Brooklyn College Library LibGuides Home: ENGL 1010: English Composition: Faculty Version: Subject Categories

Childhood and Family

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, "Real Food"
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, "Real Food"
September 3, 2007 Issue
more...less...
Writer’s childhood dislike of garri, a Nigerian staple
Chua, Amy, "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior," Wall Street Journal, Jan. 8, 2011
more...less...
"Headshot of Chua, Amy" is licensed under
Marshall, Paule, From the Poets in the Kitchen
Commentary on race, ethnicity, gender, immigration, space, and history.
McWhorter, John, “Thick of Tongue: Future of Language: So what exactly is this “black sound” I am insisting exists?"
(WP—9th edition): about race and language
Guernica Magazine, 3/15/2016

Lake-Thom, Robert G., “An Indian Father’s Plea”
(MfW): Reflections on education and identity.

Marshall, Paule, From the Poets in the Kitchen
Commentary on race, ethnicity, gender, immigration, space, and history.

Rodriguez, Richard, “The Achievement of Desire”
(WoR): Long essay about education, ethnicity, and family. Original: Personal Reflections on Learning "Basics"." College English 40, no. 3 (1978)- 239-54.
Shteyngart, Gary, “Map Quest”
Short, funny essay about immigration, family, and place. Original at: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/04/18/map-quest:
Slater, Lauren, “The Trouble with Self-Esteem” (PDF)
PDF version without Images.(WP, 6th edition): about parenting and self-identity. The New York Times Magazine. (Feb. 3, 2002): Lifestyle: p. 44.
Soto, Gary “Looking for Work”
(RA): Short and funny essay reflecting family, class and ethnicity, and television.
Tan, Amy, "Mother Tongue"
(50E): Short essay about family, language, and perception.
Vuong, Ocean, “A Letter to My Mother That She will Never Read”
Lyric essay about family, literacy, and trauma. Original at: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/a-letter-to-my-mother-that-she-will-never-read
Wiesel, Eli, "Eight Short Simple Words"-Excerpt from Night

Class

Anyon, Jean, “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work”
The Journal of Education 162, no. 1 (1980): 67-92. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42741976., (RR): initially challenging good model of analysis about education and class.
Anzaldua, Gloria, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”
(WoR): Borderlands/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987). Reflections on the author’s childhood and cultural background, mixed genres and languages, multiple arguments.

Coates, Ta-Nehisi, “The Case for Reparations”
About race, history, and class.
Atlantic Monthly, June 2014
Crawford, Matthew, “The Case for Working with Your Hands”
NYTimes, MAY 21, 2009.
About work, education, and class

Danticat, Edwige, “Another Country”
Long essay about disaster and the third world. From: Danticat, Edwidge. 2011. Create dangerously the immigrant artist at work. New York, NY: Vintage Books. In Brooklyn College, Stacks (PS 3554 .A5815 Z463 2011) Regular Loan
Eighner, Lars “On Dumpster Diving”
New England Journal of Public Policy Volume 8 Issue 1 Special Issue on Homelessness: New England and Beyond
(50E): good model of process analysis that describes and considers scavenging
Gatto, John Taylor, “Against School: How public education cripples our kids, and why”
(WP, 9th edition): about the purposes of education and the problem of compliance

Gay, Roxane, “Peculiar Benefits”
The Rumpus, May 16th, 2012. A good bridge between personal narratives and short, argumentative pieces. Discusses privilege. Would useful for practicing summary.
Michaels, Walter Benn, “The Trouble with Diversity” (WP, 9th edition): about relative importance of race and ethnicity vs. class

Soto, Gary “Looking for Work”
(RA): Short and funny essay reflecting family, class and ethnicity, and television.

Classics

Anzaldua, Gloria, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”
(WoR): Borderlands/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987). Reflections on the author’s childhood and cultural background, mixed genres and languages, multiple arguments.
Baldwin, James, “Notes of a Native Son”
(50E):
Baldwin, James, Stranger in the Village
From Notes of A Native Son, copyright 1955 by Beacon Press
Carson, Rachel, "The Obligation to Endure"
From The Silent Spring
Douglass, Frederick, “Learning to Read and Write”
From Narrative of the Life of a Slave: Commentary on literacy, race, and slavery from the most well-known of slave narratives.
Hurston, Zora Neale, “How it Feels to Be Colored Me”
(50E): Classic reflection on racial identity and race relations.

