The Prentice Hall Reader

by George E. Miller

This best-selling collection features ten chapters focusing on the classic methods of narration, description, argument, and persuasion. It contains classic and contemporary essays about popular culture, along with advice about how to read analytically, and how to write persuasively and effectively. Fifteen new essays, including timely topics such as Wikipedia, Facebook, and Iraq. Each chapter is organized clearly and effectively, enabling the reader to not only understand each essay and but also what the writer was trying to convey.

Genres: Reference, School

672 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Nancy Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The essay "I Want a Wife" by Judy Brady deflected the path of my life in the same way that a NASA spacecraft recently changed the trajectory of an asteroid.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes I just want to read a good essay, and The Prentice Hall Reader contains a lot of good essays. I got about halfway through and the categories became uninteresting (an essay on the lethal ingredients of toothpaste circa 1985? 1990?). The presumed readers of this book are students, so it's about teaching folks how to write, and I didn't read all the accompanying material.

I just lost interest when the essays became clever but nothing to admire; I'm sure there are other good essays further along, and, after all, the purpose here is to teach students to write; an essay about toothpaste might actually be more helpful for students who might need to write papers for their geology class.

So even though I only read half of it I figure I can take credit for reading it all. (Actually, I read less than 1/4 of it, since I mostly skipped the didactic portions and stuck to the essays themselves.