Affordable and portable. With a superb selection of readings and at an amazingly low price, 50 Essays is less than half the cost and two-thirds the length of most other readers.
A highly teachable selection of classic and contemporary writing. 50 Essays offers excellent models of good writing with selections proven to be effective in the classroom. Classic selections by authors such Frederick Douglass, Plato, and Virginia Woolf expose students to time-tested writing. Contemporary, culturally diverse writers, such as Sherman Alexie, Judith Ortiz Cofer, and Amy Tan introduce alternative perspectives and voices.
A flexible collection that can be adapted to suit a variety of classroom needs. The alphabetical-by-author arrangement of the readings is supplemented by five alternative tables of contents that organize the selections by theme, rhetorical mode, writing purpose, chronological order, and into teaching pairs and clusters.
Practical apparatus that meets the needs of writing instructors. The editorial material moves students from critical reading to thoughtful writing and revising.
- An introduction for students discusses the relationship between critical thinking, reading, and writing.
- Headnotes precede each reading, providing biographical and contextual background.
- Four kinds of questions follow each selection to help students understand, analyze, and connect to what they read.
- A glossary of writing terms provides definitions of important rhetorical concepts, including examples drawn from essays in the anthology.