Envision in Depth Reading, Writing, and Researching Arguments, MLA Update

Description

About the book :

Focus on the different modes of argument that appear in our culture every day to teach students critical literacy

• Part I: Analysis and Argument teaches students to become careful, proficient readers of rhetorical texts and learn practical strategies for crafting thesis statements, rhetorical analysis essays, and position papers through verbal and visual examples.
• UPDATED! Chapter 3 on classical argumentation, Toulmin logic, and Rogerian argument guides students in exploring different strategies for arranging effective arguments.
• UPDATED! Expanded coverage of ethos and logos, plus a detailed look at persona in rhetorical stance adds to the text’s coverage of rhetorical appeals and help students understand advanced concepts in rhetoric.
• UPDATED! Focus on the writing process has been expanded in sections on invention in chapters 3, 4, and 6 – complete with additional student samples – to encourage students to find modes of prewriting that best suit their learning style, writing habits, and writing task parameters.
• UPDATED! Strategies for analyzing arguments in diverse media are showcased by student writing throughout, from written to visual arguments.The Spotlight Analysis feature offers student the opportunity to apply strategies of rhetorical analysis to a wide range of texts, from traditional written arguments, to political cartoons, advertisements, photographs, posters, websites, and film trailers.

• Part II: Research Arguments takes students through the key writing practices related to research arguments: writing a research proposal, keeping a research log, locating sources, and understanding the complexities of evaluating and documenting sources.
• UPDATED! Section on research and methodologies includes a discussion of adapting search methodology to different search engines (i.e. Google v. academic databases), and how to effectively conduct Boolean searches. A streamlined discussion of evaluating sources offers students a useful process for assessing research materials. Finally, a discussion of Joseph Bizzup’s BEAM approach helps students move beyond categorizing primary and secondary sources to using them to produce effective arguments.
• Part III: Design and Delivery teaches students how to design and deliver an effective research-based argument with a focus on the process of drafting and revising.
• NEW! Part IV: Readings allows students to explore rich, complex topics through interrelated texts
• Based on student feedback, chapters focus on one key theme each in greater depth and diversity. Each multi-part chapter centers on one core topic that captures student interest through contemporary examples across a range of media.
• NEW! Engaging readings cover a broad range of topics that interest students across the spectrum, including food politics, life online, body image, media and sports culture, situations of conflict and resilience, and issues of cultural identity, citizenship, and rights.

New prompts and other exercises throughout this edition allow for easy scaffolding toward longer, more sustained writing projects

• NEW! Writing Collaboratively prompts can be used for in-class and homework projects.
• UPDATED! Analytical questions, writing assignments, and research projects have been revised in Part IV to connect more clearly with the previous nine chapters.
• NEW! Synthesizing Prompts at the end of each chapter challenge students to put readings in conversation or direct them towards specific research sources in order to develop their own arguments.

New and updated content throughout supports students in developing critical competencies in analysis, argumentation, and research

• NEW! Seeing Connections notes in the margins point students back to previous lessons.
• NEW! Each chapter asks students to analyze and write about a range of texts to build critical literacy and academic competence as writers.
• UPDATED! The text has been revised based on real student feedback to ensure it best meets their needs.
• NEW and UPDATED! Annotated articles and student writing show readers exactly how to move from invention to argument, whether they are analyzing a written or visual text, or developing a research-based argument.
• NEW and UPDATED! Readings and examples have been integrated throughout the first eight chapters that focus on timely cultural issues, such as the Black Lives Matter Movement, the Charlie Hebdo shootings, the “cult” of Apple products, fast food marketing, the influence of online social networks, photo manipulation in teen fashion magazines, women in computer science, the addictive properties of sugar, vegetarianism, and texting and driving.