Jefferson, Thomas. The Declaration of Independence, 1776 From The United States National Archives and Records Administration.

Orwell, George. "Politics and the English language".
From: Orwell, George. 1968. Politics and the English language. In The collected essays, journalism and letters of George Orwell, ed. Sonia Orwell and Ian Angos, vol. 4, ed. 1, 127-40. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Javanovitch.
Wiesel, Eli, "Eight Short Simple Words"-Excerpt from Night

Compare and Contrast

Compare/Contrast Group 1

Baldwin, James, Stranger in the Village
From Notes of A Native Son, copyright 1955 by Beacon Press
Cole, Teju, “Black Bodies: Rereading James Baldwin’s Stranger in the Village”
The New Yorker August 19, 2014. About race, place, and technology.

Compare/Contrast Group 2

Baldwin, James, “Notes of a Native Son”
(50E):
Staples, Brent, “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space”
(50E): personal reflection/ argumentative essay on race, gender, and stereotype

Compare/Contrast Group 3

Carr, Nicholas, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?: What the Internet is doing to our brains”
Atlantic Monthly, July/August 2008
Eltahawy, Mona, "Twitterholics Anonymous"
MONA'S MUSINGS: TWITTERHOLICS ANONYMOUS
Jerusalem Post JANUARY 24, 2011

Compare/Contrast Group 4

Chua, Amy, "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior," Wall Street Journal, Jan. 8, 2011
more...less...
"Headshot of Chua, Amy" is licensed under

Slater, Lauren, “The Trouble with Self-Esteem” (PDF)
PDF version without Images.(WP, 6th edition): about parenting and self-identity. The New York Times Magazine. (Feb. 3, 2002): Lifestyle: p. 44.

Compare/Contrast Group 5

Coates, Ta-Nehisi, “The Case for Reparations”
About race, history, and class.
Atlantic Monthly, June 2014
Michaels, Walter Benn, “The Trouble with Diversity” (WP, 9th edition): about relative importance of race and ethnicity vs. class

Compare/Contrast Group 6

Furgurson, Ernest B. “The End of History”
The American Scholar (magazine, SEPTEMBER 7, 2015. (AN): Short essay about confederate monuments. Deals with complexity of both sides. Pairs well with Staples.
Staples, Brent, "Confederate Memorials as Instruments of Racial Terror"
NY Times Opinion, July 24, 2015. Short essay about confederate monuments. Good for summary. Pairs well with Furgurson.

Compare/Contrast Group 7

Gatto, John Taylor, “Against School: How public education cripples our kids, and why”
(WP, 9th edition): about the purposes of education and the problem of compliance
Anyon, Jean, “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work”
The Journal of Education 162, no. 1 (1980): 67-92. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42741976., (RR): initially challenging good model of analysis about education and class.

Compare/Contrast Group 8

Kincaid, Jamaica “The Ugly Tourist”
Short essay about tourists, “natives“ and place.

Danticat, Edwige, “Another Country”
Long essay about disaster and the third world. From: Danticat, Edwidge. 2011. Create dangerously the immigrant artist at work. New York, NY: Vintage Books. In Brooklyn College, Stacks (PS 3554 .A5815 Z463 2011) Regular Loan

Compare/Contrast Group 9

Korten, Tristan “In Florida, Officials Ban Term ‘Climate Change
In Florida, officials ban term 'climate change'
BY TRISTRAM KORTEN
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Miami Herald, March 08, 2015 04:00 AM. Updated March 11, 2015 11:52 PM
Solomon, Akiba “Thugs, Students, Rioters, Fans: Media’s Subtle Racism in Unrest Coverage”
Reflects language and race, does good comparative work, pairs well with Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”.

Compare/Contrast Group 10

Orwell, George. "Politics and the English language".
From: Orwell, George. 1968. Politics and the English language. In The collected essays, journalism and letters of George Orwell, ed. Sonia Orwell and Ian Angos, vol. 4, ed. 1, 127-40. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Javanovitch.

Saunders, George, "The Braindead Megaphone"
Saunders, George. 2007. The braindead megaphone: essays. New York: Riverhead Books.

