Textbook Resources

Effective Fall 2026, all English 1310, 1320, and 1321 faculty must adopt the Bedford (Bobcat) Bookshelf.  This order will be placed automatically.

If you wish to also adopt The Norton Introduction to Literature for English 1320, follow the instructios below.  

You can submit your desired adoptions using the Follett Discover tool on Canvas. To submit your requests via Discover:

1.        Go to Canvas

2.        Locate My Materials

3.        At the top where will be a banner to switch to the Classic Version

4.        Once you switch to Classic, you should be able to adopt your materials for spring.

Why It's Important?

·        Early adoptions help the course materials team source some of those hard-to-get titles.

·        Your selection drives the affordability and sustainability of the Digital Course Materials Program.

OER or not using materials? Please let us know using the Follett Discover tool! 

Please note that BookSmart is a digital first program so your title will be converted to the digital version of the text if available. If you have any special requests, please put a note in the adoption and I will reach out to you.

If you have questions don't hesitate to get in touch with me at sh1313@txstate.edu. Additionally, if you are having trouble accessing or using Follett Discover, I am happy to assist with any training or information needed.

All the best,

Sabrina Heatherley, September 2025

The two issues we have seen are: 1) students have typos in their email address, or 2) they are choosing "Continue as Guest" the first time they sign in, then creating an account with their email address later on. 

To avoid both of these, the instructions are:

 

1. Click the TX State Bobcast Bookshelf link in Canvas Modules

**** Insert a screenshot from a TX Canvas course here!***

2. Log in or create a Vitalsource account***. Do NOT use the “Continue without creating an account" option.

3. Double-check that you entered your email address correctly before hitting Create Account.

***If you are creating an account for the first time, you will receive an email to verify your email address. Click Verify in the email to finish signing in.

 

3. The Bedford Bookshelf is on the Explore tab.

If students have already chosen to "continue as guest", the correct steps to add their email address are:

1. Click TX Bobcat Bookshelf in Canvas. Choose "continue as a guest" again

2. From within that placeholder account, choose "Complete account". 

3. Enter your TX State email address to complete account set up.

Here is a video showing the steps above: Complete Account Set-UpLinks to an external site.. 

However, for students who already created two accounts, that is not a useful... Unfortunately, asking Vitalsource to merge those two accounts is our only course of action. You have no idea how much I wish I had the power! Those are the instructions Laci shared earlier this week. I know all the ones we reached out to VS on the behalf of have been corrected!

Lasly, just so you are aware, when we set up the Vitalsource Linking tool, the Canvas/TX State team asked us if they could leave the option to "continue as guest" as a sign-in option. For some reason the school felt strongly about leaving that option in there. At the time, I did not understand what impact this might have on students getting signed in. I now feel even MORE strongly that we remove that option! We are working with them on that now, to prevent this issue going forward.

 

Let us know what else you think would help and thanks so much for your patience.

Cheers,

 Maggie Rutsch | Senior HSS Specialist | C 918.406.8053

 8/2026

 

 

 

Inspiring What’s Possible For Every Learner

Bedford Handbook vs. EasyWriter (with or without exercises)

The choice between these Bedford products may seem a matter of preference, but upon further study, the Bedford Handbook prioritizes a streamlined resource for students in their college writing, with full sections on MLA and APA styles and grammar lessons to clarify concepts discussed in the text, while EasyWriter has all of these with additional lessons on writing style as well as Chicago and CSE documentation formats. Also, the EasyWriter with Exercises includes student samples, writing prompts, and practice assignments throughout the lessons. As a side note, both physical texts are small, but the EasyWriter uses a handy spiral construction that makes use convenient on a flat surface. Since most students use the digital versions of the text, this could be one preference-based decision for instructors, if they use the physical text. 

Utility: Both of these texts can provide 1310/1320 instructors enough content to fill a semester of writing instruction. In 15 weeks, teachers might feel they did not have enough time to cover all they want in terms of students’ writing style and personal voice. However, the choice of texts should likely come from the individual instructors emphases in the classroom, meaning that experienced instructors armed with additional resources may choose the streamlined Bedford Handbooksupplemented with readings and in-class activities, while EasyWriter lessons may be the better option for those looking for help structuring such activities. 

