The Norton Sampler

The Norton Sampler is a rhetorically arranged short-essay reader that provides models and guidelines for writing description, narration, and all the other modes of discourse. The readings are brief, reflecting the length of the essays students are required to write. 

Great readings. From classic texts by writers such as Annie Dillard and E.B. White, to contemporary texts from writers like Barack Obama and Marjorie Agosín, The Norton Sampler includes a range of readings that will delight teachers and engage students. Texts from a range of everyday media—from billboards to coffee mugs— demonstrate that the rhetorical modes play an important role in all the writing and reading that we do.

Practical pedagogy. With templates to help students get started writing each of the modes, a  chapter on reading as a writer, and a  research appendix, The Norton Sampler provides instruction in eloquent prose that’s a pleasure to read and learn from. The templates, glosses, and short essays make it especially good for ESL students.

• Great Readings by Good Writers. 58 total, half new, and half written in the last ten years. The selections themselves are beautifully written, which will please teachers, and on engaging topics that will interest students--Obama’s inaugural speech; Garrison Keillor’s description of a day at the Iowa State Fair; Sean Carroll on Evo Devo, Dave Barry’s hilarious essay on the difference between guys and men, Marjorie Agosín on her life as a bilingual speaker and writer—and more.

• More writing instruction than in previous editions, including templates to help students get started and a chapter on writing and reading that provides students with guidelines on the writing process and on reading with an eye for what they can learn about writing.

• Everyday examples show how the rhetorical techniques taught in this book play an important role across media— on magazine covers and coffee mugs, billboards and websites—and demonstrate that these are methods students will use beyond first-year composition. Most of these include visuals.

• More help for multilingual students, with templates that show basic, sentence-level moves students need to start writing in each rhetorical mode and glosses for cultural references students may not know.

• Argument clusters group readings on 2 current issues, debating the use of performance-enhancing drugs and exploring the question of what’s next for America.   Each cluster includes 3 readings, unlike the more reductive pro-con clusters in other readers.

• NEW A research appendix provides guidance on doing research and documenting sources using the 2009 MLA guidelines, along with a complete sample paper.

• Beautifully written: The only short-essays reader that practices what it teaches about good writing.

Norton/Write

The Norton/Write Web site is free and open to all readers of Norton composition books and to anyone who wants to be a better writer or researcher. The site includes a complete Online Handbook and three easy-to-navigate sections: Writing and Rhetoric, Research and Documentation, and Handbook and Exercises.

Instructor's Edition