Adapting the immensely successful approach of The St. Martin's Guide to Writing, Axelrod and Cooper have bridged the gap between reader and rhetoric to create a book that provides both structure for students and flexibility for instructors. By learning and consistently practicing the strategies of Reading for Meaning and Reading Like a Writer, students realize the importance of critical thinking and reading in becoming a good writer in college and beyond. Eight chapters, each with four professional and two student essays, provide step-by-step guides to applying this knowledge in reading and writing specific genres ranging from autobiography to argument.