Preface
PART 1: A Guide to Writing

Introduction: How Writing Is Changing
How This Book Can Help You

This Might Get Messy (And That’s Okay)

1. Building a Framework for Reading and Writing
Purpose + Audience + Context + Text = Rhetoric

All Texts Make Arguments

The Four Aspects of Writing Situations

Aspect 1: Purpose

Aspect 2: Audience

What Do Readers Want?

How Do You Find Out What Readers Want?

Aspect 3: Context

Contexts Involve Readers, Writers, and Texts

Contexts Are Messy

Aspect 4: Text

Anything Can Be a Text

Texts Are Often Made of Other Texts

You Work on Texts with Tools

Putting It All Together

Applying the Framework as a Reader

Asking Questions

Making Connections

Applying the Framework as a Writer

Texts for Analysis

Blog Post: Lisa Kalner Williams, "Twitter Etiquette to Use Right Away"

Policy Statement: Executive Office of the President, "Statement of Administration Policy: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007" (excerpt)

Article: Holly Kruse, "’An Organization of Impersonal Relations’: The Internet and Networked Markets" (excerpt)

Vintage Advertisement: Lucky Strike Cigarettes, "You need this throat protection too!"

Exercises

Scenario Connections

　
2. Approaching Writing Situations

Breaking Down the Writing Situation

A Writing Scenario

Purpose

Context

Audience

Text

Considering Motivators and Barriers to Change

Identifying Motivators

Identifying Barriers

Using PACT throughout the Writing Process

Texts for Analysis

Web Page: Discover Card, "Get the Card for College and Beyond"

Online Newsletter: FDIC, "Five Things You Should Know about Credit Cards"

Exercises

Scenario Connections

　
3. Starting to Write

Analyzing Your Writing Processes

Starting Out: An Example

Ideas and How to Have Them

Think about Your Purpose, Audience, Context, and Text

Review the Assignment

Review Your Own Notes

Talk It Through

Read Other Texts

Search Your Memories and Experiences

Do Research

Freewrite

Brainstorm

Give It a Rest

Sketch It Out

Moving from Ideas to a Draft

Free Draft

Mind Map

Outline

Tips for Keeping the Momentum

Text for Analysis

Book Excerpt: Anne Lamott, "Shitty First Drafts"

Exercises

Scenario Connections

　
4. Structuring Your Texts

Considering Your Audience

Developing a Thesis

Writing an Introduction and Conclusion: Wait

Deciding on a Structure for Your Text

Structure Overview

Thesis Last

Thesis First

Time-Based

Context-Based

Weakness First

Strength First

Creating Transitions

What about Introductions and Conclusions?

Starting with a Summary

Starting with a Story

Starting with a Dramatic Statement

Starting with an Abstract

Ending with a Summary

Ending by Suggesting New Beginnings

Ending with a Quotation, Reflection, or Narrative

Texts for Analysis

Legal Document: Supreme Court of the United States, "Wal-Mart Stores Inc v. Dukes et al."

Editorial: Courtney E. Martin, "Wal-Mart v. Dukes Ruling Is Out of Sync with 21st-Century Sex Discrimination"

Abstract: Edward Nęcka and Theresa Hlawacz, "Who Has an Artistic Temperament? Relationships Between Creativity and Temperament Among Artists and Bank Officers."

Twitter Feed: Matt Stoffel

Blog: The Morning News

Exercises

Scenario Connections

　
5. Designing Visual Texts

"Designing Texts? I Thought This Was a Book about Writing."

Some Basic Design Principles

Hierarchy

Color

Negative Space: The Gaps between Objects

Proximity: Birds of a Feather Flock Together

Continuity: How the Eye Continues across Gaps

Similarity: How Objects Are Grouped

Figure/Ground: How Objects Stand Out

Grids: Structuring Pages

Letters as Visual Design: Typography

Paying Attention: Type as Transparency

Font? Typeface? A Note about Terminology

Typefaces: Serif, Sans-Serif, and Novelty

Matching Type to Audience, Context, and Purpose

Choosing a Typeface and a Font

Type as Statement

Deciding What Media You Can Handle

Designing a Text: An Example

Putting It All Together

Text for Analysis

Photograph: Sunset in a Winter Forest

Poster: "Live Blues, February 23, 2011"

Poster: RIAA, "Internet Safety Checklist"

