Patterns of Reflection

Preface



1. On Reading and Writing

The Challenges and Rewards of Writing

Good Reasons for Reading

Guidelines for Active Reading

Guided Reading: Ellen Goodman, "Learning to Brake for Butterflies"

Writing Focus: Using Summary, Analysis, and Synthesis

Getting Started: Richard Wilbur, "The Writer"

Gail Godwin, "The Watcher at the Gates"

Terry McMillan, "On Reading and Becoming a Writer"

Kurt Vonnegut, "How to Write with Style"

*Gretel Ehrlich, "Santa Rosa Island, 1998" (Journal)

Making Connections: Among the Writers and Online

Communicating with Instructors and Peers-In Person and Online

Topics for Writing

2. Using Narration: Growing Up, Growing Wiser

When to Use Narration

How to Use Narration

Writing Focus: Preparing Your Essay for Readers

Getting Started: Reflections on Growing Up or Growing Wiser

Santha Rama Rau, "By Any Other Name"

Luis J. Rodriguez, "Always Running"

N. Scott Momaday, "The End of My Childhood"

Barbara Kingsolver, "How Mr. Dewey Decimal Saved My Life"

Gaye Wagner, "Death of an Officer"

*Meredith F. Small, "Captivated"

Making Connections: Among the Writers and Online

Topics for Writing

A Checklist for Narration Essays

3. Using Description: Reflecting on People and Places

When to Use Description

How to Use Description

Writing Focus: It's All about Words

Getting Started: Reflections on a Painting

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, The Third of May, 1808

Edgar Degas, The Dance Class

Vincent Van Gogh, The Night Cafe

Pablo Picasso, Three Dancers

* Georgia O'Keeffe, Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Salvador Dali, The Persistence of Memory

Tracy Kidder, "Mrs. Zajac"

Amy Tan, "Lost Lives of Women"

Pat Mora, "Remembering Lobo"

Diane Ackerman, "Let It Snow"

Lance Morrow, "Africa"

*Jonathan Schell, "Ground Zero"

Student Essay-Description: Alexa Skandar, "Time's Trophy"

Making Connections: Among the Writers and Online

Topics for Writing

A Checklist for Description Essays

4. Using Comparison and Contrast: Ways of Learning

When to Use Comparison and Contrast

How to Use Comparison and Contrast

Writing Focus: Coherence Is Crucial

Getting Started: Reflecting on Expectations of College

Nancy Masterson Sakamoto, "Conversational Ballgames"

E. B. White, "Education"

*Brent Staples, "What Adolescents Miss When We Let Them Grow Up in Cyberspace"

Judith Viorst, "Boys and Girls: Anatomy and Destiny"

*Amanda Ripley, "Who Says a Woman Can't Be Einstein?"

*Colbert I. King, "Surveying the Damage on Campus USA"

Linda Pastan, "Marks"

Student Essay-Contrast: Denisse M. Bonilla, "The Faded Stain"

Making Connections: Among the Writers and Online

Topics for Writing

A Checklist for Comparison and Contrast Essays

5. Explaining and Illustrating: Examining Media Images

When to Use Examples

How to Use Examples

Writing Focus: Vary Your Sentences

Getting Started: Thinking About Advertising

Four Ads: Fila, Got Milk?, Council for Biotechnology Information, Expedia.com

Jack McGarvey, "To Be or Not to Be as Defined by TV"

Gloria Steinem, "Sex, Lies, and Advertising"

*Vincent P. Bzdek, "More Powerful Than . . . Ever: On-Screen and Off, Superheroes Are a Force to Reckon With"

Stephanie Mencimer, "Violent Femmes"

Suzanne Fields, "Bad Raps: Music Rebels Revel in Their Thug Life"

Dave Barry, "Call Hating"

*Student Essay-Explaining and Illustrating: Michael King, "Rap's Refusal of Injustice"

Making Connections: Among the Writers and Online

Topics for Writing

A Checklist for Essays Using Examples

6. Using Process Analysis: How We Work and Play

When to Use Process Analysis

How to Use Process Analysis

Writing Focus: Punctuating Properly

Getting Started: Reflections on Your Favorite Game

John P. Aigner, "Putting Your Job Interview into Rehearsal"

Suzette H. Elgin, "Improving Your Body Language Skills"

*Caroline Hwang, "How to Turn No into Yes!"

