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PART 1: A RHETORIC FOR WRITERS
1 THINKING RHETORICALLY ABOUT GOOD WRITING
CONCEPT 1 Good writing can vary from closed to open forms.
David Rockwood, A Letter to the Editor
Thomas Merton, A Festival of Rain
Distinctions between Closed and Open Forms of Writing
Where to Place Your Writing along the Continuum
CONCEPT 2 Good writers address problems rather than topics.
Shared Problems Unite Writers and Readers
Where Do Problems Come From?
CONCEPT 3 Good writers think rhetorically about purpose, audience, and genre.
What Is Rhetoric?
How Writers Think about Purpose
How Writers Think about Audience
How Writers Think about Genre
Chapter Summary
BRIEF WRITING PROJECT 1 TWO MESSAGES FOR DIFFERENT PURPOSES, AUDIENCES, AND GENRES
*BRIEF WRITING PROJECT 2 A LETTER TO YOUR PROFESSOR ABOUT WHAT WAS NEW IN CHAPTER 1
2 THINKING RHETORICALLY ABOUT YOUR SUBJECT MATTER
CONCEPT 4 To determine their thesis, writers must often “wallow in complexity.”
Learning to Wallow in Complexity
Seeing Each Academic Discipline as a Field of Inquiry and Argument
Using Exploratory Writing to Help You Wallow in Complexity
Believing and Doubting Paul Theroux’s Negative View of Sports
CONCEPT 5 A strong thesis statement surprises readers with something new or challenging.
Trying to Change Your Reader’s View of Your Subject
Giving Your Thesis Tension through “Surprising Reversal”
CONCEPT 6 In closed-form prose, a typical introduction starts with the problem, not the thesis.
A Protypical Introduction
Features of a Good Introduction
CONCEPT 7 Thesis statements in closed-form prose are supported hierarchically with points and particulars.
How Points Convert Information to Meaning
How Removing Particulars Creates a Summary
How to Use Points and Particulars When You Revise
Chapter Summary
BRIEF WRITING PROJECT PLAYING THE BELIEVING AND DOUBTING GAME
3 THINKING RHETORICALLY ABOUT HOW MESSAGES PERSUADE
CONCEPT 8 Messages persuade through their angle of vision.
Recognizing the Angle of Vision in a Text
Analyzing Angle of Vision
CONCEPT 9 Messages persuade through appeals to logos, ethos, and pathos.
CONCEPT 10 Nonverbal messages persuade through visual strategies that
can be analyzed rhetorically.
Visual Rhetoric
The Rhetoric of Clothing and Other Consumer Items
Chapter Summary
BRIEF WRITING PROJECT ANALYZING ANGLE OF VISION IN TWO PASSAGES ABOUT NUCLEAR ENERGY
4 THINKING RHETORICALLY ABOUT STYLE AND DOCUMENT DESIGN
CONCEPT 11 Good writers make purposeful stylistic choices.
Factors That Affect Style
Four Powerful Strategies for Improving Your Style
CONCEPT 12 Good writers make purposeful document design choices.
Document Design for Manuscripts and Papers
Document Design for Published Works
Chapter Summary
BRIEF WRITING PROJECT TWO CONTRASTING DESCRIPTIONS OF THE SAME SCENE
PART 2: WRITING PROJECTS
WRITING TO LEARN
5 READING RHETORICALLY: THE WRITER AS STRONG READER
Exploring Rhetorical Reading
*Michael Pollan, Why Bother?
Understanding Rhetorical Reading
What Makes College-Level Reading Difficult?
Using the Reading Strategies of Experts
Reading with the Grain and Against the Grain
Understanding Summary Writing
Usefulness of Summaries
The Demands that Summary Writing Makes on Writers
*Summary of “Why Bother?”
Understanding Strong Response Writing
Strong Response as Rhetorical Critique
Strong Response as Ideas Critique
Strong Response as Reflection
Strong Response as a Blend
*Kyle Madsen (student), Can a Green Thumb Save the Planet? A Response to Michael Pollan
WRITING PROJECT A SUMMARY
Generating Ideas: Reading for Structure and Content
Drafting and Revising
Questions for Peer Review
WRITING PROJECT A SUMMARY/STRONG RESPONSE ESSAY
Exploring Ideas for Your Strong Response
Writing a Thesis for a Strong Response Essay
Shaping and Drafting
Revising
Questions for Peer Review
READINGS
Thomas L. Friedman, 30 Little Turtles
Stephanie Malinowski (student), Questioning Thomas L. Friedman’s Optimism in “30 Little Turtles”
Mike Lane, Labor Day Blues (editorial cartoon)
WRITING TO EXPLORE
6 WRITING AN EXPLORATORY ESSAY OR ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Exploring Exploratory Writing
Understanding Exploratory Writing
WRITING PROJECT AN EXPLORATORY ESSAY
Generating and Exploring Ideas
Taking “Double-Entry” Research Notes
Shaping and Drafting
Revising
Questions for Peer Review
WRITING PROJECT AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
What Is an Annotated Bibliography?
