Part 1: Getting Started

Chapter 1:  Writing and Genres

    What Are Genres?

    Using Genres to Write Successfully

    Genre and the Writing Process

    Using Genres in College and Your Career

    Quick Start Guide

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This

Chapter 2: Topic, Angle, Purpose

    Topic: What Am I Writing About?

    Angle: What is New About the Topic?

    Purpose: What Do I Want to Accomplish?

    Choosing the Appropriate Genre

    Quick Start Guide

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This

Chapter 3: Readers, Contexts, and Rhetorical Situations

    Profiling Readers

    Analyzing the Context

    Genres and the Rhetorical Situation

    Quick Start Guide

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This

Part 2: Using Genres to Express Ideas

Chapter 4: Memoirs

    Overview

    *One Student’s Work: “Diving In” by Helen Sanderson

    Inventing Your Memoir’s Content

    Organizing and Drafting Your Memoir

    Choosing an Appropriate Style

    Designing Your Memoir

    Revising and Editing Your Memoir

    MicroGenre: The Literacy Narrative

        Frederick Douglass, “Learning to Read and Write”from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

    Quick Start Guide

   Readings

         Wang Ping, “Book War”

         Joe Mackall, “Words of My Youth”

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This, Exploring Other Microgenres

Chapter 5: Profiles

    Overview

    One Student’s Work: “Brother, Life Coach, Friend: Troubled Kids Turn Their Lives Around” by Katie Koch

    Inventing You Profile’s Content

    Organizing and Drafting Your Profile

    Choosing an Appropriate Style

    Designing Your Profile

    Revising and Editing Your Profile

    MicroGenre: The Bio

        *About John Charles Cook

    Quick Start Guide

   Readings

        Jennifer Senior, “The Near-Fame Experience”

       *Walter Kirn, “The Grand Canyon: A Whole New World”

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This, MicroGenre: The Resume

Chapter 6: Reviews

    Overview

    *One Student’s Work: “’Toy Story 3’ Is An Adult’s Film for Children” by Yair Rosenberg

    Inventing Your Review’s Content

    Organizing and Drafting Your Review

    Choosing an Appropriate Style

    Designing Your Review

    Revising and Editing Your Review

    MicroGenre: The Rave

        *Francois Marchand, "Review: The Black Keys shake up the Orpheum in Vancouver”

    Quick Start Guide

   Readings

        Carina Chocano, “Long Overdue: Review of Movie Juno”

        Gerard Jones, “Violent Media is Good for Kids”

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This, Exploring Other Microgenres

Chapter 7: Literary Analyses

    Overview

    One Student’s Work: “Doing the Right Thing in Edwidge Danticat’s ‘A Wall of Fire Rising’”by Nick Baca

    Inventing Your Literary Analysis’ Content

    Organizing and Drafting Your Literary Analysis

    Choosing an Appropriate Style

    Designing Your Literary Analysis

    Revising and Editing Your Literary Analysis

    MicroGenre: The Reading Response

        *Student Reading Response to Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask”

    Quick Start Guide

    Readings :

    A Casebook on Edwidge Danticat

        Edwidge Danticat, “A Wall of Fire Rising”

        *Corine Milano, “Edwidge Danticat: Return to Haiti”

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This, Exploring Other Microgenres

Chapter 8: Rhetorical Analyses

    Overview

    One Student’s Work: “Rhetorical Analysis of the Keep America Beautiful Public Service Announcement (1971)” by Wes Rodenburg

    Inventing Your Rhetorical Analysis’ Content

    Organizing and Drafting Your Rhetorical Analysis

    Choosing an Appropriate Style

    Designing Your Rhetorical Analysis

    Revising and Editing Your Rhetorical Analysis

    MicroGenre: The Ad Critique

        *Theo Keith, “Chrysler’s Super Bowl ad sells Detroit”

    Quick Start Guide

    Readings

        Jack Shafer, “How Obama Does That Thing He Does”

        Liza Featherstone, “What’s a Girl to Read?”

