A Writer’s Reader is a collection of twenty professional essays and multimedia selections. We hope, first of all, that you will read these pieces simply for the sake of reading—enjoying and responding to their ideas. Second, we hope that you will actively study these essays and multimedia presentations as solid examples of the situations and strategies explored in the rest of this book. The authors represented in this reader have faced the same problems and choices you do when you write. You can learn from studying their decisions, structures, and techniques. Finally, we hope that you will find the content of the selections intriguing—and along with the questions posed after each one, a source of ideas to write about.

Each chapter in A Writer’s Reader concentrates on a broad theme—families, men and women, popular culture, life in a digital age, and the challenge of living well. Some selections focus on the inner world of personal experience and opinion. Others turn to the outer world with information and persuasion. Each chapter presents a pair of essays that explore the same subject, illustrating how different writers use different strategies to address similar issues. Two additional selections expand each theme through text, infographics, visuals, or audio.

Each selection is preceded by biographical information, placing the author—and the piece itself—in a cultural and informational context. Next a reading note, As You Read, suggests a way to consider the selection. Following each reading are five Questions to Start You Thinking that consistently cover meaning, writing strategies, critical thinking, vocabulary, and connections with other selections in A Writer’s Reader. Each paired essay is also followed by a question that asks you about a link between the essays. Next come a couple of journal prompts designed to get your writing juices flowing. Finally, two possible assignments make specific suggestions for writing. The first is directed toward your inner world, asking you to draw generally on your personal experience and your understanding of the essay. The second is directed outward, asking you to look outside yourself and write an evaluative or argumentative paper that may require further reading or research.