Cover: 50 Essays, 8th Edition by Samuel Cohen

50 Essays

Eighth Edition  ©2027 Samuel Cohen Formats: E-book, Print

Authors

  • Headshot of Samuel Cohen

    Samuel Cohen

    Samuel Cohen (PhD, City University of New York) is Associate Professor of English at the University of Missouri. He is the author of After the End of History: American Fiction in the 1990s, co-editor (with James Peacock) of The Clash Takes on the World: Transnational Perspectives on The Only Band that Matters, co-editor (with Lee Konstantinou) of The Legacy of David Foster Wallace, editor of Banning Books in America: Not a How-To, Series Editor of The New American Canon: The Iowa Series in Contemporary Literature and Culture, and has published in such journals as Novel, Clio, Twentieth-Century Literature, The Journal of Basic Writing, and Dialogue: A Journal for Writing Specialists

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Preface for Instructors 

Alternative Tables of Contents 

By Rhetorical Mode 

By Purpose 

By Theme 

By Clusters and Paired Readings 

By Chronological Order 

Introduction for Students: Active Reading, Critical Thinking, and the Writing Process 

Documentation Guide 

THE READINGS [* represents readings new to this edition]

AI WEIWEI, The Refugee Crisis Isn’t About Refugees. It’s About Us. 

MAYA ANGELOU, Graduation 

GLORIA ANZALDÚA, How to Tame a Wild Tongue 

BARBARA LAZEAR ASCHER, On Compassion 

JAMES BALDWIN, Notes of a Native Son 

*JOHN PAUL BRAMMER, How to Eat a Rattlesnake

SANDRA CISNEROS, Only Daughter

ELI CLARE, Clearcut: Explaining the Distance 

TA-NEHISI COATES, The Paranoid Style of American Policing 

SAMUEL COHEN, Patriot Days 

*THOMAS DAI, Southings

*SAHAR DELIJANI, Feeling in Farsi, Writing in English: On Translating Your Life From One Language to Another

JOAN DIDION, On Keeping a Notebook 

FREDERICK DOUGLASS, Learning to Read and Write 

*EMILY DRABINSKI, From the Word to the World

LARS EIGHNER, On Dumpster Diving 

STEPHANIE ERICSSON, The Ways We Lie 

JEN GANN, Wrongful Birth 

*ROSS GAY, Have I Even Told You Yet About the Courts I’ve Loved?

*DIANAGOETSCH, Mother’s Day

NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES, America Wasn’t a Democracy, Until Black Americans Made It One 

LANGSTON HUGHES, Salvation 

*WILL HUNT, Ghost River

ZORA NEALE HURSTON, How It Feels to Be Colored Me 

THOMAS JEFFERSON, The Declaration of Independence 

*LACY JOHNSON, White Trash Primer

WALTER JOHNSON, Guns in the Family 

*JOSEPH JONES, AI Doesn’t Threaten Humanity. Its Owners Do.

ROBIN WALL KIMMERER, The Council of Pecans 

*JAMAICA KINCAID, On Seeing England for the First Time

STEPHEN KING, Reading to Write 

*ANDREW LELAND, How to Be Blind

AUDRE LORDE, The Fourth of July 

*MICHAEL P. LYNCH, Do We Really Understand Fake News?

NANCY MAIRS, On Being a Cripple 

MATTHEW J. X. MALADY, The Ghosts in Our Machines

*LYDIA MILLET, Endlings

TOMMY ORANGE, Indian Heads

GEORGE ORWELL, Shooting an Elephant 

*ALISSA QUART, Can We Put an End to America’s Most Dangerous Myth?

MIKE ROSE, “I Just Wanna Be Average” 

BRENT STAPLES, Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space 

JONATHAN SWIFT, A Modest Proposal 

AMY TAN, Mother Tongue 

HENRY DAVID THOREAU, Civil Disobedience 

*MIYA TOKUMITSU, In the Name of Love

*SOJOURNER TRUTH, Ain’t I A Woman?

JERALD WALKER, Breathe 

VIRGINIA WOOLF, Professions for Women 

MICHELLE ZAUNER, Crying in H Mart 

Glossary of Writing Terms

Product Updates

Expanded support for today’s writers

  • Introduction for Students includes guided examples that model how to approach post-reading questions and build critical reading skills.
  • Documentation Guide features updated guidance for citing modern media, expanded support for citing essays, and an introduction to APA style.
  • “Being Critical Without Criticizing” addresses online dialogue, with practical strategies and a model of productive disagreement.
  • New section on Generative AI introduces key tools, outlines their benefits and limitations in academic contexts, and emphasizes responsible, transparent use, including ethical considerations such as bias and intellectual property.

Stronger support for critical reading and discussion

  • Revised pre-reading questions promote deeper analysis and closer engagement with each text.
  • Enhanced headnotes offer historical context, clarify audience and purpose, and help students navigate more challenging or sensitive readings. 