Features of Annotated Bibliography Entries
Examples of Annotation Entries
Writing a Critical Preface for Your Annotated Bibliography
Shaping, Drafting, and Revising
Questions for Peer Review
READINGS
James Gardiner (student), How Do Online Social Networks Affect Communication?
James Gardiner (student), What Is the Effect of Online Social Networks on Communication Skills? An Annotated Bibliography
WRITING TO INFORM
7 WRITING AN INFORMATIVE (AND SURPRISING) ESSAY
Exploring Informative (and Surprising) Writing
EnchantedLearning.com, Tarantulas
Rod Crawford, Myths about “Dangerous” Spiders
Understanding Informative Writing
Informative Essay Using the Surprising-Reversal Strategy
WRITING PROJECT INFORMATIVE ESSAY USING THE SURPRISING-REVERSAL STRATEGY
Generating and Exploring Ideas
Shaping, Drafting, and Revising
Questions for Peer Review
READINGS
Kerri Ann Matsumoto (student), How Much Does It Cost to Go Organic?
Shannon King (student), How Clean and Green Are Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Cars? (APA Style Research Paper)
WRITING TO ANALYZE
8 ANALYZING IMAGES
Exploring Image Analysis
*Understanding Image Analysis: Documentary and News Photographs
Angle of Vision and Credibility of Photographs
How to Analyze a Documentary Photograph
Sample Analysis of a Documentary Photograph
*Understanding Image Analysis: Paintings
How to Analyze a Painting
Sample Analysis of a Painting
*Understanding Image Analysis:Advertisements
How Advertisers Think about Advertising
Mirrors and Windows:The Strategy of an Effective Advertisement
How to Analyze an Advertisement
Sample Analysis of an Advertisement
WRITING PROJECT ANALYSIS OF TWO VISUAL TEXTS
Exploring and Generating Ideas for Your Analysis
Shaping and Drafting Your Analysis
Revising
Questions for Peer Review
READINGS
*Lydia Wheeler (student), Two Photographs Capture Women’s Economic Misery
WRITING TO PERSUADE
13 WRITING A CLASSICAL ARGUMENT
What Is Argument?
Exploring Classical Argument
Understanding Classical Argument
Stages of Development: Your Growth as an Arguer
Creating an Argument Frame: A Claim with Reasons
Articulating Reasons
Articulating Underlying Assumptions
Using Evidence Effectively
Evaluating Evidence: The STAR Criteria
Addressing Objections and Counterarguments
Responding to Objections, Counterarguments, and Alternative Views
Seeking Audience-Based Reasons
Appealing to Ethos and Pathos
A Brief Primer on Informal Fallacies
WRITING PROJECT A CLASSICAL ARGUMENT
Generating and Exploring Ideas
Shaping and Drafting
Revising
Questions for Peer Review
READINGS
Ross Taylor (student), Paintball: Promoter of Violence or Healthy Fun?
William Sweet, Why Uranium Is the New Green
Stan Eales,Welcome to Sellafield (editorial cartoon)
Los Angeles Times, No to Nukes
*10 PROPOSING A SOLUTION
Exploring Proposal Writing
Understanding Proposal Writing
Special Problems of Proposal Arguments
Developing an Effective Justification Section
Proposals as Visual Arguments and PowerPoint Presentations
WRITING PROJECT A PROPOSAL ARGUMENT
Generating and Exploring Ideas
Shaping and Drafting
Revising
Questions for Peer Review
WRITING PROJECT PROPOSAL SPEECH WITH VISUAL AIDS
Developing, Shaping, and Outlining Your Proposal Speech
Designing Your Visual Aids
Slide Titles: Using Points, Not Topics
*Student Example of a Speech Outline and Slides
*Sam Rothchild (student), Reward Work Not Wealth (oral presentation with visual aids)
Delivering Your Speech
Revising
Questions for Peer Review
READINGS
*Lucy Morsen (student), A Proposal to Improve the Campus Learning Environment by Banning Laptops and Cell Phones from Class
Dylan Fujitani (student), “The Hardest of the Hardcore”: Let’s Outlaw Hired Guns in Contemporary American Warfare
PART 3: A GUIDE TO COMPOSING AND REVISING
Chapter 11 WRITING AS A PROBLEM-SOLVING PROCESS
SKILL 11.1 Follow the experts’ practice of using multiple drafts.