Compare/Contrast Group 11

Sontag, Susan, “Regarding the Pain of Others”
(50E): about photography, representation, and cognition. May pair with “Liar, Liar Pants on Fire”
McKibben, Bill, “Curbing Nature’s Paparazzi”
(50E): about nature photography" Harpers magazine, Nov. 1997

Compare/Contrast Group 12

Wallace, David Foster, “Consider the Lobster”
(WP, 9th edition): nuanced argument about the ethics of eating animals, good model of description and analysis

Eighner, Lars “On Dumpster Diving”
New England Journal of Public Policy Volume 8 Issue 1 Special Issue on Homelessness: New England and Beyond
(50E): good model of process analysis that describes and considers scavenging

Education and Literacy

Anyon, Jean, “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work”
The Journal of Education 162, no. 1 (1980): 67-92. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42741976., (RR): initially challenging good model of analysis about education and class.
Anzaldua, Gloria, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”
(WoR): Borderlands/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987). Reflections on the author’s childhood and cultural background, mixed genres and languages, multiple arguments.

Carr, Nicholas, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?: What the Internet is doing to our brains”
Atlantic Monthly, July/August 2008
Crawford, Matthew, “The Case for Working with Your Hands”
NYTimes, MAY 21, 2009.
About work, education, and class

Douglass, Frederick, “Learning to Read and Write”
From Narrative of the Life of a Slave: Commentary on literacy, race, and slavery from the most well-known of slave narratives.
Gatto, John Taylor, “Against School: How public education cripples our kids, and why”
(WP, 9th edition): about the purposes of education and the problem of compliance
Lake-Thom, Robert G., “An Indian Father’s Plea”
(MfW): Reflections on education and identity.
Lukianoff, Greg & Haidt, Jonathan, from The Coddling of the American Mind
(WP – 9th edition): about trigger warnings

Morris, Errol, “Liar, Liar Pants on Fire”
NY Times JULY 10, 2007 2:14 PM
How to think critically about images. May pair with” Regarding the Pain of Others”

Rodriguez, Richard, “The Achievement of Desire”
(WoR): Long essay about education, ethnicity, and family. Original: Personal Reflections on Learning "Basics"." College English 40, no. 3 (1978)- 239-54.
Tan, Amy, "Mother Tongue"
(50E): Short essay about family, language, and perception.

Environments

Baldwin, James, Stranger in the Village
From Notes of A Native Son, copyright 1955 by Beacon Press
Carson, Rachel, "The Obligation to Endure"
From The Silent Spring
Case, Sue-Ellen. “Making Butch: An Historical Memoir of the 1970s”
(AS): Reflections on identity, sexuality, place, and history. Good model on specificity and narration.
Cole, Teju, “Black Bodies: Rereading James Baldwin’s Stranger in the Village”
The New Yorker August 19, 2014. About race, place, and technology.

Cullinan, Cormac, “If Nature Had Rights”
(WP--6th edition): about the environment, the law, and the rights of nature

Eighner, Lars “On Dumpster Diving”
New England Journal of Public Policy Volume 8 Issue 1 Special Issue on Homelessness: New England and Beyond
(50E): good model of process analysis that describes and considers scavenging
El-Ghobashy, Mona, “Quandaries of Representation”
RA: Useful for discussion of argument in personal narrative. Commentary on stereotype, urban space, and the complexity through the lens of a hijab-wearing woman.

Furgurson, Ernest B. “The End of History”
The American Scholar (magazine, SEPTEMBER 7, 2015. (AN): Short essay about confederate monuments. Deals with complexity of both sides. Pairs well with Staples.

Hurston, Zora Neale, “How it Feels to Be Colored Me”
(50E): Classic reflection on racial identity and race relations.

Kincaid, Jamaica “The Ugly Tourist”
Short essay about tourists, “natives“ and place.
Korten, Tristan “In Florida, Officials Ban Term ‘Climate Change
In Florida, officials ban term 'climate change'
BY TRISTRAM KORTEN
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Miami Herald, March 08, 2015 04:00 AM. Updated March 11, 2015 11:52 PM
Marshall, Paule, From the Poets in the Kitchen
Commentary on race, ethnicity, gender, immigration, space, and history.

McKibben, Bill, “Curbing Nature’s Paparazzi”
(50E): about nature photography" Harpers magazine, Nov. 1997
Rodriguez, Richard, “The Achievement of Desire”
(WoR): Long essay about education, ethnicity, and family. Original: Personal Reflections on Learning "Basics"." College English 40, no. 3 (1978)- 239-54.
Soto, Gary “Looking for Work”
(RA): Short and funny essay reflecting family, class and ethnicity, and television.