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This, Exploring Other Microgenres

Chapter 9: Commentaries

    Overview

    One Student’s Work: “Why My Generation Doesn’t Care About Performance Enhancement” by David Meany

    Inventing You Commentary’s Content

    Organizing and Drafting Your Commentary

    Choosing an Appropriate Style

    Designing Your Commentary

    Revising and Editing Your Commentary

    MicroGenre: The Letter to the Editor

        Michael Spatz, “Why I’m Against the Statewide Smoking Ban”

    Quick Start Guide

   Readings

        *Douglas Rushkoff, “Are Jobs Obselete?”

       *Tony Blair, “Faith in a Globalized Age.”

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This, Exploring Other Microgenres

Chapter 10: Arguments

    Overview

    One Student’s Work: “Allowing Guns on Campus will Prevent Shootings, Rape” by Tyler Ohmann

    Inventing Your Argument’s Content

    Organizing and Drafting Your Argument

    Choosing an Appropriate Style

    Designing Your Argument

    Revising and Editing Your Argument

    MicroGenre: The Rebuttal

        Russ Walker and David Roberts, “Letter to the Editor on Climate Story”

    Quick Start Guide

   Readings

        Sam Harris, “In Defense of Torture”

        Kate Dailey, "Friends with Benefits: Do Facebook Friends Provide The Same Support As Those In Real Life?"

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This, Exploring Other Microgenres

Chapter 11: Proposals

    Overview

    *One Student Group’s Work: “SCC Café Proposal” by The Associated Students of the University of Washington (Seattle Campus)

    Inventing Your Proposal’s Content

    Organizing and Drafting Your Proposal

    Choosing an Appropriate Style

    Designing Your Proposal

    Revising and Editing Your Proposal

    MicroGenre: The Pitch

        *Dave Chenell and Eric Cleckner, “Elevator Pitch: graFighters”

    Quick Start Guide

   Readings

        *John R. Gerdy, “For True Reform, Athletic Scholarships Must Go”

        Alfie Kohn, “From Degrading to De-Grading”

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This, Exploring Other Microgenres

Chapter 12: Reports

    Overview

    One Student’s Work: Scott Walker, “Gender Stereotypes and Toys: Is it Nature or Nurture?”

    Inventing Your Report’s Content

    Organizing and Drafting Your Report

    Choosing an Appropriate Style

    Designing Your Report

    Revising and Editing Your Report

    MicroGenre: The Explainer

        *“Planking: What is it and Why it is Popular”

    Quick Start Guide

   Readings

        *Andrew Gelman and George A. Romero, “How Many Zombies Do You Know? Using Indirect Survey Methods to Measure Alien Attacks and Outbreaks of the Undead”

        American Psychological Association (APA), “Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls.”

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This, Exploring Other Microgenres

Chapter 13: Research Papers

    Overview

    One Student’s Work: “Lives Not Worth the Money?” by Katelyn Turnbow

    Inventing Your Research Paper’s Content

    Organizing and Drafting Your Research Paper

    Choosing an Appropriate Style

    Designing Your Research Paper

    Revising and Editing Your Research Paper

    MicroGenre: The Annotated Bibliography

        *Sara Rodriguez, “Annotated Bibliography: The Fog of Revolution”

    Quick Start Guide

   Readings

         *Taylor Clark, “Nervous Nellies”

         *James Knoll, “Serial Murder: A Forensic Psychiatric Perspective”

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This, Exploring Other Microgenres

