This textbook on academic writing and rhetoric, with selected readings, has been designed especially for Dr. Roy Bearden-White's English 1301 & English 1302 classes at South Plains College. Based upon seventeen years of teaching College Composition, Bearden-White’s Craft of the Essay provides a streamlined, no-nonsense approach to college writing. Focusing upon argumentation and rhetoric, students learn about the recursive nature of writing, from idea creation to drafting, expanding, researching, and revising. Emphasis is placed upon students gaining the skills to understand and analyze the type of arguments they will be confronted with in college, and learning how they can present their own ideas in response. The textbook covers a variety of essay formats, such as Narrative, Definition, Cause & Effect, Compare & Contrast, Argumentative, Reflective, Analytical, and Research Essays. Students are shown, step-by-step, various approaches towards textual interpretation through close readings, analyses, and critical thinking. Readings include short stories and poems from the English Literary Canon that are ideal for student interpretations.