Writing and Reading
Across the Curriculum
Thirteenth Edition
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Writing and Reading
Across the Curriculum
Thirteenth Edition
Laurence Behrens
University of California Santa Barbara
Leonard J. Rosen
Bentley University
New!
2016
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Behrens, Laurence, author.
Writing and reading across the curriculum/Laurence Behrens; Leonard J. Rosen.—Thirteenth Edition.
pages cm
ISBN 978-0-13-399901-3—ISBN 0-13-399901-7
1. College readers. 2. Interdisciplinary approach in education—Problems, exercises, etc.
3. English language—Rhetoric—Problems, exercises, etc. 4. Academic writing—Problems,
exercises, etc. I. Rosen, Leonard J., author. II. Title.
PE1417.B396 2015
808'.0427—dc23
2014039841
Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2011 by Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen
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T
o the memory of Phil Rodkin (1968–2014)
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B
r i e f
Part
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Part
C o n t e n t s
I
Structures and Strategies 1
1 Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation 3
2 Critical Reading and Critique 51
3 Thesis, Introduction, and Conclusion 78
4 Explanatory Synthesis 96
5 Argument Synthesis 130
6 Analysis 174
7 Locating, Mining, and Citing Sources 196
II
Brief Takes 239
Chapter 8 “Stormy Weather” and the Art
of the Musical Cover 241
Chapter 9 Ethical Dilemmas in Everyday Life 264
Chapter 10 The Roar of the Tiger Mom 302
Part
III
An Anthology of Readings 331
Chapter 11 First Impressions: The Art and Craft
of Storytelling 333
Chapter 12 The Changing Landscape of Work in the
Twenty-First Century 429
Chapter 13 Have You Heard This? The Latest
on Rumor 477
Chapter 14 Happiness and Its Discontents 523
Chapter 15 Obedience to Authority 572
Credits 611
Index 619
Checklists for Writing Summaries, Critiques, Syntheses, and Analyses 634
vii
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D
e t a i l e d
C o n t e n t s
Preface for Instructors xxix
A Note to the Student xxxv
Pa r t
I
Structures and Strategies 1
Chapter 1 Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation 3
What Is a Summary? 3
Can a Summary Be Objective? 4
BOX: Where Do We Find Written Summaries? 4
Using the Summary 5
The Reading Process 5
BOX: Critical Reading for Summary 6
How to Write Summaries 7
BOX: Guidelines for Writing Summaries 7
Demonstration: Summary 8
The Baby in the Well: The Case Against Empathy—Paul Bloom 9
Read, Reread, Highlight 15
Divide into Stages of Thought 16
Write a Brief Summary of Each Stage of Thought 17
Write a Thesis: A Brief Summary of the Entire Passage 18
Write the First Draft of the Summary 20
Summary 1: Combine Thesis Sentence with Brief Section Summaries 21
The Strategy of the Shorter Summary 21
Summary 2: Combine Thesis Sentence, Section Summaries, and Carefully
Chosen Details 22
The Strategy of the Longer Summary 24
How Long Should a Summary Be? 24
EXERCISE 1.1: Individual and Collaborative Summary Practice 25
Summarizing Graphs, Charts, and Tables 25
Bar Graphs 27
EXERCISE 1.2: Summarizing Graphs 29
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Detailed Contents
Line Graphs 29
EXERCISE 1.3: Summarizing Line Graphs 30
Pie Charts 31
EXERCISE 1.4: Summarizing Pie Charts 31
Other Charts: Bubble Maps, Pictograms, and Interactive Charts 32
Tables 34
EXERCISE 1.5: Summarizing Tables 36
Paraphrase 37
BOX: How to Write Paraphrases 39
EXERCISE 1.6: Paraphrasing 40
Quotations 40
Choosing Quotations 41
Quoting Memorable Language 41
BOX: When to Quote 41
Quoting Clear and Concise Language 41
Quoting Authoritative Language 42
Incorporating Quotations into Your Sentences 43
Quoting Only the Part of a Sentence or Paragraph That You Need 43
Incorporating the Quotation into the Flow of Your Own Sentence 44
Avoiding Freestanding Quotations 44
EXERCISE 1.7: Incorporating Quotations 45
Using Ellipses 45
Using Brackets to Add or Substitute Words 46
BOX: When to Summarize, Paraphrase, and Quote 47
BOX: Incorporating Quotations into Your Sentences 48
EXERCISE 1.8: Using Brackets 48
Avoiding Plagiarism 49
BOX: Rules for Avoiding Plagiarism 50
Chapter 2 Critical Reading and Critique 51
Critical Reading 51
Question 1: To What Extent Does the Author Succeed
in His or Her Purpose? 52
BOX: Where Do We Find Written Critiques? 52
Writing to Inform 53
Evaluating Informative Writing 53
Detailed Contents
Writing to Persuade 54
EXERCISE 2.1: Informative and Persuasive Thesis Statements 54
Evaluating Persuasive Writing 55
The Moon We Left Behind—Charles Krauthammer 55
EXERCISE 2.2: Critical Reading Practice 57
Persuasive Strategies 57
Logical Argumentation: Avoiding Logical Fallacies 59
BOX: Tone 61
EXERCISE 2.3: Understanding Logical Fallacies 63
Writing to Entertain 63
Question 2: To What Extent Do You Agree with the Author? 63
Identify Points of Agreement and Disagreement 63
EXERCISE 2.4: Exploring Your Viewpoints—in Three Paragraphs 64
Explore the Reasons for Agreement and Disagreement: Evaluate
Assumptions 64
Inferring and Implying Assumptions 65
An Example of Hidden Assumptions from the World of Finance 65
Critique 67
How to Write Critiques 68
BOX: Guidelines for Writing Critiques 68
Demonstration: Critique 69
To What Extent Does the Author Succeed in His or Her Purpose? 69
To What Extent Do You Agree with the Author? Evaluate
Assumptions 69
Model Critique: A Critique of Charles Krauthammer’s
“The Moon We Left Behind”—Andrew Harlan 70
EXERCISE 2.5: Informal Critique of the Model Critique 75
BOX: Critical Reading for Critique 75
The Strategy of the Critique 76
Chapter 3 Thesis, Introduction, and Conclusion 78
Writing a Thesis 78
The Components of a Thesis 79
Making an Assertion 79
Starting with a Working Thesis 80
Using the Thesis to Plan a Structure 81
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BOX: How Ambitious Should Your Thesis Be? 82
EXERCISE 3.1: Drafting Thesis Statements 83
Introductions 83
Quotation 84
Historical Review 84
Review of a Controversy 85
From the General to the Specific 86
Anecdote and Illustration: From the Specific to the General 86
Question 87
Statement of Thesis 88
EXERCISE 3.2: Drafting Introductions 88
Conclusions 89
Summary (Plus) 89
Statement of the Subject’s Significance 90
Call for Further Research 90
Solution/Recommendation 91
Anecdote 92
Quotation 92
Question 93
Speculation 94
EXERCISE 3.3: Drafting Conclusions 95
Chapter 4 Explanatory Synthesis 96
What Is a Synthesis? 96
Summary and Critique as a Basis for Synthesis 97
Inference as a Basis for Synthesis: Moving Beyond Summary
and Critique 97
Purpose 97
Example: Same Sources, Different Uses 98
BOX: Where Do We Find Written Syntheses? 98
Using Your Sources 99
Types of Syntheses: Explanatory and Argument 99
What Are Genetically Modified (GM) Foods? 100
Genetically Modified Foods and Organisms—The United States
Department of Energy 100
Detailed Contents
Why a GM Freeze?—The GM Freeze Campaign 100
How to Write Syntheses 102
BOX: Guidelines for Writing Syntheses 102
The Explanatory Synthesis 103
Demonstration: Explanatory Synthesis—Going Up? An Elevator
Ride to Space 104
EXERCISE 4.1: Exploring the Topic 104
The History of the Space Elevator—P. K. Aravind 104
Applications of the Space Elevator—Bradley C. Edwards 106
Going Up—Brad Lemley 108
Consider Your Purpose 110
EXERCISE 4.2: Critical Reading for Synthesis 111
Formulate a Thesis 111
Decide How You Will Use Your Source Material 112
Develop an Organizational Plan 113
Summary Statements 114
Write the Topic Sentences 115
BOX: Organize a Synthesis by Idea, Not by Source 116
Write Your Synthesis 117
Explanatory Synthesis: First Draft 117
Revise Your Synthesis: Global, Local, and Surface Revisions 120
Revising the First Draft: Highlights 120
Global 120
Local 121
Surface 121
EXERCISE 4.3: Revising the Explanatory Synthesis 121
Model Explanatory Synthesis: Going Up? An Elevator Ride to
Space—Sheldon Kearney 122
BOX: Critical Reading for Synthesis 129
Chapter 5 Argument Synthesis 130
What Is an Argument Synthesis? 130
The Elements of Argument: Claim, Support,
and Assumption 131
EXERCISE 5.1: Practicing Claim, Support, and Assumption 132
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Detailed Contents
The Three Appeals of Argument: Logos, Ethos, Pathos 132
Logos 133
EXERCISE 5.2: Using Deductive and Inductive Logic 134
Ethos 134
EXERCISE 5.3: Using Ethos 135
Pathos 135
EXERCISE 5.4: Using Pathos 137
The Limits of Argument 137
Fruitful Topics for Argument 137
Demonstration: Developing an Argument Synthesis—Responding
to Bullies 138
Bullying Statistics—Pacer.org 139
The 2011 National School Climate Survey: The Experiences of Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth in Our Nation’s
Schools—Joseph Kosciw et al. 140
Olweus Bullying Prevention Program: Scope and Sequence—Publisher
Catalogue Description 141
White House Report/Bullying—And the Power of Peers
—Philip Rodkin 142
EXERCISE 5.5: Critical Reading for Synthesis 143
The Argument Synthesis 144
Consider Your Purpose 144
Making a Claim: Formulate a Thesis 145
Decide How You Will Use Your Source Material 146
Develop an Organizational Plan 146
Formulate an Argument Strategy 147
Draft and Revise Your Synthesis 148
Model Argument Synthesis: Responding to Bullies—Peter Simmons 148
The Strategy of the Argument Synthesis 157
Developing and Organizing the Support for Your Arguments 161
