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Filling the gap for a developmental reader with literary selections, "Digging In" provides readers with enjoyable, accessible poems, short stories and essays to help them develop their reading and writing skills. The book features Before Reading prompts to start readers thinking about the topics and To Understand and To Write questions which follow the selections, as well as a list of Ideas for Writing that address the general theme of the chapter. The author provides a brief introduction to reading literature and poems, essays and short stories covering the following themes: family history; growing up/growing old; learning and teaching; the emotional side; works and dreams and issues/positions. For individuals interested in developing their reading and writing skills.
List of contents
(NOTE: Each chapter concludes with an Ideas for Writing list.)
1. Reading Literature: A Brief Introduction.
2. Family History.
Birthday Poem, Al Young. A Photo of Immigrants, 1903, Robert Wrigley. Picture Bride, Cathy Song. Powder, Tobias Wolff. My Father's Song, Simon Ortiz. Father, Gary Soto. Nikki-Rosa, Nikki Giovanni. Not Skin Deep-Heart Deep, Susan Straight. Driving Lessons, Neal Bowers. Catfish in the Bathtub, Maxine Hong Kingston.
3. Growing Up/Growing Old.
My Oedipus Complex, Frank O'Connor. A Song in the Front Yard, Gwendolyn Brooks. Eleven, Sandra Cisneros. Death of the Right Fielder, Stuart Dybeck. Rite of Passage, Sharon Olds. The Chase, Annie Dillard, Nighttime Fires, Regina Barreca. Junk Mail, James Laughlin. The Woman Who Makes Swell Doughnuts, Toshio Mori. Henry Manley, Living Alone, Keeps Time, Maxine Kumin. Pricing, David Ignatow.
4. Learning and Teaching.
You Go to School to Learn, Thomas Lux. Yuba City School, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. Books, Dorianne Laux. The Sanctuary of School. Lynda Barry. Office Hour, Carol Lem. The Struggle to Be an American Girl, Elizabeth Wong. Manners, Elizabeth Bishop. Miss Hicks, William Saroyan. Advice I Wish Someone Had Given Me, Ann Darr. The Lesson, Toni Cade Bambara.
5. The Emotional Side.
Marks, Linda Pastan. Homage to My Hips, Lucille Clifton. Daddy Tucked the Blanket, Randal Williams. Leslie in California, Andre Dubus. Oranges, Gary Soto. Paper Pills, Sherwood Anderson. Winter Love, Robert Wrigley. It's Over, Gerald W. Haslam. Loyal, William Mathews. Two on Two, Brian Doyle.
6. Work and Dreams.
What Work Is, Philip Levine. Work, Paul Zimmer. The Witness, Katherine Anne Porter. The Case Against Chores, Jane Smiley. The Circuit, Francisco Jiminez. Cannery Town in August, Lorna Dee Cervantes. The Fisherwoman, David Ignatow. $100 and Nothing!, J. California Cooper. The Men We Carry in Our Minds, Scott Russell Sanders. To Work, Robert Wrigley.
7. Issues/Positions.
Say Yes, Tobias Wolff. Beginning, Tim O'Brien. The Eye of the Beholder, Grace Suh. The Immigrants, Pat Mora. Mother Tongue, Amy Tan. Videotape, Don DeLillo. The Swimming Pool, Thomas Lux. Richard Cory, Edwin Arlington Robinson. Ethics, Linda Pastan. Traveling Through the Dark, William Stafford. Popular Mechanics, Raymond Carver.
Glossary.
Author and Title Index.
Summary
For Writing courses.
Digging In provides developmental composition students with enjoyable, accessible poems, short stories and essays to help them develop their reading and writing skills. The text features Before Reading prompts to start students thinking about the topics and To Understand and To Write questions which follow the selections, as well as lists of Ideas for Writing that address the general theme of the chapter.
