Reading and writing about contemporary issues / Kathleen T. McWhorter.

Includes index.

The reading process -- The writing process -- Vocabulary for readers and writers -- Main ideas and topic sentences -- Supporting details, transitions, and implied main ideas -- Revising and proofreading paragraphs -- Reading and writing organizational patterns -- Writing essays and documented papers -- Critical thinking: reading and writing -- Analyzing issues and arguments -- Defining ourselves: our multiple identities -- Our environment: problems and solutions -- Relationships: our friends, families, and communities -- Medical ethics: where do we draw the line? -- Personal safety and security: threats and protection -- Conformity and nonconformity: following and breaking the rules -- Personal freedoms and limitations: lifestyle choices.

This book gathers only the most stimulating nonfiction pieces regarding real-world problems, connects them thematically, and uses them as tools to build on students’ reading and writing through numerous examples for analysis. Students see not only how to use these skills, but why we use them. Each reading is organized into thematic units that focus on contemporary issues, and has been chosen to interest and motivate students.