Summarize, Paraphrase, and Quote Supporting Evidence 161
Provide Various Types of Evidence and Motivational Appeals 162
Use Climactic Order 162
Use Logical or Conventional Order 162
Present and Respond to Counterarguments 163
Detailed Contents
Use Concession 163
BOX: Developing and Organizing Support for Your Arguments 164
Avoid Common Fallacies in Developing and Using Support 164
The Comparison-and-Contrast Synthesis 165
Organizing Comparison-and-Contrast Syntheses 165
Organizing by Source or Subject 165
Organizing by Criteria 166
EXERCISE 5.6: Comparing and Contrasting 167
A Case for Comparison-and-Contrast: World War I
and World War II 167
Comparison-and-Contrast Organized by Criteria 168
Model Exam Response 169
The Strategy of the Exam Response 171
Summary of Synthesis Chapters 172
Chapter 6 Analysis 174
What Is an Analysis? 174
BOX: Where Do We Find Written Analyses? 175
How to Write Analyses 176
The Plug-In Drug—Marie Winn 177
EXERCISE 6.1: Reading Critically: Winn 178
Locate and Apply an Analytic Tool 178
Locate an Analytic Tool 179
Apply the Analytic Tool 180
Analysis Across the Curriculum 180
BOX: Guidelines for Writing Analyses 181
Formulate a Thesis 182
Develop an Organizational Plan 182
Turning Key Elements of a Principle or a Definition into Questions 182
Developing the Paragraph-by-Paragraph Logic of Your Paper 182
Draft and Revise Your Analysis 184
Write an Analysis, Not a Summary 184
Make Your Analysis Systematic 185
Answer the “So What?” Question 185
Attribute Sources Appropriately 185
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BOX: Critical Reading for Analysis 185
When Your Perspective Guides the Analysis 186
Demonstration: Analysis 187
Model Analysis: The Case of the Missing Kidney: An Analysis
of Rumor—Linda Shanker 188
EXERCISE 6.2: Informal Analysis of the Model Analysis 194
The Strategy of the Analysis 194
Chapter 7 Locating, Mining, and Citing Sources 196
Source-Based Papers 196
BOX: Where Do We Find Written Research? 197
BOX: Writing the Research Paper 197
The Research Question 199
BOX: Narrowing the Topic via Research 200
EXERCISE 7.1: Constructing Research Questions 200
LOCATING SOURCES 200
BOX: Types of Research Data 201
Preliminary Research 201
Consulting Knowledgeable People 201
Familiarizing Yourself with Your Library’s Resources 202
Locating Preliminary Sources 203
Encyclopedias 204
BOX: Wikipedia: Let the Buyer Beware 205
EXERCISE 7.2: Exploring Specialized Encyclopedias 205
Biographical Sources 206
Almanacs and Yearbooks 206
Literature Guides and Handbooks 207
Overviews and Bibliographies 207
Subject-Heading Guides 207
Focused Research 208
Databases 208
Smartphones and Database Searching 210
Discovery Services 211
Web Searches 212
BOX: Constructing an Effective Database Search Query 212
Detailed Contents
Searching Databases Effectively 213
BOX: Using Keywords and Boolean Logic to Refine Online Searches 214
Evaluating Web Sources 215
Other Pitfalls of Web Sites 216
EXERCISE 7.3: Exploring Online Sources 216
EXERCISE 7.4: Practice Evaluating Web Sources 217
Periodicals: General 217
Magazines 217
Newspapers 217
Periodicals: Specialized 218
EXERCISE 7.5: Exploring Specialized Periodicals 219
Books 219
Book Reviews 219
Government Publications and Other Statistical Sources 220
Interviews and Surveys 221
BOX: Guidelines for Conducting Interviews 221
BOX: Guidelines for Conducting Surveys and Designing Questionnaires 222
MINING SOURCES 222
BOX: Critical Reading for Research 222
The Working Bibliography 223
Note-Taking 225
Getting the Most from Your Reading 226
BOX: Guidelines for Evaluating Sources 227
Arranging Your Notes: The Outline 227
Research and Plagiarism 229
Time Management and Plagiarism 229
Confidence and Plagiarism 229
Note-Taking and Plagiarism 230
Digital Life and Plagiarism 230
Determining Common Knowledge 230
A Guideline for Determining Common Knowledge 231
Plagiarism, the Internet, and Fair Use 231
Internet Paper Mills 232
BOX: Fair Use and Digital Media 232
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Detailed Contents
citing sources 232
BOX: Types of Citations 232
APA Documentation Basics 233
APA In-Text Citations in Brief 233
APA References List in Brief 234
MLA Documentation Basics 235
MLA In-Text Citations in Brief 235
MLA Works Cited List in Brief 236
II
Pa r t
Brief Takes 239
MUSIC
Chapter 8 “Stormy Weather” and the Art of the
Musical Cover 241
Whose version of “Please Don’t Stop the Music” do you prefer? Rihanna’s or Jamie Cullum’s? Such
questions are at the heart of this chapter on music—specifically, the art of the musical “cover,” in
which a musician or band puts a unique spin on a previously recorded song. Because music isn’t a
verbal art form, writing about it might seem challenging—but we offer a useful model example of
how to go about it. We also provide a useful glossary of key musical terms, both in print and as a
series of online videos. A review of a Paul McCartney album of cover songs makes some provocative claims about what makes for a successful cover and why so many cover albums disappoint. We
conclude with Rolling Stone’s list of “greatest covers” for you to explore and debate.
A Cloudful of “Stormy We
w
to
Ho
Ta
lk—and Write—About Po
pa
a Contr
Com ring
nd
—Greg Blair 251
Why
A
oDSome
a
eHrtful
of
“
ss
ignment
as
ting
T
hree
Arlen and Ted Koehler 243
p ra uMi
ul
Cover
s
of
s—Greg
c
Blair 246
“Stormy We
a ”
ther
si D sapp
oint?—Jeff Turrentine 253
Cover
Ha
lleluj
G tea t sCover
The re
listings 259
The A
a ”—Harold
ther
s
of
ha
”—Leonard
All
Cohen 257
T —Rolling
ime
Stone magazine and other
262
Ethics
Chapter 9 Ethical Dilemmas in Everyday Life 264
Would you steal to save a life? Sacrifice one life to save five? In this chapter we provide a
variety of sources on the ways that “thought experiments” in ethics—scenarios that ask you to
Detailed Contents
decide on courses of right action (and to justify your decisions)—can serve as a guide for facing
everyday ethical dilemmas. When there is no clear right and wrong choice, how do you decide?
To what principles can you turn for guidance? Your task in the chapter will be to wrestle with
ethical dilemmas and to argue for a clear course of action based on principles you make plain to
your readers.
Read; Prepare to Write 265
BOX: Group Assignment #1: Make a Topic List 266
BOX: Group Assignment #2: Create a Topic Web 267
BOX: Group Assignment #3: Decide for Yourself 267
The Readings and Videos 267
What If . . .—Daniel Sokol 267
BOX: Video Link: The Trolley Car 271
The Case of the Collapsed Mine—Richard T. De George 271
A Framework for Thinking Ethically—Manual Velasquez et al. 274
Moral Inquiry—Ronald F. White 279
BOX: Video Link: Grey’s Anatomy (a medical dilemma) 282
Heinz’s Dilemma: Kohlberg’s Six Stages of Moral Development
—William Crain 282
BOX: Video Link: The Heinz Dilemma 289
A Casebook of Ethical Dilemmas 289
The Lifeboat—Rosetta Lee 289
Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor—Garrett
Hardin 290
Should I Protect a Patient at the Expense of an Innocent
Stranger?—Chuck Klosterman 291
No Edit—Randy Cohen 293
The Tortured Child—Kelley L. Ross 294
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas—Ursula Le Guin 294
BOX: Video Link: The Drowning Child by Peter Singer 295
A Callous Passerby—Kelley L. Ross 295
The Assignments
Summary 295 • Alternate Summary Assignment 296
• Critique 296 • Explanatory Synthesis 297
• Analysis 299 • Alternate Analysis Assignment 299
• Argument 300 • Alternate Argument Assignment #1 301
• Alternate Argument Assignment #2 301
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Detailed Contents
Sociology
Chapter 10 The Roar of the Tiger Mom 302
“Here are some things my daughters, Sophia and Louisa, were never allowed to do,” announces
Yale law school professor Amy Chua in her book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. Among
her list of prohibitions: having a playdate, watching TV, playing computer games, and getting
any grade less than A. Chua’s comments provoked a deluge of responses from readers and professional commentators, some outraged, some cheering her on. Here is a sampling of some of those
responses, part of what became a national debate over the best way to raise children to become
successful adults.
Read; Prepare to Write 303
BOX: Group Assignment #1: Make a Topic List 303
BOX: Group Assignment #2: Create a Topic Web 304
The Readings
Adapted from Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother—Amy Chua 304
Mother Inferior?—Hanna Rosin 309
Amy Chua is a Wimp—David Brooks 312
Tiger Mother Stirs Reflections on Parenthood—Tina Griego 314
Tiger Mom vs. Tiger Mailroom—Patrick Goldstein 316
America’s Top Parent—Elizabeth Kolbert 318
Tiger Moms Don’t Raise Superior Kids, Says New Study—Susan
Adams 322
The Assignments
Summary 325 • Critique 325 • Explanatory Synthesis 327
• Analysis 327 • Argument 329
Pa r t
III
An Anthology of Readings 331
Literature and Film
Chapter 11 First Impressions: The Art and Craft
of Storytelling 333
The Art and Craft of Starting Your Story 337
The Hook—K. M. Weiland 337
“Readers are like smart fish,” suggests novelist K.M. Weiland: “They aren’t about to
surrender themselves to the lure of your story unless you’ve presented them with an
irresistible hook.”
Detailed Contents
Starting Your Story—Michael Kardos 343
Novelist and short story writer Michael Kardos discusses the five narrative tasks that the beginning
of a story must accomplish. Perhaps the most crucial: “Give us a reason to keep reading.”
