The Academic Writer with 2021 MLA Update

Part 1 Writing and Rhetoric in Action

1 Writing Rhetorically
Understanding the Impact of Communication Technologies on Writing
Writing and Rhetoric
Composing and Designing Texts
Developing Rhetorical Sensitivity
Strategies for Success
Rhetorical Sensitivity and Kairos
Strategies for Success
For Thought, Discussion, and Writing

2 Reading, Listening, and Viewing Rhetorically
Applying Rhetorical Sensitivity to Your Reading
Understanding Your Purposes as a Reader
Understanding How Genre Affects Your Reading
Understanding How Medium and Device Affect Your Reading
QUIZ: READING ON PAGE OR SCREEN
Strategies for Success
Understanding the Text’s Rhetorical Situation
QUESTIONS FOR ANALYZING A TEXT’S RHETORICAL SITUATION
Strategies for Success
Developing the Habits of Mind Needed for Academic Reading
Developing Critical Reading Skills
Previewing
Strategies for Success
QUESTIONS FOR PREVIEWING A TEXT
•Frank Rose, “The Selfish Meme”
Annotating
QUESTIONS FOR ANNOTATING A TEXT
Summarizing
Analyzing a Text’s Argument
GUIDELINES FOR SUMMARIZING A TEXT
QUESTIONS FOR ANALYZING A TEXT’S ARGUMENT
Reading Visual Texts
Strategies for Success
QUESTIONS FOR ANALYZING VISUAL TEXTS
Reading, Listening, Viewing, and Believing (or Not) in an Age of Social Media
GUIDELINES FOR READING, LISTENING, AND VIEWING RHETORICALLY
For Thought, Discussion, and Writing

3 Analyzing Rhetorical Situations
Learning to Analyze Your Rhetorical Situation
The Rhetorical Situation
Strategies for Success
Using Your Rhetorical Analysis to Guide Your Writing
Setting Preliminary Goals
QUESTIONS FOR ANALYZING YOUR RHETORICAL SITUATION
Alia Sands’s Analysis
•Alia Sands, “A Separate Education”
Using Aristotle’s Appeals
Brandon Barrett’s Analysis
•Brandon Barrett, “The All-Purpose Answer”
Analyzing Textual Conventions
CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE ACADEMIC ESSAY
Observing a Professional Writer at Work: Comparing and Contrasting Textual Conventions
•Jean M. Twenge, iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy—and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood (Excerpt)
•Jean M. Twenge, “Has the Smartphone Destroyed a Generation?” (Excerpt)
•Jean M. Twenge, et al., “Increases in Depressive Symptoms, Suicide-Related Outcomes, and Suicide
Rates among U.S. Adolescents after 21 and Links to Increased New Media Screen Time,” (Excerpt)
Strategies for Success
Using Textual Conventions
For Thought, Discussion, and Writing

4 Academic Writing: Committing to the Process
Managing the Writing Process
Identifying Composing Styles
COMPOSING STYLES: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
Strategies for Success
Analyzing Your Composing Process
Strategies for Success
QUIZ: ANALYZING YOUR COMPOSING PROCESS
Writing Communities
Finding a Community
Working Collaboratively
GUIDELINES FOR GROUP WORK
For Thought, Discussion, and Writing

Part 2 Writing in College

5 Analyzing and Synthesizing Texts
Understanding the Centrality of Reading to Academic Writing
Considering Analysis and Synthesis in the Context of the Academic Community
Understanding Your Audience
•Hope Leman, “The Role of Journalists in American Society: A Comparison of the ‘Mirror’ and ‘Flashlight’ Models”
Understanding How Analysis Works
Establishing a Purpose for Your Analysis
Developing an Appropriate Method for Your Analysis
QUESTIONS FOR DEVELOPING AN APPROPRIATE METHOD FOR ANALYSIS
Understanding the Relationship between Analysis and Argument
Analyzing Academic Arguments
Determining the Question at Issue
STASIS QUESTIONS
•Charles Carr, “Reinstate the Fairness Doctrine!”
Identifying an Author’s Position on a Question
QUESTIONS FOR CRITICAL READING AND ANALYSIS
Strategies for Success
Using Aristotle’s Three Appeals
Recognizing Fallacies
Putting Theory into Practice I: Academic Analysis in Action
GUIDELINES FOR IDENTIFYING FALLACIES
•Thai Luong, “Political Polarization in the News: Examining the Fairness Doctrine”
Understanding How Synthesis Works
Putting Theory into Practice II: Academic Synthesis in Action
QUESTIONS FOR SYNTHESIZING TEXTS
•Elizabeth Hurley, “The Role of Technology in the Classroom: Two Views”
For Thought, Discussion, and Writing

