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Table of Contents

Contents 
[* = new to this edition]
Preface for Instructors 
A Rhetorical Table of Contents 
About the Editor 

Introduction: Expressing Opinions with Clarity, Confidence, and Civility 
What Is America Now?  
What Are Opinions?  
How Do We Form Opinions?  
From Discussion to Writing  
The Practice of Writing  
Writing as a Public Activity  
The American Political Spectrum and the Open Exchange of Ideas  
Writing for the Classroom: Two Annotated Student Essays  
KATI MATHER, The Many Paths to Success — with or without a College Education  
ERIKA GALLION, What’s in a Major?  
STUDENT WRITER AT WORK: Erika Gallion 
The Visual Expression of Opinion  
Photography  
JOE ROSENTHAL, Flag Raising at Iwo Jima  
THOMAS E. FRANKLIN, Three Firefighters Raising the Flag  
ALAN DÍAZ, Elián González  
Political Cartoons  
R. J. MATSON, Government Listens to Its Citizens  
NATE BEELER, Gay Marriage  
Writing as Empowerment  

1. Language: Do Words Matter? 
*IN BRIEF — CARTOON: ROBERT LEIGHTON, “Oh look — they are retiring the word ‘unprecedented.’”  
*GEORGINA KLEEGE, Look Into My Eyes  
*SPOTLIGHT ON DATA AND RESEARCH: ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, And the Word of the Year Is…“Resilience”  
STUDENT ESSAY: SARAH ELLIOTT, Women: Stop Apologizing; Be Confident   
LOOKING CLOSELY: Establishing Your Main Point  
STUDENT WRITER AT WORK: Sarah Elliott  
*ISVARI MARANWE, Stop Using the Word “Asian”  
AMERICA THEN . . . 1951: LANGSTON HUGHES, That Word Black  
Discussing the Unit  

2. Free Speech: Is It Endangered on Campus? 
IN BRIEF — MISSION STATEMENT: THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION, Speech on Campus  
WENDY M. WILLIAMS AND STEPHEN J. CECI, There Are No Good Alternatives to Free Speech on Campus 
SPOTLIGHT ON DATA AND RESEARCH: KNIGHT FOUNDATION, Eight Ways College Students’ Views on Free Speech Are Evolving  
*TOM GINSBURG, How to Truly Protect Academic Freedom
*STUDENT ESSAY: MADELINE PAPCUN, Why Are We So Scared of Opinions?  
*LOOKING CLOSELY: The Personal Opening 
*STUDENT WRITER AT WORK: Madeline Papcun  
AMERICA THEN . . . 1997: WENDY KAMINER, A Civic Duty to Annoy 
Discussing the Unit  

*3. Cancel Culture: Does Public Censorship Do More Good Than Harm?
*IN BRIEF — INSTAGRAM POST: MIKHAILA ARCHER, Understanding Cancel Culture: the Good, the Bad, the In-Between 
*AJA ROMANO, The Second Wave of “Cancel Culture” 
*STUDENT ESSAY: TAE TRAN, The Double-Edged Nature of Cancel Culture 
*LOOKING CLOSELY: Pivoting Your Position Effectively
*STUDENT WRITER AT WORK: Tae Tran 
*SPOTLIGHT ON DATA AND RESEARCH: ZAID JILANI, The End of “Cancel Culture” 
*DAVID BEN MOSHE, I’m a Black Ex-Felon. I Have a Message about Cancel Culture 
*AMERICA THEN . . . 1947, Motion Picture Association of America, The Waldorf Statement 
Discussing the Unit  

4. U.S. History: How Do We Remember Our Past? 
*IN BRIEF — CARTOON: PAUL WOOD, You May Find Some of the Facts Have Changed as I've Brought Them Into Line with Modern Human Rights 
*PATRICK RICCARDS, It’s Time to Start Decolonizing American History Textbooks 
STUDENT ESSAY: DASIA MOORE, When Does Renaming a Building Make Sense?  
LOOKING CLOSELY: Effective Argument: Organizing Points Systematically 
STUDENT WRITER AT WORK: Dasia Moore 
*SPOTLIGHT ON DATA AND RESEARCH: JEREMY STODDARD AND DIANA HESS, What Schools Teach about 9/11 and the War on Terror 
*TRINITY NORWOOD AND CHRISTOPHER TREMOGLIE, Is It Time for America to Stop Celebrating Columbus Day? Pro/Con 
AMERICA THEN . . . 1852: FREDERICK DOUGLASS, from What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?  Discussing the Unit 