The Magic Show—Tim O’Brien 356
The author of the classic Vietnam novel The Things They Carried explains how a storyteller is
like a magician and how mystery is central to both plot and character.
Chapter Ones: The Novels 361
Emma—Jane Austen 361
Austin’s fourth published novel chronicles the intrusive matchmaking of a privileged young
woman, Emma Woodhouse, in nineteenth-century England.
Wuthering Heights—Emily Brontë 368
Set on the desolate English moors, Wuthering Heights explores love and revenge and madness
through the love story of Catherine Earnshaw and Mr. Heathcliff.
Jane Eyre—Charlotte Brontë 372
This coming-of-age novel chronicles the life of its title character from childhood to marriage.
Great Expectations—Charles Dickens 376
Often considered Dickens’s finest novel, Great Expectations is the coming-of-age story of an
English orphan named Pip.
The Sign of the Four—Arthur Conan Doyle 380
This is Doyle’s second novel starring Sherlock Holmes, the world’s only “unofficial consulting
detective.”
The Red Badge of Courage—Stephen Crane 387
Set in Virginia in 1863, Crane’s second novel depicts a young man, Henry Fleming, who is
fighting for the Union army during the American Civil War.
Dracula—Bram Stoker 394
Here is the archetypal vampire novel to which all subsequent vampire novels (and shows, and
movies) are indebted.
Scene Ones: The Films 403
Jane Eyre—directed by Robert Stevenson 404
This is only one—but an influential one—of numerous film versions of Brontë’s romantic novel.
Great Expectations—directed by David Lean 405
Lean’s version of the terrifying encounter on an English marsh between Dickens’s young Pip
and the escaped convict has never been surpassed.
Emma—directed by Douglas McGrath, and Clueless—directed by Amy
Heckerling 406
Here are two versions of Austen’s classic novel—the first a period piece, like Austen’s novel, set
in county Surrey, England, the second set in Beverly Hills.
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Dracula—directed by Tod Browning, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula
—directed by Francis Ford Coppola 408
Here are two film versions of Bram Stoker’s classic vampire story, created more than sixty years
apart by directors with very different artistic visions.
The Red Badge of Courage—directed by John Huston 409
Crane’s novel of a Civil War soldier wondering how he will act in battle is faithfully filmed—
and then heavily edited by the studio bosses.
Citizen Kane—directed by Orson Welles 411
This is the work most frequently cited as the greatest film of all time. Whether or not you agree,
the opening scene of a newspaper magnate’s final moments make for compelling viewing.
Brief Encounter—directed by David Lean 412
This is one of the greatest romantic dramas ever filmed—in a typically restrained British
fashion.
Shane—directed by George Stevens 413
In many ways, Shane is the archetypal Western: Set against magnificent Wyoming scenery, the
film depicts an epic battle between a reluctant gunfighter and a rancher trying to drive
homesteaders off their land.
The Godfather, Part One—directed by Francis Ford Coppola 415
The greatest gangster film ever made is also a family drama—which begins at a wedding
celebration.
Sleepless in Seattle—directed by Nora Ephron 417
In the tradition of classic romantic dramas, Ephron focuses on two people thousands of miles
apart gravitating (haltingly) toward each other.
Do the Right Thing—directed by Spike Lee 418
A simmering racial conflict on the hottest day of the year in the Bedford-Stuyvesant
neighborhood of Brooklyn is the focus of Spike Lee’s controversial film.
The Devil in a Blue Dress—directed by Carl Franklin 419
The classic private detective formula is re-imagined along racial lines in Carl Franklin’s story of
an unemployed African-American World War II veteran tasked to find the missing girlfriend of
a Los Angeles mayoral candidate.
Chicago—directed by Rob Marshall 421
Kander and Ebb’s scintillating musical about a couple of female murderers begins with two
knockout songs set partially in the characters’ heads.
The Hurt Locker—directed by Kathryn Bigelow 422
This tense film chronicles the daily life-and-death struggles of a bomb disposal unit during the
Iraq War.
Detailed Contents
Gravity—directed by Alfonso Cuarón 424
This visually stunning film about an astronaut trying to return to earth after a catastrophic
accident kept audiences on the edge of their seats.
12 Years a Slave—directed by Steve McQueen 425
A brutally intense drama about a free black man sold into slavery is unforgettably depicted in
McQueen’s film, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 2013.
Synthesis Activities 426
Economics
Chapter 12 The Changing Landscape of Work in the
Twenty-First Century 429
The Puzzling U.S. Labor Market 431
A Post-College Flow Chart of Misery and Pain—Jenna Brager 432
A graphic artist offers a sardonic view of the job prospects for those holding a humanities degree.
Job Outlook for 2014 College Grads Puzzling—Hadley Malcolm 433
A reporter for USA Today investigates job prospects for recent grads and concludes that for
many “young Americans . . . the recession never ended.”
Why Focusing Too Narrowly in College Could Backfire—Peter
Cappelli 435
A business professor acknowledges that in a tough job market there’s a strong temptation to
acquire practical, immediately employable skills; but he questions the wisdom of turning the
college years into narrowly focused vocational training.
Will Your Job Be Exported?—Alan S. Blinder 440
An economist argues that the quality and security of future jobs in America’s services sector
will be determined by how “offshorable” those jobs are. Even jobs requiring a college degree
are at risk.
They’re Watching You at Work: The Job Interview—Don Peck 446
You’ve landed that coveted job interview. During your face to face with the recruiter, you’re
asked to play a video game while a computer monitors your every keystroke, assessing your
potential as a prospective employee. Sound appealing?
Data on the U.S. Labor Market: Charts, Graphs, Tables 451
Multiple charts, graphs, and tables provide snapshots of current conditions in the job market.
You’ll learn how graduates in different majors are faring in their search for jobs—and what they
earn when hired. The data is culled from several authoritative sources: Pew Research, Georgetown Public Policy Institute, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Rising Cost of Not Going to College—Pew Research 452
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Unemployment and Earnings for College Majors—Georgetown Public
Policy Institute/Center for Education and the Workforce 455
Earnings and Unemployment Rates by Educational Attainment
—Bureau of Labor Statistics 456
Employment Projections 2012–2022—Bureau of Labor Statistics 457
Occupation Finder—Bureau of Labor Statistics 458
Debate: Should You Do What You Love? 460
Do What You Love—Steve Jobs 461
In this famous commencement address at Stanford University in 2005, a titan of the computer
industry advises graduating seniors to follow their passion in the search for work. His advice
provokes a furious debate.
Do What You Love? #@&** That!—Jeff Haden 463
This columnist believes that “[t]elling someone to follow their passion . . . has probably resulted
in more failed businesses than all the recessions combined.”
Dear Grads: Don’t Do What You Love—Carl McCoy 466
Perhaps more young people would be happier in their jobs, according to this writer and
musician, if “love [was] a consequence of meaningful work instead of . . . the motivation
for it.”
In the Name of Love—Miya Tokumitsu 468
An art historian brings a socialist critique to the “do what you love” debate, arguing that people who
work for love of the job often achieve their goals by employing others who come to hate their jobs.
Synthesis Activities 473 • Research Activities 475
Sociology
Chapter 13 Have You Heard This? The Latest
on Rumor 477
The Gossips—Norman Rockwell 480
A famous Saturday Evening Post cover tracks a fast-moving rumor as it wends its way to,
from, and around the local townsfolk, who react with amusement, surprise, and dismay.
Frankenchicken—Snopes.com 482
Would you like fries with your genetically engineered chicken? How one fast food chain lost
control of its secret recipe.
Truth Is in the Ear of the Beholder—Gregory Rodriguez 484
Won’t the truth make us free? No, reports a Los Angeles Times columnist: “we tend to reject
theories and rumors—and facts and truths—that challenge our worldview and embrace those
that affirm it.”
Detailed Contents
Anatomy of a Rumor: It Flies on Fear—Daniel Goleman 486
“Rumors are a kind of opportunistic information virus, thriving because of their ability
to create the very anxieties that make them spread,” notes psychologist Daniel
Goleman. This introduction to the world of rumor explains what contemporary social
scientists are doing to understand—and prevail against—a timeless and universal human
phenomenon.
Fighting That Old Devil Rumor—Sandra Salmans 491
How Procter & Gamble fought a rumor that would not die, about the Satanic significance of its
corporate logo.
A Psychology of Rumor—Robert H. Knapp 496
In this groundbreaking analysis, conceived during a time when wartime rumors were
everywhere, a psychologist classifies the main types of rumors and explains what qualities make
them so effective.
“Paul is Dead!” (Said Fred)—Alan Glenn 499
Look closely at that album cover showing the four Beatles crossing Abbey Road. Why is Paul not
wearing shoes? Could that clue be evidence that . . . he’s really crossed over to the other side?
The Runaway Grandmother—Jan Harold Brunvand 504
Car with dead granny on roof stolen—news at 11!
How and Why Rumors Work—And How to Stop Them—Nicholas
DiFonzo 511
A psychology professor explains how rumors help people who are “trying to figure out or make
sense of an unclear or ambiguous situation.”
How to Fight a Rumor—Jesse Singal 512
Rumors are more than just “idle and malicious gossip.” Throughout history they have served
important social functions. To fight rumors, particularly political rumors, we must study these
functions.
The Rumor—John Updike 518
A suburban wife tells her husband she’s heard a rumor that he’s gay. He laughs it off, but then,
like a worm, the rumor burrows deep, with surprising results.
Synthesis Activities 519 • Research Activities 521
Philosophy
Chapter 14 Happiness and Its Discontents 523
Happiness—Jane Kenyon 525
A former poet laureate of New Hampshire compares happiness to an unknown uncle who
appears at your door to wake you from a midafternoon sleep “during the unmerciful / hours
of your despair.”
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Detailed Contents
Pig Happiness?—Lynne McFall 527
John Stuart Mill once wrote that “[i]t is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig
satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.” Philosopher Lynn McFall riffs
on this pronouncement with a playful—yet serious—run of questions.
In Pursuit of Happiness—Mark Kingwell 530
For thousands of years philosophers, religious leaders, and poets have attempted to define
happiness, yet no one has come up with a universally accepted definition. Is the effort futile?
A contemporary philosopher doesn’t think so.
The Dalai Lama’s Ski Trip: What I Learned in the Slush with His
Holiness—Douglas Preston 533
A writer making a “shabby” living plays host to a revered religious leader—and learns the
meaning of life.
A Balanced Psychology and a Full Life—Martin E. P. Seligman, Acacia
C. Parks, and Tracy Steen 538
A founder of positive psychology explains key principles of the young science and claims that
“three routes to happiness (pleasure, gratification, and meaning)” can be taught and nurtured.
Finding Flow—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi 544
Another founder of positive psychology defines a key component of happiness as “flow”—the
state of being so immersed in an activity that all awareness of time and effort dissolves. Athletes
call it “being in the zone.”
Yes, Money Can Make You Happy—Cass R. Sunstein 549
Conventional wisdom tells us that money can’t buy happiness. Researchers think that it
can—up to a point.
Happiness: Enough Already—Sharon Begley 554
“On a scale from 1 to 10, where 10 is extremely happy, 8s were more successful than 9s and 10s,
getting more education and earning more.” Is there a downside to being too happy?
Happy Like God—Simon Critchley 559
“Happiness is not quantitative . . . and it is not the object of any science, old or new. It cannot be
gleaned from empirical surveys or programmed into individuals through . . . behavioral therapy
and anti-depressants.”
High Performance Happy—Cliff Oxford 562
An entrepreneur rejects the application of happiness studies to business—labeling Human
Resources personnel “happy-employee propagandists.”
What Suffering Does—David Brooks 566
Happiness is but one part of the human drama; suffering is another. In this essay, Brooks reflects
on what we learn, and how we change, from suffering.
Synthesis Activities 568 • Research Activities 570
Detailed Contents
Psychology
Chapter 15 Obedience to Authority 572
Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem—
Erich Fromm 574
“If mankind commits suicide,” argues this psychologist and philosopher, “it will be because
people will obey those who command them to push the deadly buttons; because they will obey
the archaic passions of fear, hate, and greed; because they will obey obsolete clichés of State
sovereignty and national honor.”
The Power of Situations—Lee Ross and Richard E. Nisbett 579
Think you can predict whether or not a student walking across campus will stop to help a man
slumped in a doorway? Don’t bet on it.
The Milgram Experiment—Saul McLeod 583
A psychologist devises an experiment to test the extent to which people will obey immoral orders.
His startling conclusion: “ordinary people . . . without any particular hostility on their part, can
become agents in a terrible destructive process.”
The Follower Problem—David Brooks 591
It’s sometimes difficult for Americans to square our belief that all people are created equal
with the reality that a functioning society requires some people to lead and others to follow.
A prominent social commentator explains that good leaders require people who “recognize just
authority, admire it, [are] grateful for it and emulate it.”
Group Minds—Doris Lessing 594
The flattering picture we paint of ourselves as individuals leaves most of us “helpless against all
kinds of pressures . . . to conform.”
Opinions and Social Pressure—Solomon E. Asch 597
How powerful is group pressure upon the individual? A landmark experiment demonstrates that
most people will deny the evidence of their own eyesight sooner than risk appearing out of step
with the majority.
Prisoner and Guard: The Stanford Experiment 603
You will be directed to a dramatic online video documenting a now-famous experiment
in which college-age men take on the roles of guard and prisoner—with surprising
(and chilling) results.
Synthesis Activities 605 • Research Activities 607
Credits 611
Index 619
Checklists for Writing Summaries, Critiques, Syntheses, Analyses 634
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P
r e f a c e
f o r
I n s t r u c t o r s
W
hen Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum was first published, the
response was both immediate and enthusiastic. Instructors found the
topics in WRAC both interesting and teachable, and students appreciated the links that such topics suggested to the courses they were taking concurrently in the humanities, the social sciences, and the sciences. Readers told us how
practical they found our “summary, synthesis, and critique” approach to writing
college-level papers, and in later editions welcomed the addition of “analysis” to
our coverage in Part I.
In developing each successive edition of WRAC, we strive to retain the essential
multidisciplinary character of the text while providing ample new topics and individual readings to keep it fresh and timely. Some topics have proven particularly
enduring—our “Obedience” chapter has been a fixture. But we take care to make
sure that at least half of the book is completely new every time, both by extensively
revising existing chapters and by creating new ones. While we retain an emphasis
on summary, critique, synthesis, and analysis, we continue to develop content on
topics such as the process of writing and argumentation that address the issues
and interests of today’s classrooms.
What’s New in This Edition?
• Over 60 new readings throughout the book span the disciplines, represent
a range of perspectives, and encourage students to write critical responses,
summaries, analyses, and syntheses.
• A new research chapter, “Locating, Mining, and Citing Sources,” details the
latest developments in digital resources and search strategies; includes a new
discussion of plagiarism, its causes, and strategies for fair and accurate source
citation; and incorporates the latest MLA and APA citation formats (Ch. 7).
• A new “Brief Takes” chapter on “‘Stormy Weather’ and the Art of the
Musical Cover” introduces students to writing about music. The chapter provides a model comparative analysis of three versions of “Stormy
Weather,” directs students to a series of music glossary v
ideos that explain
and demonstrate key musical concepts, and includes suggestions for exploring and evaluating covers of more recent works, such as Leonard C
ohen’s
“Hallelujah” (Ch. 8).
• A new “Brief Takes” chapter on “Ethical Dilemmas in Everyday Life”
invites readers to apply classic principles of ethics—like utilitarianism—to
argue for one or another course of action within more than a dozen scenarios. A carefully sequenced set of assignments (summary, critique, synthesis,
and analysis) guides students through the readings and offers principles for
choosing among the competing demands of ethical dilemmas (Ch. 9).
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Preface
• A new anthology chapter, “First Impressions,” provides three readings
that discuss what elements should be at work in effective openings, then
prompts students to consider opening scenes of eighteen films and seven
classic novels. Students then apply a critical apparatus for understanding
how storytellers engage their audiences (Ch. 11).
• An almost entirely revised “The Changing Landscape of Work in the
Twenty-First Century” continues to emphasize the promise and perils
of the new economy as well as to draw from a number of disciplines—
including economics, sociology, public policy, business, and investigative journalism. The chapter features thirteen new selections that ensure
currency and explore the changing nature of work, the role of technology
in these changes, and the security of jobs (Ch. 12).
• A new student model paper on the topic of bullying explores characteristics of bullying; its extent and effects; and national, state, and local solutions
to the problem. The model paper builds on articles in the chapter itself (and
on other sources) to illustrate methods for bringing multiple voices into an
argument in support of a writer’s claim (Ch. 5).
• A new reading selection and model summary not only demonstrate
summary skills but also offer a provocative view of empathy: one that argues
against using our tendency to identify with the suffering of others as a guide
to public policy (Ch. 1).
• New examples model strategies for effective introductions and conclusions
(Ch. 3).
• Online text and video sources are referenced throughout with recommended
search terms and strategies.
Structure and Signature Strengths
Structure
Writing and Reading Acr oss the Curriculum is divided into a rhetoric and an
anthology of readings. The anthology of readings is further subdivided into two
parts, the first of these serving as a kind of bridge between the rhetoric and the
anthology.
Part I takes students step-by-step through the process of writing papers based
on source material, explaining and demonstrating how summaries, critiques, syntheses, and analyses can be generated from the kinds of readings students will
encounter later in the book—and throughout their academic careers.
Part II, “Brief Takes,” offers mini-chapters of five to seven readings that are
accompanied by a set of sequential writing exercises. We see working on one or
more of these brief takes as a kind of “warm-up” exercise for the more intensive
intellectual activities involved in tackling the full-length chapters. “The Roar of
the Tiger Mom” is carried over from the previous edition. Two new mini-chapters,
“Ethical Dilemmas in Everyday Life” and “‘Stormy Weather’ and the Art of the
Musical Cover,” round out this section of the text.
Preface
Part III offers full-length anthology chapters of ten or so readings
(approximately 75 pages) on compelling topics selected to stimulate student
interest. Tackling a range of perspectives, voices, and writing and argument strategies, these units immerse students in the kinds of sustained reading and writing
required for other college courses.
Signature Strengths
Continued focus on argument in Part I emphasizes the following:
• The Elements of Argument: Claim, Support, Assumption. This section adapts
the Toulmin approach to the kinds of readings students will encounter in
Parts II and III of the text.
• The Three Appeals of Logos, Ethos, Pathos. This discussion may be used to
analyze arguments in the readings in Parts II and III of the book.
• Developing and Organizing the Support for Your Arguments. This section
helps students mine source materials for facts, expert opinions, and examples that will support their arguments.
• Annotated Student Argument Paper. A sample student paper highlights and
discusses argumentative strategies that a student writer uses in drafting and
developing a paper.
Resources for Teachers and Students
Now Available for Composition
MyWritingLab™
Integrated solutions for writing. MyWritingLab is an online homework, tutorial,
and assessment program that provides engaging experiences to today’s instructors and students. New features designed specifically for composition instructors
and their course needs include a new writing space for students, customizable
rubrics for assessing and grading student writing, multimedia instruction on all
aspects of composition, and advanced reporting to improve the ability to analyze
class performance.
Adaptive learning. MyWritingLab offers pre-assessments and personalized remediation so students see improved results and instructors spend less time in class
reviewing the basics. Visit www.mywritinglab.com for more information.
eTextbooks
Pearson eText. This electronic option gives students access to Writing and Reading
Across the Curriculum, thirteenth edition, whenever and wherever they can access
the Internet. The eText pages look exactly like the printed text, and include powerful interactive and customization functions. Users can create notes, highlight
text in different colors, create bookmarks, zoom, click hyperlinked words and
phrases to view definitions, and view as a single page or as two pages. Pearson
eText also links students to associated media files, enabling them to view videos
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Preface
as they read the text, and offers a full-text search and the ability to save and e xport
notes. The Pearson eText also includes embedded URLs in the chapter text with
active links to the Internet.
