Everything you need to understand or teach The Best American Essays.
This collection of essays contains a selection of writing from a number of distinguished, contemporary American writers. The topics range greatly, but generally cluster around three broad categories. The first part of the book focuses on the theme of personal identity. It is followed by a collection of what might be called descriptive essays, essays which are more reflective than persuasive in nature. The final third of the book is comprised of political and philosophical essays which aim to convince the read of some particular argument.
"The Personal Voice," the book's first section, considers the notion of identity from a variety of perspectives. Since a large component of personal identity is race, especially in a nation as diverse as America, many of these essays reflect on the experience of being a minority. In "Silent Dancing" Judith Ortiz Cofer recounts her experience as a Puerto... View more of the The Best American Essays Summary
The Best American Essays Lesson Plans contain 133 pages of teaching material, including:
