Back to the Lake
A Reader for Writers
A fresh take on the traditional modes, showing how they are used in texts of all kinds, and that they are central to all the writing, speaking, and thinking that we do.
The Second Edition contains 34 new readings that teachers will want to teach and students will like to read, from Steven Pinker’s “Mind Over Mass Media” to Alex Horton’s “Advice for College-bound Vets,” as well as a chapter on academic writing, and editorial apparatus that explicitly links the readings to the writing instruction, with notes in the margins leading students from the text to specific examples in the readings—and the reverse.
An engaging—and fresh—collection of readings
The Second Edition contains more than 85 readings—34 new, 20 appearing in a composition reader for the first time. From the classic (“Once More to the Lake”) to essays appearing in a composition reader for the first time (Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s “Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History,” Lynda Barry’s “Sanctuary of School”)—each reading demonstrates that the patterns taught in this book are ones that all good writers depend on. Each chapter includes an everyday example, an annotated student piece, and one literary work.
Well-written pedagogy
This book practices what it preaches about good writing, with pedagogy that makes the subject matter interesting, relevant, and easy to understand. Each chapter begins by introducing a particular mode of writing—comparison, description, and so on—and showing students how to use it in their own writing, then continues by using everyday, relevant examples to make the material engaging for students. Templates help students get started writing, and grammar guidelines help students check their writing for errors typical to each mode. Examples are shown with track changes, to help students find and edit common errors in their own writing.
New navigation features make the book easy to use
Marginal notes explicitly link the writing instruction with the readings, leading students from the instruction to specific examples in the readings, and the reverse. The book is color-coded, with all the writing guidance on green pages to make them easy to access. A combined glossary / index makes definitions and other information students look for repeatedly easy to find. A menu of readings appears on the inside back cover.
New coverage of academic writing
The Second Edition features a new chapter devoted to academic argument that includes templates to help students advance their thesis and explain why their ideas matter. Five of the 15 student essays are documented using MLA or APA style. A suggested MLA-style citation accompanies each of the readings, showing students how to cite them properly.
Help for students whose primary language is not English
The Second Edition contains glosses for unfamiliar terms and allusions, templates for getting started, and tips for dealing with predictable stumbling points with each mode—adjective order in description, for example, or the use of the present perfect in narrative writing.
Student Website
The free-and-open student website offers a variety of practical resources for all stages of writing, including tutorials on research writing and avoiding plagiarism, documentation exercises, downloadable templates for drafting each kind of writing taught in the book, downloadable worksheets for revising each kind of writing covered in the book, and editing exercises to help students with the common errors covered in the book. Reading quizzes, biographical notes for all of the authors in the book are also available, as well as full access to everything on Norton/Write.
Coursepacks
Available at no cost to professors or students, Norton coursepacks for online or hybrid courses are available in a variety of formats, including all versions of Blackboard and WebCT. With just a simple download from our instructor’s website, an adopter can bring high-quality Norton digital media into a new or existing online course (no extra student passwords required), and it’s theirs to keep forever. Coursepacks draw on the material from the student website.
Instructor's Edition
Thomas Cooley (Editor, Ohio State University)
The Instructor’s Edition helps teachers use the text, with guidance for teaching each chapter, sample answers to the study questions, and sample syllabi.
