Part of the “Longman Topics” reader series, Considering Cultural Difference features multiethnic writing from contemporary U.S. authors centered around issues of ritual, representation, and rights.

 This brief collection of readings examines cultural identity and difference with respect to race, class, gender, and nationality. Thought-provoking selections ask students to think about timely and relevant issues: integration in schools; affirmative action in the workplace, women in sports; living in a multilingual society. Three main sites of cultural difference are addressed: Ritual, Representation, and Rights, each divided into two chapters of five or six essays apiece. Brief apparatus helps students write more thoughtfully in response to the selections.

“Longman Topics” are brief, attractive readers on a single complex, but compelling, topic. Featuring about 30 full-length selections, these volumes are generally half the size and half the cost of standard composition readers.