Beyond Words: Cultural Texts For Reading and Writing, 2nd Edition

Beyond Words is a highly visual, thematically-organized reader intended for use in introductory composition courses.  Including over 200 color images in a wide variety of media and genres and over 70 readings, Beyond Words offers strategies for reading and responding to texts - verbal and visual texts - and practice in informative, analytical, and persuasive writing.

Introduction

 

Chapter 1 READING TEXTS

           

Identifying subject or focus

            Identify the subject

            Find focal points

            Examine and interpret the details

            Notice what is missing

                    Painting: Pere Borrell, “Escaping Criticism,”

                    Photo: James Evans, “Hallie’s Hands"

                    Photo: Donald Judd, Fifteen Untitled Works in Concrete

Considering audience

            Notice how a text signals its audience

            Assess the level of the message

            Note the demographics

            Understand the original or intended audience

            Notice how the audience has changed

                    Web Page: Daily Kos

                    Ad: Nike, “My Butt Is Big”

                    Ad: From 1956 Dodge La Femme Brochure

                    Photo: leni riefenstahl, Triumph of the will

Understanding purpose

            Understand texts that inform and analyze

            Understand texts that persuade

            Understand texts that teach and delight

                     Web page: Michael Jordan’s The Steakhouse N.Y.C.

                    Photo: Frank Gehry, Stata Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2004

Identifying genres

            Identify the conventions of the genre

            Recognize changing conventions

                    Poem: William Shakespeare, Sonnet 130

                    Poem: Seamus Heaney, “Clearances”

Examining media     

            Understand media

            Appreciate language as a  medium

                      Web page: Lara Croft Tomb Raider Online Game

                      Web page: Barak Obama Presidential Announcement, 2007

                     Photo: John McCain Presidential Announcement, 2007         

Understanding  contexts

            Understand the context

            Explore personal associations

                      Editorial Cartoon: Thomas Nast, The American River Ganges

Examining structure and composition

            Examine the parts

                   Photo: Shakespeare at Winedale, Henry V, 2001

                   Photo: Grid Lines showing the Rule of Thirds

                   Paintings: Mark Ulriksen, “Puppy Love”  and “Little Dog,”

                   Painting: Michelangelo da Caravaggio, David And Goliath

 Understanding and Reading Media

            Essay: Thomas Washington, A Librarian’s Lament: Books Are a Hard Sell

            Essay: Manohia Dargis, Defending Goliath: Hollywood and the Art of Blockbuster

            Essay: Steven Johnson, Watching TV Makes You Smarter

 

 

Chapter 2 Composing Texts

           

Choosing a Subject or Focus

            Stretch your comfort zone

            Define your subject

                         Ad: Oreck Special Edition XL Ultra Vacuum Cleaner

                        Posters:  S. Mirzoyan, A. Ivanov, “Help Build the Gigantic Factories,” ; Raul Martínez, “Fidel”

Reaching an Audience

            Know your audience

            Figure out what your audience needs

            Earn the interest of your audience

                        Photo: Cover of Rolling Stone, November 16, 2006

Deciding on Your Purpose and Context

            Understand your assignment

            Respond to  opportunities

            Explain the Context of your project  

                        Photo: Dorothea Lange, “Migrant Mother”

Choosing a genre and structure

            Writing a description

            Writing a narrative

            Writing a comparison and/or contrast project

            Writing a report

            Writing a response or position paper

            Preparing a problem/solution project

            Writing a rhetorical analysis

            Writing an ad analysis

            Writing an argument

            Preparing an oral report

                        Photo: Fake Nissan Altima Keys 

Choosing a medium

            Choose the spoken word

            Choose written words

            Choose the fine art

            Choose the graphic arts

            Choose photography

            Choose film

            Choose video

            Choose the World Wide Web

            Choose multimedia

                        Report: Opening pages of Chapter 9 from The 9/11 Commission Report

                        Graphic Adaptation: From Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón, The 9/11 Report: A Graphic adaptation

                        Web page: NASA Multimedia Page

Doing research and documenting sources

            Scope out your topic   

            Be methodical in your research   

            Use the library  

            Use the Internet  

            Learn from experts   

            Prepare a field observation   

            Document your sources  

Revising and editing            

            Evaluate and revise your work

            Sweat the details

Project 2.1: Analyzing a Visual Text

            Student Project:  Jacqueline Cruz, “She’s Very Charlie”

 

 

CHAPTER 3 IDENTITIES

 

Reading Texts about Identity

            Gallery: Representations of Identity

             Dorothea Lange, Drought Refugees Camping

             Pepsi Ad Featuring David Beckham

             Jim Borgman, I Want to Be ...

