The world is a text : writing, reading, and thinking about culture and its contexts / Jonathan Silverman, Dean Rader.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Semiotics : the study of signs (and texts) -- Systems of reading : making sense of cultural texts -- The "semiotic situation" (or the "moving text") -- Texts, the world, you, and your papers -- Learning to read the world as a text : three case studies -- Reading public space : Starbucks -- Reading a poem : "The red wheelbarrow" -- Reading an advertisement : Tommy girls, Tommy boys, and America -- Reading this text as a text -- The world is a text : writing -- The world is a text : reading -- So, the world is a text : what can you do with it? -- How do I write a text for college? : making the transition from high school writing / by Patty Strong -- How do I make an argument about a building? : strategies for constructing a thesis and building a good paper -- Constructing a good thesis -- Building a good paper -- Some final tips -- How do I write about race? : a tour through the writing process -- Understanding the assignment -- Freewriting and brainstorming -- Deciding on a thesis -- Outlining -- Writing the first draft -- Editing and revising, editing and revising, editing and revising -- Turning in the finished product -- How am I a text? : on writing personal essays -- How do I know what a good paper looks like? : an annotated student essay -- How do I get info on an ad? : researching popular culture texts -- Nuts and bolts research -- Guerilla research -- The world is a text : reading -- Reading literature -- Literature demands active reading -- Literature is made up of genres -- Literature is a product not only of the author but of the society and culture of the author -- Literature is interactive -- Worksheet -- Jean Toomer, "Blood-burning moon" -- James Tate, "Goodtime Jesus" -- Pablo Neruda, "Ode to my socks" -- Carolyn Forche, "The colonel" -- Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Young Goodman Brown" -- William Shakespeare, "Sonnet 130" -- Emily Dickinson, "My life had stood-a loaded gun" -- Wislawa Szymborska, "Slapstick" -- Kate Chopin, "The story of an hour" -- The literature suite-social and economic class -- Langston Hughes, "Harlem" -- Susan Steinberg, "Isla" -- Chris Haven, "Assisted living" -- Adrian Louis, "Dust world" -- Theodore Roethke, "My papa's waltz" -- This text : reading -- Your text : writing -- Classroom activities -- Reading outside the lines : essay ideas -- Reading television -- The structure of television makes us watch passively -- Unlike literature, with television, there is not a recognizable author -- Television shows are character driven, morality based, and plot oriented -- The audience pays for its free television -- What is not there is often as important as what is -- Visual media have specific concerns -- Finding themes is easy, but finding meaningful ones is difficult -- Worksheet -- Sallie Tisdale, "Citizens of the world, turn on your televisions!" -- Ariel Gore,"TV can be a good parent" -- Harry F. Waters, "Life according to TV" -- Michelle Cottle, "How soaps are integrating America : color TV" -- Katherine Gantz, "'Not that there's anything wrong with that' : reading the queer in Seinfeld" -- Archana Mehta, "Society's need for a queer solution : the media's reinforcement of homophobia through traditional gender roles" -- The Simpsons suite -- Les Sillars, "The last Christian TV family in America" -- Jaime J. Weinman, "Worst episode ever" -- Anne Waldron Neumann, "The Simpsons".

This popular, culture-oriented book is devoted to teaching its readers how to read all kinds of texts. Its comprehensive and inclusive approach focuses on the relationship between absorbing traditional workssuch.

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