TITLE : MACMILLAN READER, THE

THE READING PROCESS................................1
Ellen Goodman At a Nuclear Age 7
A journalist has trouble answering her child's questions
about the kind of future possible in a nuclear age.
 
THE WRITING PROCESS.................................13
DESCRIPTION.........................................59
Introduction:
What Is Description? When to Use
Description Suggestions for Using
Description in an Essay
Student Essay and Commentary 67
Larry Woiwode Wanting an Orange 72
You'll be surprised to learn how much can be said about
eating an orange.
Russell Baker In My Day 78
The author visits his elderly mother in the hospital and
muses on the entwining of lives within a family.
Calvin Trillin The Bubble Gum Store 86
A small corner store offers its neighbors more than just the
products on its shelves.
E. B. White Once More to the Lake 96
Past, present, and future merge when White returns to a
beloved boyhood spot.
Peggy Anderson Children's Hospital 105
A hospital can be designed so it is not a forbidding place for
patients and their families.
Additional Writing Topics	111
 
NARRATION......................................113
Introduction:
What Is Narration?	When to Use
Narration Suggestions for Using Narration
in an Essay
Student Essay and Commentary 121
George Orwell Shooting an Elephant 126
The author recounts a dramatic time when, under great
pressure, he acted against his better instincts.
Bob Greene Handled with Care 136
A woman sheds her clothes in the midst of a busy city street,
and passersby react in a surprising way.
T. H. Watkins Little Deaths 141
While watching a professional trapper go about his job, the
author reaches some important conclusions about life.
Lan,gston Hughes Salvation 150
In the course of being "saved" during a revival meeting, a
young boy's life is changed forever.
Theodore Sizer Horace's Compromise 155
What is it like to be the person behind the desk in a high
school class? Follow along as a teacher works his way
through a typically busy, often frustrating day.
Additional Writing Topics 168
 
EXEMPLIFICATION..................................171
Introduction:
What Is Exemplification? When to Use
Exemplification Suggestions for Using
Exemplification in an Essay
Student Essay and Commentary 180
Vance Packard Children at Risk 187
Throughout history, children have been mistreated. Is
present-day America any different?
Betty Rollin Allene Talmey 195
A formidable boss teaches a beginner some important les-
sons.
Anne Morrow LindberBh Channelled
Whelk 201
The author meditates upon the beauty and meaning of a
simple sea shell.
AlleenPaceNilsen SexismandLanguage 210
Language, it seems, can be as prejudiced and unfair as people.
Malcoln Cowley The View from 80 219
Reflecting on the vices and the pleasures of being old, Cowley offers
an interesting perspective on the process of aging.
Additional Writing Topics 228
 
PROCESS ANALYSIS......................................231
Introduction:
What Is Process Analysis? When to Use
Process Analysis Suggestions for Using
Process Analysis in an Essay
Student Essay and Commentary 240
Stephen Leacock How to Live to Be 200 247
Are you tired of the holier-than-thou attitude of fitness fanatics?
Leacock is.
Sue Hubbell The Beekeeper 252
A farmer explains why beekeepers sometimes set out to get
stung.
Jessica Mitford The American Way of
Death 258
The funeral industry says more about our attitudes toward
death than we care to admit.
Paul Roberts How to Say Nothing in 500
Words 267
An English professor analyzes a student essay, full of sound
and fury, signifying nothing.
Peter McWilliams Selecting a Word
Processing Computer 283
Would you be intimidated by the prospect of buying a word
processor? The author's lively and helpful advice makes the
task much less overwhelming.
Additional Writing Topics 289
 
COMPARISON-CONTRAST..................................291
Introduction:
What Is Comparison-Contrastz	When to
Use Comparison-Contrast Suggestions for
Using Comparison-Contrast in an Essay
Student Essay and Commentary 300
Michael LeBosuf Japan: The Productivity
Challenge 306
"Made in Japan" is now a boast, not the admission of inferi-
ority it once was. Do the Japanese know something we
don't?
Alison Lurie Male and Female 319
What we wear says a good deal about who we are and the
kind of society we live in.
Art Spikol High Noon 328
The author goes to a Saturday matinee and finds it doesn't
compare with the matinees of his youth.
Richard Rodri,guez Workers 337
A summer job teaches a college student some important
things about himself and the world of work.
Loren Eiseley The Brown Wasps 346
Just like the humblest of animals, most of us cling to a
home, a place where we feel we belong.
Additional Writing Topics 356
 
