Welcome to Norton Composition!
Independent and employee-owned for over 100 years, Norton publishes books that educate, inspire, and endure. We are committed to innovative, quality content designed to support the success of all students—with composition and rhetoric books and media that practice what they teach about good writing and design.
Thinking about Artifical Intelligence in your Writing Course?
First-year writing books that cover working with AI tools
- “They Say / I Say” includes Chapter 19: "'Help Me Understand…' When Your 'They Say' is a Bot."
- The Norton Field Guide to Writing includes Chapter 6: "Working with Generative AI."
- Let’s Talk includes Chapter 30: Let’s Chat: "Using AI Carefully & Ethically."
- The Little Seagull Handbook includes an ebook appendix on Writing with Generative AI.
- Everyone's an Author Fifth Edition will include Chapter 11: "Navigating AI Technology as an Author." This chapter is also available to test in your course in advance.
Request an exam copy to review these chapters.
AI & How We Teach: A Norton Newsletter for AI-Aware Teachers
Join us on Substack for insights and ideas on how instructors can build AI literacy in the classroom.
Workshops
RSVP to upcoming events and watch past recordings for teaching ideas, collaboration opportunities, and expert advice from authors and teachers on generative AI.
Norton Learning Blog
Read the latest cross-disciplinary posts on generative AI from Norton’s teaching and learning community.
Need a book for your course?
Handbook
The Little Seagull Handbook
with and without exercises
Fifth Edition
An affordable, brief, and easy-to-use handbook that covers everything students need for writing, researching, and editing.
Rhetorics & Writing Guides
“They Say / I Say”
with and without readings
Sixth Edition
The essential little book that millions of students love for demystifying academic writing, reading, and research
The Norton Field Guide
to Writing
with and without readings, with and without handbook, and with readings & handbook
Seventh Edition
The most flexible and widely assigned rhetoric
for first-year writing, with the most comprehensive
coverage of genres and modes
Everyone’s an Author
with and without readings
Fifth Edition
Builds students’ confidence in their power as writers—and is especially strong on argument and reflection.
Let’s Talk
with and without readings
Second Edition
A brief, affordable rhetoric with a focus on curiosity, listening, and open-mindedness
Which writing guide is right for you?
Readers
Back to the Lake
Fifth Edition
A balance of excellent model readings and writing advice that builds first-year writers’ competency with rhetorical patterns
The Norton Sampler
Short Essays for Composition
Eleventh Edition
A variety of short, diverse essays relevant to students’ lives, organized around rhetorical patterns
The Norton Reader
Full and Shorter versions
Sixteenth Edition
A trusted thematic collection that offers the greatest breadth and depth of choice—from today’s most influential writers to classic favorites
Reading the World
Fifth Edition
A great ideas reader with a global perspective that encourages
students to explore the development of ideas across cultures
The Seagull Book
of Essays
Fourth Edition
The best-priced alternative to full-length readers, offering concise headnotes and a strong selection of argument essays.
The Little Norton Reader
A collection of 50 popular essays organized chronologically to show how the essay has developed over time—small in size and low in price
Which reader is right for you?
Resources for Composition
InQuizitive for Writers
Used by over 100,000 students each year, InQuizitive activities offer each student personalized practice on writing and research skills in a low-stakes, feedback-rich environment.
Videos
Two-to-three-minute animated videos bring to life essential writing topics and reinforce rhetorical principles.
Ebook
Dynamic tools for annotating, highlighting, and bookmarking engage students’ active reading skills—all in an easy-to-use ebook platform that can be read on all computers and mobile devices.
Professional Development
Webinars
Teaching ideas. Collaboration opportunities. Expert advice. Get plugged into the Norton Composition Community so that you’re in the loop for upcoming workshops.
The Norton Learning Blog
Composition instructors around the country share their research and creative teaching strategies on topics such as information literacy, generative AI, dual enrollment, and more—plus writing from disciplines across Norton’s teaching and learning community.
The Norton Writer's Prize
The Norton Writer’s Prize is our annual contest that recognizes outstanding original nonfiction by undergraduates.
There will be three winners—and three prizes—and all entries are considered for publication.
Upcoming Composition Online Events
Meet your marketing manager: Michele Dobbins
Michele is excited to connect with you about everything composition related—from getting into the nitty gritty about our book content to strategizing about generative AI and courseware. Having started with W. W. Norton as an intern, she’s now been with Norton for over eight years, happily working from home with her five cats and innumerable chickens. A recent book she still hasn't quite gotten over yet is The Family Experiment by John Marrs because it combines reality tv and virtual reality (two things Michele loves to talk about!).
Have questions or want to talk over Zoom?
![Watch [DISCIPLINE] online events](https://client-data.knak.io/production/email_assets/633dac4655ece/CxCTpzIUGYDJRIMl7C7WinG1GujAz1e3TJRcntap.png)
Copyright © W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2025