What do you look for in a thematic composition reader? Certainly a combination of classic essays that you think every student should read as well as fresh contemporary selections that showcase some of the best contemporary writing and writers. Probably an array of relevant themes that appeal to students even as they point toward the disciplinary thinking and writing students will have to perform as undergraduates. Likely the kind of writing apparatus that moves students from critical reading to thoughtful writing and revising. The Arlington Reader offers all this — and more. It is the only thematic reader to pay attention to the contexts and connections that give rise to great writing, with contextual documents that illuminate some of the most celebrated essays in the composition canon, and paired readings that stimulate comparative critical thinking and writing. Further, it is the least expensive and most manageable full-service thematic reader on the market, with a price students can afford and in a size they'll be happy to carry in their backpacks.