Concerns:  As college writing courses, First-Year English sections should emphasize the standard academic essay and research documentation, but given the learning gaps in our incoming student writers, there will be a temptation to reteach grammar concepts and proper usage. Nevertheless, deviating too long from more global concepts of essay-writing could undermine official learning outcomes. That said, grammar concepts can be integrated through mini lessons, as part of peer review, and assigned for student review when using either text. Some in our department have assigned grammar lessons as part of students’ oral presentations. For example, in 1310, if students/groups present over a reading or paper topic, they would also need to study a brief lesson on grammar and explain it to the class as a whole. Teachers could comment or supplement on student coverage of these concepts as needed. 

Conclusion: As previously stated, both texts are useful for composition and documentation lessons, but less experienced instructors may opt for the EasyWriter with Exercises to build their curriculum. If newer lecturers want to experiment with the Bedford Handbook, they should implement activities in class to make concepts more engaging, especially when applying them to students’ own writing.

Note: With a Bedford Bookshelf (ISBN 9781319543280) adoption, students have access to all Bedford titles. Flipbook of Bedford Bookshelf books: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/digital/flipbooks/2024-ml-bedford-bookshelf/index.html

Note: With a Bedford Bookshelf adoption, students have access to Elements of Argument. Flipbook of Bedford Bookshelf books: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/digital/flipbooks/2024-ml-bedford-bookshelf/index.html

With a Bedford Bookshelf (ISBN 9781319543280) adoption, students have access to all Bedford titles. Flipbook of Bedford Bookshelf books: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/digital/flipbooks/2024-ml-bedford-bookshelf/index.html

Concerns: The textbook does include varying viewpoints of traditional and moderate professionals, but it also includes essays on topics mentioned in the SB37:

The general education review committee of an institution of higher education shall ensure courses in the curriculum:
(1)Are foundational and fundamental to a sound postsecondary education;
(2)Are necessary to prepare students for civic and professional life;
(3)Equip students for participation in the workforce and in the betterment of society; and
(4)Do not endorse specific public policies, ideologies, or legislation. 

Monsters “uses the theme of monsters to teach critical thinking and academic writing. It features a collection of readings from various authors (poets, philosophers, critics, etc.) that explore the cultural, psychological, and historical significance of monsters, prompting students to analyze topics like fear, identity, and the monstrous through multiple perspectives.”

Here is a link to a syllabus/assignment that uses this textbook: https://fyca.wacclearinghouse.org/discover/syllabus.cfm?syllabusid=2186

You might also consider assigning this 2026 essay: “The Great Zombification” by Owen Yingling.  The piece is about AI.  

"Understanding Rhetoric is arranged like a comic anthology, with nine issues dealing with individual rhetorical concepts. Each issue gives an in-depth look at the topic, reviews important points, suggests ways for students to put the concepts to use in their own work, and offers assignment ideas."  

Note:  The “Drawing Conclusions” sections of Understanding Rhetoric offer particularly rich journal prompts and discussion questions, valuable even if you are not using Understanding Rhetoric:

• Spaces for Writing: pp. 34-35
• Why Rhetoric?: pp. 68-69
• Strategic Reading: pp. 116-117
• Writing Identities: pp. 150-151
• Argument Beyond Pro and Con: pp. 190-191
• Composing Together: pp. 216-217
• Research: More Than Detective Work: pp. 258-259
• Rethinking Revision: pp. 288-289
• Fake News and Real Publication: pp. 330-331

Note: With a Bedford Bookshelf (ISBN 9781319543280) adoption, students have access to all Bedford titles. Flipbook of Bedford Bookshelf books: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/digital/flipbooks/2024-ml-bedford-bookshelf/index.html

Note: With a Bedford Bookshelf (ISBN 9781319543280) adoption, students have access to all Bedford titles. Flipbook of Bedford Bookshelf books: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/digital/flipbooks/2024-ml-bedford-bookshelf/index.html

blah blah blah

Review of The Bedford Researcher, 8e, by Jeff Karr

Pros: The Bedford Researcher is a great resource for professors hoping to demystify the entirety of the writing process for their students. The book is divided into five sections: 

1. Joining the Conversation
2. Working with Sources
3. Collecting Information
4. Creating Your Document
5. Documenting Sources

Of these five sections, parts I, IV, and V are strong. Part I gives students invaluable ways of thinking about how to generate ideas for an essay, how to do preliminary research in order to arrive at a baseline understanding of the subject matter at hand, and how to use that understanding to formulate a research question that will focus their research and instigate the writing process. This information is delivered in a straightforward and accessible manner. It’s easy for composition students, especially those uncomfortable with the writing process, to feel overwhelmed when they first receive a prompt, and by breaking the process down in this way, the book makes the task more manageable. Part IV guides students through the literal process of writing the essay and formatting their document; it gives valuable instruction in outlining, drafting, and revising, and it gives practical, nuts-and-bolts direction on how to properly draw from and deploy research in an essay. This could be especially useful to professors in the grading process, since, if you find that a student is repeatedly making the same mistake in their essay, you can direct them to the page that would help them resolve their issue. (You could even turn this into an extra credit assignment or give them the opportunity to boost their score by finding the pertinent section and writing about their understanding of it.) Part V gives MLA style guidelines that you can also direct students to before essays are due and during the grading process.