Print Advertisement: Pause Parent Play, "Parents Thwart Flesh-Eating Cyborgs"

Exercises

Scenario Connections

　
6. Managing Writing Projects

Tasks: Identifying What Work Needs to Be Done

Break Large Projects into Smaller Tasks

Put Tasks in a Sequence

Determine the Scope and Duration of Tasks

Timelines: Identifying When Work Needs to Be Done

Organize Tasks into a Timeline

Gantt Charts

Tips for Working on Gantt Charts

Calendars

Focus on Action and Duration

Managing Information

Tips for Managing Virtual Information

Tips for Managing Print Information

Text for Analysis

Blog Post: Gina Trapani, "Geek to Live: Organizing ‘My Documents’"

Exercises

Scenario Connections 　

　
7. Getting Information and Writing from Research

Identifying Information You Need

Developing a Research Plan

Decide What Kind of Research To Do: Primary or Secondary

List and Prioritize Your Research Activities

Secondary Research: Finding Resources

Web Research

Library Research

Primary Research: Getting Information from People

Simple Feedback or Feasibility Meetings

Surveys

Tips for Designing Surveys

Interviews

Focus Groups

Tips for Running Focus Groups

Being an Ethical Researcher

Avoiding Bias

Tips for Avoiding Bias in Research

Checking on Regulations about Research Involving People

Working with Sources
Tracking Information about Sources

Figuring Out What Information to Track

Tracking Material from Physical Sources

Tracking Material from Online Sources

Taking Notes

Using Sources: Quotations, Paraphrases, and Citations

Quoting Sources

Paraphrasing Text

Creating a Works Cited Section

Knowing When to Stop Researching

Conclusions: Connecting Your Research Back to Your Writing

Text for Analysis

Research Paper: Linnea Snyder, "Memorializing September 11th, 2001"

Exercises

Scenario Connections

8. Writing with Other People

Strategies for Writing with Other People

Divide and Conquer Method

Writing Side by Side

Back and Forth: The Middle Ground

Combining Approaches

Strategies for Managing Collaborative Projects

Build Effective Teams

Tips for Building Effective Teams

Set Up a Schedule

Set Up an Internal Style Guide and Style Sheets

Creating Style Guides

Creating Style Sheets

Share Materials

How to Give Feedback

Tools for Collaborative Writing

Tracking Changes

Sharing Access

Text for Analysis

Draft of an Essay: Rachel Steinhaus, "Demystifying Frito Lay"

Exercises

Scenario Connections

9. Revising Your Texts

Reviewing Your Own Texts

Getting Feedback

Helping Reviewers Help You

Types of Comments: Summary and Marginal

Tips for Getting and Giving Critiques

Interpreting Comments

Creating a Revision Plan

Making Major Structural Revisions

Surface-Level Revisions

Tips for Surface-Level Revising

Exercises

Scenario Connections

Text for Analysis

Draft of a Personal Reflection Paper: Rachel Ramprasad, "My Language"

　
10. Publishing Your Texts

Revising for Publication

Publishing Your Own Texts

What Media Work Best for My Audience and Purpose?

What Media Can My Audience Access Easily?

Is My Audience Willing to Work a Little to Get to My Text?

Can My Audience Use the Text in Context?

What Media Are Within My Ability?

Getting Help Publishing Your Texts

Finding Venues for Student Publications

Hiring a Technical Expert

Recruiting a Volunteer

Exercises

Scenario Connections

　
PART 2: Scenarios for Writing

Scenarios 1, 6, 10, 14, and 19 appear in the print book. All twenty Scenarios are in LaunchPad Solo.
ARGUING A POSITION
1. Advocating Voter Registration on Campus
Your activist aunt is running for Congress and asks you to devise a campaign to convince college students to register to vote.

Overview

Strategies

Questions to Keep in Mind

Chapter Connections

Background Texts

News Article: Josh Higgins, "Student Turnout to Affect November Election"

Handbook: Rock the Vote, "Winning Young Voters: New Media Tactics"

Fact Sheet: CIRCLE, "Quick Facts—Youth Voting"

　2. Teamwork Problems
While working on a collaborative project, your team has trouble with a slacker team member. You need to write to the instructor to explain the situation and ask to be graded separately on the project.

