The Bedford Reader
Encyclopedia
The Bedford Reader is a college composition textbook published by the Bedford-St. Martin's
publishing company. It is edited by X. J. Kennedy
, Dorothy M. Kennedy, and Jane E. Aaron. It is widely used in freshman composition courses at colleges across the United States.
The eleventh edition of the book is composed of over seventy essays, one short story, and one poem. It is divided into eleven sections by the various methods of development: narration, description, example, comparison
and contrast
, analysis, process analysis
, classification
, cause and effect
, definition
, argument
and persuasion
, along with a section on mixing the methods.
The text quickly became a standard in college composition courses across the country. Because of the diversity of works and authors, The Bedford Reader has become popular among Advanced Placement English teachers, specifically those teaching to the AP English Language and Composition
test.
Bedford-St. Martin's
' is a United States publishing company, specializing in college humanities textbooks. Bedford/St. Martin's is part of the Bedford, Freeman, and Worth Publishing group owned by the Stuttgart, Germany-based Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. Editorial offices are located in Boston and New...
publishing company. It is edited by X. J. Kennedy
X. J. Kennedy
X. J. Kennedy is a poet, translator, anthologist, editor, and writer of children's literature and student textbooks on English literature and poetry.-Beginnings and academic career:...
, Dorothy M. Kennedy, and Jane E. Aaron. It is widely used in freshman composition courses at colleges across the United States.
The eleventh edition of the book is composed of over seventy essays, one short story, and one poem. It is divided into eleven sections by the various methods of development: narration, description, example, comparison
Comparison
Comparison may refer to:-Language:* Comparison , a feature of many languages* Degree of comparison, an English language grammatical feature* Mass comparison, a test for the relatedness of languages-Mathematics:...
and contrast
Contrast (linguistics)
In semantics, contrast is a relationship between two discourse segments. Contrast is often overtly marked by markers such as but or however, such as in the following examples:# It's raining, but I am not taking an umbrella....
, analysis, process analysis
Process analysis
A form of technical writing and expository writing "designed to convey to the reader how a change takes place through a series of stages" .While the traditional process analysis and a set of instructions are both organized chronologically, the reader of a process analysis is typically interested...
, classification
Categorization
Categorization is the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated and understood. Categorization implies that objects are grouped into categories, usually for some specific purpose. Ideally, a category illuminates a relationship between the subjects and objects of knowledge...
, cause and effect
Causality
Causality is the relationship between an event and a second event , where the second event is understood as a consequence of the first....
, definition
Definition
A definition is a passage that explains the meaning of a term , or a type of thing. The term to be defined is the definiendum. A term may have many different senses or meanings...
, argument
Argument
In philosophy and logic, an argument is an attempt to persuade someone of something, or give evidence or reasons for accepting a particular conclusion.Argument may also refer to:-Mathematics and computer science:...
and persuasion
Persuasion
Persuasion is a form of social influence. It is the process of guiding or bringing oneself or another toward the adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational and symbolic means.- Methods :...
, along with a section on mixing the methods.
Famous works and authors
Numerous essays and stories by noted authors are included in The Bedford Reader. These include:- An excerpt from Maya AngelouMaya AngelouMaya Angelou is an American author and poet who has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer" by scholar Joanne M. Braxton. She is best known for her series of six autobiographical volumes, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first and most highly...
's I Know why the Caged Bird SingsI Know Why the Caged Bird SingsI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the 1969 autobiography about the early years of African-American writer and poet Maya Angelou. The first in a six-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story that illustrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma...
- "The Lottery" by Shirley JacksonShirley JacksonShirley Jackson was an American author. A popular writer in her time, her work has received increasing attention from literary critics in recent years...
- "Shooting Dad", the essay that made Sarah VowellSarah VowellSarah Jane Vowell is an American author, journalist, essayist and social commentator. Often referred to as a "social observer," Vowell has written five nonfiction books on American history and culture, and was a contributing editor for the radio program This American Life on Public Radio...
famous
- An essay by Dave BarryDave BarryDavid "Dave" Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author and columnist, who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for The Miami Herald from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comedic novels.-Biography:Barry was born in Armonk, New York,...
