audience

Lobsters & Second Conversations: Addressing the “So What” in Your Writing

Activities, critical thought and analysis, reading, reading strategies, reading to write, rhetorical situation /

Stina Kasik Oakes Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description What’s a lobster? A second conversation? For years I worked to explain to students how to incorporate purpose, depth, and meaning into their writing with the terms “deeper meaning,” or “story under the story,” or “what the essay is really about.” But these phrases didn’t quite […]

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“Establishing the Who”: Professional Writing, Power Dynamics, & Improv

Activities, critical thought and analysis, professional writing, rhetorical situation /

Lauren Esposito Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description When I started teaching professional writing, I would ask students: “Imagine you’re a nurse and you need to explain the signs of a stroke to a young child. Or, imagine you’re a business student writing a “how-to guide” for investors that will be published on a company

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The Importance of Transfer in Your First Year Writing Course

critical thought and analysis, demystifying writing assignments, genre and discourse community, rhetorical situation, volume 4, Writing Transfer /

Kara Taczak Volume 4 Chapter Description This essay explores the importance of transfer in first year writing. Transfer is the ability to take writing knowledge and practices from one context and use it to repurpose or reframe it in a new/different writing context. To help students better understand how to effectively transfer, this essay examines

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The Rhetorical Possibilities of Accessibility

Accessibility, drafting and revising, professional writing, volume 4, writing technologies /

Rachel Donegan Volume 4 Chapter Description In this chapter, I provide some basic terminology and context for disability and accessibility and discuss how access features not only have direct benefits for a disabled audience, but are beneficial rhetorical bonuses for all writers (nondisabled and disabled).* By emphasizing access in their writing projects, students have the

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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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Why Visit Your Campus Writing Center?

Volume 1, writing center and other resources, writing myths and anxiety /

Ben Rafoth Volume 1 Chapter Description In this chapter, a writing center director and author of books and articles about learning to write invites tutors to tell why writing centers help students become better writers. They explain how the power of conversation in collaborative learning environments helps to expand a writer’s ideas, and we see

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So You’ve Got a Writing Assignment. Now What?

demystifying writing assignments, Volume 1 /

Corrine E. Hinton Volume 1 Chapter Description Interpreting writing assignments can be a challenge for anyone. For first-year college students, however, it can be an overwhelming struggle as students learn to adjust to new academic pressures and expectations. What is my instructor evaluating? Do I need an argument? How do I structure my response? Questions

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What is Academic Writing?

demystifying writing assignments, Volume 1, writing myths and anxiety /

Lennie L. Irvin Volume 1 Chapter Description This chapter explores the task of writing in college. It details common myths about academic writing and the importance of developing a “writer’s sense” within the writing situation. It identifies features of the complex “literacy task” college writing assignments require and decodes elements of the academic writing situation

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Why Blog? Searching for Writing on the Web

rhetorical appeals and argument, Volume 2, writing technologies /

Alex Reid Volume 2 Chapter Description Blogging offers unique opportunities for first year composition writers to develop personal motivations and rewards for writing. This chapter will help you encourage students to find an approach to the unique rhetorical features of blogging as a genre. Students may need detailed assistance as they get started in the

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