The Pearson eText app is a great companion to Pearson’s eText browser-based
book reader. It allows existing subscribers who view their Pearson eText titles
on a Mac or PC to additionally access their titles in a bookshelf on the iPad or an
Android tablet either online or via download.
CourseSmart eTextbook. Students can subscribe to Writing and Reading Across the
Curriculum at CourseSmart.com. The format of the eText allows students to search
the text, bookmark passages, save their own notes, and print reading a ssignments
that incorporate lecture notes.
Instructor’s Manual
The Instructor’s Manual for the thirteenth edition of Writing and Reading Across the
Curriculum provides sample syllabi and course calendars, chapter summaries,
classroom ideas for writing assignments, introductions to each set of readings,
and answers to review questions.
Acknowledgments
We have benefited over the years from the suggestions and insights of many
teachers—and students—across the country. We would especially like to thank
these reviewers of the thirteenth edition: Dr. Iona Joseph Abraham, Lorain
County Community College; Dianne Donnelly, University of South Florida;
William Donovan, Idaho State University; Derek G. Handley, Community College
of Allegheny County; Deanna M. Jessup, Indiana University; Kim Karshner,
Lorain County Community College; Eliot Parker, Mountwest Community and
Technical College; Denise Paster, Coastal Carolina University; and Mary R. Seel,
SUNY Broome Community College.
We would also like to thank the following reviewers for their help in the
preparation of past editions: Angela Adams, Loyola University Chicago; James
Allen, College of DuPage; Fabián Álvarez, Western Kentucky University; Chris
Anson, North Carolina State University; Phillip Arrington, Eastern Michigan
University; Anne Bailey, Southeastern Louisiana University; Carolyn Baker,
San Antonio College; Joy Bashore, Central Virginia Community College; Nancy
Blattner, Southeast Missouri State University; Mary Bly, University of California,
Davis; Laurel Bollinger, University of Alabama in Huntsville; David Bordelon,
Ocean County College; Bob Brannan, Johnson County Community College; Paul
Buczkowski, Eastern Michigan University; Jennifer Bullis, Whatcom Community
College; Paige Byam, Northern Kentucky University; Susan Callendar, Sinclair
Community
College; Anne Carr, Southeast Community College; Jeff Carroll,
University of H
awaii; Joseph Rocky Colavito, Northwestern State University;
Michael Colonneses, Methodist College; James A. Cornette, Christopher Newport
University; Timothy Corrigan, Temple University; Kathryn J. Dawson, Ball
Preface
State University; Cathy Powers Dice, University of Memphis; Kathleen Dooley,
Tidewater Community College; Judith Eastman, Orange Coast College; David
Elias, Eastern Kentucky University; Susan Boyd English, Kirkwood Community
College; Kathy Evertz, University of Wyoming; Kathy Ford, Lake Land College;
University of Wyoming; Wanda Fries, Somerset Community College; Bill Gholson,
Southern Oregon University; Karen Gordon, Elgin Community College; Deborah
Gutschera, College of DuPage; Lila M. Harper, Central Washington University;
M. Todd Harper, University of Louisville; Kip Harvigsen, Ricks College; Michael
Hogan, Southeast Missouri State University; Sandra M. Jensen, Lane Community
College; Anita Johnson, Whatcom Community College; Mark Jones, University of
Florida; Daven M. Kari, Vanguard University; Jane Kaufman, University of Akron;
Kerrie Kawasaki-Hull, Ohlone College; Rodney Keller, Ricks College; Walt Klarner,
Johnson County Community College; Jeffery Klausman, Whatcom Community
College; Alison Kuehner, Ohlone College; Michelle LaFrance, University of
Massachusetts Dartmouth; William B. Lalicker, West Chester University; Dawn
Leonard, Charleston Southern University; Lindsay Lewan, Arapahoe Community
College; Clifford L. Lewis, U Mass Lowell; Signee Lynch, Whatcom Community
College; Jolie Martin; San Francisco State University; Meg Matheny, Jefferson
Community and Technical College, Southwest; Krista L. May, Texas A&M
University; Kathy Mendt, Front Range Community College–Larimer Campus;
RoseAnn Morgan, Middlesex County College; David Moton, Bakersfield College;
Roark Mulligan, Christopher Newport University; Joan Mullin, University of
Toledo; Stella Nesanovich, McNeese State University; Catherine Olson, Lone
Star College-Tomall; Susie Paul, Auburn University at Montgomery; Thomas
Pfau, Bellevue Community College; Jeff Pruchnic, Wayne State University; Aaron
Race, Southern Illinois University–Carbondale; Nancy Redmond, Long Beach
City College; Deborah Reese, University of Texas at Arlington; Alison Reynolds,
University of Florida; Priscilla Riggle, Bowling Green State University; Jeanette
Riley, University of New Mexico; Robert Rongner, Whatcom Community College;
Sarah C. Ross, Southeastern Louisiana University; Deborah L. Ruth, Owensboro
Community & Technical College; Amy Rybak, Bowling Green State University;
Raul Sanchez, University of Utah; Mary R. Seel, Broome Community College;
Rebecca Shapiro, Westminster College; Mary Sheldon, Washburn University;
Horacio Sierra, University of Florida; Philip Sipiora, University of Southern
Florida; Joyce Smoot, Virginia Tech; Ellen Sorg, Owens Community College;
Bonnie A. Spears, Chaffey College; Bonnie Startt, Tidewater Community College;
R. E. Stratton, University of Alaska–Fairbanks; Katherine M. Thomas, Southeast
Community College; Scott Vander Ploeg, Madisonville Community College;
Victor Villanueva, Washington State University; Deron Walker, California Baptist
University; Jackie Wheeler, Arizona State University; Pat Stephens Williams,
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale; and Kristin Woolever, Northeastern
University.
anta Barbara
The authors wish to thank Robert Krut, of the University of California, S
Writing Program, for his contributions to the new “Rumor” chapter. We also acknowledge the work of Barbara Magalnick in contributing to the “ Summary” and “Ethical
Dilemmas” chapters. For their numerous comments and suggestions on developing
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Preface
the research chapter, “Locating, Mining, and Citing Sources,” we thank Ayanna Gaines,
associate librarian at Ventura College, and Richard Caldwell, head of library instruction
at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
For his consultation on the model synthesis “Responding to Bullies” in
Chapter 4, we gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Philip Rodkin, Professor
of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Tragically, Phil
died in May 2014, and he will be sorely missed by all who knew him.
We thank musician Greg Blair for his expertise in writing the model p
aper on
“Stormy Weather” and for creating a series of entertaining and instructive v
ideos
to accompany his glossary of musical terms.
For this edition we were fortunate indeed to work with Michael Kardos, who
codirects the creative writing program at Mississippi State University. Mike
contributed in equal part to the new chapters on “‘Stormy Weather’ and the Art
of the Musical Cover” and “First Impressions: The Art and Craft of Storytelling.”
Participating in the development and writing of these chapters, he was an inexhaustible fount of good ideas and good humor. His deep knowledge of literature,
the art of storytelling, and the contemporary music scene were invaluable to us.
Finally, special thanks to Brad Potthoff, Anne Shure, Shannon Kobran, Joseph
Croscup, and Margaret McConnell for helping shepherd the manuscript through
the editorial and production process. And our continued gratitude to Joe Opiela,
longtime friend and supporter.
Laurence Behrens
Leonard J. Rosen
A
N o t e
t o
t h e
S t u d e n t
Y
our sociology professor asks you to write a paper on attitudes toward
the homeless population of an area near your campus. You are expected
to consult online sources, articles, and books on the subject. You are also
encouraged to conduct surveys and interviews.
Your professor is making a number of assumptions about your capabilities—
among them, that you can:
• research and assess the value of relevant sources;
• comprehend college-level material, both print and digital;
• use theories and principles learned from one set of sources as tools to investigate other sources (or events, people, places, or things);
• synthesize separate but related sources;
• intelligently respond to such material.
In fact, these same assumptions underlie practically all college writing assignments.
Your professors will expect you to demonstrate that you can read and understand
not only textbooks, but also critical articles and books, primary sources, Internet
sources, online academic databases, and other material related to a particular
subject of study.
An example: For a paper on the changing nature of the workforce in the twentyfirst century, you would probably look to articles and Internet sources for the latest
information. Using an online database, you might find articles in such journals as
the Green Labor Journal, the Economic Journal, and the Journal of Labor Research, as well
as in leading newspapers and magazines. A Web search might lead you to the Occupational Employment Statistics homepage, published online by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. You’d be expected to assess the relevance of such sources to your topic and
to draw from them the information and ideas you need. The final product of your
research and reading might not be a conventional paper at all, but rather a Web site
that alerts students to job categories experts think are expanding or disappearing.
You might, for a different class, be assigned a research paper on the films of director Wes Anderson. To get started, you might consult your film studies textbook,
biographical sources on Anderson, and anthologies of criticism. Instructor and
peer feedback on a first draft might lead you to articles in both popular magazines
(such as Time) and scholarly journals (such as Literature/Film Quarterly); you might
also consult relevant Web sites (such as the Internet Movie Database).
These two example assignments are very different, of course, but the skills you
need to work on them are the same. You must be able to research relevant sources,
read and comprehend these sources, perceive the relationships among several
pieces of source material, and apply your own critical judgments to these materials.
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A Note to the Student
Writing and Reading Acr oss the Curriculum provides you with the opportunity
to practice the essential college-level skills we have just outlined and the forms of
writing associated with them, namely:
•
•
•
•
the summary
the critique
the synthesis
the analysis
Each chapter of Parts II and III of this text represents a subject from a particular area of the academic curriculum: Sociology, Economics, Psychology, Business,
Public Policy, Music, Literary Studies, Ethics, Film Studies, and Philosophy. These
chapters—dealing with such topics as rumor, the pursuit of happiness, obedience
to authority, and ethical dilemmas—illustrate the types of material you might
study in your other courses.
Questions following the readings will allow you to practice typical college writing assignments:
• “Review Questions” help you recall key points of content.
• “Discussion and Writing Suggestions” ask you for personal responses to
readings.
