Perspectives on Contemporary Issues

With its extensive coverage of how to read and write critically as well as its detailed guidelines for writing summary, critique, argument, synthesis, and research papers, PERSPECTIVES ON CONTEMPORARY ISSUES, 8e equips students with the tools they need to develop and strengthen their reading and writing skills -- which they can immediately begin applying to all their college courses and well beyond.

Timely readings on contemporary -- and often controversial -- issues will intrigue students and spark lively classroom discussions as they relate the topics to their own lives and experiences.

Reader-response questions and questions for discussion follow each selection, while writing topics are provided at the end of each chapter. Reader-response questions prompt students to react on a personal level before analyzing critically, which immediately engages them personally. Discussion questions ask for both recall and analysis, to promote close reading and critical thinking, and suggested topics provide direction for student papers.

Helping students further connect to the essays, each chapter in Part Two concludes with a "Responding to Visuals" section that features two photographs or other color images related to the thematic focus of the chapter along with questions on rhetorical strategies and other relevant information.