Staples, Brent, "Confederate Memorials as Instruments of Racial Terror"
NY Times Opinion, July 24, 2015. Short essay about confederate monuments. Good for summary. Pairs well with Furgurson.

Shteyngart, Gary, “Map Quest”
Short, funny essay about immigration, family, and place. Original at: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/04/18/map-quest:

Korten, Tristan “In Florida, Officials Ban Term ‘Climate Change
In Florida, officials ban term 'climate change'
BY TRISTRAM KORTEN
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Miami Herald, March 08, 2015 04:00 AM. Updated March 11, 2015 11:52 PM
Wallace, David Foster, “Consider the Lobster”
(WP, 9th edition): nuanced argument about the ethics of eating animals, good model of description and analysis

Whitehead, Colson, “City Limits”
Excerpt from The Colossus of New York: Chapter about New York, belonging, and urban change, written from an unusual point of view.

Gender and Sexuality

Case, Sue-Ellen. “Making Butch: An Historical Memoir of the 1970s”
(AS): Reflections on identity, sexuality, place, and history. Good model on specificity and narration.
El-Ghobashy, Mona, “Quandaries of Representation”
RA: Useful for discussion of argument in personal narrative. Commentary on stereotype, urban space, and the complexity through the lens of a hijab-wearing woman.

Gay, Roxane, “Peculiar Benefits”
The Rumpus, May 16th, 2012. A good bridge between personal narratives and short, argumentative pieces. Discusses privilege. Would useful for practicing summary.
Gay, Roxanne, “The Careless Language of Sexual Violence”
The Rumpus, March 10th, 2011. (WP—9th edition): about language and sexual violence in contemporary media
Marshall, Paule, From the Poets in the Kitchen
Commentary on race, ethnicity, gender, immigration, space, and history.
McWhorter, John, “Thick of Tongue: Future of Language: So what exactly is this “black sound” I am insisting exists?"
(WP—9th edition): about race and language
Guernica Magazine, 3/15/2016
Meltzer, Marisa, “The Last Feminist Taboo”
(WP—9th edition): about the politics of dieting.
Elle magazine, Dec. 19, 2013. Title on Elle Magazine: "Does Wanting to Be Thin Make You a Slave to the Man?"
Solnit, Rebecca, “Men Explain Things to Me”
(WP, 11th edition): uses personal narrative to build argument about gender and silencing

History, Politics, and Society

Anzaldua, Gloria, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”
(WoR): Borderlands/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987). Reflections on the author’s childhood and cultural background, mixed genres and languages, multiple arguments.
Appiah, Anthony, “The Case for Contamination”
About cosmopolitanism, nation, race, and culture. Appiah, Kwame Anthony, Tue Greenfort, and Katie Holten. "The Case for Contamination." RSA Journal 153, no. 5522 (2006): 38-45. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41379681.
Baldwin, James, Stranger in the Village
From Notes of A Native Son, copyright 1955 by Beacon Press
Baldwin, James, “Notes of a Native Son”
(50E):
Case, Sue-Ellen. “Making Butch: An Historical Memoir of the 1970s”
(AS): Reflections on identity, sexuality, place, and history. Good model on specificity and narration.

Coates, Ta-Nehisi, “The Case for Reparations”
About race, history, and class.
Atlantic Monthly, June 2014

Cole, Teju, “Black Bodies: Rereading James Baldwin’s Stranger in the Village”
The New Yorker August 19, 2014. About race, place, and technology.
Danticat, Edwige, “Another Country”
Long essay about disaster and the third world. From: Danticat, Edwidge. 2011. Create dangerously the immigrant artist at work. New York, NY: Vintage Books. In Brooklyn College, Stacks (PS 3554 .A5815 Z463 2011) Regular Loan
Douglass, Frederick, “Learning to Read and Write”
From Narrative of the Life of a Slave: Commentary on literacy, race, and slavery from the most well-known of slave narratives.

Furgurson, Ernest B. “The End of History”
The American Scholar (magazine, SEPTEMBER 7, 2015. (AN): Short essay about confederate monuments. Deals with complexity of both sides. Pairs well with Staples.
Gay, Roxane, “Peculiar Benefits”
The Rumpus, May 16th, 2012. A good bridge between personal narratives and short, argumentative pieces. Discusses privilege. Would useful for practicing summary.
Gay, Roxanne, “The Careless Language of Sexual Violence”
The Rumpus, March 10th, 2011. (WP—9th edition): about language and sexual violence in contemporary media

Hurston, Zora Neale, “How it Feels to Be Colored Me”
(50E): Classic reflection on racial identity and race relations.