Overview

Strategies

Questions to Keep in Mind

Chapter Connections

Background Texts

Syllabus Section on Collaborative Problems and Grading

Online Communications among Team Members

Assignment: Create Your PACT Chart

Assignment: Reflect on This Scenario

　3. Arguing for Handwritten Letters? Or E-mail?
You are asked to settle an argument between your grandparents over whether handwritten letters are more personal than e-mail . You will write a letter to one of them and an e-mail to the other about the benefits of each medium.

Overview

Strategies

Questions to Keep in Mind

Chapter Connections

Background Texts

Opinion Column: Alex Meyer, "Internet Takes Away Personal Touch of Handwritten Letter"

Book Excerpt: Percy H. Boynton, "Letter Writing"

Assignment: Create Your PACT Chart

Assignment: Reflect on This Scenario

　4. Making Invisible Things Visible: Mapping Data
You’ll create a map of statistical data about a population and social issue of your choice. Then you’ll write about your mapping experience.

Overview

Strategies

Questions to Keep in Mind

Chapter Connections

Background Texts

Annotated Links to Data Sources

Assignment: Create Your PACT Chart

Assignment: Reflect on This Scenario

　5. Creating a Parody Ad
You’ll create a mock-up of a parody ad on the topic of your choice. Your ad may be formatted for magazines, newspapers, posters, or the web.

Overview

Strategies

Questions to Keep in Mind

Chapter Connections

Background Text

Parody Ad: Adbusters, "Grease"

Assignment: Create Your PACT Chart

Assignment: Reflect on This Scenario

INFORMING AN AUDIENCE
6. Writing a Profile for a Magazine
You will choose a person to interview and write an article about. The article must be written for a specific publication of your choosing.

Overview

Strategies

Questions to Keep in Mind

Chapter Connections

Background Text

Magazine Article: Linell Smith, "The Art of Poetry"

　7. Podcasting Campus Life for Prospective Students
A representative from your school’s Admissions Office, wants to offer weekly podcasts about campus life. You will choose an aspect of campus life that you want to describe and create a podcast aimed at prospective students and their families.

Overview

Strategies

Questions to Keep in Mind

Chapter Connections

Background Text

Podcast: University of Kentucky Department of Anthropology, "Choose Your Own Adventure"

Assignment: Create Your PACT Chart

Assignment: Reflect on This Scenario

　8. Drafting a Poster about Online Privacy
As an intern at a marketing and graphic-design agency, you are tasked with creating a poster about online safety and privacy to be displayed in a local high school.

Overview

Strategies

Questions to Keep in Mind

Chapter Connections

Background Text

Report: Mary Madden, Sandra Cortesi, Urs Gasser, Amanda Lenhart, and Maeve Duggan, Summary of Findings from "Parents, Teens, and Online Privacy" (Pew Research Center)

Assignment: Create Your PACT Chart

Assignment: Reflect on This Scenario

　9. Educating Users about E-mail Scams
As a volunteer at a local senior center, you recently helped a client avoid becoming the victim of a phishing scam. The client asks you to do something to prevent others from falling prey to the same kind of scams—for example, create a brochure or a presentation, or write an article for the center’s newsletter.

Overview

Strategies

Questions to Keep in Mind

Chapter Connections

Background Text

E-mail: Phishing E-mail That Purports to Be from PayPal

Assignment: Create Your PACT Chart

Assignment: Reflect on This Scenario

WRITING ABOUT PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
10. Reviewing a Restaurant
A friend from your hometown who is working for a local magazine invites you to submit a review of a restaurant for the magazine’s blog. You’ll choose the restaurant and write a review that includes three photos.

Overview

Strategies

Questions to Keep in Mind

Chapter Connections

Background Text

Restaurant Review: Alice Levitt, "Taste Test: Review of Maple City Diner in St. Albans"

　11. A Story from Your Digital Life
A professor doing research on media and culture is collecting personal narratives in which people describe their experiences learning to work with a new communication technology. You will write about your first time using a communication medium of your choice.

Overview

Strategies

Questions to Keep in Mind

Chapter Connections

Background Text

Book Excerpt: Daniel Lanois, "The Walking Multitrack"

Assignment: Create Your PACT Chart

Assignment: Reflect on This Scenario

　12. Analyzing Your Media Diet
You will track all of the mass media you engage with over a 24-hour period. Then you’ll write an essay analyzing the data you’ve collected, including in-depth analysis of at least one specific piece of media you encountered.

