Crossing America A Reading and Writing Rhetoric (with NEW MyLab Writing Student Access Code Card)

Crossing Americais an interactive reading, writing, and grammar text that focuses on competencies that skilled readers and writers must master. The text follows a thematic approach designed to provide cultural knowledge and awareness both to native speakers of English and to the limited-English language population.

Unit One:  Reading and Writing with Crossing America

 

Welcome Message

Introduction to Reading Literature and Writing About Literature

Student Essay Entitled “I Wanted to Share My Father’s World”

How to Read Any Passage Effectively

      “Student Commencement Address at Southwest Tennessee Community College” by Andy Ling

Literary Analysis

      “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin

Summarizing

How to Write a Summary

Paraphrasing

How to Paraphrase

Plagiarism

SQ9R — A Writing Strategy That Works

 

Unit Two:  American Foundations (Narration)

 

Idioms for a New Nation

Narration:  Points to Consider

Purpose

Point of View

Tone

Inference

Order of Sentences

Transitional Devices Used in Narrative Writing

Verb Usage

Organization

Sentence Structure Errors

Direct and Indirect Quotations

Verb Tense

Reading Before Writing 

      “Constitution Day” by Lynne V. Cheney

       Jacques Lajonie Lapeyre Correspondence…Excerpts

      “Follow the Drinking Gourd” by Anonymous

      “Water Bugs” by Peter Blue Cloud

Reflective Assignments

Internet Field Trips — Reading and Writing Assignments

Films to View

Summary of Unit 2 — American Foundations — Narration

 

Unit Three: Traditions and Celebrations (Description)   

 

Idioms for Holidays and Celebrations

Description:  Points to Consider

Purpose

Types of Descriptive Writing

Organization

Transitional Devices Used in Descriptive Writing

Concrete Language Versus Vague and Abstract Wording

Misplaced Modifiers and Dangling Participles

Reading Before Writing

       “El Olto Lado” from Caramelo by SandraCisneros

       “Packing for America” by Frank McCourt (Life)

       “Slightly Damp, Parade Goers Still Dressed for the Occasion” by Charles Cochran

       “Day of the Refugios” by Alberto Rios

Reflective Assignments

Internet Field Trips — Reading and Writing Assignments

Films to View

Summary of Unit 3 — Traditions and Celebrations - Description

 

Unit Four: American Folklore (Comparison and Contrast)  

 

Idioms for American Folklore

Comparison and Contrast:  Points to Consider

Purpose

Tone

Transitional Devices

Organization

Topic Sentences and thesis Statements

Punctuation of Conjunctive Adverbs and Subordinate Conjunctions

Reading Before Writing

        “What is Folklife?” Excerpts from “A Commonwealth of Cultures” by Mary Hufford 

        “Tam and Cam (A Cinderella Tale from Vietnam)” by Anonymous

        “The Invisible One” (A Cinderella-style Micmac Native legend.) from Algonquin Legends of New England by Charles Godfrey Leland 

        “Cinderella” by Anne Sexton

        “Present at Creation:  The Origins of the Legend of John Henry” by Stephen Wade

        “John Henry” by Zora Neal Hurston

        ”John Henry Blues” by Fiddlin’ Joe Carson

        “Babe the Blue Ox” retold by S. E. Schlosser

        “Six to Eight Black Men” by David Sedaris

Reflective Assignments

Internet Field Trips — Reading and Writing Assignments

Films to View

Summary of Unit 4 — American Folklore — Comparison and Contrast

  

Unit Five: Landmarks (Process Analysis)

 

Idioms for Landmarks

Process Analysis:  Points to Consider

Purpose

Types of Process Writing

Organization

Transitional Devices

Point of View and Tense

Point of View

Reading Before Writing          

        “Jaunts:  Atlanta to Montgomery to Memphis:  A Family Trip Through History” by Carlton Winfrey

        “A and P” by John Updike

        “A Chinese Kitchen” by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo

        “Telling the Story” by Naomi Shihab Nye   

        “In the inner city” by Lucille Clifton      

Reflective Assignments

Internet Field Trips — Reading and Writing Assignments

Films to View

Summary of Unit 5 — Landmarks — Process Analysis    

 

Unit Six: American Music (Classification)

 

Idioms for Classical Music

Classification:  Points to Consider

Purpose

Organization and Development

Transitional Devices

Parallelism

Reading Before Writing 

         “Types of Folk Music” by Sarah Wilfong

         “I Hear America Singing” from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

         “La Música Mexicana” by Ellen Jane Rainey

         “Nineteen Fifty-Five” by Alice Walker

Reflective Assignments

Internet Field Trips — Reading and Writing Assignments

Films to View

Summary of Unit 6 — American Music — Classification

 

Unit Seven: American Lifestyle (Cause and Effect)

 

Idioms for American Lifestyles

Cause and Effect:  Points to Consider

Purpose

Organization and Plan

Order of Causes and Effects

Clear Reasoning

Transitional Words

Tone

Fragments with Subordinate Clauses

Reading Before Writing

         “How Things Work” by Gary Soto

         “Vietnam to America: An 18-hour Flight, or an Impossible Journey?” by Andrew Lam

         “Hoofbeats on Fletcher Street” by Johnny Dwyer

         “Ringtail” by Rudolph Fisher

Reflective Assignments

Internet Field Trips — Reading and Writing Assignments

Films to View

Summary of Unit 7 — American Lifestyle — Cause and Effect Analysis

 

Unit Eight: New Frontiers (Argumentation)

 

Idioms for New Frontiers

Argumentation:  Points to Consider

Purpose

Organization and Plan

Argumentative Paragraphs

Argumentative Essays

Transitional Expressions

Language and Tone

Emotion and Reason

Plagiarism

Strong Verbs

Reading Before Writing

         “Act II” by Diane Brady

         “There’ll Be No Place to Hide in Our Brave New Biometric World” by Paul Saffo

         “Technology and Medicine” by Rafael Campo from The Other Man Was Me: A Voyage to the New World by Raphael Campo

         “The End of the Beginning” by Ray Bradbury

         “Astronauts, Teachers Converse at Ames” by Julie O’Shea       

         “From Space Station, NASA Astronaut Ed Lu '84 Speaks with CU Students” by Blaine P. Friedlander Jr.

Reflective Assignments

Internet Field Trips — Reading and Writing Assignments

Films to View

Summary of Unit 8 — New Frontiers - Argumentation