             Love Me Tender Movie Poster

             Judy Syfers-Brady, "Why I Want a Wife"

            Razanne Doll and Muslim Girl

             Edward Hopper, Nighthawks

             Gordon Parks, American Gothic

Cluster 3.1 Life Stories

            Essay: Patricia Hampl, "I Could Tell You Stories"

            Graphic Novel: Marjane Satrapi, From Persepolis, "The Veil"

            Painting: Albrecht Dürer, Self Portraits

            Essay:  Alison Statement, "Postcards from the Edge"

            Photo Essay: Jim Goldberg, Images from Raised by Wolves

            Photo: Harry Benson, Jubilant Clay

            Essay:  Annie Dillard, from An American Childhood

Cluster 3.2 Bodies

             Essay: Susan Bordo, "The Empire of Images in Our World of Bodies"

             Photo Montage: On the Cover of Rolling Stone

             Essay: Jose Appelton, "The Body Piercing Project"

             Photo: A Ramey, Holding Cell, Maricopa County Jail

            Photo: Uwe Krejci, Teenagers with Facial Piercings

            Essay: Henry Louis Gates, "In the Kitchen"

            Photo: Bob Marley Performing in Stockholm

            Photo:  Nat King Cole

Cluster 3.3 Groups and Ethnicities

             Essay: Lan Tran, "Lone Stars"

             Photo: Matthias Clamer, Young Men Entering Cowboy Saloon

             Short story: Alice Walker, "Everyday Use"

             Photo: AIDS Quilt, Washington, D.C.

             Photos: Edward Curtis, A Navaho and White Duck; Gertrude Kusebier, Zitkala-Sa

             Short story: Sherman Alexie, "I Hated Tonto (Still Do)"

            Photo: Hulleach J. Tsinhnajinnie, Damn!

Writing About Identity

Project 3.1 Composing a Personal Memoir

            Student Project: Allen Shannon, "Uncle Duane"

Project 3.2 Researching and Profiling a Person

            Student Project: Billy Smith, "Gordon Parks: Using Photographs to Spark Social Change"

Additional Projects

           

 

Chapter 4 Places and Environments

             

Reading Texts about Places and Environments

            Gallery: Places and Environments

            Paris Casino, The Strip, Las Vegas

             Smiley N. Poole, The Dallas Morning News, “The Water Is Rising”

             David Muench, Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park

             Melissa Ann Pinney, Disney World, Orlando, Florida

             Tapei 101

             Bobby Troup, "Route 66"

             Richard Harrod, Café, Montmatre

            Mark Riboud, A Street in Old Beijing

             Alice Attie, From Harlem in Transition

Cluster  4.1: Places We Inhabit

             Photo: Sears Catalog, The Dover

            Essay: David Brooks, "Our Sprawling, Supersize Utopia"

            Photos: Images from Surburban Life

            Essay: Jenny Attiyeh, "My Ghost Town: A Vanishing Personal History "

            Photo: Jonathan Levine,  Jelly! Austin, TX

            Essay: Glenn Reynolds, "The Comfy Chair Revolution"

            Essay: Michael Gerson, "Where the Avatars Roam"

            Essay: Ryan Bretag, Welcome to the Texas State University Second Life Campus

Cluster 4.2 Borderlands

            Editorial Cartoons: On Immigration

            Essay: Charles Bowden, "Our Wall"

            Photo: Diane Cook and Len Jenshel, Tijuana, Mexico

            Poem: Benjamin Alire Saenz, "War (in the city in which I live)"

            Photo: Joe Grossinger, from El Paso Street Art

            Essay: Randal C. Archibold, "Far from Home, Mexicans Sing Age-Old Ballads of New Life"

            Photo: Chad Chase, Jose F. Garcia and His Son Benjamin

Cluster 4.3 Roads We Travel

            Poster: Road Trip Movie Poster

            Fiction:  John Steinbeck, from The Grapes of Wrath

            Photo: Cadillac Ranch

            Fiction: Jack Kerouac, From On the Road

            Photo:  Jack Kerouac

            Essay:  Holland Carter, "On My Road"

            Photos:  Ben Shahn, Sign on a Restaurant, Lancaster, Ohio, 1938; Russell Lee, Man Drinking at Water Cooler in the Street Car Terminal, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, July 1939

Writing About Places and Environments

Project 4.1: Analyzing a Representation of a Place

            Student Project: Jenna Williamson, "Gainesville: Selling Small Town America"

Project 4.2: Observing and Analyzing a Public Space

            Student Project: Kruti Parekh, “India: A Culinary Experience”

Additional Projects

 

 

Chapter 5 Media

           

Reading Texts about Media

            Gallery: Surveying Media Landscape

            Got Milk?

