TEXTS

COMMENTS

Title: Sourcework: Academic Writing from Sources

Author: Dollahite and Haun

ISBN-10: 0618412875

ISBN-13: 978-0618412877

Publisher: Heinle ELT

This is a useful text for teaching students how to use sources. It includes summary writing and practice in paraphrase and citing and quoting. It includes sets of themed readings as bases for essays and a good companion website. Instructor site has additional sources, essay examples, and handout materials. MUST supplement readings.

Title: Guidelines

Author: Spack, Ruth

ISBN-10: 0521613019

ISBN-13: 978-0521613019

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

A favorite of many instructors, this text includes several key types of essays that students need to become familiar with and successful at including critical analysis of arguments and analyzing fiction and non-fiction. Includes great examples and in-depth look at said examples.

Title: What Matters in America: Reading and Writing About Contemporary Culture, 3rd edition, 2012

Author: Goshgarian, Gary

Publisher: Pearson

ISBN: 13:978-0-205-23074-7

Thematic readings on high-interest topics ranging from the Internet, to advertising, media, freedom of speech, immigration, the economy, and environmental awareness.  The readings are not lengthy with most of them about two-pages long.  Though relatively short, they discuss the topic from various perspectives with depth and intelligence.  Each reading comes with a short vocab list and discussion questions. The book is useful if instructors structure their assignments based on topics, and there is a big variety to choose from.  Each thematic topic (unit) has suggestions

for writing prompts, but instructors will need to tailor them to suit the class.

The introduction has about twenty pages on critical thinking, essay structure, and reading strategies, so that serves as a good review on essay writing.  However, the book does not contain a section on grammar instruction/exercise, or the MLA documentation format.  The instructor will have to supplement these areas.

HANDBOOK

COMMENTS

Title: Keys for Writers

Author: Raimes, Ann and Maria Jerskey

ISBN: 9780495799825

Publisher: Cengage

NOVELS

COMMENTS

Title: Arranged Marriage: Stories

Author: Divakaruni, Chitra

A collection of stories about the arranged marriages of women in India. Very readable. Good material for argument.

Title: To Kill a Mockingbird

Author: Lee, Harper

American classic. This novel is rich in information about life and attitudes in the Deep South in the last century. Great story and themes, award-winning movie. Popular with students.

Title: Interpreter of Maladies

Author: Lahiri, Jhumpa

The book consists of a number of short stories that introduce the readers to Indian culture and values through the lives of Indians who immigrated to the US. The stories are well crafted, and students from other cultures can make connections easily through the general underlying theme of "immigration."

Title: Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam

Author: Pham, Andrew

A very well written memoir on conflicts of values between the first and the second generations of immigrants of Vietnamese descent. The author, Andrew Pham, is also a former student of De Anza. He took writing classes to practice his craft.

Title: My Year of Meats

Author: Ozeki, Ruth

An interesting novel that highlights the issue of the "use of hormones" in beef that Americans consume in such big quantities. It also touches on animal cruelty through vivid descriptions of slaughterhouses. Domestic violence is another theme embedded in the novel.

Title: The Joy Luck Club

Author: Tan, Amy

Immigrant story about clash between the generations.

Title: The Kitchen God's Wife

Author: Tan, Amy

Story of an immigrant mother and her daughter coming to terms with family secrets and how they shaped each of them.

Title: The Namesake

Author: Lahiri, Jhumpa

Great novel. Accessible to students and causes interesting discussions about child rearing, personal identity, importance of culture, parental expectations, the child/parent relationship and many more.

Title: West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American Story

Author: Ansary, Tamim

Non-fiction autobiography

Title: On Thin Ice: The Changing World of the Polar Bear

Author: Ellis, Richard

Non-fiction

Title: Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farms to Factory

Author: Hessler, Peter

Non-fiction

Title: Unaccustomed Earth

Author: Lahiri, Jhumpa

Collection of Short Stories