THE RIVER READER, 11th Edition (formerly THE RIVERSIDE READER), is a collection of expository essays arranged by rhetorical modes: narration and description, process analysis, comparison and contrast, division and classification, definition, cause and effect, and persuasion and argument. A final thematic unit illustrates all of these modes. The readings represent diverse voices and views from some of the most respected professional essayists working in the English language, along with short stories. Essays in this edition serve as structural models for students to emulate in their writing and as sources of content for classroom discussion and paper topics. Headnotes and post-reading material analyze each reading in context, helping students better understand the craft of writing and apply what they learn to their own work.