CAUSE-EFFECT.....................................359
Introduction:
What Is Cause-Effect? When to Use
Cause-Effect Suggestions for Using Cause-
Effect in an Essay
Student Essay and Commentary 368
George Gallup, Jr. The Faltering Family 375
Is our most basic institution beginning to crumble? Statistics suggest
that it may well be.
Peter Farb In Other Words 387
What we say is important, but sometimes we express more
with our bodies than we do with words.
Tom Wolfe O Rotten Gotham-Sliding
Down into the Behavioral
Sink 395
Overcrowding takes its toll on Homo sapiens just as it does
on other animals.
Tony Schwartz Communication in the Year
2000 404
A new revolution is upon us, one that may be comparable to
the changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution.
Lewis Thomas The Health Care System 414
Our national preoccupation with health may be itself un-
healthy.
Additional Writing Topics 420
 
DEFINITION...........................................423
Introduction:
What Is Definition? When to Use
Definition Suggestions for Using
Definition in an Essay
Student Essay and Commentary 430
K C. Cole Entropy 437
A noted science writer observes that disorder is the natural
order of things-in her life and in the universe at large.
Stuart Chase A Very Private Utopia 443
If a perfect world were possible, what would it be like? Here
is one person's account of heaven on earth.
Judy Syfers Why I Want a Wife 453
A traditional wife can make life smooth and easy. No
wonder everyone wants one.
H. L. Mencken The Politician 458
We Americans take pride in our democratic system, but
we've never been very fond of our elected officials. Mencken
explains why.
Marie Winn TV Addiction 465
You don't have to abuse drugs or alcohol to be an addict.
Such a label may apply if you have trouble turning off the
television set.
Additional Writing Topics 468
 
DIVISION-CLASSIFICATION..................................473
Introduction:
What Is Division-Classification? When to
Use Division-Classification Suggestions for
Using Division-Classification in an Essay
Student Essay and Commentary 483
Dave Bawy In Depth, but Shallowly 491
Does your local TV news feature a smiling newscaster, a
chatty sports reporter, and plenty of film footage? If it does,
you will be interested in Barry's reaction to such a format.
William Zinsser College Pressures 497
According to Zinsser, many students concentrate almost
exclusively on the practical-and miss some of the most
important offerings of college life.
David Hilfiker Making Medical
Mistakes 508
Most people think of doctors as all-knowing experts, but a
compassionate, honest physician admits that he has made
many mistakes.
Ann McClintock Propaganda Techniques in
Today's Advertising 522
Propaganda is not just a tool of totalitarian states. American
advertisers use propaganda to get us to buy their products.
Desmond Mowis Individual and Group
Identity 532
Like the majority of animals, humans are deeply concerned
with territories and boundaries.
Additional Writing Topics 544
 
ARGUMENTATION-PERSUASION................................547
Introduction:
What Is Argumentation-Persuasion?
When to Use Argumentation-
Persuasion Suggestions for Using
Argumentation-Persuasion in an Essay
Student Essay and Commentary 568
Jean Marzollo My Pistol-Packing Kids 576
Parents are sometimes appalled by the violent fantasy games
their kids play, but such games may be good for children.
Paul Fussell The BoyScout Handbook 584
The Boy Scout movement teaches more than woodcraft and
knot tying. It offers some sound advice for leading good,
decent lives.
Harold Krents Darkness at Noon 592
The author, who is blind, urges society to change its attitude
toward the handicapped.
Loudon Wainwri,ght A Little Banning Is a
Dangerous Thing 597
Wainwright contends that book banners, not books, endan-
ger children.
Rof er Rosenblatt The Man in the Water 603
A tragic plane crash prompts the writer to explore what it
means to be a hero.
Mark Twain The Damned Human Race 609
With scathing irony, this celebrated writer exposes the vio-
lent nature of the lowest creature on earth.
Thomas Tutto and To Win or Not to Win:
William Bruns That Is the Question 618
We often preach that it's not whether you win or lose, but
it's how you play the game. For most people, though, winning is
everything.
Frank Trippett A Red Light for Scofflaws 627
Are you a criminal? Probably. You may not steal or murder,
but you most likely indulge in the minor law-breaking Trippett
believes is common nowadays.
Margaret Mead One Vote for This Age of
Anxiety 633
The famous anthropologist argues that we should not be
dismayed by the anxiety of modern times; we should, in-
stead, view it as a hopeful sign.
Additional Writing Assignments 640
 
FOR FURTHER READING.............................643
Alice Walker Beauty: When the Other
Dancer Is the Self 644
A disfiguring eye injury leads the author to some insights
about beauty, self-image, and identity.
James Thurber University Days 652
With humor and wit, Thurber portrays college as a struggle
between diligent, well-meaning profs and innocent but
dense students.
Jonathan Swift A Modest Proposal 659
One of the world's great satirists proposes an outrageous
solution to his country's economic problems.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Where Do We Go
From Here: Community or Chaos? 668
America's most influential civil rights leader pleads elo-
quently for a drastic change in the way that governments
pursue world peace.
JoanDidion In Bed 673
Tired of being considered a hypochondriac, a migraine suf-
ferer argues convincingly that her pain is real and not imag-
ined.
 
Glossary 677
 
Thematic Contents 692
 
Index I-1