.
- "Remembering my Childhood on the Continent of Africa", from David SedarisDavid SedarisDavid Sedaris is a Grammy Award-nominated American humorist, writer, comedian, bestselling author, and radio contributor....
' Me Talk Pretty One DayMe Talk Pretty One DayMe Talk Pretty One Day, published in 2000, is a bestselling collection of essays by American humorist David Sedaris. The book is separated into two parts...
- Jessica MitfordJessica MitfordJessica Lucy Freeman-Mitford was an English author, journalist and political campaigner, who was one of the Mitford sisters...
's "Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain"
- David Foster WallaceDavid Foster WallaceDavid Foster Wallace was an American author of novels, essays, and short stories, and a professor at Pomona College in Claremont, California...
's commencement speech for Kenyon College, "This Is Water"
- An excerpt from Michael PollanMichael PollanMichael Pollan is an American author, journalist, activist, and professor of journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. A 2006 New York Times book review describes him as a "liberal foodie intellectual."...
's The Omnivore's Dilemma
- Judy Brady's "I Want a Wife"
- Gloria NaylorGloria NaylorGloria Naylor is an African American novelist and educator.-Early life:Born in New York, she was the first child to Roosevelt Naylor and Alberta McAlpin. As Naylor grew up, her father was a transit worker and her mother was a telephone operator. When Naylor was young, her mother encouraged her to...
's "The Meanings of a Word"
- Richard RodriguezRichard RodriguezRichard Rodriguez is an American writer who became famous as the author of Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez , a narrative about his intellectual development.- Early life :...
's "Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood"
- An excerpt from Barbara KingsolverBarbara KingsolverBarbara Kingsolver is an American novelist, essayist and poet. She was raised in rural Kentucky and lived briefly in the former Republic of Congo in her early childhood. Kingsolver earned degrees in biology at DePauw University and the University of Arizona and worked as a freelance writer before...
's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
- John UpdikeJohn UpdikeJohn Hoyer Updike was an American novelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, and literary critic....
's "Extreme Dinosaurs"
- Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
's I Have a DreamI Have a Dream"I Have a Dream" is a 17-minute public speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered on August 28, 1963, in which he called for racial equality and an end to discrimination...
speech
- Edward SaidEdward SaidEdward Wadie Saïd was a Palestinian-American literary theorist and advocate for Palestinian rights. He was University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and a founding figure in postcolonialism...
's "Clashing Civilizations?" (Said's response to Samuel P. HuntingtonSamuel P. HuntingtonSamuel Phillips Huntington was an influential American political scientist who wrote highly-regarded books in a half-dozen sub-fields of political science, starting in 1957...
's "The Clash of Civilizations")
- George OrwellGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's "Shooting an ElephantShooting an Elephant"Shooting an Elephant" is an essay by George Orwell, first published in the literary magazine New Writing in the autumn of 1936 and broadcast by the BBC Home Service on 12 October 1948....
"
- Jonathan SwiftJonathan SwiftJonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
's "A Modest ProposalA Modest ProposalA Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland From Being a Burden on Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick, commonly referred to as A Modest Proposal, is a Juvenalian satirical essay written and published anonymously by Jonathan Swift in...
"
- Suzanne Britt's "Neat People vs. Sloppy People"
- Brent StaplesBrent StaplesBrent Staples is an author and editorial writer for the New York Times. His books include An American Love Story and Parallel Time: Growing up In Black and White, which won the Anisfield Wolf Book Award...
's "Black Men and Public Space"
- "Dance of the Hobs," by William Least Heat-MoonWilliam Least Heat-MoonWilliam Least Heat-Moon, the byname of William Lewis Trogdon is an American travel writer of English, Irish and Osage Nation ancestry. He is the author of a bestselling trilogy of topographical U.S. travel writing.-Biography:...
The text quickly became a standard in college composition courses across the country. Because of the diversity of works and authors, The Bedford Reader has become popular among Advanced Placement English teachers, specifically those teaching to the AP English Language and Composition
AP English Language and Composition
Advanced Placement English Language and Composition is a course and examination offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program....
test.