Jefferson, Thomas, “The Declaration of Independence”
Marshall, Paule, From the Poets in the Kitchen
Commentary on race, ethnicity, gender, immigration, space, and history.
Morris, Errol, “Liar, Liar Pants on Fire”
NY Times JULY 10, 2007 2:14 PM
How to think critically about images. May pair with” Regarding the Pain of Others”
Munoz, Manuel, "Leave Your Name at the Border
Aug. 1, 2007, NYTImes Opinion. Personal/argumentative essay about language, national identity, names, borders

Orwell, George. "Politics and the English language".
From: Orwell, George. 1968. Politics and the English language. In The collected essays, journalism and letters of George Orwell, ed. Sonia Orwell and Ian Angos, vol. 4, ed. 1, 127-40. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Javanovitch.
Sontag, Susan, “Regarding the Pain of Others”
(50E): about photography, representation, and cognition. May pair with “Liar, Liar Pants on Fire”
Soto, Gary “Looking for Work”
(RA): Short and funny essay reflecting family, class and ethnicity, and television.

Staples, Brent, "Confederate Memorials as Instruments of Racial Terror"
NY Times Opinion, July 24, 2015. Short essay about confederate monuments. Good for summary. Pairs well with Furgurson.

Staples, Brent, “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space”
(50E): personal reflection/ argumentative essay on race, gender, and stereotype
Shteyngart, Gary, “Map Quest”
Short, funny essay about immigration, family, and place. Original at: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/04/18/map-quest:
Swift, Jonathan, "A Modest Proposal"
Tan, Amy, "Mother Tongue"
(50E): Short essay about family, language, and perception.
Vuong, Ocean, “A Letter to My Mother That She will Never Read”
Lyric essay about family, literacy, and trauma. Original at: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/a-letter-to-my-mother-that-she-will-never-read
Wiesel, Eli, "Eight Short Simple Words"-Excerpt from Night

Language

Anzaldua, Gloria, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”
(WoR): Borderlands/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987). Reflections on the author’s childhood and cultural background, mixed genres and languages, multiple arguments.
Douglass, Frederick, “Learning to Read and Write”
From Narrative of the Life of a Slave: Commentary on literacy, race, and slavery from the most well-known of slave narratives.

Gay, Roxanne, “The Careless Language of Sexual Violence”
The Rumpus, March 10th, 2011. (WP—9th edition): about language and sexual violence in contemporary media
Marshall, Paule, From the Poets in the Kitchen
Commentary on race, ethnicity, gender, immigration, space, and history.
McWhorter, John, “Thick of Tongue: Future of Language: So what exactly is this “black sound” I am insisting exists?"
(WP—9th edition): about race and language
Guernica Magazine, 3/15/2016
Morris, Errol, “Liar, Liar Pants on Fire”
NY Times JULY 10, 2007 2:14 PM
How to think critically about images. May pair with” Regarding the Pain of Others”
Munoz, Manuel, "Leave Your Name at the Border
Aug. 1, 2007, NYTImes Opinion. Personal/argumentative essay about language, national identity, names, borders

Orwell, George. "Politics and the English language".
From: Orwell, George. 1968. Politics and the English language. In The collected essays, journalism and letters of George Orwell, ed. Sonia Orwell and Ian Angos, vol. 4, ed. 1, 127-40. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Javanovitch.
Rodriguez, Richard, “The Achievement of Desire”
(WoR): Long essay about education, ethnicity, and family. Original: Personal Reflections on Learning "Basics"." College English 40, no. 3 (1978)- 239-54.

Saunders, George, "The Braindead Megaphone"
Saunders, George. 2007. The braindead megaphone: essays. New York: Riverhead Books.
Solnit, Rebecca, “Men Explain Things to Me”
(WP, 11th edition): uses personal narrative to build argument about gender and silencing
Solomon, Akiba “Thugs, Students, Rioters, Fans: Media’s Subtle Racism in Unrest Coverage”
Reflects language and race, does good comparative work, pairs well with Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”.