            Crowd Gathered Outside An Outdoor TV Set in India

            CNN/YouTube Democratic Presidential Debate

            Personality Identification Playing Cards

            Lewis Hine, Girl Worker in Cotton Mill

            Philip Greenberg, Viagra Model Car

            Human Rights Watch Web Site

            Princess Mononoke Still

            Scene from Survivor

Cluster 5.1 Stories of War

            Interview: Gene Santoro, "A Conversation with Ken Burns"

            Photo: Watching a Medic, Sicily, August 9, 1943

            Web page: Public Broadcasting Service, The War Web Site

            Essay: David Carr, "Telling War’s Deadly Story at Just Enough Distance"

            Photo: George Bush Meeting with Burned Soldier

            Essay: Susan Sontag, From Regarding the Pain of Others

            Photo: Nick Ut, Vietnam Napalm

             Photo: Iraqi Prisoner Consoles his Son

Cluster 5.2 Film Stories over the Years

            Photos: Still Images from Casablanca and North by Northwest

            Essay: Amy Taubin, "Fear of a Black Cinema"

            Photos: Still Images from Do the Right Thing

            Essay: Brian D. Johnson, "The Collateral Damage of Crash"

            Photos: Still Images from Crash

            Photos: Still Images from Brokeback Mountain

Cluster 5.3  Citizens Making Media

            Essay: Henry Jenkins, "From YouTube to YouNiversity"

            Web Page: Newbie's Guide to Literacy Theory

            Photo: Oh Yeon-ho, founder of OhmyNews

            Essay: Brad Stone, "MySpace Data Mining"

            Essay:  Scott Adams, "Giving Stuff Away on the Internet"

            Cartoon:  Scott Adams, Dilbert cartoon

Writing About Media

Project 5.1 Exploring a Filmmaker

            Student Project: Virginia Wooten, "North by NorthWest and SpellBound: Identifiably Hitchcock"

Project 5.2 Composing a Photo Essay

            Student Project: Michael Lee, "Images of History: The Hmong"

Additional Writing Projects

 

 

Chapter 6 Technology and Science

 

Reading Texts about Technology and Science

            Gallery: Technology and Science

            PocketX Software, Cell Phone Instructions

            LCD Screen on a Lexus GS 450h                  

            Bar Graphs and Table, File Sharing 2002-2003      

            AMA Poster “Girlie Drinks, Women’s Diseases”           

            MRI Brain Images

            Kiosk with Informational Flyers

            Newspaper Rock, Utah

            Ready.gov images                                      

            National Geographic EarthPulse Web Site        

Cluster 6.1: Mapping Knowledge         

            Photo: NASA, Blue Marble

            Photo: Images from  Blue Marble, Next Generation

            Essay :Evan Ratliff, “Google Maps is Changing the Way We See the World,”

            Photo: Aerial Streetview

            Editorial: The Denver Post, "Now on Google Maps: You"

            Poem: Elizabeth Bishop, “The Map”

            Essay: Susan Neville, “On Maps and Globes”

Cluster 6.2: Life Science

             Posters: Movie Posters:  Frankenstein,  Blade Runner: The Final Cut and Gattaca

             Essay: Nicholas Wade, “Genetic Engineers Who Don’t Just Tinker”

            Photos: Images of Genetically Engineered Animals

            Photos: Art Works from Gene(sis): Contemporary Art Explores Human Genomics

            Essay: Natalie Angier, “Pursuing Synthetic Life, Dazzled by Reality”

            Essay: Max Houck,  “CSI Reality”

            Photo: Television still from CSI: Miami

Cluster 6.3: Living in Virtual Worlds

             Web page: Screenshot from Guild Wars                    

            Essay: Andrea L. Foster, “The Avatars of Research”

            Web Pages: Screenshots from SecondLife        

            Essay: Alan Sipress,  “Does Virtual Reality Need a Sheriff?”   

            Essay: Steven Johnson,  “This is Your Brain on Video Games”                                 

            Essay: Kevin Spivey,  “Baby, You Mean the World of Warcraft to Me”

Writing About Technology and Science

Project 6.1: Explaining a New Development in Technology or Science

             Student Project: Beau Faulkner, “Year Zero: A Viral Marketing Promotion”

Project 6.2: Writing a Set of Technical Instructions

              Student Project: Hannah Bailey, “Fitting and Preparing Pointe Shoes”

Additional Projects

           

 

Chapter 7 Design, Style, and Culture

 

Reading Texts about Style, Design, and Culture

            Gallery: Design, Style,  and Culture

            Screensaver, The Devil Wears Prada,

           Greg Marting, Giros Atmos bicycle helmet

            Nintendo Wii Controller

            Mary J. Blige, Gap (PRODUCT) RED Collection Ad

            Stills from King Kong, 1933; Poster for King Kong, 1976

            Jeep Design Language: 1940-Present day

            Jay B. Sauceda, "Let Me Learn Ya Somethin'"