6 Making and Supporting Claims
Understanding—and Designing—Academic Arguments
Exploring Aristotle’s Three Appeals
Understanding the Role of Values and Beliefs in Argument
GUIDELINES FOR ANALYZING YOUR OWN VALUES AND BELIEFS
Strategies for Success
Mastering the Essential Moves in Academic Writing
Determining Whether a Claim Can Be Argued
Developing a Working Thesis
GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPING AN ARGUABLE CLAIM
Providing Good Reasons and Supporting Them with Evidence
Acknowledging Possible Counterarguments
QUESTIONS FOR EVALUATING EVIDENCE
Framing Your Argument as Part of the Scholarly Conversation
Using Media to Strengthen Your Argument
•Suzanne Chouljian, “Effects of Habitat Fragmentation on Bobcat (Lynx Rufus) Populations in the Pocono Mountains” (Excerpt)
GUIDELINES FOR USING VISUALS IN ACADEMIC WRITING
Composing an Academic Argument: A Case Study of One Student’s Writing Process
Daniel Stiepleman’s Annotation of the Public Service Announcement
Daniel’s Cluster
Daniel’s Discovery Draft
Daniel’s Journal Entry
Daniel’s Rhetorical Analysis
Daniel’s Plan for His Essay
Daniel’s First Draft
Daniel’s Second Draft with Peer Comments
Daniel’s Response to Peer Comments
Daniel’s Final Draft
•Daniel Stiepleman, “Literacy in America: Reading between the Lines”
For Thought, Discussion, and Writing

7 Doing Research: Joining the Scholarly Conversation
Habits of Mind for Academic Research
QUESTIONS FOR ANALYZING YOUR RHETORICAL SITUATION AS A RESEARCHER
CHOOSING A TOPIC AND FINDING YOUR FOCUS
Curiosity
Source Requirements
GUIDELINES FOR IDENTIFYING SOURCE TYPES
Considering Multiple Perspectives
Hands-On Research
GUIDELINES FOR HANDS-ON RESEARCH METHODS
LEARNING ABOUT YOUR TOPIC
Search Terms and Keywords
QUESTIONS TO ASK AS YOU DEVISE AND REVISE YOUR LIST OF KEYWORDS
Evaluating Search Results
Refining Search Results
Using Common Research Tools
Retrieving Full Text
GUIDELINES FOR GETTING THE FULL TEXT OF ARTICLES
Staying Organized
Develop a System
Digital Tools and Citation Managers
Asking for Help
RESEARCH WRITING: JOINING THE SCHOLARLY CONVERSATION
Synthesizing, Writing, and Citing
Evaluating Sources
Choosing Evidence
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER AS YOU CHOOSE SOURCES
Understanding Academic Audiences
Synthesizing Information and Ideas
Structuring a Supporting Paragraph in a Research Project
Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
WHEN SHOULD I QUOTE, PARAPHRASE OR SUMMARIZE?
Using Signal Phrases
Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing Appropriately and Ethically
Avoiding Plagiarism
Strategies for Success
GUIDELINES FOR AVOIDING PLAGIARISM
Using Appropriate Citation Styles and Formatting
Understanding Your Rights as a Content Creator
Isn’t There More to Say Here on Writing?
Sample Research Essay Using MLA Documentation Style
•Thai Luong, “Representation Matters: Asian American Representation in Films”
For Thought, Discussion, and Writing

8 Writing in the Disciplines: Making Choices as You Write
Strategies for Success
Thinking Rhetorically about Writing in the Disciplines
QUESTIONS FOR ANALYZING WRITING IN THE DISCIPLINES
Strategies for Success
Writing in the Humanities
Sample Student Essay in the Humanities
•Elizabeth Ridlington, “Lincoln’s Presidency and Public Opinion”
Writing in the Natural and Applied Sciences
Sample Student Essay in the Natural and Applied Sciences
•Tara Gupta, “Field Measurements of Photosynthesis and Transpiration Rates in Dwarf Snapdragon (Chaenorrhinum minus Lange): An Investigation of Water Stress Adaptations”
Writing in the Social Sciences
Sample Student Essay in the Social Sciences
•Tawnya Redding, “Mood Music: Music Preference and the Risk for Depression and Suicide in Adolescents
Writing in Business
Sample Student Email for Business Writing
•Michelle Rosowsky, “Taylor Nursery Bid”
For Thought, Discussion, and Writing

