Books by George Gopen | Reader Expectation and Writing

Outstanding Books

by George David Gopen

NEW BOOK RELEASE UPDATE: Dr. Gopen is thrilled to announce he has signed a three-book contract with the distinguished Anthem Press of London.

About The New Books

The New Science of Scientific Writing is an update and expansion of Gopen’s acclaimed 1990 American Scientist article credited with reshaping scientific writing. Seventeen translations are scheduled.
* RELEASE DATE: JUNE 2026 *

The Shape of English is the sum of all that Dr. Gopen has learned of the written language since he began his investigations in 1978. At least two translations are planned.
* RELEASE DATE: SEPT 2026 *

Mr. Lincoln’s Music: How Elegance Leads to Eloquence is an exploration of a new, musical method of writing to go beyond clarity and power to achieving elegance. The speeches of musician Abraham Lincoln will be deeply considered. Learn more in NEWS.
*RELEASE DATE: SUMMER 2027 *

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Books Available by George David Gopen

Image of a book cover that says: "Expectations: Teaching writing from the reader's perspective. George D. Gopen." The cover is gold on top and fades into a blurry image that appears to be sand underwater with a bright reflection of lines across it caused by sun shining on ripples.

Expectations: Teaching Writing from the Reader’s Perspective
By exploring and explaining the perceptive patterns that readers of English follow in their interpretive process, this 400-page rhetoric approaches the task of teaching writing from the perspective of readers.

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Image of a book cover that reads: "The Sense of Structure: Writing form the reader's perspective. George D. Gopen." The cover is an abstract image of many grooves that arch in the same direction as iridescent stripes of color make even wider arches across the grooves. The colors alternate orange red, teal blue, and yellow.

The Sense of Structure: Writing from the Reader’s Perspective
This book transforms the information of the longer book into a 280-page textbook and includes a chapter on punctuation. Consult Dr. Gopen for a free teacher’s manual.

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The cover of a book reading, "Gopen's Reader Expectation Approach to the English Language: A New Tweetment. George D. Gopen. A New Look at the English Language. A THINKaha Book." The cover is a gradient of lavender. There is an image of two rocky cliffs and the sky is full of grey clouds. There are six men in white collared shirts and black ties and black slacks carrying a briefcase. One is standing on the edge of the cliff on the left, looking through a pair of binoculars toward another identical man who is standing on the opposite cliff waving his right arm in the air. Between the two cliffs, are stretched three identical men, face down. Holding each other's toes, they are forming a three-man bridge across the gap between the two cliffs. The final man is running across their backs from left to right.

Gopen’s Reader Expectation Approach to the English Language: A New Tweetment
In this volume, Gopen sets out the essences and high points of his discoveries in tweet-length, proverb-like distillations of many of his major insights.

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Writing from a Legal Perspective
Dr. Gopen’s first book (1980), written as a text for an advanced undergraduate writing course for pre-Law students. Published two years before the Reader Expectation Approach.

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Robert Henryson’s Moral Fables of Aesop
George Gopen has created a prose translation of the wonderful Moral Fables of Aesop, originally written in Middle Scots by legally trained English teacher Robert Henryson circa 1500.

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Audiobook: George Gopen narrating Peter Sterling’s
What is Health?: Allostasis and the Evolution of Human Design
Neuroscientist Peter Sterling’s stunning 400-million-year history of the development of the brain.

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George Gopen Book Reviews

This book changed my life and the way I think. I recommend it in the strongest possible terms.

Amazon Review

Expectations: Teaching Writing from the Reader’s Perspective by George Gopen

I wish every English teacher and every writing lab had this book.

Jeffrey Wattles—Amazon Review

Expectations: Teaching Writing from the Reader’s Perspective by George Gopen

This is probably best book I have read on how to structure and craft good sentences… Elegant, intelligent and extremely useful book.

Carl Stormer—Amazon Review

The Sense of Structure: Writing from the Reader’s Perspective by George Gopen

Not only interesting as a textbook, “The Sense of Structure” will remain a reference book for the rest of my writing – and audience reading – life. Thank you George, for casting a rather harsh, but forgiving, light on my prose.

Paula Braley—Amazon Review

A Sense of Structure: Writing from the Reader’s Perspective by George Gopen

George Gopen is nothing less than a prophet leading writers to a promised land free of obfuscated meaning and consequent misunderstanding.

— Anna Mukamal Amazon Review

Gopen’s Reader Expectation Approach: A New Tweetment

…a mini-master course in the art of using the written word. His book is a gem.

Stephanie Kane —Amazon Review

Gopen’s Reader Expectation Approach: A New Tweetment by George Gopen

It improved the way I formulate and think about writing so much that I wish I had this book long time ago.

Cengiz Z—Amazon Review

The Sense of Structure: Writing from the Reader’s Perspective by George Gopen

You’ve Never Read the Best Book on Writing. There is a way to improve the quality of your writing — that way is through George Gopen’s Reader Expectation Approach.

Dr. Nathan Belcher, Founder of “The Learning Engine”

The Sense of Structure: Writing from the Reader’s Perspective