*Gail Saltz, "How to Get Unstuck Now!"

Carol Krucoff, "Restoring Recess"

Ernest Hemingway, "Camping Out"

Making Connections: Among the Writers and Online

Topics for Writing

A Checklist for Process Essays

7. Using Division and Classification: Examining Ways We Connect--or Fail to Connect-to Others

When to Use Division and Classification

How to Use Division and Classification

Writing Focus: Words to Live Without!

Getting Started: Classifying Recent Reading or Viewing

Russell Baker, "The Plot Against People"

Judith Martin, "The Roles of Manners"

Franklin E. Zimring, "Hot Boxes for Ex-Smokers"

Curt Suplee, "The Science and Secrets of Personal Space"

*Stephanie Ericsson, "The Ways We Lie"

Ralph Whitehead, Jr., "Class Acts: America's Changing Middle Class"

Student Essay-Division and Classification: Garrett Berger, "Buying Time"

Making Connections: Among the Writers and Online

Topics for Writing

A Checklist for Division and Classification Essays

8. Using Definition: Understanding Ideas and Values

When to Use Definition

How to Develop an Extended Definition

Writing Focus: Using Metaphors, Avoiding Cliches

Getting Started: Reflections on E. B. White's Ideas of Democracy

Margaret Mead and Rhoda Metraux, "On Friendship"

John Ciardi, "Is Everybody Happy?"

Robert Keith Miller, "Discrimination Is a Virtue"

*William Lutz, "Doubts about Doublespeak"

Andrew Vachss, "The Difference Between `Sick' and `Evil'"

*David Hackett Fischer, "Freedom's Not Just Another Word"

Alistair Reid, "Curiosity"

Student Essay-Definition: Laura Mullins, "Paragon or Parasite?"

Making Connections: Among Writers and Online

Topics for Writing

A Checklist for Definition Essays

9. Using Causal Analysis: Examining Family and Community Issues

When to Use Causal Analysis

How to use Causal Analysis

Writing Focus: References to Authors, Works, and the Words of Others

Getting Started: Reflections on Why You Are in College or Why You Have a Particular Trait/Interest

Amitai Etzioni, "Duty: The Forgotten Virtue"

Keith Ablow, "When Parents Are Toxic to Children"

Linda J. Waite, "Social Science Finds: `Marriage Matters'"

Stephanie Coontz, "Not Much Sense in Those Census Stories"

*Judith D. Auerbach, "The Overlooked Victims of AIDS"

*David Ropeik, "What Really Scares Us?"

Langston Hughes, "Dream Deferred"

Making Connections: Among Writers and Online

Topics for Writing

A Checklist for Causal Analysis Essays

10. Using Argument and Persuasion: Preserving a Safe and Sane World

The Characteristics of Argument

How to Use Argument and Persuasion

Writing Focus: Logical Fallacies

Getting Started: Reflections on the Challenges Facing our World

Molly Ivins, "Ban the Things. Ban Them All"

Ned Andrews, "Why Guns Matter"

Linda J. Collier, "Adult Crime, Adult Time"

Richard Cohen, "Kids Who Kill Are Still Kids"

*John Borneman and Laurie Kain Hart, "An Elastic Institution"

*Michael Kinsley, "Abolish Marriage"

*Laura W. Murphy, "No Safer and Less Free"

*Robert Kuttner, "Try National ID Card-You Might Like It"

*Andrew Sullivan, "The Case for Compromise on Abortion"

Student Essay-Refutation: David M. Ouellette, "Blame It on the Media and Other Ways to Dress a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing"

Making Connections: Among the Writers and Online

Topics for Writing

A Checklist for Argument Essays

11. Works for Further Reading and Analysis

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, "Declaration of Sentiments"

Kate Chopin, "The Story of an Hour"

*Amy Lowell, "Taxi"

Richard Rodriguez, "Border Hazards: An Obsession to Become Unhealthy"

Suzanne Britt, "Neat People vs. Sloppy People"

Lisa Mundy, "A Date to Remember"

Glossary



Credits



Index