title: The New Writing With A Purpose: Brief Edition, Fourteenth Edition
author: Joseph F. Trimmer
description: Joseph F. Trimmer is professor of English and director of The Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry at Ball State University. He is the author of numerous articles on literature, culture, and literacy, including THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION: THE FIRST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS (1978), UNDERSTANDING OTHERS: CULTURAL AND CROSS-CULTURAL STUDIES AND THE TEACHING OF LITERATURE (1992), and NARRATION AS KNOWLEDGE: TALES OF THE TEACHING LIFE (1997). Professor Trimmer has also worked on 20 documentary films for PBS, including the six-part series, "Middletown" (1982). His textbooks include WRITING WITH A PURPOSE, 14th Edition (2004), THE RIVER READER, 12th Edition (formerly the RIVERSIDE READER (2016), and eFICTIONS (2002). Trimmer's A GUIDE TO MLA DOCUMENTATION, 9th Edition is a perennial bestseller; he has also published A GUIDE TO APA DOCUMENTATION.
zlib_text: ## ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  
  
  This book—and so many other opportunities—would not have been possible without
  the peaceful crusade of Martin Luther King, Jr. I thank him, and his fellow
  patriots—both remembered and forgotten—for their vision, courage, and
  sacrifice.
  
  
  My thanks and gratitude go out to the following:
  
  
  Scott Mendel, for believing in my work and finding it a home.
  
  
  Malaika Adero, for granting me a home, encouragement, and guidance. Todd
  Hunter and the hardworking folks at Atria.
  
  
  The Public School Heroes: Ms. Taylor, Mrs. Poulet, Mrs. Thrower, Ms. Balton,
  Mrs. Mullen, and Mr. Drulias.
  
  
  The invaluable books on the era by David Garrow, Taylor Branch, and Michael
  Eric Dyson.
  
  
  The Jacob K. Javits Fellowship. Jonathan Ames. The New York University
  Creative Writing Program and my teachers: E. L. Doctorow, Nicholas
  Christopher, and Chuck Wachtel.
  
  
  Charles Salzberg and the New York Writer’s Workshop.
  
  
  Samuel Maio, for believing early (even when I did not).
  
  
  My family: Khadija El-Am