America Now: Short Readings from Recent Periodicals

by Robert Atwan

A key challenge in the first-year composition course is to inspire students as readers and to spark the kind of thoughtful classroom discussion that leads to solid academic writing. As series editor of  The Best American Essays  Robert Atwan constantly scours a wide range of print and online periodicals, bringing to America Now an unrivaled awareness of the best writing on today's hottest issues. To make these issues especially relevant for students, Atwan also explores hundreds of campus newspapers on the Internet to find the best student writing on current topics. These models by their peers from across the country show students that they, too, can share ideas through their own discussion and writing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference

480 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 2007

About the author

Robert Atwan has been the series editor of The Best American Essays since its inception in 1986. He has edited numerous literary anthologies and written essays and reviews for periodicals nationwide.

Reviews

[Michelle Horst · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good book regarding contemporary issues we discuss in the US. It gave me an idea for one of the classes I teach.

[ػᶈᶏϾӗ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has an awkward format. The teaching version inserts the notes right into the middle of the book, which throws off the page count and makes reference sort of unweildy. I didn't think all the sections would be all that useful for my beginning comp class, and the table of content was sort of awkward as well. Still, there are some good readings here; I especially like the student essay from the student who participated in Occupy Wall Street. One more complaint: the study questions, while thorough, are divided up and numbered in an annoying way. I will use this material sparingly.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't read EVERY article in there (probably more like 1/2? 3/4? It was for a class ya know), but the ones I DID read were good. Especially the ones in the "Redesigning Humanity" section.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the newest version (my ninth grade homework for the summer lol).