I: ANALYSIS AND ARGUMENT

1. Analyzing Texts and Writing Thesis Statements

2. Understanding Strategies of Persuasion

3. Composing Arguments

 

II: PLANNING AND CONDUCTING RESEARCH

4. Planning and Proposing Research Arguments

5. Finding and Evaluating Research Sources

 

III: DRAFTING AND DESIGNING ARGUMENTS

6. Organizing and Writing Research Arguments

7. Avoiding Plagiarism and Documenting Sources

8. Designing Arguments

 

IV: READINGS

9. You Are What You Eat

10. Life Online

11. Playing Against Stereotypes

12. Crisis and Resilience

13. Claiming Citizenship

About the book:

• Analytical questions, writing assignments, and research projects have been revised in Part IV to connect more clearly with the previous nine chapters.
• Chapter 3 on classical argumentation, Toulmin logic, and Rogerian argument guides students in exploring different strategies for arranging effective arguments.
• Expanded coverage of ethos and logos, plus a detailed look at persona in rhetorical stance adds to the text’s coverage of rhetorical appeals and help students understand advanced concepts in rhetoric.
• Focus on the writing process has been expanded in sections on invention in chapters 3, 4, and 6 – complete with additional student samples – to encourage students to find modes of prewriting that best suit their learning style, writing habits, and writing task parameters.
• Section on research and methodologies includes a discussion of adapting search methodology to different search engines (i.e. Google v. academic databases), and how to effectively conduct Boolean searches. A streamlined discussion of evaluating sources offers students a useful process for assessing research materials. Finally, a discussion of Joseph Bizzup’s BEAM approach helps students move beyond categorizing primary and secondary sources to using them to produce effective arguments.
• Annotated articles and student writing show readers exactly how to move from invention to argument, whether they are analyzing a written or visual text, or developing a research-based argument.
• Readings and examples have been integrated throughout the first eight chapters that focus on timely cultural issues, such as the Black Lives Matter Movement, the Charlie Hebdo shootings, the “cult” of Apple products, fast food marketing, the influence of online social networks, photo manipulation in teen fashion magazines, women in computer science, the addictive properties of sugar, vegetarianism, and texting and driving.
• Strategies for analyzing arguments in diverse media are showcased by student writing throughout, from written to visual arguments.

Christine Alfano is the Associate Director of Stanford’s Program in Writing and Rhetoric. She holds a BA from Brown University and PhD from Stanford and specializes in digital rhetoric, visual rhetoric, technology and pedagogy, and writing program administration. In her recent  courses, “The Rhetoric of Gaming,” “Gender and Technology,” “Networked Rhetoric,” and “Cultural Interfaces,” Christine challenges students to explore how writing in different technological modes (from docs, to blogs, threaded discussions, social media platforms, memes, vlogs, wikis, etc.) transforms the modern practices of communication and how we represent ourselves online and off. 

 

Dr. Alyssa J. O’Brien is a Lecturer in the Program and Writing and Rhetoric at Stanford University, where she directs the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric initiative and publishes scholarship and textbooks on visual rhetoric, writing pedagogy, and global learning. She has been an invited speaker in Asia and Europe on subjects such as global learning, communication for leadership, visual rhetoric, and “mapping a change in writing.” In 2006, Alyssa won the Phi Beta Kappa Outstanding Teaching Award, and what she enjoys most is helping people discover their voices in writing of all kinds. Her current first- and second-year writing courses focus on visual rhetoric, cross-cultural rhetoric, globalization, and communication for leadership. Before coming to Stanford in 2001, she taught composition, creative writing, literature, and business writing at Cornell University, the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Rochester.  

 

For courses in Writing.

This version of Envision in Depth Reading, Writing, and Researching Arguments has been updated to reflect the 8th Edition of the MLA Handbook (April 2016)*

 

Research-based writing through practical examples

Envision in Depth: Reading, Writing, and Researching Arguments encourages students to look at an issue or idea from a new perspective through the process of analysis, argument, source evaluation, and research-based essay writing. This compact, colorful text for argument and research employs visual culture as an intuitive way into rhetoric and writing. Because of its authentic examples, fresh readings, and thorough instruction, students will enjoy learning to read, analyze, and argue about a range of written and visual texts relevant to our contemporary culture.

* The 8th Edition introduces sweeping changes to the philosophy and details of MLA works cited entries. Responding to the “increasing mobility of texts,” MLA now encourages writers to focus on the process of crafting the citation, beginning with the same questions for any source. These changes, then, align with current best practices in the teaching of writing which privilege inquiry and critical thinking over rote recall and rule-following.