PREFACE: Demystifying Academic Conversation
INTRODUCTION: Entering the Conversation
Part 1 - "THEY SAY"
1. "THEY SAY": Starting with What Others Are Saying
2. "HER POINT IS": The Art of Summarizing
3. "AS HE HIMSELF PUTS IT": The Art of Quoting
Part 2 - "I SAY"
4. "YES / NO / OKAY, BUT": Three Ways to Respond
5. "AND YET": Distinguishing What You Say from What They Say
6. "SKEPTICS MAY OBJECT ": Planting a Naysayer in Your Text
7. "SO WHAT? WHO CARES?": Saying Why It Matters
Part 3 - TYING IT ALL TOGETHER
8. "AS A RESULT": Connecting the Parts
9. "AIN'T SO / IS NOT": Academic Writing Doesn't Mean Setting Aside Your Own Voice
10. "BUT DON'T GET ME WRONG": The Art of Metacommentary
Part 4 - ENTERING THE CONVERSATION
11. "I TAKE YOUR POINT": Entering Class Discussions
12. "WHAT'S MOTIVATING THIS WRITER?": Reading for the Conversation
13. "ANALYZE THIS": Writing in the Social Sciences
Part 5 - READINGS
14. IS HIGHER EDUCATION WORTH THE PRICE?
- SANFORD J. UNGAR, The New Liberal Arts
- DAVID FOSTER WALLACE, Kenyon Commencement Speech
- LIZ ADDISON, Two Years Are Better Than Four
- KEVIN CAREY, Why Do You Think They're Called For-Profit Colleges?
- CHARLES MURRAY, Are Too Many People Going to College?
- MIKE ROSE, Blue-Collar Brilliance
- ROBIN WILSON, A Lifetime of Student Debt? Not Likely
15. IS POP CULTURE ACTUALLY GOOD FOR YOU?
- STEVEN JOHNSON, Watching TV Makes You Smarter
- DANA STEVENS, Thinking Outside the Idiot Box
- ANTONIA PEACOCKE, Family Guy and Freud
- MALCOLM GLADWELL, Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted
- DENNIS BARON, Reforming Egypt in 140 Characters?
- DAVID CRYSTAL, 2B or Not 2B?
- ROZ CHAST, The I.M.s of Romeo and Juliet
- TOM BISSELL, Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter
- JASON ZINSER, The Good, the Bad, and The Daily Show
- GERALD GRAFF, Hidden Intellectualism
16. IS FAST FOOD THE NEW TOBACCO?
- DAVID ZINCZENKO, Don't Blame the Eater
- RADLEY BALKO, What You Eat Is Your Business
- JUDITH WARNER, Junking Junk Food
- WIL HAYGOOD, Kentucky Town of Manchester Illustrates National Obesity Crisis
- MICHELLE OBAMA, Remarks to the NAACP National Convention
- MICHAEL POLLAN, Escape from the Western Diet
- MARY MAXFIELD, Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating
- SUSIE ORBACH, Fat Is a Feminist Issue
- CARRIE PACKWOOD FREEMAN AND DEBRA MERSKIN, Having It His Way: The Construction of Masculinity in Fast-Food TV Advertising
17. WHY DOES IT MATTER WHO WINS THE BIG GAME?
- MAYA ANGELOU, Champion of the World
- WILFRID SHEED, Why Sports Matter
- MICHAEL KIMMELMAN, Women Who Hit Very Hard and How They've Changed Tennis
- JENNIE YABROFF, In Defense of Cheering
- FELISA ROGERS, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Football
- SARA MARATTA, Move Over Boys, Make Room in the Crease
- WILLIAM MOLLER, We, the Public, Place the Best Athletes on Pedestals
- JOE POSNANSKI, Cheating and CHEATING
18. WHAT'S UP WITH THE AMERICAN DREAM?
- BOB HERBERT, Hiding from Reality
- CAL THOMAS, Is the American Dream Over?
- BRANDON KING, American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?
- ROBERT H. FRANK, Income Inequality: Too Big to Ignore
- PAUL KRUGMAN, Confronting Inequality
- KAREN OLSSON, Up Against Wal-Mart
- SEBASTIAN MALLABY, Progressive Wal-Mart. Really.
- CONSTANCE M. RUZICH AND A. J. GRANT, Predatory Lending and the Devouring of the American Dream
- BARACK OBAMA, A More Perfect Union