• “Synthesis Activities” allow you to practice assignments of the type that are
covered in detail in Part I of this book. For instance, you may be asked to
summarize the Milgram experiment and the reactions to it, or to compare
and contrast a controlled experiment with a real-life (or fictional) situation.
• “Research Activities” ask you to go beyond the readings in this text and to
conduct your own independent research on these subjects.
In this book, you’ll find articles and essays written by literary critics, sociologists,
psychologists, musicians, attorneys, political scientists, journalists, and specialists
from other fields. Our aim is that you become familiar with the various subjects
and styles of academic writing and that you come to appreciate the interrelatedness of knowledge. Happiness can be studied by philosophers, psychologists,
sociologists, economists, geographers, religious thinkers, and poets. Human
activity and human behavior are classified into separate subjects only for convenience. The novel you read in your literature course may be able to shed some light
upon an assigned article for your economics course—and vice versa.
We hope, therefore, that your writing course will serve as a kind of bridge to
your other courses and that, as a result of this work, you will become more skillful
at perceiving relationships among diverse topics. Because it involves such critical
and widely applicable skills, your writing course may well turn out to be one of
the most valuable—and one of the most interesting—of your academic career.
Laurence Behrens
Leonard J. Rosen
Writing and Reading
Across the Curriculum
Thirteenth Edition
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Writing and Reading
Across the Curriculum
Thirteenth Edition
Checklist for Writing Summaries
• Read the passage carefully. Determine its structure. Identify the authors’
purpose.
• Reread. Label each state of thought. Underline key ideas and terms.
• Write one-sentence summaries of each state of thought.
• Write a thesis: a one- or two-sentence summary of the entire passage.
• Write the first draft of your summary.
• Check your summary against the original passage.
• Revise and edit your summary.
Checklist For Writing Critiques
• Introduce both the passage being critiqued and the author.
• Summarize the author’s main points, making sure to state the author’s
purpose for writing.
• Evaluate the validity of the author’s presentation.
• Respond to the author’s presentation.
• Conclude by summing up your assessment of the overall validity of the
piece.
P
I
a r t
Structures and Strategies
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation
Critical Reading and Critique
Thesis, Introduction, and Conclusion
Explanatory Synthesis
Argument Synthesis
Analysis
Locating, Mining, and Citing Sources
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C
h a p t e r
1
Summary, Paraphrase,
and Quotation
After completing this chapter, you will be able to:
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
Explain what a summary is.
Apply systematic strategies as you read in order to prepare a summary.
Write summaries of varying lengths.
Write summaries of visual presentations, including graphs, charts, and tables.
Write paraphrases to clarify difficult or confusing source material.
Use direct and indirect quotations, and integrate them into your writing.
Avoid plagiarism by citing sources and using your own words and sentence
structure.
What is a Summary?
1.1 Explain what a
summary is.
The best way to demonstrate that you understand the
information and the ideas in any piece of writing is
to compose an accurate and clearly written summary
of that piece. By a summary we mean a brief restatement, in your own words, of the content of a passage (a group of paragraphs, a
chapter, an article, a book). This restatement should focus on the central idea of
the passage. The briefest of summaries (one or two sentences) will do no more
than this. A longer, more complete summary will indicate, in condensed form,
the main points in the passage that support or explain the central idea. It will
reflect the order in which these points are presented and the emphasis given to
them. It may even include some important examples from the passage. But it
will not include minor details. It will not repeat points simply for the purpose
of emphasis. And it will not contain any of your own opinions or conclusions. A
good summary, therefore, has three central qualities: brevity, completeness, and
objectivity.
3
4
Chapter 1
Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation
Can a Summary Be Objective?
Of course, the last quality mentioned, objectivity, might be difficult to achieve in a
summary. By definition, writing a summary requires you to select some aspects of
the original and leave out others. Since deciding what to select and what to leave
out calls for your personal judgment, your summary really is a work of interpretation. And, certainly, your interpretation of a passage may differ from another
person’s.
One factor affecting the nature and quality of your interpretation is your prior
knowledge of the subject. For example, if you’re attempting to summarize an anthropological article and you’re a novice in that field, then your summary of the
article will likely differ from that of your professor, who has spent 20 years studying this particular area and whose judgment about what is more or less significant
is undoubtedly more reliable than your own. By the same token, your personal or
professional frame of reference may also affect your interpretation. A union representative and a management representative attempting to summarize the latest
management offer would probably come up with two very different accounts. Still,
we believe that in most cases it’s possible to produce a reasonably objective summary of a passage if you make a conscious, good-faith effort to be unbiased and to
prevent your own feelings on the subject from distorting your account of the text.
Where Do We Find Written Summaries?
Here are just a few of the types of writing that involve summary:
Academic Writing
• Critique papers. Summarize material in order to critique it.
• Synthesis papers. Summarize to show relationships between sources.
• Analysis papers. Summarize theoretical perspectives before applying them.
• Research papers. Note-taking and reporting research require summary.
• Literature reviews. Overviews of work presented in brief summaries.
• Argument papers. Summarize evidence and opposing arguments.
• Essay exams. Demonstrate understanding of course materials through summary.
Workplace Writing
• Policy briefs. Condense complex public policy.
• Business plans. Summarize costs, relevant environmental impacts, and other
important matters.
• Memos, letters, and reports. Summarize procedures, meetings, product assessments, expenditures, and more.
• Medical charts. Record patient data in summarized form.
• Legal briefs. Summarize relevant facts of cases.
The Reading Process
Using The Summary
In some quarters, the summary has a bad reputation—and with reason. Summaries
often are provided by writers as substitutes for analyses. As students, many of
us have summarized books that we were supposed to review critically. All the
same, the summary does have a place in respectable college work. First, writing
a summary is an excellent way to understand what you read. This in itself is an
important goal of academic study. If you don’t understand your source material,
chances are you won’t be able to refer to it usefully in an essay or research paper.
Summaries help you understand what you read because they force you to put the
text into your own words. Practice with writing summaries also develops your
general writing habits because a good summary, like any other piece of good writing, is clear, coherent, and accurate.
Second, summaries are useful to your readers. Let’s say you’re writing a
paper about the McCarthy era in the United States, and in part of that paper
you want to discuss Arthur Miller’s Crucible as a dramatic treatment of the
subject. A summary of the plot would be helpful to a reader who hasn’t seen or
read—or who doesn’t remember—the play. Or perhaps you’re writing a paper
about the politics of recent American military interventions. If your reader isn’t
likely to be familiar with American actions in Kosovo and Afghanistan, it would
be a good idea to summarize these events at some early point in the paper. In
many cases (an exam, for instance), you can use a summary to demonstrate your
knowledge of what your professor already knows; when writing a paper, you
can use a summary to inform your professor about some relatively unfamiliar
source.
Third, summaries are required frequently in college-level writing. For example,
on a psychology midterm, you may be asked to explain Carl Jung’s theory of the
collective unconscious and to show how it differs from Sigmund Freud’s theory
of the personal unconscious. You may have read about this theory in your textbook or in a supplementary article, or your instructor may have outlined it in his
or her lecture. You can best demonstrate your understanding of Jung’s theory by
summarizing it. Then you’ll proceed to contrast it with Freud’s theory—which, of
course, you must also summarize.
The Reading Process
It may seem to you that being able to tell (or
retell) in summary form exactly what a passage
says is a skill that ought to be taken for granted
in anyone who can read at high school level.
Unfortunately, this is not so: For all kinds of
reasons, people don’t always read carefully. In fact, it’s probably safe to say that
usually they don’t. Either they read so inattentively that they skip over words,
phrases, or even whole sentences, or, if they do see the words in front of them,
they see them without registering their significance.
1.2 Apply systematic strategies
as you read in order to
prepare a summary.
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Chapter 1
Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation
When a reader fails to pick up the meaning and implications of a sentence or
two, usually there’s no real harm done. (An exception: You could lose credit on
an exam or paper because you failed to read or to realize the significance of a
crucial direction by your instructor.) But over longer stretches—the paragraph,
the section, the article, or the chapter—inattentive or haphazard reading interferes
with your goals as a reader: to perceive the shape of the argument, to grasp the
central idea, to determine the main points that compose it, to relate the parts of
the whole, and to note key examples. This kind of reading takes a lot more energy
and determination than casual reading. But, in the long run, it’s an energy-saving
method because it enables you to retain the content of the material and to use
that content as a basis for your own responses. In other words, it allows you to
develop an accurate and coherent written discussion that goes beyond summary.
Critical Reading for Summary
• Examine the context. Note the credentials, occupation, and publications of
the author. Identify the source in which the piece originally appeared. This
information helps illuminate the author’s perspective on the topic he or she is
addressing.
• Note the title and subtitle. Some titles are straightforward, whereas the meanings of others become clearer as you read. In either case, titles typically identify the topic being addressed and often reveal the author’s attitude toward
that topic.
• Identify the main point. Whether a piece of writing contains a thesis statement
in the first few paragraphs or builds its main point without stating it up front,
look at the entire piece to arrive at an understanding of the overall point being
made.
• Identify the subordinate points. Notice the smaller subpoints that make up the
main point, and make sure you understand how they relate to the main point.
If a particular subpoint doesn’t clearly relate to the main point you’ve identified, you may need to modify your understanding of the main point.
• Break the r eading into sections. Notice which paragraphs make up a piece’s
introduction, body, and conclusion. Break up the body paragraphs into sections that address the writer’s various subpoints.
• Distinguish between points, examples, counterar guments. Critical reading
requires careful attention to what a writer is doing as well as what he or she is
saying. When a writer quotes someone else or relays an example of something,
ask yourself why this is being done. What point is the example supporting? Is
another source being quoted as support for a point or as a counterargument
that the writer sets out to address?
• Watch for transitions within and between paragraphs. In order to follow the logic
of a piece of writing, as well as to distinguish between points, examples, and
counterarguments, pay attention to the transitional words and phrases writers
use. Transitions function like road signs, preparing the reader for what’s next.
How to Write Summaries
• Read actively and recursively. Don’t treat reading as a passive, linear progression through a text. Instead, read as though you are engaged in a dialogue
with the writer: Ask questions of the text as you read, make notes in the margin, underline key ideas in pencil, put question or exclamation marks next to
passages that confuse or excite you. Go back to earlier points once you finish a
reading, stop during your reading to recap what’s come so far, and move back
and forth through a text.
How to Write Summaries
Every article you read will present a unique challenge
as you work to summarize it. As you’ll discover, saying in a few words what has taken someone else a
great many can be difficult. But like any other skill, the
ability to summarize improves with practice. Here are a few pointers to get you
started. They represent possible stages, or steps, in the process of writing a summary. These pointers are not meant to be ironclad rules; rather, they are designed
to encourage habits of thinking that will allow you to vary your technique as the
situation demands.
1.3 Write summaries of
varying lengths.
Guidelines for Writing Summaries
• Read the passage carefully. Determine its structure. Identify the author’s purpose in writing. (This will help you distinguish between more important and
less important information.) Make a note in the margin when you get confused or when you think something is important; highlight or underline points
sparingly, if at all.
• Reread. This time divide the passage into sections or stages of thought. The author’s use of paragraphing will often be a useful guide. Label, on the passage
itself, each section or stage of thought. Underline key ideas and terms. Write
notes in the margin.
• Write one-sentence summaries, on a separate sheet of paper, of each stage of
thought.
• Write a thesis—a one- or two-sentence summary of the entire passage. The thesis should express the central idea of the passage, as you have determined it
from the preceding steps. You may find it useful to follow the approach of most
newspaper stories—naming the what, who, why, where, when, and how of the
matter. For persuasive passages, summarize in a sentence the author’s conclusion. For descriptive passages, indicate the subject of the description and
its key feature(s). Note: In some cases, a suitable thesis may already be in the
original passage. If so, you may want to quote it directly in your summary.
(continued)
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Chapter 1
Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation
• Write the first draft of your summary by (1) combining the thesis with your
list of one-sentence summaries or (2) combining the thesis with one-sentence
summaries plus significant details from the passage. In either case, eliminate
repetition and less important information. Disregard minor details or generalize them (e.g., George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton might be generalized as
“recent presidents”). Use as few words as possible to convey the main ideas.
• Check your summary against the original passage and make whatever adjustments are necessary for accuracy and completeness.
• Revise your summary, inserting transitional words and phrases where necessary to ensure coherence. Check for style. Avoid a series of short, choppy
sentences. Combine sentences for a smooth, logical flow of ideas. Check for
grammatical correctness, punctuation, and spelling.
Demonstration: Summary
To demonstrate these points at work, let’s go through the process of summarizing a passage of expository material—that is, writing that is meant to inform
and/or persuade. The following essay, “The Baby in the Well,” concerns the
topic of empathy, that aspect of our human nature that permits us to identify
with others, “to feel their pain,” so to speak, and then to offer our help. The question of “Who deserves our help—and why?” is an interesting and difficult one.
Someone who has suffered a terrible loss or someone in difficult circumstances
(like the homeless person we pass on the street) may well prompt empathy and
even strong feelings in us. Such feelings do us credit as individuals. But should
our empathic impulses always serve as a guide for our personal actions? More
broadly, should they serve as a guide for elected officials charged with designing
and implementing public policies—for the homeless, for instance, or the chronically underemployed?
In “The Baby in the Well,” Paul Bloom makes a provocative and counterintuitive argument about empathy. You may agree or disagree with his thesis. But
before you take a position, you’ll have to understand the point he’s making and
the support he offers for that point. “The Baby in the Well” is a challenging essay.
Some of Bloom’s terminology may be unfamiliar (for instance, “cognitive neuroscience”—the study of the brain and how we think; or “neural systems”—the
physical pathways our minds take in forming a thought or feeling). So keep a
dictionary nearby. (Or, if you’re online, type “define [the unfamiliar term]” into
the Google or Bing search box.)
More challenging than the vocabulary may be ideas that test the limits of your
understanding. But dealing with difficult ideas will be a common experience in
your college-level classes. Indeed, it’s the whole point of studying topics you
don’t know. What is important is that you use a systematic approach to understanding challenging reading material. We offer one such approach here. You may
be pleasantly surprised: With a systematic approach and some perseverance, you
will grasp the challenging material—and you will feel good about that.
Demonstration: Summary
First, read Bloom’s essay with care. Try to identify its component parts and
understand how they work together to create a coherent argument.
The Baby
in the
Well: The Case Against Empathy*
Paul Bloom
Paul Bloom, professor of psychology and cognitive science at Yale University, is also
coeditor-in-chief of the scientific journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences. He is the author of
numerous articles and books, including How Children Learn the Meaning of Words (2000)
and How Pleasure Works: The New Science of How We Like What We Like (2010). This
article appeared in the New Yorker on May 20, 2013.
In 2008, Karina Encarnacion, an eight-year-old girl from Missouri, wrote to
President-elect Barack Obama with some advice about what kind of dog he
should get for his daughters. She also suggested that he enforce recycling and
ban unnecessary wars. Obama wrote to thank her, and offered some advice of
his own: “If you don’t already know what it means, I want you to look up the
word ‘empathy’ in the dictionary. I believe we don’t have enough empathy in
our world today, and it is up to your generation to change that.”
This wasn’t the first time Obama had spoken up for empathy. Two years earlier, in a commencement address at Xavier University, he discussed the importance of being able “to see the world through the eyes of those who are different
from us—the child who’s hungry, the steelworker who’s been laid off, the family
who lost the entire life they built together when the storm came to town.” He
went on, “When you think like this—when you choose to broaden your ambit of
concern and empathize with the plight of others, whether they are close friends
or distant strangers—it becomes harder not to act, harder not to help.”
The word “empathy”—a rendering of the German Einfühlung, “feeling
into”—is only a century old, but people have been interested for a long time in
the moral implications of feeling our way into the lives of others. In “The Theory
of Moral Sentiments” (1759), Adam Smith observed that sensory experience
alone could not spur us toward sympathetic engagement with others: “Though
our brother is upon the rack, as long as we ourselves are at our ease, our senses
will never inform us of what he suffers.” For Smith, what made us moral beings
was the imaginative capacity to “place ourselves in his situation . . . and become
in some measure the same person with him, and thence form some idea of his
sensations, and even feel something which, though weaker in degree, is not altogether unlike them.”
In this sense, empathy is an instinctive mirroring of others’ experience—
James Bond gets his testicles mashed in “Casino Royale,” and male moviegoers
grimace and cross their legs. Smith talks of how “persons of delicate fibres” who
notice a beggar’s sores and ulcers “are apt to feel an itching or uneasy sensation
*Copyright © 2013 Conde Nast. From the New Yorker. All rights reserved. By Paul Bloom. Reprinted
by permission.
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Chapter 1
Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation
in the correspondent part of their own bodies.” There is now widespread support, in the social sciences, for what the psychologist C. Daniel Batson calls “the
empathy-altruism hypothesis.” Batson has found that simply instructing his
subjects to take another’s perspective made them more caring and more likely
to help.
5
Empathy research is thriving these days, as cognitive neuroscience undergoes what some call an “affective revolution.” There is increasing focus on the
emotions, especially those involved in moral thought and action. We’ve learned,
for instance, that some of the same neural systems that are active when we are in
pain become engaged when we observe the suffering of others. Other researchers are exploring how empathy emerges in chimpanzee and other primates, how
it flowers in young children, and the sort of circumstances that trigger it.
This interest isn’t just theoretical. If we can figure out how empathy works,
we might be able to produce more of it. Some individuals stanch their empathy
through the deliberate endorsement of political or religious ideologies that promote cruelty toward their adversaries, while others are deficient because of bad
genes, abusive parenting, brutal experience, or the usual unhappy goulash of all
of the above. At an extreme lie the 1 percent or so of people who are clinically
described as psychopaths. A standard checklist for the condition includes “callousness; lack of empathy”; many other distinguishing psychopathic traits, like
lack of guilt and pathological lying, surely stem from this fundamental deficit.
Some blame the empathy-deficient for much of the suffering in the world. In The
Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty (Basic Books), Simon BaronCohen goes so far as to equate evil with “empathy erosion.”
In a thoughtful new book on bullying, Sticks and Stones (Random House),
Emily Bazelon writes, “The scariest aspect of bullying is the utter lack of
empathy”—a diagnosis that she applies not only to the bullies but also to those
who do nothing to help the victims. Few of those involved in bullying, she cautions, will turn into full-blown psychopaths. Rather, the empathy gap is situational: bullies have come to see their victims as worthless; they have chosen
to shut down their empathetic responses. But most will outgrow—and perhaps
regret—their terrible behavior. “The key is to remember that almost everyone
has the capacity for empathy and decency—and to tend that seed as best as we
possibly can,” she maintains.
Two other recent books, The Empathic Civilization (Penguin), by Jeremy
Rifkin, and Humanity on a T ightrope (Rowman & Littlefield), by Paul R. Ehrlich
and Robert E. Ornstein, make the powerful argument that empathy has been
the main driver of human progress, and that we need more of it if our species is
to survive. Ehrlich and Ornstein want us “to emotionally join a global family.”
Rifkin calls for us to make the leap to “global empathic consciousness.” He sees
this as the last best hope for saving the world from environmental destruction,
and concludes with the plaintive question “Can we reach biosphere consciousness and global empathy in time to avoid planetary collapse?” These are sophisticated books, which provide extensive and accessible reviews of the scholarly
literature on empathy. And, as befits the spirit of the times, they enthusiastically
champion an increase in empathy as a cure for humanity’s ills.
Demonstration: Summary
This enthusiasm may be misplaced, however. Empathy has some unfortunate
features—it is parochial, narrow-minded, and innumerate.1 We’re often at our
best when we’re smart enough not to rely on it.
In 1949, Kathy Fiscus, a three-year-old girl, fell into a well in San Marino,
10
California, and the entire nation was captivated by concern. Four decades later,
America was transfixed by the plight of Jessica McClure—Baby Jessica—the
eighteen-month-old who fell into a narrow well in Texas, in October 1987, triggering a fifty-eight-hour rescue operation. “Everybody in America became godmothers and godfathers of Jessica while this was going on,” President Reagan
remarked.
