2008-09 Curriculum Committee Textbook Recommendations for WRIT 1122 (First three titles are new to this list)
Text
Price
Accessible Rhetorical Principles
Designing
Writing: A
Practical Guide
Just out
from
Bedford/St.
Martin’s.
Yes – discusses designing many
Yes.
types of multi-media genres
(PowerPoints, Brochures, Websites,
etc) around audience, purpose,
rhetorical appeals, and genre
conventions. Also discusses the
traditional essay.
I think so. Uses annotated
screenshots a lot of both
multimedia and regular student
essays.
A Meeting of
$60.67
Minds: Strategies (Amazon)
for Academic
Inquiry and
Writing
Yes. Uses very concrete strategies
for analyzing rhetorical situations
and takes an inquiry approach to
research and writing. Includes
basics like summary, evaluation,
synthesis of sources. Includes
some visual texts but not much on
academic/popular genres.
Yes. Solid discussions of the
writing process, including research,
drafting, revision, and peer review.
Not especially. This new edition is
more student-friendly than the first
one was, with a streamlined
discussion of theory and a greater
emphasis on application. Also has
some up to date readings, but it’s
absolutely a textbook.
Writing
Arguments: A
Rhetoric with
Readings
$72.67
Very little on process
(Three edition
options)
No. Information is well organized
and it has some interesting example
essays, but it has almost no photos
and makes no obvious efforts to
entertain students.
$50.67
(Concise
Edition)
Yes. Discusses most elementary
rhetorical concepts in a couple of
chapters (i.e. audience, claims,
evidence) but most of the focus is
on specific types of arguments,
dedicating a chapter each to things
like “definitional arguments,”
“causal arguments,” “resemblance
arguments,” and “proposal
arguments.”
Rhetorical
Visions
$44.95
Yes. The sections progress from
one concept to the next in a logical
order. Moves beyond basic
rhetorical concepts and introduces
rich rhetorical knowledge.
Not really. You would have to
provide most of your own
apparatus. Assignments are
included but not much
Depends. The readings offer mostly
a lefty worldview, making it
difficult to engage with a variety of
views.
$64.00
(Brief
Edition)
(Amazon)
~$64
bookstore
Rich Process Model
Fun Tone
Classical
Techniques and
Contemporary
Arguments
$50
Ancient
Rhetorics for
Contemporary
Students
$76.20
compose design
advocate
$60
(Amazon)
(Amazon)
(Amazon)
Includes a pretty detailed rhetoric
based on Aristotelian rhetoric.
Uses scholarly rhetorical terms like
topoi and breaks them down for
students in ways that are accessible,
although it could spend more time
discussing the nuances and giving
examples of logos, ethos, pathos. It
also focuses on different types of
argument like deductive and
inductive argument, Rogerian, etc,;
includes a visual rhetoric section.
Yes. It includes assignments and
scaffolding for those assignments.
Also, it includes readings to help
with discussion for different
assignments. It has peer review
questions in each section, which
might be helpful. I don’t like the
imitation chapter (chapter 1), but
this can be avoided.
The readings are controversial –
gay rights, nationalism. They are
sure to stir up controversial
discussions that, at the very least,
won’t bore students, although I
think teachers should think
carefully about how they approach
these topics. Otherwise, it’s not
designed in a way that is all that
different from an ordinary textbook
and could be considered a bit on the
boring side.
This book has the probably the
most comprehensive rhetoric
available, which is both scholarly
and accessible to students. It
covers each of the rhetorical
appeals in depth, going as detailed
as looking at how pronoun usage
can construct ethos. The chapter on
ethos is extensive.
No. You will definitely have to
supply your own assignments and
writing process scaffolding for
them. This is strictly a rhetoric.
Depends. The examples are not up
to date for students. A lot of the
examples are from the ‘90s when
our students were in elementary
school and still hadn’t developed
much awareness of the media.
However, this can also be remedied
by supplementing with your own
examples from current media.
Yes. Has a practical rhetoric that is
then applied to many alternate civic
texts, but it also applies logos,
ethos, and pathos to the standard
academic essay in interesting ways.
Discusses visual and aural rhetoric,
even going as far as to discuss how
traditional academic essays could
be improved by paying attention to
the visual.
Yes. Has a peer review section that
is based on the design principle of
“testing” what you create.
Assignments are included. Has a
section specifically aimed at
rhetorical analysis.
Yes, at least for some students. It
has what I consider to be fun
readings – Sarah Vowell, examples
of movie posters from ‘50s cult
classics, etc. The book is colorful,
includes many pictures, and is
designed in innovative ways that
some students may find engaging.
Since it defies some common
textual conventions for books, it
may disorient some students and
teachers. However, the book is still
well organized, allowing teachers
to clearly assign assignments and
readings.
Envision in
Depth
$56.00
Writing in the
Works
$70.76
(Amazon)
Rhetoric and
Composition
(wikibooks)
Free
(Amazon)
Yes, but brief and basic. Ethos,
pathos, logos, and logical fallacies
are addressed in only a few pages
within a single chapter. Examples
are provided, but in rather simple,
obvious ways (e.g. a magazine ad
showing a car that’s been in an
accident serves as an example of
pathos in action). Rhetorical
concepts are typically expressed in
everyday language, not an
academic vocabulary.
Yes. Extended discussions of the
writing process, including
invention, drafting, revision, peer
review, research, documentation,
layout, and presentation. Also
includes assignment suggestions.
However, its three chapters
dedicated to research arguments
(constituting almost 100 pages)
may be more well suited to 1133
than 1122.
This brand new book dedicates
almost 400 pages to readings on
current “hot topics” students will
enjoy, including entire chapters on
body art, sports and the media, and
gaming culture. The book is
colorful and fun but at times aims
low. For instance, the opening
chapter (which introduces textual
analysis methods) uses only panels
from comic strips as examples.
No. This book has much more of a
“modes” approach than a rhetorical
one. Chapters on writing
narratives, news stories, application
essays, film reviews, content for
websites, research papers, etc.
Although some rhetorical concepts
are present, no rhetorical
terminology is used (the word
“ethos” appears in the textbook one
time).
Yes. Nearly the entire book is
focused on processes for writing
specific types of texts (again,
veering into modes territory). Each
type of writing gets a very detailed
discussion, from brainstorming all
the way to publication. Lots of
assignment suggestions and even
three chapters on grammar and one
offering tips for non-native
speakers.
So-so. Clean layout with a lot of
interesting photographs. The
chapters on writing news stories
and film reviews would probably
appeal to most students, but every
page of this fella’ feels and reads
like a textbook.
Yes, but very basic. Ethos, pathos,
(and can be logos, inductive/deductive
reasoning, and logical fallacies are
viewed
all that are included here. But,
either as
provides a short, thorough example
HTML or
of all the above concepts in action.
in PDF)
Surprisingly strong. Also includes a Not really. Pretty straightforward
handbook of common writing
and bland. You will have to bring
errors. Includes prewriting,
the fun.
collaborating, researching, drafting,
rewriting, and other sections.
Includes some rather in-depth
discussions of interdisciplinary
writing, and the examples are
appropriate for the disciplines (e.g.,
the natural sciences includes an
abstract with the following
language: "This experiment
synthesized 2-phenyl-2-butanol
using a Grignard reagent under
reflux conditions.”