Moving Beyond the Page: A Reader for Writing and Thinking - Softcover

Morfetas, Elpida; Ceolin, Tanya

Softcover

ISBN 10: 019543949X ISBN 13: 9780195439496

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2011

Synopsis

Moving Beyond the Page is a pedagogically rich collection of nonfiction and fiction pieces designed to help students-particularly non-English majors at the college level-develop skills in literary analysis. The text's 40 selections-fiction and nonfiction in equal numbers-feature a broad spectrum of writers, from well known (Oscar Wilde) to lesser known (Karim Rashid), Canadian (Emily Carr) to international (Jorge Luis Borges), current (Joseph Boyden) to immortal (Tolstoy). Yet while the writers have been carefully chosen for their diversity of age, ethnicity, and social background, their writings relate through a number of common themes highlighted in an alternative table of contents. The thematic table of contents encourages students to make connections between fiction and nonfiction writings on such topics as poverty and debt, cultural and social pressure, sexual politics and gender, faith and spirituality, and the immigrant experience.
Each of the book's 40 selections is preceded by a set of tools designed to prepare readers for the essay or story they are about to encounter and help them connect to it on a personal level. These include a biocritical introduction to the author; a series of quotations by the author, which give some insight into his or her writing philosophy; and a short series of pre-reading questions that invite students to consider their own experience of events similar to those described in the selection. Following each selection is a lexicon of idioms and references that readers (especially EAL learners) may not be familiar with, as well as a glossary of the selection's more challenging words, designed to build students' vocabulary. Comprehension and analysis exercises challenge students' grasp of the content and meaning of what they have read, while essay questions propose some topics for research or reader-response assignments. An end-of-book glossary-'The Writer's Toolbox'-is a useful resource for information on literary terms and concepts such as atmosphere, irony, and metaphor.

About this title

About the Author

Elpida Morfetas is an instructor in the Faculty of Information Arts and Technology at the York campus of Seneca College.

Tanya Ceolin, also an instructor at Seneca@York, has more than 10 years of experience teaching English at the college level.

Review

"The selections are wonderful, showcase contemporary Canadian literature, and highlight some of the major social and cultural issues of today. . . . There are not many textbooks quite like this one. The unique Canadian voices presented here will offer much to the university student. The
selections tackle many of the things we take for granted in our beliefs about Canada and force students to examine the inequalities and social injustices that surround us."

--Ron Sweeney, University of the Fraser Valley

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 019543949X
• ISBN 13: 9780195439496
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 440