The immense power of empathy has been demonstrated again and again.
It is why Americans were riveted by the fate of Natalee Holloway, the teen-ager
who went missing in Aruba, in 2005. It’s why, in the wake of widely reported
tragedies and disasters—the tsunami of 2004, Hurricane Katrina the year after, or Sandy last year—people gave time, money, and even blood. It’s why,
last December [2012], when twenty children were murdered at Sandy Hook
Elementary School, in Newtown, Connecticut, there was a widespread sense of
grief, and an intense desire to help. Last month [April, 2013], of course, saw a
similar outpouring of support for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing.
Why do people respond to these misfortunes and not to others? The psychologist Paul Slovic points out that, when Holloway disappeared, the story
of her plight took up far more television time than the concurrent genocide
in Darfur. Each day, more than ten times the number of people who died in
Hurricane Katrina die because of preventable diseases, and more than thirteen
times as many perish from malnutrition.
There is, of course, the attention-getting power of new events. Just as we
can come to ignore the hum of traffic, we become oblivious of problems that
seem unrelenting, like the starvation of children in Africa—or homicide in the
United States. In the past three decades, there were some sixty mass shootings,
causing about five hundred deaths; that is, about one-tenth of 1 percent of the
homicides in America. But mass murders get splashed onto television screens,
newspaper headlines, and the Web; the biggest ones settle into our collective
memory—Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Sandy Hook. The 99.9 percent of
other homicides are, unless the victim is someone you’ve heard of, mere background noise.
The key to engaging empathy is what has been called “the identifiable victim effect.” As the economist Thomas Schelling, writing forty-five years ago,
mordantly observed, “Let a six-year-old girl with brown hair need thousands of
dollars for an operation that will prolong her life until Christmas, and the post
office will be swamped with nickels and dimes to save her. But let it be reported
that without a sales tax the hospital facilities of Massachusetts will deteriorate
1
By innumerate Bloom means unable to think quantitatively, especially in terms of conceiving or
appreciating large numbers. Used in this context, innumerate means unable to conceive of the great
numbers of people who are or will become victims of natural or human-made disasters.
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Chapter 1
Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation
and cause a barely perceptible increase in preventable deaths—not many will
drop a tear or reach for their checkbooks.”
You can see the effect in the lab. The psychologists Tehila Kogut and Ilana
15
Ritov asked some subjects how much money they would give to help develop
a drug that would save the life of one child, and asked others how much they
would give to save eight children. The answers were about the same. But when
Kogut and Ritov told a third group a child’s name and age, and showed her
picture, the donations shot up—now there were far more to the one than to the
eight.
The number of victims hardly matters—there is little psychological difference between hearing about the suffering of five thousand and that of five
hundred thousand. Imagine reading that two thousand people just died in an
earthquake in a remote country, and then discovering that the actual number of
deaths was twenty thousand. Do you now feel ten times worse? To the extent
that we can recognize the numbers as significant, it’s because of reason, not
empathy.
In the broader context of humanitarianism, as critics like Linda Polman have
pointed out, the empathetic reflex can lead us astray. When the perpetrators of
violence profit from aid—as in the “taxes” that warlords often demand from
international relief agencies—they are actually given an incentive to commit further atrocities. It is similar to the practice of some parents in India who mutilate
their children at birth in order to make them more effective beggars. The children’s debilities tug at our hearts, but a more dispassionate analysis of the situation is necessary if we are going to do anything meaningful to prevent them.
A “politics of empathy” doesn’t provide much clarity in the public sphere,
either. Typically, political disputes involve a disagreement over whom we
should empathize with. Liberals argue for gun control, for example, by focusing
on the victims of gun violence; conservatives point to the unarmed victims of
crime, defenseless against the savagery of others. Liberals in favor of tightening federally enforced safety regulations invoke the employee struggling with
work-related injuries; their conservative counterparts talk about the small businessman bankrupted by onerous requirements. So don’t suppose that if your
ideological opponents could only ramp up their empathy they would think just
like you.
On many issues, empathy can pull us in the wrong direction. The outrage
that comes from adopting the perspective of a victim can drive an appetite for
retribution. (Think of those statutes named for dead children: Megan’s Law,
Jessica’s Law, Caylee’s Law.) But the appetite for retribution is typically indifferent to long-term consequences. In one study, conducted by Jonathan Baron and
Ilana Ritov, people were asked how best to punish a company for producing a
vaccine that caused the death of a child. Some were told that a higher fine would
make the company work harder to manufacture a safer product; others were
told that a higher fine would discourage the company from making the vaccine,
and since there were no acceptable alternatives on the market the punishment
would lead to more deaths. Most people didn’t care; they wanted the company
fined heavily, whatever the consequence.
Demonstration: Summary
20
This dynamic regularly plays out in the realm of criminal justice. In
1987, Willie Horton, a convicted murderer who had been released on furlough from the Northeastern Correctional Center, in Massachusetts, raped a
woman after beating and tying up her fiancé. The furlough program came to
be seen as a humiliating mistake on the part of Governor Michael Dukakis,
and was used against him by his opponents during his run for President, the
following year. Yet the program may have reduced the likelihood of such incidents. In fact, a 1987 report found that the recidivism rate in Massachusetts
dropped in the eleven years after the program was introduced, and that
convicts who were furloughed before being released were less likely to go
on to commit a crime than those who were not. The trouble is that you can’t
point to individuals who weren’t raped, assaulted, or killed as a result of the
program, just as you can’t point to a specific person whose life was spared
because of vaccination.
There’s a larger pattern here. Sensible policies often have benefits that
are merely statistical, but victims have names and stories. Consider global
warming—what Rifkin calls the “escalating entropy bill that now threatens
catastrophic climate change and our very existence.” As it happens, the limits of
empathy are especially stark here. Opponents of restrictions on CO2 emissions
are flush with identifiable victims—all those who will be harmed by increased
costs, by business closures. The millions of people who at some unspecified
future date will suffer the consequences of our current inaction are, by contrast,
pale statistical abstractions.
The government’s failure to enact prudent long-term policies is often attributed to the incentive system of democratic politics (which favors short-term
fixes), and to the powerful influence of money. But the politics of empathy is also
to blame. Too often, our concern for specific individuals today means neglecting
crises that will harm countless people in the future.
Moral judgment entails more than putting oneself in another’s shoes. As
the philosopher Jesse Prinz points out, some acts that we easily recognize as
wrong, such as shoplifting or tax evasion, have no identifiable victim. And
plenty of good deeds—disciplining a child for dangerous behavior, enforcing a fair and impartial procedure for determining who should get an organ
transplant, despite the suffering of those low on the list—require us to put
our empathy to one side. Eight deaths are worse than one, even if you know
the name of the one; humanitarian aid can, if poorly targeted, be counterproductive; the threat posed by climate change warrants the sacrifices entailed
by efforts to ameliorate it. “The decline of violence may owe something to
an expansion of empathy,” the psychologist Steven Pinker has written, “but
it also owes much to harder-boiled faculties like prudence, reason, fairness,
self-control, norms and taboos, and conceptions of human rights.” A reasoned, even counter-empathetic analysis of moral obligation and likely consequences is a better guide to planning for the future than the gut wrench of
empathy.
Rifkin and others have argued, plausibly, that moral progress involves
expanding our concern from the family and the tribe to humanity as a whole.
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Chapter 1
Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation
Yet it is impossible to empathize with seven billion strangers, or to feel toward
someone you’ve never met the degree of concern you feel for a child, a friend, or
a lover. Our best hope for the future is not to get people to think of all humanity
as family—that’s impossible. It lies, instead, in an appreciation of the fact that,
even if we don’t empathize with distant strangers, their lives have the same
value as the lives of those we love.
That’s not a call for a world without empathy. A race of psychopaths
25
might well be smart enough to invent the principles of solidarity and fairness.
(Research suggests that criminal psychopaths are adept at making moral judgments.) The problem with those who are devoid of empathy is that, although
they may recognize what’s right, they have no motivation to act upon it. Some
spark of fellow feeling is needed to convert intelligence into action.
But a spark may be all that’s needed. Putting aside the extremes of psychopathy, there is no evidence to suggest that the less empathetic are morally worse
than the rest of us. Simon Baron-Cohen observes that some people with autism and Asperger’s syndrome, though typically empathy-deficient, are highly
moral, owing to a strong desire to follow rules and insure that they are applied
fairly.
Where empathy really does matter is in our personal relationships. Nobody
wants to live like Thomas Gradgrind—Charles Dickens’s caricature utilitarian, who treats all interactions, including those with his children, in explicitly
economic terms. Empathy is what makes us human; it’s what makes us both
subjects and objects of moral concern. Empathy betrays us only when we take it
as a moral guide.
Newtown, in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, was inundated with
so much charity that it became a burden. More than eight hundred volunteers
were recruited to deal with the gifts that were sent to the city—all of which kept
arriving despite earnest pleas from Newtown officials that charity be directed
elsewhere. A vast warehouse was crammed with plush toys the townspeople
had no use for; millions of dollars rolled in to this relatively affluent community. We felt their pain; we wanted to help. Meanwhile—just to begin a very
long list—almost twenty million American children go to bed hungry each
night, and the federal food-stamp program is facing budget cuts of almost
20 percent. Many of the same kindly strangers who paid for Baby Jessica’s
medical needs support cuts to state Medicaid programs—cuts that will affect
millions. Perhaps fifty million Americans will be stricken next year by foodborne illness, yet budget reductions mean that the FDA will be conducting two
thousand fewer safety inspections. Even more invisibly, next year the average
American will release about twenty metric tons of carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere, and many in Congress seek to loosen restrictions on greenhouse
gases even further.
Such are the paradoxes of empathy. The power of this faculty has something to do with its ability to bring our moral concern into a laser pointer of
focused attention. If a planet of billions is to survive, however, we’ll need
to take into consideration the welfare of people not yet harmed—and, even
more, of people not yet born. They have no names, ...
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