Potential Cons: While this book is more practical and less abstract than Academic Writer, the main issue with it is also the fact that it doesn’t really provide intriguing examples of effective writing, so anything you assign from it is unlikely to yield interesting discussion in class. Some of the material is a bit dry, and more competent students might find it a little rote and boring. There’s also material in here whose efficacy is dubious. To what extent digital natives need to be told that the information they find on social media shouldn’t be treated like the word of God, I’m not entirely sure. Throughout chapter 2, there are a number of passages about how to read and annotate a text. Assigning students reading assignments about how to read is arguably less efficacious than assigning reading assignments that actually lend themselves to dissection/interpretation, or reading assignments that make arguments and attempt to support them, that way you can devote class time, or homework assignments, to breaking these readings down. Students will learn a lot more about close reading by going through this process with an instructor than they will from reading about how to do it in a textbook. 

Conclusion: This is a great and practical textbook that will help demystify the writing process for students who aren’t comfortable with it. It’s also a great reference work that will guide students through citing sources and MLA formatting. As is the case with Academic Writer, professors looking for readings that you can spend time analyzing, interpreting, and discussing as a class are unlikely to find them here, so it’s probably best to pair it with another textbook that will offer something more engaging along those lines. 

Note: With a Bedford Bookshelf adoption, students have access to The Bedford Researcher.  Flipbook of Bedford Bookshelf books: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/digital/flipbooks/2024-ml-bedford-bookshelf/index.html

Text-to-speech Option: Instructions for how to activate the audio narration here. This is the same for all of Norton texts.  Let Katie know if you need anything else or have any other questions on this.

Norton Contact:  Katie Sisk, ksisk@wwnorton.com

Review: 

• Utility: This literature reader provides a welcome opportunity for First-Year English teachers to implement a variety of fiction, drama, and poetry readings into English 1320 lessons, specifically preparing students for literary concepts and analysis they will need in their sophomore literature courses. Norton Introduction to Literature provides a flexible set of sections, some of which focus on thematic topics and others centered on literary concepts such as character, figurative language, and  symbolism. The text also includes non-fiction excerpts for historical context as well as formal literary writing from scholarship. The “Suggestions for Reading” could provide opportunities for research, and “Suggestions for Writing” contains numerous prompts to focus literary analysis writing. The chapters on the literature research essay include lessons and samples of quotes and citation, so these could supplement the current MLA instruction in the EasyWriter or Bedford Handbook. 
• Concerns: The main drawback of this text would not be in the book itself, but in how it will be used by instructors who prioritize literary analysis over the more general skills needed for writing in students’ own disciplines. Of course, students should be doing outside library and online research, but instructors should be careful to use the literary texts as a jumping point for real-world research topics and avoid making 1320 solely into an intro lit. course, which it is not. I would urge restraint, as well, in the number of readings given to students, so they can practice the decision-making and self-motivated research about concepts and ideas they may need or want for their future academic and professional goals.
• Conclusion: This text serves as a strong option for instructors that seek a reader that bridges the gap between literary analysis and writing about the world that literature attempts to represent. The sheer variety of readings and tools might tempt instructors to structure the course on literary concepts, but I would suggest that the required, 1250-word major essay be researched beyond a piece of literature to a real-world topic, even if the literature inspires this topic. While writing on literature during 1320 will serve students for sophomore literature classes, we should consider that these courses assign a range from 500-750 word analysis essays, but students’ future fields could require more comparable depth to the FYE-mandated benchmark research essay.

An Insider’s Guide to Academic Writing, reviewed by Jeff Karr, 2026

One of the strengths of this textbook is that, like Everything’s an Argument, it provides a number of example essays that lend themselves to in-class discussion and analysis. As is the case in Everything’s an Argument, the essays are organized by subject matter, creating the opportunity for professors to demonstrate how the same subject can be approached from a number of perspectives, for a variety of intended audiences, publications, etc. Assigning readings that explore the same subject but from different perspectives is a great way to illuminate rhetorical situations and to explore with students how the rhetoric of a piece is shaped not only by the position of the writer relative to the material, but also by the publication itself and the intended audience. The subjects explored in these essays are identity, family, food, and criminal justice, and with that in mind, an appropriate amount of tact and discretion will be necessary on the part of the professor, as well as leaving room in in-class discussion for dissenting POVS.