With 16 new essays, the collection invites students to engage with issues such as censorship, class, and cultural assimilation. Highlights include:

  • John Paul Brammer, “How to Eat a Rattlesnake,” on masculinity, sexuality, and growing up in rural America
  • Joseph Jones, “AI Doesn’t Threaten Humanity. Its Owners Do,” examines the power structures behind AI
  • Andrew Leland, “How to Be Blind,” on navigating life with a new disability
  • Miya Tokumitsu, “In the Name of Love,” challenges common assumptions about work and labor

Authors

  • Headshot of Samuel Cohen

    Samuel Cohen

    Samuel Cohen (PhD, City University of New York) is Associate Professor of English at the University of Missouri. He is the author of After the End of History: American Fiction in the 1990s, co-editor (with James Peacock) of The Clash Takes on the World: Transnational Perspectives on The Only Band that Matters, co-editor (with Lee Konstantinou) of The Legacy of David Foster Wallace, editor of Banning Books in America: Not a How-To, Series Editor of The New American Canon: The Iowa Series in Contemporary Literature and Culture, and has published in such journals as Novel, Clio, Twentieth-Century Literature, The Journal of Basic Writing, and Dialogue: A Journal for Writing Specialists

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Preface for Instructors 

Alternative Tables of Contents 

By Rhetorical Mode 

By Purpose 

By Theme 

By Clusters and Paired Readings 

By Chronological Order 

Introduction for Students: Active Reading, Critical Thinking, and the Writing Process 

Documentation Guide 

THE READINGS [* represents readings new to this edition]

AI WEIWEI, The Refugee Crisis Isn’t About Refugees. It’s About Us. 

MAYA ANGELOU, Graduation 

GLORIA ANZALDÚA, How to Tame a Wild Tongue 

BARBARA LAZEAR ASCHER, On Compassion 

JAMES BALDWIN, Notes of a Native Son 

*JOHN PAUL BRAMMER, How to Eat a Rattlesnake

SANDRA CISNEROS, Only Daughter

ELI CLARE, Clearcut: Explaining the Distance 

TA-NEHISI COATES, The Paranoid Style of American Policing 

SAMUEL COHEN, Patriot Days 

*THOMAS DAI, Southings

*SAHAR DELIJANI, Feeling in Farsi, Writing in English: On Translating Your Life From One Language to Another

JOAN DIDION, On Keeping a Notebook 

FREDERICK DOUGLASS, Learning to Read and Write 

*EMILY DRABINSKI, From the Word to the World

LARS EIGHNER, On Dumpster Diving 

STEPHANIE ERICSSON, The Ways We Lie 

JEN GANN, Wrongful Birth 

*ROSS GAY, Have I Even Told You Yet About the Courts I’ve Loved?

*DIANAGOETSCH, Mother’s Day

NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES, America Wasn’t a Democracy, Until Black Americans Made It One 

LANGSTON HUGHES, Salvation 

*WILL HUNT, Ghost River

ZORA NEALE HURSTON, How It Feels to Be Colored Me 

THOMAS JEFFERSON, The Declaration of Independence 

*LACY JOHNSON, White Trash Primer

WALTER JOHNSON, Guns in the Family 

*JOSEPH JONES, AI Doesn’t Threaten Humanity. Its Owners Do.

ROBIN WALL KIMMERER, The Council of Pecans 

*JAMAICA KINCAID, On Seeing England for the First Time

STEPHEN KING, Reading to Write 

*ANDREW LELAND, How to Be Blind

AUDRE LORDE, The Fourth of July 

*MICHAEL P. LYNCH, Do We Really Understand Fake News?

NANCY MAIRS, On Being a Cripple 

MATTHEW J. X. MALADY, The Ghosts in Our Machines

*LYDIA MILLET, Endlings

TOMMY ORANGE, Indian Heads

GEORGE ORWELL, Shooting an Elephant 

*ALISSA QUART, Can We Put an End to America’s Most Dangerous Myth?

MIKE ROSE, “I Just Wanna Be Average” 

BRENT STAPLES, Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space 

JONATHAN SWIFT, A Modest Proposal 

AMY TAN, Mother Tongue 

HENRY DAVID THOREAU, Civil Disobedience 

*MIYA TOKUMITSU, In the Name of Love

*SOJOURNER TRUTH, Ain’t I A Woman?

JERALD WALKER, Breathe 

VIRGINIA WOOLF, Professions for Women 

MICHELLE ZAUNER, Crying in H Mart 

Glossary of Writing Terms

Product Updates

Expanded support for today’s writers

  • Introduction for Students includes guided examples that model how to approach post-reading questions and build critical reading skills.
  • Documentation Guide features updated guidance for citing modern media, expanded support for citing essays, and an introduction to APA style.
  • “Being Critical Without Criticizing” addresses online dialogue, with practical strategies and a model of productive disagreement.
  • New section on Generative AI introduces key tools, outlines their benefits and limitations in academic contexts, and emphasizes responsible, transparent use, including ethical considerations such as bias and intellectual property.

Stronger support for critical reading and discussion

  • Revised pre-reading questions promote deeper analysis and closer engagement with each text.
  • Enhanced headnotes offer historical context, clarify audience and purpose, and help students navigate more challenging or sensitive readings. 

With 16 new essays, the collection invites students to engage with issues such as censorship, class, and cultural assimilation. Highlights include:

  • John Paul Brammer, “How to Eat a Rattlesnake,” on masculinity, sexuality, and growing up in rural America
  • Joseph Jones, “AI Doesn’t Threaten Humanity. Its Owners Do,” examines the power structures behind AI
  • Andrew Leland, “How to Be Blind,” on navigating life with a new disability
  • Miya Tokumitsu, “In the Name of Love,” challenges common assumptions about work and labor

A concise reader built for today’s composition course

50 Essays: A Portable Anthology brings together a diverse mix of classic and contemporary readings in a flexible, affordable format. Curated to support critical thinking exercises and strong writing, the essays engage students with meaningful topics while building analytical skills. 

A streamlined set of supports—including “As You Read” prompts, discussion questions, and guidance on rhetorical strategies—encourages active reading and helps students apply what they learn to their own writing, with built-in guidance for research and documentation.

ISBN:9781319624668

ISBN:9781319624330

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