Cluster 7.1 The Design of Everyday Things

            Photo: F-16 Fighting Falcon

            Essay: Michael Bierut, "To Hell with the Simple Paper Clip"

           Drawing: The Freedom Chair

            Interview: Pilar Viladas, "Questions for Niels Diffrient"

            Photo: Le Corbusier, Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier, at Poissy, France

            Essay: Cathleen McGuigan, "The McMansion Next Door: Why the American House Needs a Makeover"

            Photo: “HeadOn, Apply directly to the Forehead”

            Essay:  Seth Stevenson, "Head Case: The Mesmerizing Ad for Headache Gel"

Cluster 7.2 The Eyes of the Beholder

            Photos: Still  from Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty

            Essay: "The Campaign for Real Beauty Background"

            Photo: Nikki Blonsky, star of the film Hairspray

            Essay: Virginia Postrel, "The Truth about Beauty"

            Cartoon: Christo Komarnitski, Obesity Planet

            Essay: Daniel Akst, "Looks Do Matter"

Cluster 7.3 The Culture and Politics of Design

            Photo: GMC Yukon Hybrid Logo

            Manifesto: "First Things First Manifesto 2000"

            Web page: Adbusters Web Site, Blackspot Sneakers

            Essay: Linda Baker, "Salon.com asks 'Are you ready for some ‘unswooshing’?"

            Photo: Torin Boyd for The New York Times, Japanese Vending Dress Used as Urban Camouflage

            Essay: Martin Fackler, "Fearing Crime, Japanese Wear the Hiding Place"

Writing about Style, Design, and Culture

Project 7.1: Analyzing the Design of an Everyday Text

            Student Project: Dylan Ellis, “June 29, 1989”

Project 7.2: Studying Design and Its Contexts

            Student Project: Sean Nixon, “The Transformation of American Architecture During the 1920s and 1930s”

Additional Projects

 

 

Chapter 8   Politics and ADVOCACY

           

Reading Texts and Images About Politics and Advocacy

Gallery: Politics and Advocacy

            Political bumper stickers

            Andrew Parsons, An Iraqi Woman Shows Her Inked Finger after Casting Her Ballot in a Polling Station in Baghdad

            Toddy Heisler, Reno, Nevada

            PETA, Fur Is Dead Poster           

            Margaret Bourke-White, At the Time of the Louisville Flood

            USA Today, "Debate: College Affordability" Opposing Editorials

            Dick Locher, Cartoon

             Screenshot From Pottercast, the Harry Potter Podcast,

Cluster 8.1 Getting Out the Vote

            Ad: Urban Outfitters T-Shirt

            Essay: The Onion, “Huge Democracy Geek Even Votes in Primaries”

            Essay: Thomas Friedman, “Generation Q”

            Essay: Courtney Martin, “Generation Overwhelmed”

            Ad: “Rock the Vote” Official T-shirt

            Web Page: Redeem the Vote

            Web page: Voto Latino

            Web page: PunkVoter

            Essay: Mike Connery, “Journalist Cheat Sheet: Eleven tips for reporting the youth vote.”

Cluster 8.2 The Politics of Food

            Essay: Michael S. Rosenwald, “Why America Has To Be Fat”

            Photos: Lauren Greenfield, Images from Thin and Camp Shane

            Essay: Gary Shteyngart, “Sixty-nine Cents”

            Essay: Kim Severson, “Be It Ever So Homespun, There’s Nothing Like Spin”

            Essay: Michael Pollan, “Why Bother?

            Essay: Jonathan Rauch, “Will Frankenfood Save the Planet”

            Photos: Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio. Images from Hungry Planet: What the World Eats

Cluster 8.3  Taking Action

            Photo: Bono Speaking on Third-World Debt Relief at the U.S. Capitol      

            Essay: Mark Yaconelli, “Christian Megastar: Bono on Record"

            Essay: David Heim, "Breakfast with Bono"

            Photo: Bono Greets George W. Bush after Speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast, 2006

            Essay: Paul Theroux, “The Rock Star’s Burden”           

            Press Kit: The New York City Street Memorial Project Ghost Bike Project

            Essay: Alex Williams, “Realistic Idealists”

Writing About Politics and Advocacy

Project 8.1 Analyzing a Political Argument

            Student Project: Jonathan Butler “Visual Images of National Identity: British and French Propaganda Posters of the Great Way

Project 8.2 Creating a Public Service Announcement

            Student Project: Meixia Huang, “Pay Attention to Them”

Additional Projects

 

Credits
Index