Why Expert Writers Revise So Extensively
An Expert’s Writing Processes Are Recursive
SKILL 11.2 Revise globally as well as locally.
SKILL 11.3 Develop ten expert habits to improve your writing processes.
SKILL 11.4 Use peer reviews to help you think like an expert.
Becoming a Helpful Reader of Classmates’ Drafts
Using a Generic Peer Review Guide
Participating in Peer Review Workshops
Responding to Peer Reviews
12 COMPOSING AND REVISING CLOSED-FORM PROSE
SKILL 12.1 Understand reader expectations.
Unity and Coherence
Old before New
Forecasting and Fulfillment
SKILL 12.2 Convert loose structures into thesis/support structures.
Avoiding And Then Writing, or Chronological Structure
Avoiding All About Writing, or Encyclopedic Structure
Avoiding Engfish Writing, or Structure without Surprise
SKILL 12.3 Plan and visualize your structure.
Making Lists of “Chunks” and a Scratch Outline Early in the Writing Process
“Nutshelling” Your Argument as an Aid to Finding a Structure
Articulating a Working Thesis with Main Points
Using Complete Sentences in Outlines to Convey Meanings
Sketching Your Structure Using an Outline,Tree Diagram, or Flowchart
Letting the Structure Evolve
SKILL 12.4 Set up reader expectations through effective titles and introductions.
Avoiding the “Topic Title” and the “Funnel Introduction”
Hooking Your Reader with an Effective Title
From Old to New: The General Principle of Closed-Form Introductions
Typical Elements of a Closed-Form Introduction
Forecasting the Whole with a Thesis Statement, Purpose Statement, or Blueprint Statement
SKILL 12.5 Create effective topic sentences for paragraphs.
Placing Topic Sentences at the Beginning of Paragraphs
Revising Paragraphs for Unity
Adding Particulars to Support Points
SKILL 12.6 Guide your reader with transitions and other signposts.
Using Common Transition Words to Signal Relationships
Writing Major Transitions between Parts
Signaling Major Transitions with Headings
SKILL 12.7 Bind sentences together by placing old information
before new information.
The Old/New Contract in Sentences
How to Make Links to the “Old”
Avoiding Ambiguous Use of “This” to Fulfill the Old/New Contract
SKILL 12.8 Learn four expert moves for organizing
and developing ideas.
The For Example Move
The Summary/However Move
The Division-into-Parallel Parts Move
The Comparison/Contrast Move
*SKILL 12.9 Use effective tables, graphs, and charts to present numeric data.
How Tables Tell Many Stories
Using a Graphic to Tell a Story
Incorporating a Graphic into Your Essay
SKILL 12.10 Write effective conclusions.
PART 4: A RHETORICAL GUIDE TO RESEARCH
13 USING SOURCES
SKILL 13.1 Evaluate sources for reliability, credibility, angle of vision, and degree of advocacy.
Reliability
Credibility
Angle of Vision and Political Stance
Degree of Advocacy
Criteria for Evaluating a Web Source
*SKILL 13.2 Know when and how to use summary, paraphrase, and quotation.
Summarizing
Paraphrasing
Quoting
*SKILL 13.3 Use attributive tags to distinguish your ideas from a source’s.
Attributive Tags Mark Where Source Material Starts and Ends
Attributive Tags Are Clearer than Parenthetical Citations
Attributive Tags Frame the Source Material Rhetorically
*SKILL 13.4 Avoid plagiarism by following academic conventions for ethical use of sources.
Why Some Kinds of Plagiarism May Occur Unwittingly
Strategies for Avoiding Plagiarism
14 CITING AND DOCUMENTING SOURCES
SKILL 14.1 Cite and document sources using MLA style.
In-Text Citations in MLA Style
Works Cited List in MLA Style
MLA Citation Models
James Gardiner (student), Why Facebook Might Not Be Good for You (MLA-Style Research Paper)
SKILL 14.2 Cite and document sources using APA style.
In-Text Citations in APA Style
References List in APA Style
APA Citation Models
Student Example of an APA-Style Research Paper
Acknowledgments
Index
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