Copyright © 2004
Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Reader's Choice is based on the assumption that lucid writing follows lucid thinking, whereas poor writing is almost inevitably the product of foggy, irrational thought processes. As a result, our primary purpose in this book, as in previous editions of Reader's Choice, is to help students think more clearly and logically-both in their minds and on paper.

Furthermore, we believe that college and university students should be able to think, read, and write on three increasingly difficult levels:

1. Literal, characterized by a basic understanding of words and their meanings;
2. Interpretive, consisting of a knowledge of linear connections between ideas and an ability to make valid inferences based on those ideas; and
3. Critical, the highest level, distinguished by the systematic investigation of complex ideas and by the analysis of their relationship to the world around us.

To demonstrate this vital interrelationship between reader and writer, this text provides prose models that are intended to inspire students' thinking and writing. Although studying rhetorical strategies is certainly not the only way to approach writing, it is a productive means of helping students become better writers. These essays are intended to encourage students to improve their writing through a partnership with some of the best examples of professional prose available today. Just as musicians and athletes richly benefit from studying the techniques of the foremost people in their fields, students will, we hope, grow in spirit and language use from their collaborative work with the writers in this collection.

HOW THE TEXT IS ORGANIZED

Each chapter of Reader's Choice begins with an explanation of a single rhetorical technique. These explanations are divided into six sections that move from the effect of this technique on our daily lives to its integral role in the writing process. Also, in each introduction we include a student paragraph and a student essay featuring each particular rhetorical strategy under discussion. The essay is highlighted by annotations and underlining to illustrate how to write that type of essay and to help bridge the gap between student writing and the professional selections that follow.

The essays that follow each chapter introduction are selected from a wide variety of contemporary authors. Of course, "pure" rhetorical types rarely exist, and when they do, the result often seems artificial. Therefore, although each essay in this collection focuses on a single rhetorical mode as its primary strategy, other strategies are always simultaneously at work. These selections concentrate on one primary technique at a time in much the same way a well-arranged photograph highlights a certain visual detail, though many other elements function in the background to make the picture an organic whole.

In introducing each reading selection, we offer some material to focus attention onto a particular writer and topic before the essay is read. This "prereading" segment begins with biographical information about the author and ends with a number of questions to whet the reader's appetite for the essay that follows. This section is intended to help readers discover interesting relationships among ideas in their reading and then anticipate various ways of thinking about and analyzing the essay. The prereading questions forecast not only the content of the essay, but also the questions and writing assignments that follow.

The questions after each reading selection are designed as guides for thinking about the essay. These questions are at the heart of the relationship represented in this book among thinking, reading, and writing. They are divided into four interrelated sections that move readers smoothly from a literal understanding of what they have just read, to interpretation, and finally to analysis.

After students have studied the different techniques at work in a reading selection, a specific essay assignment provides an opportunity to practise all these skills in unison and encourages the discovery of even more secrets about the intricate and exciting details of effective communication. Three "Ideas for Discussion/ Writing" are preceded by "prewriting" questions to help readers generate new ideas. Most of the Discussion/Writing topics specify a purpose (a definite reason for writing the essay) and an audience (an identifiable person or group of people that should be addressed in the essay) to help students focus their work as precisely as possible. The word essay (which comes from the Old French essai, meaning a "try" or an "attempt") is an appropriate label for these writing assignments, because they all ask students to wrestle with an idea or problem and then try to give shape to their conclusions in some effective manner. Such "exercises" can be equated with the development of athletic ability: The essay itself demonstrates that students can put together all the various skills they have learned; it proves that you can actually play the "sport" of writing.

Finally, the websites listed at the end of each selection will lead the reader to sites on the World Wide Web that will provide more information about reading. Students can visit the Reader's Choice webpage at www.pearsoned.ca/flachmann to find a glossary of useful terms as well as a collection of websites that offer more information about the readings. This might be information about the author, the original source of the piece of writing, or the topic of the essay being read.

WHAT IS NEW

We have made some changes in the fourth edition of Reader's Choice that reflect the responses of reviewers from many different types of colleges and universities all over Canada and the United States.

• The fourth edition of Reader's Choice contains 16 new essays.

We have updated some of the selections, added new authors, and introduced new topics, including overwork, genetic engineering, hockey and opera, Hanukkah, the naming of sports venues, organic farming, racist language, and Canada's ability to influence global issues.

• Chapter 10 contains a new, Canadian student essay.

"Language for a New Age," a new, award-winning student essay by Dave Kendall, is now included in the chapter on documented essays.

• The fourth edition of Reader's Choice is accompanied by a new Instructor's Manual.

The new Instructor's Manual will supplement the text by offering the following key features: discussion of the some theoretical approaches to the teaching of composition, techniques for responding to student writing, and vocabulary and content quizzes for each of the reading selections.

• Author biographies have been updated.

The biographical information for the authors of essays from previous editions of Reader's Choice has been updated.

• Weblinks have been updated and made available online.

The weblinks following each essay selection have been updated and are now also available online at www.pearsoned.ca/flachmann for easy access to relevant supplementary information.

Kim Flachmann

Michael Flachmann

Alexandra MacLennan

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to acknowledge a number of people who helped in the preparation of this edition of Reader's Choice. At Pearson Education Canada, for their guidance, patience, and support, I would like to thank Marianne Minaker, Acquisitions Editor; Adrienne Shiffman, Developmental Editor; Avivah Wargon, Supervising Editor; and Susan McNish, Copy Editor.

I would also like to thank the following reviewers for their feedback during development: Judith Carson, Melanie Rubens, and Allison McNaught, Seneca College; Mary Gossage, Dawson College; Kay Oxford, George Brown College; and Kathy Woodward, Grant MacEwan College. Finally, I would like to thank my colleagues for their ongoing support, feedback, and advice about Reader's Choice.

Alexandra MacLennan