Reading Reading and Analyzing Nonfiction: Slant, Spin & Bias

Help students learn to avoid falling for flimsy arguments.

Discover the most effective way to develop more informed readers, and teach students how to clearly distinguish fact from interpretation and opinion.

Through direct instruction, models, exercises, and writing assignments, Reading and Analyzing Nonfiction: Slant, Spin, and Bias will help you teach students how to recognize an author’s biases and avoid being swayed by them.

This comprehensive book includes both historically significant texts like the Declaration of Independence and contemporary pieces like Pulitzer Prize-winning editorials.

Perfect for AP Language and Composition* classes, Reading and Analyzing Nonfiction is also great for general literature courses—even writing courses—to give your students models to analyze and follow.

After working through Reading and Analyzing Nonfiction, students will be able to:

• Identify bias in nonfiction
• Distinguish fact from interpretation and opinion
• Analyze arguments to reveal logical fallacies, bias, and propaganda
• Evaluate a writer’s effectiveness in conveying a message to a specific audience
• Reduce bias and fallacious reasoning in their own writing

Learn more about teaching with Reading and Analyzing Nonfiction.

What are the primary purposes of Reading and Analyzing Nonfiction?

This book instructs students in the skillful reading of nonfiction through examples of high-quality nonfiction works. Students will learn to analyze rhetorical devices and logical fallacies, elements a reader must know to prevent being unduly convinced, manipulated, or misled.

What types of nonfiction are included in this book?

Reading and Analyzing Nonfiction includes all traditional print genres: editorials, reviews, speeches, and essays. It also includes online media like blog posts. The book includes selections by famous authors and figures like Mary Shelley, Martin Luther King Jr., and Bruce Catton, to name a few.

Who would benefit the most from this book?

Reading and Analyzing Nonfiction is intended for high school students, primarily those in grades 10–12. The book is especially useful for AP Language and Composition courses, but the selections and accompanying notes and instructional material are appropriate for all levels of students.

What kind of instructional content is in the book?

There are exercises that help students identify and analyze rhetorical devices, logical fallacies, and devices of propaganda. Exercises also allow students to practice distinguishing fact from opinion.

In addition, students have the opportunity to write responses analyzing and interpreting some of the reading selections.

How is the book different from other nonfiction collections or practice programs?

While there are other collections of nonfiction available, Reading and Analyzing Nonfiction contains not only traditional nonfiction forms, but contemporary ones, too. Other collections merely present nonfiction selections. Reading and Analyzing Nonfiction provides active instruction in how to approach nonfiction from an analytical lens.

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