetorical Contents

CHAPTER 1 Introduction: Reading And Writing About Major Themes

Critical Reading

Informed Writing

CHAPTER 2. All in The Family

Introduction

“Once More to the Lake,” E. B. White

“The Burden of a Happy Childhood,” Mary Cantwell

“Looking Straight at Gay Parents,” Karen S. Peterson

“In the Kitchen,” Henry Louis Gates Jr

“Stone Soup,” Barbara Kingsolver

“The Children of Divorce,” Judith S. Wallerstein and Sandra Blakeslee

“The Deadbeat Dad,” David Blankenhorn

“The Parent Trap,” Judith Warner

CHAPTER 3 WHAT IS EDUCATION?

Introduction

“The Paterson Public Library,” Judith Ortiz Cofer

“University Days,” James Thurber

“Prison Studies,” Malcolm X

“They Treat Girls Differently, Don’t They?” Timothy Harper

“Indoctrination Isn’t Teaching,” Shelby Steele

“Campus Climate Control,” Katie Roiphe

“Curtailing High School: A Radical Proposal,” Leon Botstein

“Making the Grade,” James Atlas

CHAPTER 4 A LIFE OF WORK, A QUEST FOR WEALTH

Introduction

“Sweatshops Are Back,” William Branigin

“Showing Off,” Quentin Hardy

“A Sense of Change,” John Updike

“The Return of the Happy Housewife,” Charlotte Allen

“Black Hair,” Gary Soto

“Where the Brains Are,” Richard Florida

“Waking Up the Rake,” Linda Hogan

“The Dispossessed,” William Deresiewicz

CHAPTER 5. LAW, JUSTICE AND THE DEMOCRATIC WAY

Introduction

“A Hanging,” George Orwell

“Death and Justice,” Edward I. Koch

“Continuing the Search for Kinder Executions,” Mark Essig

“Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr.

“When They Get Out,” Sasha Abramsky

“Happy National Apathy Day,” Will Durst

“The Tyranny of the Majority,” Lani Guinier

“Does Eating Salmon Lower The Murder Rate?” Stephen Mihm

CHAPTER 6. GENDER DYNAMICS

Introduction

“Why Should Males Exist?” Matt Ridley

“The Failure of Feminism,” Phyllis Chesler

“No Name Woman,” Maxine Hong Kingston

“Listening to Men, Then and Now,” Deborah Tannen

“I Want a Wife,” Judy Brady

“The Hate Epidemic,” David Leavitt

“All About Eve,” Cynthia Russett

“Marrying Absurd,” Joan Didion

CHAPTER 7 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN A COMPLEX WORLD

Introduction

“From Pole to Shining Pole,” Al Gore

“The Case for Evolution, In Real Life,” David P. Barash

“What Adolescents Miss When We Let Them Grow Up in Cyberspace,” Brent Staples

“One Thing They Aren’t: Maternal,” Natalie Angier

“When Germs Travel,” Howard Markel

“Meet Joe Blog," Lev Grossman

“The Spider and the Wasp,” Alexander Petrunkevitch

“Humanities and Science,” Lewis Thomas

CHAPTER 8 LANGUAGE AND WORD POWER

Introduction

“The Quare Gene,” Tony Earley

“An Offering to the Power of Language,” Sandra Cisneros

“Why Does ‘Everybody’ Now Put ‘Everything’ in Quotation Marks?” Barbara Carton

“Body in Trouble,” Nancy Mairs

“A Small Plea to Delete a Ubiquitous Expletive,” Elizabeth Austin

“Mute in an English-Only World,” Chang-rae Lee

“Public and Private Language,” Richard Rodriguez

“Last Words,” Walter Benn Michaels

CHAPTER 9 BELIEFS, VALUES, AND THE HUMAN CONDITION

Introduction

“I Have a Dream,” Martin Luther King Jr.

“The Ways We Lie,” Stephanie Ericsson

“Salvation,” Langston Hughes

“Who Are You Animal Rights Activists Anyway?” Tom Regan

“Get a Knife, Get a Dog, but Get Rid of Guns,” Molly Ivins

“If Torture Works…,” Michael Ignatieff

“The Last Word on the Last Breath,” Jan Hoffman

“Superhero Worship,” Virginia Postrel

Credits

Index

Additional Titles of Interest