5. Immigration: Is It Our Most Serious Issue? 
*IN BRIEF — TESTIMONY: SJ SINDU, Citizenship 
*SPOTLIGHT ON DATA AND RESEARCH: THE COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, The U.S. Immigration Debate 
LAILA LALAMI, Blending In  
STUDENT ESSAY: SRAVYA TADEPALLI, Say It Right: When People Mispronounce Your Name  
LOOKING CLOSELY: Posing a Question  
STUDENT WRITER AT WORK: Sravya Tadepalli  
SCOTT RASMUSSEN, The Immigration Mess  
WILLIAM C. ANDERSON, Solidarity Abolishes Borders  
AMERICA THEN . . . 1883: EMMA LAZARUS, The New Colossus  
Discussing the Unit  

6. Identity: How Does It Shape Our Sense of Self? 
IN BRIEF — PROPOSAL: GISH JEN, A New High School Course: Identity 101  
SUSAN POWER, Native in the Twenty-First Century  
*JASWINDER BOLINA, My People  
STUDENT ESSAY: TADEU VELLOSO, Brown  
LOOKING CLOSELY: Describing a Defining Moment
STUDENT WRITER AT WORK: Tadeu Velloso
*SPOTLIGHT ON DATA AND RESEARCH: Wen Fa, Was 2020 a Turning Point for Identity Politics?
AMERICA THEN . . . 1782: J. HECTOR ST. JEAN DE CRÈVECOEUR, The Melting Pot
Discussing the Unit 

7. Race: Why Does It Still Matter?
IN BRIEF — PROSE POEM: CLAUDIA RANKINE, You and Your Partner…  
*J.M. HOLMES, I Do Live Here  
*STUDENT ESSAY: STEFAN TOWNES, How It Feels to Be the Only Black Person in the Room  
*LOOKING CLOSELY: Enlarging on Personal Experience
*STUDENT WRITER AT WORK: Stefan Townes  
SPOTLIGHT ON DATA AND RESEARCH: CHANDRA D. L. WARING, Black and Biracial Americans Wouldn’t Need to Code-Switch If We Lived in a Post-Racial Society  
*ARIEL FELTON, A Letter to My Niece  
*NELL IRVIN PAINTER, Why “White” Should be Capitalized, Too  
AMERICA THEN . . . 1986: BRENT STAPLES, Just Walk On By: Black Men and Public Space
Discussing the Unit  

8. Gender: What Are the Issues Today?
*IN BRIEF — SURVEY RESULTS: PEW RESEARCH CENTER, Rising Shares of U.S. Adults Know Someone Who Is Transgender or Goes by Gender-Neutral Pronouns  
ALEX MYERS, How #MeToo Taught Me I Can Never Be a Man
*STUDENT ESSAY: BEN GOLDBERGER, Baby Steps: Respecting Pronouns  
*LOOKING CLOSELY: Using Analogies  
*STUDENT WRITER AT WORK: Ben Goldberger  
*ALANA BRACKEN, How to Raise a Gender-Neutral Baby
*SPOTLIGHT ON DATA AND RESEARCH: DOUGLAS BELKIN, A Generation of Men Just Give Up on College  
AMERICA THEN . . . 1995: KATHA POLLITT, Why Boys Don’t Play with Dolls  
Discussing the Unit  