Sontag, Susan, “Regarding the Pain of Others”
(50E): about photography, representation, and cognition. May pair with “Liar, Liar Pants on Fire”
Swift, Jonathan, "A Modest Proposal"
Tan, Amy, "Mother Tongue"
(50E): Short essay about family, language, and perception.
Vuong, Ocean, “A Letter to My Mother That She will Never Read”
Lyric essay about family, literacy, and trauma. Original at: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/a-letter-to-my-mother-that-she-will-never-read

Race and Ethnicity

Anzaldua, Gloria, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”
(WoR): Borderlands/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987). Reflections on the author’s childhood and cultural background, mixed genres and languages, multiple arguments.
Appiah, Anthony, “The Case for Contamination”
About cosmopolitanism, nation, race, and culture. Appiah, Kwame Anthony, Tue Greenfort, and Katie Holten. "The Case for Contamination." RSA Journal 153, no. 5522 (2006): 38-45. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41379681.
Baldwin, James, Stranger in the Village
From Notes of A Native Son, copyright 1955 by Beacon Press
Baldwin, James, “Notes of a Native Son”
(50E):

Coates, Ta-Nehisi, “The Case for Reparations”
About race, history, and class.
Atlantic Monthly, June 2014

Cole, Teju, “Black Bodies: Rereading James Baldwin’s Stranger in the Village”
The New Yorker August 19, 2014. About race, place, and technology.
Douglass, Frederick, “Learning to Read and Write”
From Narrative of the Life of a Slave: Commentary on literacy, race, and slavery from the most well-known of slave narratives.

Furgurson, Ernest B. “The End of History”
The American Scholar (magazine, SEPTEMBER 7, 2015. (AN): Short essay about confederate monuments. Deals with complexity of both sides. Pairs well with Staples.
Gay, Roxane, “Peculiar Benefits”
The Rumpus, May 16th, 2012. A good bridge between personal narratives and short, argumentative pieces. Discusses privilege. Would useful for practicing summary.

Hurston, Zora Neale, “How it Feels to Be Colored Me”
(50E): Classic reflection on racial identity and race relations.

Lake-Thom, Robert G., “An Indian Father’s Plea”
(MfW): Reflections on education and identity.

Lorde, Audrey, "The Fourth of July"
Marshall, Paule, From the Poets in the Kitchen
Commentary on race, ethnicity, gender, immigration, space, and history.
McWhorter, John, “Thick of Tongue: Future of Language: So what exactly is this “black sound” I am insisting exists?"
(WP—9th edition): about race and language
Guernica Magazine, 3/15/2016
Munoz, Manuel, "Leave Your Name at the Border
Aug. 1, 2007, NYTImes Opinion. Personal/argumentative essay about language, national identity, names, borders

Rodriguez, Richard, “The Achievement of Desire”
(WoR): Long essay about education, ethnicity, and family. Original: Personal Reflections on Learning "Basics"." College English 40, no. 3 (1978)- 239-54.

Gay, Roxane, “Peculiar Benefits”
The Rumpus, May 16th, 2012. A good bridge between personal narratives and short, argumentative pieces. Discusses privilege. Would useful for practicing summary.
Solomon, Akiba “Thugs, Students, Rioters, Fans: Media’s Subtle Racism in Unrest Coverage”
Reflects language and race, does good comparative work, pairs well with Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”.

Soto, Gary “Looking for Work”
(RA): Short and funny essay reflecting family, class and ethnicity, and television.

The Self: Cultural, Material, Moral, Pscyhological, & Religious

Eighner, Lars “On Dumpster Diving”
New England Journal of Public Policy Volume 8 Issue 1 Special Issue on Homelessness: New England and Beyond
(50E): good model of process analysis that describes and considers scavenging
Didion, Joan, "In Bed"

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi “Real Food,”
Reflection on food and identity, childhood. Useful to use with Henriquez,” Lunch” and Lahiri, “Rice.”
For original See September 3, 2007 Issue https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/09/03/real-food
Anzaldua, Gloria, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”
(WoR): Borderlands/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987). Reflections on the author’s childhood and cultural background, mixed genres and languages, multiple arguments.
Appiah, Anthony, “The Case for Contamination”
About cosmopolitanism, nation, race, and culture. Appiah, Kwame Anthony, Tue Greenfort, and Katie Holten. "The Case for Contamination." RSA Journal 153, no. 5522 (2006): 38-45. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41379681.

Carr, Nicholas, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?: What the Internet is doing to our brains”
Atlantic Monthly, July/August 2008
Chaudhry, Lakshmi, “Mirror, Mirror on the Web”
(WP, 6th edition): about the relationship among social media, contemporary technology and fame.

