About the Book - Features

The length and "level" of the essays vary greatly, so teachers can fit the book to their own students' needs. Selections are given in chapters according to mode of organization, so classes can focus on major patterns of thought, one at a time. Chapters progress from easiest and most universal ("Narration" and "Example") through the more logic-oriented ("Cause and Effect" and "Comparison and Contrast") to the most far-ranging and challenging ("Argumentation and Persuasion").

Each selection begins with a lively introduction to the author, and closes with suggested "Explorations" of related print and Internet resources. (The book's own website offers at least one link related to the author and/or topic of every selection to heighten student interest and suggest research paths for the students' own essays.) Probing discussion questions follow each essay, and a full page of essay topics closes each chapter. An overview of the process model of writing opens the entire book, and the introduction to each chapter explains the rhetorical mode demonstrated by the selections that follow.