Overview

Strategies

Questions to Keep in Mind

Chapter Connections

Background Texts

Website: Media Smarts: Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy

Editorial: Douglas Rushkoff, "Which One of These Sneakers Is Me? How Marketers Outsmart Our Media-Savvy Children"

Assignment: Create Your PACT Chart

Assignment: Reflect on This Scenario

　13. A Day in Your Online Life
You’ll choose an online communication medium that you use frequently and track all of your activity on it during 24 hours. Then you’ll write an analysis of your use of the medium.

Overview

Strategies

Questions to Keep in Mind

Chapter Connections

Assignment: Create Your PACT Chart

Assignment: Reflect on This Scenario

DESIGNING TEXTS
14. Designing Cover Art for Digital Music
Working at a graphic design firm, you’re asked to create mock-up album covers or iTunes art for a fictional band and create a presentation discussing your designs.

Overview

Strategies

Questions to Keep in Mind

Chapter Connections

Background Texts

Album Cover: Jimi Hendrix, People, Hell and Angels

Album Cover: Nine Inch Nails, Hesitation Marks

Album Cover: Thirty Seconds to Mars, Love Lust Faith + Dreams

　15. Designing an Organization’s Graphic Identity
You are creating a start-up company and need to write a brief graphic-identity manual for your organization. You will also develop three sample texts that show the graphic identity in action. Texts can range from letterhead and business cards to t-shirts or hats to Web advertising or a Twitter home page.

Overview

Strategies

Questions to Keep in Mind

Chapter Connections

Background Texts

Graphic Identity Designs: Rubber Design, "Case Study: The Flying Goat Coffee Company"

Graphic Identity Manual: Alzheimer’s Society, "Bringing Our Brand to Life"

Assignment: Create Your PACT Chart

Assignment: Reflect on This Scenario

　16. Designing a Web Site for Doglake Records
Your friend is starting an indie record label and asks you to create a mock-up of a Web site for the label. Some raw materials are provided for you to work with.

Overview

Strategies

Questions to Keep in Mind

Chapter Connections

Raw Materials

Background Texts

Links to Independent Record Labels

Assignment: Create Your PACT Chart

Assignment: Reflect on This Scenario

　17. Designing a Newsletter for the Zeeland Farmers’ Market
Your aunt and uncle have a vegetable stand at the Zeeland Farmers’ Market and serve on the market’s advisory board. The board wants to publicize the market more effectively and has raw materials on hand for a newsletter. You offer to create the first issue of the newsletter using these materials.

Overview

Strategies

Questions to Keep in Mind

Chapter Connections

Raw Materials

Background Text

Newsletter: La Cienega Farmers’ Market

Assignment: Create Your PACT Chart

Assignment: Reflect on This Scenario

　18. Creating a Facebook Page for an Organization
You’ll create a mock-up of a Facebook page for a new campus organization that you want to found.

Overview

Strategies

Questions to Keep in Mind

Chapter Connections

Background Text

Facebook Page: Western Illinois University, "Western Against Slavery"

Assignment: Create Your PACT Chart

Assignment: Reflect on This Scenario

　
REVISING AND REPURPOSING TEXTS
19. Repurposing a Text
As an employee of an online magazine, you’re asked to choose an article from an academic journal and rewrite it for a general audience.

Overview

Strategies

Questions to Keep in Mind

Chapter Connections
Background Texts

Article for a Technical Audience: Rafi Shaik and Ramakrishna Wusirika, "Machine Learning Approaches Distinguish Multiple Stress Conditions using Stress-Responsive Genes and Identify Candidate Genes for Broad Resistance in Rice"

Article for a General Audience: Marcia Goodrich, "Scientists ID Genes That Could Lead to Tough, Disease-Resistant Varieties of Rice"

20. Revising a Campus Filesharing Policy
As a student representative on a campus policy committee, you’re asked to do research on the legal issues surrounding filesharing and then revise the campus’s policy on filesharing.

Overview

Strategies

Questions to Keep in Mind

Chapter Connections

Background Texts

Statistics on Bandwidth Use from the IT Office

E-mail from the University President

The Campus’s Current Acceptable-Use Policy

Assignment: Create Your PACT Chart

Assignment: Reflect on This Scenario