The Norton Sampler: Short Essays for Composition

by Thomas Cooley (Editor)

Short essays with just enough writing instruction. A trusted and engaging collection of 65 short essays, both classic and contemporary. All are arranged by rhetorical pattern, with practical instruction on how to write an essay. The Ninth Edition has a brand new design, 22 NEW readings, a NEW chapter on the elements of the essay, and the most easy to use organization of any reader of its kind.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Reference, Textbooks, Teaching, Writing

672 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know what's funny? I thought it was cute that the cover was modeled after the Whitman's Sampler. You know, that box of candy that you always give to elderly relatives on holidays? Little did I know, however, that the "Sampler" is really a cross-stitching pattern school kids in the 19th Century used to complete to learn the alphabet and numbers.

Not only does this book teach you about that little handy piece of trivia, but it is really a great resource for an advanced high school or freshman college level writing course. There are essays and short pieces in here that are perfect for teaching the various writing forms (literary journalism, essay, profile, etc.). Before each piece is a short profile of the author, and after each piece, in true textbook fashion, is a series of wuestions about the work. Unlike most texts, though these questions are actually thought-provoking and intelligent. The size of this litlte textbook is handy and easy to carry as well. Good stuff.

[Rebekah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite thing in the world. It was nice to read all the essays and see different points of view, but I just wasn’t into it. I had to read it for my composition class. Maybe that’s why I didn’t enjoy it.

[Mayryott]

看了Amy Tan的Mother Tongue，篇幅不长，主题是移民者的母语体验。首先标题的双关就展现了个人语言困境，内容也围绕这个进一步思考族裔身份困境——少数族裔的生命体验多以文中提的“internal language”存在，而当它被表达出来时却被“标准”视作是破碎的。Amy对比了她与母亲的英语（perfect vs. fractured），接着探索两者暗含的文化思维与权力结构，以及她本人作为用英语写作的华裔作家在标准与破碎之间的选择（感觉接触过她作品的读者或多或少能观察到）。开头与结尾的呼应和她对读者的假设这两点还蛮触动人的。

[Emily Shipley · Rating 3 out of 5]

None of my students will read this book, but I think it’s ok.

[Christopher oguntunde · Rating 5 out of 5]

good essay!

[behsforensics]

Cutting is for All 7 Deadly Sins Committed at a Church
Bake Sale
By The Onion Staff

[Devina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I personally read this book for entertainment, while my friend took a writing class and use it as her textbook.
Reading the essays inside the book felt like a roller coaster. One essay brings you to a happy mood; the other makes you sad. I love this book so much because of all the essays inside it. My personal favorite essay from the book is "The Miss Dennis School Of Writing" by Alice Steinbach. But there are more essays that are worth mentioning that I love:
-Homeward Bound by Janet Wu
-English Is A Crazy Language by Richard Lederer

For someone who doesn't live in the west part of the world, the book is very informative and widen my horizon a lot. It changed my mind about a lot of things, like how beneficial playing games turned out to be. It helped me understand why American Colleges and Universities give athletic scholarships (I never understood why before). I love and highly recommend this book!

[Diogenes Grief · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have decided that THIS is my new English Composition II textbook for a community college course ;) I was/ am still using the "Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction" because it was "contemporary" and cheap (under $20). However after a few semesters of using it, the same critiques come up from students: the stories are depressing, many are "boring" or "confusing," there's not enough variety, etc. "The Norton Sampler" (8th edition) is a bit more pricey and I'm aware of how even the moisture in our fingers crinkle the onion-skin thin pages (I imagine a spilled cup of water will dissolve the entire thing), but still . . . the readings have a much vaster spectrum to them, loads of positive stories, awesome instructional pieces, good writing prompts, annotations to assist students, and I even love how the paragraphs are numbered for each essay. Good stuff.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far, this is a fantastic collection of short essays -- everything from Junger to an excerpt from The Onion, with fairly good discussion/prompt questions after each essay. Authors are given appropriate biographies, and the selection is wide and far reaching. I've enjoyed it so far... I'll be using it for class.

[Samuel Muneton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first few stories in this book are very interesting, and the writers know how to make a person feel like they are there with him or her. Each story is able to give a deep meaning that helps people understand something about themselves. I think the stories in this book are great, and I recommend it to anyone that likes meaningful short stories.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will be using this for my English Fundamentals II course. The one essay I like in here is the "Why Batman Shouldn't Kill the Joker." Then again, the other reason why is because the other anthology I use is getting kind of old (circa 2010) so I guess it was time to move on. I hope it works out well!

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a most worthy text on all types of essays. It includes how to construct one, provides excellent examples, and has writing prompts at the end of each chapter. The templates for each type of essay will be of particular value to the student. There is a companion website. I have adopted this for my teen scholar writing program.

[Tina. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm going with this reader for my composition class in the fall. The essays included in it are short, and there is enough of them that I like. The reader is also rather cheap, and with Norton's special promotion my students can get They Say / I Say for only $5 extra.

[Jack Herbert Christal Gattanella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't quite read all of these, but I read enough to know this is a solid collection - especially (or, as it's intended) if you're using it to teach college students. It has a wide range, from David Sedaris to MLK to Ariana Huffington and Batman/Joker analysis.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

My FAVORITE source for modern and classic essays. I use this all the time.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those who love to read and write, and for those who wish to improve their writing.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book a lot for a basic composition class. The essays are short and interesting and exigent. My students seem to like it too, as much as a student likes anything in a comp class.

[Jinal Shah · Rating 3 out of 5]

good