Part 3: Developing A Writing Process 

Chapter 14: Inventing Ideas and Pre-Writing

    Pre-Writing

    Using Heuristics

    Exploratory Writing

    Taking Time to Invent and Prewrite

    Quick Start Guide

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This

Chapter 15: Organizing and Drafting

    Using Genres to Organize Your Ideas

    Sketching an Outline

    Drafting Through Writer’s Block

    Quick Start Guide

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This

Chapter 16: Choosing A Style

    Writing in Plain Style

    Establishing Your Voice

    Writing Descriptively with Tropes

    Improving Your Writing Style

    Quick Start Guide

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This

Chapter 17: Designing

    Before You Begin Designing

    Five Basic Principles of Design

    Design Principle 1: Balance

    Design Principle 2: Alignment

    Design Principle 3: Grouping

    Design Principle 4: Consistency

    Design Principle 5: Contrast

    Using Photography and Images

    Using Graphs and Charts

    Quick Start Guide

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This

Chapter 18: Revising and Editing

    Level 1: Global Revision

    Level 2: Substantive Editing

    Level 3: Copyediting

    Level 4: Proofreading

    Peer Review: Asking For Advice

    Quick Start Guide

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This

Part 4: Strategies for Shaping Ideas

 Chapter 19: Drafting Introductions and Conclusions

    Drafting Introductions

    Drafting Conclusions

    Quick Start Guide

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This

Chapter 20: Developing Paragraphs and Sections

    Creating a Basic Paragraph

    Getting Paragraphs to Flow (Cohesion)

    Organizing a Section

    Using Sections and Paragraphs Together

    Quick Start Guide

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This

Chapter 21: Using Basic Rhetorical Patterns

    Narrative

    Description

    Definition

    Classification

    Cause and Effect

    Comparison and Contrast

    Combining Rhetorical Patterns

    Quick Start Guide

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This

Chapter 22: Using Argumentative Strategies

    What is Arguable?

    Using Reason, Authority, and Emotion

    Avoiding Logical Fallacies

    Rebuttals and Refutations

    Quick Start Guide

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This

Chapter 23: Working Collaboratively with Other Writers

    Working with a Group of Other Writers

    Working with a Team

    Quick Start Guide

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This

Part 5: Doing Research

Chapter 24: Starting Research

    Starting Your Research Process

    Doing Start-Up Research

    Assessing a Source’s Reliability

    Managing Your Research Process

    Following and Modifying Your Research Plan

    Quick Start Guide

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This

Chapter 25: Finding Sources and Collecting Information

    Using Primary and Secondary Sources

    Finding Electronic and Online Sources

    Finding Print Sources

    Using Empirical Sources

    Developing an Annotated Bibliography

    Quick Start Guide

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This

Chapter 26: Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Citing Sources

    Common Knowledge: What You Don’t Need to Cite

    Paraphrasing and Summarizes Sources

    Framing Quotes, Paraphrases, and Summaries

    Avoiding Plagiarism

    Quick Start Guide

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This

Chapter 27: Using MLA Style

    Parenthetical Citations

    Preparing the List of Works Cited

    Citing Sources in the List of Works Cited

    A Student’s MLA Research Paper: Brian Naidus, “A Whole New World: A Background on the Life of the Freshwater Shark”

Chapter 28: Using APA Style

    Parenthetical Citations

    Preparing the List of References

    Citing Sources in the List of References

    A Student’s APA Research Paper: Austin Duus, “Assortative Mating and Income Inequality”

Part 6: Getting Your Ideas Out There

Chapter 29: Using the Internet

    Is This Writing?

    Creating a Social Networking Site

    Starting Your Own Blog

    Writing Articles for Wikis

    Putting Videos and Podcasts on the Internet

    Quick Start Guide

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This

Chapter 30: Creating A Portfolio

    Two Basic Kinds of Portfolios

    Getting Started on Your Portfolio

    Step One: Collecting Your Work

    Step Two: Selecting the Appropriate Artifacts

    Step Three: Reflecting on Your Work

    Step Four: Presenting Your Materials

    Creating an E-Portfolio

    Keeping Your Portfolio Up to Date

    Creating a Starter Resume

    Quick Start Guide

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This

Chapter 31: Succeeding on Essay Exams

    Preparing for an Essay Exam

    Starting Your Essay Exam

    Answering an Essay Exam Question

    Finishing Your Essay Exam

    One Student’s Essay Exam

    Quick Start Guide

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This

Chapter 32: Presenting Your Work 

    Getting Started

    Organizing Your Presentation’s Content

    Designing Your Visual Aids

    Delivering Your Presentation

    Practicing and Rehearsing

    Quick Start Guide

    Talk About This, Try This Out, Write This

Part 7: Handbook

Credits

Index 

* Denotes readings new to this edition