Cole, Teju, “Black Bodies: Rereading James Baldwin’s Stranger in the Village”
The New Yorker August 19, 2014. About race, place, and technology.
Didion, Joan, "In Bed"
Dolnick, Edward, "Deafness as culture".
The Atlantic Sept 1993 v272 n3 p37(12)
Eighner, Lars “On Dumpster Diving”
New England Journal of Public Policy Volume 8 Issue 1 Special Issue on Homelessness: New England and Beyond
(50E): good model of process analysis that describes and considers scavenging
El-Ghobashy, Mona, “Quandaries of Representation”
RA: Useful for discussion of argument in personal narrative. Commentary on stereotype, urban space, and the complexity through the lens of a hijab-wearing woman.

Gay, Roxane, “Peculiar Benefits”
The Rumpus, May 16th, 2012. A good bridge between personal narratives and short, argumentative pieces. Discusses privilege. Would useful for practicing summary.

Hurston, Zora Neale, “How it Feels to Be Colored Me”
(50E): Classic reflection on racial identity and race relations.

Kincaid, Jamaica “The Ugly Tourist”
Short essay about tourists, “natives“ and place.

Lukianoff, Greg & Haidt, Jonathan, from The Coddling of the American Mind
(WP – 9th edition): about trigger warnings
Mairs, Nancy, “On Being a Cripple”
(50E): Long meditation on living with disability.

Marshall, Paule, From the Poets in the Kitchen
Commentary on race, ethnicity, gender, immigration, space, and history.
Michaels, Walter Benn, “The Trouble with Diversity” (WP, 9th edition): about relative importance of race and ethnicity vs. class
Munoz, Manuel, "Leave Your Name at the Border
Aug. 1, 2007, NYTImes Opinion. Personal/argumentative essay about language, national identity, names, borders
Sandel, Michael, “The Case Against Perfectionism”
The Atlantic, April, 2004. (WP,9th edition): about genetic engineering and moral choice

Schwartz, Barry. "The Tyranny of Choice."
Scientific American 290, no. 4 (2004): 70-75. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26047678.
About the tyranny of having too much choice.
Slater, Lauren, “The Trouble with Self-Esteem” (PDF)
PDF version without Images.(WP, 6th edition): about parenting and self-identity. The New York Times Magazine. (Feb. 3, 2002): Lifestyle: p. 44.

Solomon, Akiba “Thugs, Students, Rioters, Fans: Media’s Subtle Racism in Unrest Coverage”
Reflects language and race, does good comparative work, pairs well with Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”.

Sontag, Susan, “Regarding the Pain of Others”
(50E): about photography, representation, and cognition. May pair with “Liar, Liar Pants on Fire”
Sherry Turkle, Alone Together: Ch. 9 Growing up tethered
(RA): about technology and the sense of self of young people

Wallace, David Foster, “Consider the Lobster”
(WP, 9th edition): nuanced argument about the ethics of eating animals, good model of description and analysis

Whitehead, Colson, “City Limits”
Excerpt from The Colossus of New York: Chapter about New York, belonging, and urban change, written from an unusual point of view.

Science and Technology

Carr, Nicholas, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?: What the Internet is doing to our brains”
Atlantic Monthly, July/August 2008
Chaudhry, Lakshmi, “Mirror, Mirror on the Web”
(WP, 6th edition): about the relationship among social media, contemporary technology and fame.

Cole, Teju, “Black Bodies: Rereading James Baldwin’s Stranger in the Village”
The New Yorker August 19, 2014. About race, place, and technology.
Carson, Rachel, "The Obligation to Endure"
From The Silent Spring

Eltahawy, Mona, "Twitterholics Anonymous"
MONA'S MUSINGS: TWITTERHOLICS ANONYMOUS
Jerusalem Post JANUARY 24, 2011
Sandel, Michael, “The Case Against Perfectionism”
The Atlantic, April, 2004. (WP,9th edition): about genetic engineering and moral choice
Saunders, George, "The Braindead Megaphone"
Saunders, George. 2007. The braindead megaphone: essays. New York: Riverhead Books.
Sherry Turkle, Stop Googling. Let’s Talk.
NYTimes, Sept. 26, 2015

Sherry Turkle, Alone Together: Ch. 9 Growing up tethered
(RA): about technology and the sense of self of young people