Parts one and three of this textbook have tremendous value; part one gives an in-depth, (and tonally appropriate for college readers), exploration of the importance of reading, research, and writing. This section includes all the practical information students will need in order to successfully cite their sources and create their works cited pages, though arguably not as exhaustively as the Bedford Handbook or the EasyWriter. Part two goes into a great deal of depth on reading and writing in different academic disciplines, some of which won’t be relevant to every student in a 1320 classroom, but keeping these different sections in mind, and assigning them individually to students who are writing research papers about subject matter pertinent to one of the disciplines it includes could be a worthwhile practice, (also could be a valuable extra credit assignment—have them read a section and summarize their key findings before writing their research paper). That said, the value of assigning each of these, with the exception of the humanities, since that’s the only discipline you’d know for a fact that every student in the class is taking a class in, is questionable. 

Conclusion:

Overall a great option for professors looking for example essays to dissect in class, but exercising discretion over which specific ones you assign, and how you approach them in the classroom, will be important.

Review of Everything’s an Argument with Readings, 9e

by Jeff Karr

Pros: Of the available 1320 textbooks, this one offers the most in-depth instruction in reading, analyzing, and writing argumentative essays. In completing readings from this book, students will have the opportunity to see for themselves that the ability to read and analyze arguments is integral to being able to write them effectively. The book is broken down into 5 main parts: 

1. Reading and Understanding Arguments
2. Writing Arguments
3. Style and Presentation in Arguments
4. Research and Arguments
5. Arguments

Section 1 gives an in-depth breakdown, (almost 30 pages), of ethos, pathos, and logos. For each of these rhetorical appeals, it offers a number of examples from written arguments and different forms of media. Instructors attempting to illustrate these concepts with concrete examples will benefit from assigning these sections or from pulling up some of the examples in class. On top of this detailed breakdown of rhetoric, the book devotes almost 20 pages to the kinds of logical fallacies students are bound to come across in the things they read and watch and that professors are bound to come across in student writing. Therefore assigning readings from this section could be valuable in and out of the classroom and could yield interesting in-class discussions. On top of section 1, sections 2 and 5 will be especially useful for instructors. Part 2 is an exhaustive exploration of how to write effective arguments, giving detailed breakdowns and examples of the specific argumentative structures professors might require in class: Classical, Rogerian, Toulmin, etc. One of the most useful  aspects of this book is the number of example essays it provides. The bulk of these appear in section 5 and are grouped by subject matter, (pop culture, stereotypes, internet use, language, etc.), so that professors and students can discuss how different essays approach the same subject depending on audience, publication, date of publication, etc. 

Potential Cons: Really the biggest potential con of this book is connected to one of its greatest strengths: the amount of depth and detail it goes into for each of its subjects. Students’ threshold for 30 page reading assignments on rhetorical appeals may vary, and because these are subjects professors are likely to devote class time to, you could argue assigning this much reading on that subject is a waste of the students’ time, so professors might have to be a little more intentional about breaking up different chapters, assigning some parts but not others, in order to avoid exhausting students’ interest in the material and to avoid stepping on material that’s probably better go over during in-class discussions. 

Conclusion: A great option for professors who want to assign in-depth instructional reading assignments as well as essays that exemplify some of the skills the book is designed to help students develop. 

Note: With a Bedford Bookshelf (ISBN 9781319543280) adoption, students have access to all Bedford titles. Flipbook of Bedford Bookshelf books: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/digital/flipbooks/2024-ml-bedford-bookshelf/index.html

Review of Academic Writer with 2021 MLA Update, 5e, by Jeff Karr

Pros: The book reads like a how-to guide for analytical reading and writing. It gives students a number of ways of considering the important roles both play in the world and in their personal lives. It offers an in-depth exploration of rhetoric and/or rhetorical situations, and it gives a great deal of practical, nuts-and-bolts guidelines on conducting academic research, outlining, drafting, revising, etc. It also provides detailed reference material on formatting and citing in MLA style. It provides a handful of essays, (most from the Atlantic), that might be useful to analyze/interpret in class with students. 

