Volume 3

Assessing Source Credibility for Crafting A Well-Informed Argument

reading to write, secondary source research, Volume 3 /

Kate Warrington, Natasha Kovalyova, and Cindy King Volume 3 Chapter Description This article walks students through how to use critical reading strategies to help them select credible sources for their research papers and helps them understand how critical reading assignments they may have completed earlier in the semester have prepared them for the difficult task […]

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Exigency: What Makes My Message Indispensable to My Reader

rhetorical appeals and argument, Volume 3 /

Quentin Vieregge Volume 3 Chapter Description This essay defines the word exigency and explains its value as a way of gaining and holding a reader’s interest. Exigency is defined as not simply explaining why a topic matters generally, but why it should matter specifically at this time and place and for one’s intended readership. Four

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Weaving Personal Experience into Academic Writing

narrative and storytelling, Volume 3 /

Marjorie Stewart Volume 3 Chapter Description “Weaving Personal Experience into Academic Writing” uses the metaphor of weaving to demonstrate one way of using personal and narrative writing within academic essays. Rather than debate whether narrative is appropriate for academic writing, it addresses the question of when is it appropriate and how it can be done

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Writing in Global Contexts: Composing Usable Texts for Audiences from Different Cultures

rhetorical appeals and argument, Volume 3, writing in global contexts /

Kirk St.Amant Volume 3 Chapter Description The international spread of online access means we live in an increasingly interconnected world. This situation means our students will likely write for audiences in different parts of the globe. Writing for such diverse audiences means addressing different contexts affecting how individuals perceive texts. Writing students can benefit from

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Constructing Scholarly Ethos in the Writing Classroom

rhetorical appeals and argument, Volume 3 /

Kathleen J. Ryan Volume 3 Chapter Description This essay offers a more robust definition of ethos than the typical definition of credibility to teach students more about ethos. I define ethos as the strategic positioning of the rhetor in relationship to the audience and/or community and then discuss four interrelated parts of ethos that can

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The Evolution of Imitation: Building Your Style

drafting and revising, reading to write, Volume 3 /

Craig A. Meyer Volume 3 Chapter Description This chapter focuses on incorporating imitation practices into a student’s writing toolbox. By encouraging students to look more rhetorically at writing through imitation, they learn to recognize that language is more dynamic, and they can approach writing tasks with more contemplative thought instead of as a dreaded task.

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Grammar, Rhetoric, and Style

grammar and mechanics, rhetorical appeals and argument, Volume 3 /

Craig Hulst Volume 3 Chapter Description This chapter focuses on grammar, specifically on understanding that grammar is much more than just the rules that we have been taught. Rather, grammar can be used rhetorically—with an understanding of the writing situation and making appropriate choices regarding the structure of the sentences, the use of punctuation, using

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Understanding Discourse Communities

genre and discourse community, Volume 3 /

Dan Melzer Volume 3 Chapter Description This chapter uses John Swales’ definition of discourse community to explain to students why this concept is important for college writing and beyond. The chapter explains how genres operate within discourse communities, why different discourse communities have different expectations for writing, and how to understand what qualifies as a

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An Introduction to and Strategies for Multimodal Composing

demystifying writing assignments, rhetorical appeals and argument, visual/multimodal rhetorics, Volume 3, writing technologies /

Melanie Gagich Volume 3 Chapter Description This chapter introduces multimodal composing and offers five strategies for creating a multimodal text. The essay begins with a brief review of key terms associated with multimodal composing and provides definitions and examples of the five modes of communication. The first section of the essay also introduces students to

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Writing with Force and Flair

rhetorical appeals and argument, Volume 3 /

William T. FitzGerald Volume 3 Chapter Description Exposure to rhetorical figures, once central to writing pedagogy, has largely fallen out of favor in composition. This chapter reintroduces today’s students to the stylistic possibilities of figures of speech, drawing on an analogy to figure skating to illustrate how writing communicates with an audience through stylistic moves.

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