*9. The Politics of Food: Is It True that “We Are What We Eat”? 
*IN BRIEF — STATEMENT: FOOD ETHIC COUNCIL, What Is Food Ethics?  
*MARTHA ROSENBERG, How Animal Rights Became a Movement  
*STUDENT ESSAY: DANIEL ZIPIN, The Case for Veganism 
*LOOKING CLOSELY: Effective Persuasion: Expressing an Opinion Clearly and Emphatically 
*STUDENT WRITER AT WORK: Daniel Zipin 
*SPOTLIGHT ON DATA AND RESEARCH: Terry Chapin, Eating Our Way to a More Sustainable Planet 
*NICOLETTE HAHN NIMAN, Fake Meat Is Not the Panacea Its Producers Claim It To Be  
*JESSICA TEICH, So What Is “Diet Culture”?  
*AMERICA THEN . . . 1990: WENDELL BERRY, A Politics of Food  
Discussing the Unit

*10. Criminal Justice: What Needs to Change? 
*IN BRIEF — INSTAGRAM POST: WORKING CHANCE, How to Beat Crime 
*SPOTLIGHT ON DATA AND RESEARCH: MEGAN BRENAN, Fewer Americans Call for Tougher Criminal Justice System 
*LARA BAZELON (INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY FELIZ MORENO), Wrongful Imprisonment 
*SAINT JAMES HARRIS WOOD,  Stolen Time 
*STUDENT ESSAY: FERNANDO RIVERA, “Defund the Police” Is a Counter-productive Slogan 
*LOOKING CLOSELY: Recommending a Course of Action 
*STUDENT WRITER AT WORK: Fernando Rivera 
CHRISTINE ROSEN, Accepting Crime, Abolishing Punishment 
*AMERICA THEN…2003: ANGELA DAVIS, How Can We Abolish Prisons? 
Discussing the Unit 

11. The News Media: How Well Does It Serve the Public? 
IN BRIEF — INFOGRAPHIC: THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS (IFLA), How to Spot Fake News
CHARLES CARR, Reinstate the Fairness Doctrine!
STUDENT ESSAY: RYAN FAWWAZ, Seeking Truth Is Intertwined with Journalistic Advocacy 
LOOKING CLOSELY: Supporting Opinions with Specific Examples
*SPOTLIGHT ON DATA AND RESEARCH: CAROLYN BYERLY, Why White Male Dominance of News Media Is So Persistent 
*JEVIN D. WEST AND CARL T. BERGSTROM, Data as a Means of Misinformation 
*AMERICA THEN . . . 1938: Fake News Report Stirs Terror through the United States
Discussing the Unit

*12. Confronting COVID-19: What Have We Learned? What Happens Next?
*IN BRIEF — QUOTES:  PEW RESEARCH CENTER,  In Their Own Words, Americans Describe the Struggles and Silver Linings of the COVID-19 Pandemic  
*JAMES D. LONG, MARK A. SMITH, AND VICTOR MENALDO, Why Nobody Will Ever Agree on Whether COVID Lockdowns Were Worth It  
*SALENA ZITO, COVID-19 Allowed Too Many to Pervert Their Power  
*STUDENT ESSAY: KARLA PEREZ, Exploring Pandemic Guilt  
*LOOKING CLOSELY: Integrating Quotations 
*STUDENT WRITER AT WORK: Karla Perez 
*JOSEPH BAK-COLEMAN AND CARL T. BERGSTROM, A High-Speed Scientific Hive Mind Emerged  
*SPOTLIGHT ON DATA AND RESEARCH: MICHAEL PENN, Statistics Say Large Pandemics Are More Likely Than We Thought 
*AMERICA THEN…1721: “ABSINTHIUM,” Letter to The New-England Courant against Smallpox Inoculation 
Discussing the Unit  

Index of Authors and Titles

Authors

Robert Atwan

Robert Atwan is the series editor of the annual Best American Essays, which he founded in 1985. A former director of The Blue Hills Writing Institute at Curry College, Atwan has published essays, reviews, and critical articles in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Iowa Review, Denver Quarterly, Kenyon Review, River Teeth, Creative Nonfiction, and many other publications. For Bedford/St. Martin’s, he has also edited Ten on Ten: Major Essayists on Recurring Themes (1992); Our Times (1998); and Convergences (2009). He has coedited (with Jon Roberts) Left, Right, and Center: Voices from Across the Political Spectrum (1996) and is editor of America Now (2017).

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