Potential Cons: While it makes general assertions about why reading and writing are important, it doesn’t provide many sample readings that might encourage students to reach these conclusions on their own. It gives guidelines on what makes for strong writing, but mostly through abstract assertions. (Kind of a show-don’t-tell issue.) The book kind of strains to make a comparison between writing and graphic design. It’s not clear to what end. It devotes quite a bit of page space to aspects of the writing process that are probably intuitive; for example, students are unlikely to need a multipage reading assignment asking them to consider whether they’re someone who writes painstaking first drafts or relies heavily on revision, (especially if revision is going to be an important part of the course regardless). Much of the material the book covers might be better to devote time to during lectures or in in-class discussions, as this would free you up to assign readings, such as the ones included in Everything’s an Argument, that exemplify the qualities of strong writing you’ve gone over in class, as opposed to readings that merely explain what those qualities are. 

Conclusion: There’s good material in the book. STEM students, or students who are more literal and pragmatic, and perhaps skeptical of the importance of reading and writing, might stand to benefit from it most. Students who already believe that reading/writing are important might be bored by the book’s incessant reiteration of that point. Because it reads like a hybrid between a handbook and a reader, much of what it covers is unlikely to yield rigorous in-class discussions, as there’s not much room for interpretation. So this is maybe a textbook to consider assigning short excerpts from and then connecting these excerpts to essays/readings from some of the other textbooks, that way students can identify these qualities for themselves, and that way you’ll have something to critique/analyze during in-class discussions. 

Note: With a Bedford Bookshelf (ISBN 9781319543280) adoption, students have access to Academic Writer. Flipbook of Bedford Bookshelf books: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/digital/flipbooks/2024-ml-bedford-bookshelf/index.html

Joining the Conversation: A Guide and Handbook for Writers, reviewed by Jeff Karr, 2026

Pros: Joining the Conversation emphasizes—it’s true—the conversational aspect of writing. The book stresses the idea that when we write, we don’t do so in a vacuum but within the context of a larger, ongoing conversation. This is an important idea to stress to students, not only to demystify the writing process but to underscore that reading and research are inextricable from quality writing, that each is an essential part of a more holistic approach to the writing process. On top of that, the idea of writing being conversational, which this book stresses throughout all of its chapters, is even more urgent now in the age of AI-uniformity. By stressing the conversational aspect of writing, we can help students understand why it’s important to be able to write in their own, individual voices and the fact that being able to do so is something that will help them distinguish themselves professionally. 

While there are sections, namely some of the early ones, such as “Understanding Yourself as a Writer,” that students may not find very stimulating, this textbook has a ton of valuable material to explore. 

The six main sections are:

Part One Joining a Conversation

Part Two Contributing to a Conversation

Part Three Conducting Research

Part Four Crafting and Polishing Your Contribution

Part Five Documenting Sources 

Part Six Handbook 

Chapter 3, “Reading to Write,” gives an exhaustive exploration of what it means to read analytically. Some of this is material that students will have encountered in 1310, but especially early in a 1320 semester, it could be worthwhile to reemphasize the importance of this kind of close, analytical reading. Part six, the handbook, is especially strong. It gives an exhaustive list of many of the most common line-level issues we see in student writing. The lessons contained in the handbook are thorough and accessible; they do a great job of explaining the issues at hand, why they’re issues in the first place, and how to ameliorate them. A good practice might be to make a list of the most common line-level issues we see in student essays, and then assign the pertinent sections from the handbook, (or go over them as a class). 

Potential cons:

Some of its assertions about the writing process—“writing is a lot like snowboarding”—are tongue in cheek, hence the conversational style of the book, but also a little strained and perhaps unhelpful? The book has a section on MLA documentation, but it’s not as thorough as either the Bedford Handbook or the EasyWriter, so my inclination would be to direct students to either of those when it comes to citing sources/creating a works cited page.

Conclusion: This is an accessible textbook that may help students understand at a deeper level why it’s important to be able to write in their own voices. The handbook section is especially strong and would absolutely give students a deeper understanding of some of the most common line-level issues found in 1310 and 1320 essays. 

“Designed to work in any college course, this brief, accessible book is here to help students whether they are creating a poster, a webtext, an animated video, or any other kind of text. Write/Design assignments guide students through the process of researching the right genre for their project, finding the tools to work with different media, drafting with mockups and storyboards, and presenting their final projects to the world. Online examples, tutorials, and activities in e-Pages take advantage of what the Web can do, showcasing real multimodal compositions from both students and professionals.”

Drawing heavily on principles of learning science and psychology and facilitating engagement through practice and reflection, this purposes-driven rhetoric offers a foundation for corequisite learning models. Reading strategies, noncognitive learning, and plenty of scaffolding pair easily with David Starkey’s easy-going conversational style.