rretace Ior Instructors<br > The Winchester Reader is a large， thematically arranged anthology of<br > prose intended for use in first-year composition classes. Such textbooks<br > have been around for much of this century， of course， distinguished<br > from one another by (1) the selections they reprint， (2) the arrangement<br > of the selections， and (3) the additional material accompanying the<br >selections. As the latest entry in the field， The Winchester Reader differs<br >significantly from its contemporaries--and， indeed， its forebears--in<br >each of these elements.<br > DIVERSE SELECTIONS<br > More than half of the 124 selections in The Winchester Reader are by<br >Women and minorities and were written since 1980. These are nmch<br >higher proportions than in any similar anthology. The collection is<br >ample enough， however， to ensure that writers from within the literary<br >and cultural mainstream are also well represented. The book s twelve<br >short stories reflect the same variety.<br > Thematic juxtapositions make the most of the selections diversity.<br >Mainstream writers and hitherto marginalized writers appear together.<br >Older and newer selections confront each other. Moreovei; the high<br >proportion of very recent selections that directly address contemporary<br >concerns and values ensures that these juxtapositions are also provoca-<br >Live.<br > We think this diverse mixture offers at least two instructional ad-<br >:antages. First， it creates inside the book an intense dialogue among<br >mthors from widely divergent cultures and backgrounds. Second these<br >nteractions help create outside the book a productive community of<br >tiverse readers and writers. We hope this collection will encourage ) our<br >tudents to see that their reading and writing can help them establish<br >ndividual voices in the university community.<br >