Part 3 Practical Strategies for Composing Texts

9 Strategies for Invention, Planning, and Drafting
Strategies for Invention
Strategies for Success
Freewriting
Looping
Brainstorming
GUIDELINES FOR GROUP BRAINSTORMING
Clustering
Asking the Journalist’s Questions
Exploring Ideas
Asking the Topical Questions
QUESTIONS FOR EXPLORING A TOPIC
Researching
Strategies for Success
Writing a Discovery Draft
Strategies for Planning
Establishing a Working Thesis
QUESTIONS FOR ESTABLISHING A WORKING THESIS
Formulating a Workable Plan
Strategies for Success
Strategies for Drafting
Managing the Drafting Process
GUIDELINES FOR OVERCOMING WRITER’S BLOCK
Developing and Organizing Your Ideas
Using a Thesis Statement
Developing Ideas
Following Textual Conventions
Writing Effective Paragraphs
For Thought, Discussion, and Writing

10 Strategies for Revising, Editing, and Proofreading
Strategies for Revising
GUIDELINES FOR REVISING OBJECTIVELY
Asking the Big Questions: Revising for Focus, Content, and Organization
Examining Your Own Writing
QUESTIONS FOR EVALUATING FOCUS, CONTENT, AND ORGANIZATION
One Student Writer’s Revision for Focus, Content, and Organization
Stevon’s Early Draft
•Stevon Roberts, “Identity, Rebooted”
Benefiting from Responses to Work in Progress
Strategies for Success
Responses from Friends and Family Members
Responses from Classmates
GUIDELINES FOR RESPONSES FROM CLASSMATES
Responses from Writing Center Tutors
GUIDELINES FOR MEETING WITH A WRITING TUTOR
Responses from Your Instructor and Others
GUIDELINES FOR USING YOUR INSTRUCTOR’S RESPONSES
Practical Strategies for Editing
Keeping Your Readers on Track: Editing for Style
Achieving Coherence
GUIDELINES FOR EDITING FOR COHERENCE
Finding an Appropriate Voice
Editing for Effective Prose Style
GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE PROSE STYLE
Proofreading: A Rhetorical Approach to Correctness
GUIDELINES FOR PROOFREADING YOUR WRITING
Strategies for Success For Thought, Discussion, and Writing

11 Strategies for Multimodal Composing
Understanding Multimodal Composing
Strategies for Success
The Rhetorical Situation and Multimodal Composing
Multimedia Composition and the Importance of Design
Strategies for Success
Alignment
Proximity
Repetition
Contrast
Managing the Demands of Multimodal Composition
GUIDELINES FOR MULTIMODAL COMPOSING
Multimodal Composing: Three Student Examples
•Christopher Buttacavoli, “Young People and Risky Behaviour” (Home Screen), Prezi Presentation•Ben Myers, “Gap Year: Good or Bad?” (Home Page), Website
•Ben Myers, “The Disability Conversation” (Film Still), Video Presentation
For Thought, Discussion, and Writing
Writers’ References
MLA Documentation Guidelines
APA Documentation Guidelines

The ebook has been updated to give your students the latest guidance on documenting sources in MLA style and follows the guidelines set forth in the MLA Handbook, 9th edition (April 2021).

A substantially revised Chapter 2 emphasizes that reading, writing, listening, and speaking are all rhetorical acts. Expanded with a new section entitled “Reading, Listening, Viewing, and Believing (or Not) in an Age of Social Media,” it addresses the challenge students face today of reading, responding, and believing in an age of social media and widespread misinformation. Guidelines for Reading, Listening, and Viewing Rhetorically help students better determine what (and whom) to believe.

New “Strategies for Success” boxes in every chapter offer helpful tips and advice for all student writers regardless of their level or experience. These broadly relevant notes provide added support for beginning writers from a variety of academic and cultural backgrounds and offer extra help in navigating college writing and academic conventions.

Updated advice for conducting academic research appears in Chapter 7, “Doing Research: Joining the Scholarly Conversation.” This chapter was revised to highlight the importance of academic habits of mind to successful research and to provide up-to-date coverage of research tools, from understanding algorithmic search to staying organized with citation managers.

A new four-color design emphasizes that color is an essential part of visual rhetorical analysis. Full-color images throughout the book prompt a deeper understanding of how to approach and interact with visuals as texts to be composed, read, and analyzed.