Voices and Values, 2/e
Overview
Voices and Values does more than just present a collection of inspiring readings. Its goal is to help students master the basic reading, thinking, and writing skills essential for college success. Among the book's distinctive features are 1) 40 lively, thought-provoking reading selections; 2) high-quality activities that offer practice in both reading and writing; and 3) numerous paragraph and essay writing assignments, along with detailed suggestions to help students succeed on the assignments. This reading/writing/thinking book is ideal for courses emphasizing the reading-writing connection. The book also works well as a reader in a writing course covering paragraphs, essays, or both; as an anthology in an English course studying the essay as a genre; and as an anthology in an English course studying the essay as a genre.
More information
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Key Features
Readings that celebrate human values
Timely, engaging, thought-provoking essays celebrate old-fashioned human values in a style that never preaches. For example, in the first selection, “The Blind Vet,” an author describes the despair and helplessness felt by an injured veteran and the steps he took to regain his independence. The story becomes an argument for the importance of perseverance—never giving up despite the odds—and the need for love and compassion. Other essays—in a style that never preaches—cover such values as gratitude, personal growth, fairness, responsibility, kindness, courage, common sense, and moderation.
High-quality activities
Accompanying the selections is a series of activities that will help students improve their reading, thinking, and writing skills. Activities include:
• freewriting topics
• discussion questions
• vocabulary questions
• paragraph assignments
• reading comprehension questions
• essay assignments
Sample topic sentences and thesis statements, along with specific suggestions for providing support, help students to succeed on the writing assignments. Finally, fifteen additional assignments ask students to read two of the essays and write a paper based on both.
Versatility
The book would be ideal for a reading/writing course. It can also be used as a core text in a reading course or as a reader in a writing course covering paragraphs, essays, or both.
Handy supplements
An annotated Instructor’s Edition of the book includes answers and explanations, making the book very easy for teachers to use. Available at TP’s online Learning Center are teaching suggestions, answers to the Vocabulary and Reading Checks, suggested answers to the discussion questions, guided writing assignments, and five additional readings.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Unit One: Overcoming Obstacles
1. The Blind Vet Gail Hoffman
2. The Scholarship Jacket Marta Salinas
3. Life Over Death Bill Broderick
4. A Small Victory Steve Lopez
5. Joe Davis: A Cool Man Beth Johnson
6. Migrant Child to College Woman Maria Cardenas
7. He Was First John Kellmayer
8. Into the Light Tanya Savory
Unit Two: Understanding Ourselves
9. Night Watch Roy Popkin
10. The Most Hateful Words Amy Tan
11. A Door Swings Open Roxanne Black
12. Responsibility M. Scott Peck
13. Thank You Alex Haley
14. The Ugly Truth about Beauty Dave Barry
15. Dealing with Feelings Rudolph F. Verderber
16. The Bystander Effect Dorothy Barkin
17. Soft Addictions Tim Bashard
Unit Three: Relating to Others
18. All the Good Things Sister Helen Mrosla
19. Shame Dick Gregory
20. Adult Children at Home Marilyn Mack
21. Abusive Relationships Among the Young Miriam Hill
22. Rowing the Bus Paul Logan
23. The Rudeness Epidemic Gary Wooten
24. Unexpected Kindness Tim Whitaker
25. Love Lisa Scottoline
Unit Four: Educating Ourselves
26. The Fist, the Clay, and the Rock Donald Holland
27. A Change of Attitude Grant Berry
28. Now More Than Ever: Community Colleges Daniel Wister
29. Reading to Survive Paul Langan
30. The Professor Is a Dropout Beth Johnson
31. The Medium is the Medium David Brooks
32. Learning Survival Skills Jean Coleman
Unit Five: Examining Social Issues
33. Sleeping with Guns Bruce Holbert
34. My Daughter Smokes Alice Walker
35. A Drunken Ride, A Tragic Aftermath Theresa Conroy and Christine M. Johnson
36. Marijuana Today Mark Bowden
37. Help Thy Neighbor and Go Straight to Prison Nicholas D. Kristoff
38. What Causes Hearing Loss Jane E. Brody
39. The Bitter Truth about Sugar Emily Carlin
40. Young and Isolated Jennifer M. Silva
Unit Six: Writing a Research Paper with Sources
41. The Research Paper
42. Formatting and Documentation
Additional Writing Assignments
Acknowledgments
Index
Reading Performance Chart
Changes in This Edition
• Twenty new reading selections. Half of the readings have been replaced with new selections, many taken from current print and online publications. These new readings speak directly to 21st-century concerns. In addition, several of the readings from the first edition have been updated.
• Added questions on the writer’s craft. These questions, located at the end of each Reading Check, will help students further sharpen both their reading and their writing skills.
• A full-color design. Color has been carefully used throughout—not as window dressing, but to add clarity and readability to the different parts of each chapter in the book.
• Appealing visuals. Because so many students today are visual learners, a photograph or other illustration has been added to each reading to help engage students’ interest.
• New third-person writing assignments. Half of the paragraph assignments and half of the essay assignments are first-person; the other half of the assignments are third-person. Many of these include suggestions for Internet research, thereby permitting students to become familiar with using Google and other search engines to gather material for a paper.
• A new unit on the research paper. Unit Six contains material on writing a research paper with sources, as well as a sample research paper in MLA format.