WRITING THROUGH THE RHETORICAL MODES
Edited by Ashar Foley and Jennifer Sears
Introduction to the Series
 College Writing by Johannah Rodgers, Ph.D.
Introduction to the Text
Writing Through the Rhetorical Modes by Ashar Foley, Ph.D.
Introduction to Using this Open Resource
Forthcoming (Jennifer Sears)
Section 1: A Rhetorical Modes Reader
Chapter One: The Narrative Modes
Narration and Reflection
Reading 1: Barbara Ehrenreich, “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America”
Questions for Reading, Discussion, Writing, and Research-Ehrenreich
Reading 2: Brent Staples, “Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Ability to Alter Public Space”
Questions for Reading, Discussion, Writing, and Research-Staples
Reading 3: Colson Whitehead, “The Way We Live Now: 11-11-01; Lost and Found”
Questions for Reading, Discussion, Writing, and Research-Whitehead
See also: Writing for Success, 10.1 Rhetorical Modes:Â Narration
Cause and Effect
Reading 1: Diane Ackerman, “The Brain on Love”
Questions for Reading, Discussion, Writing and Research-Ackerman
Reading 2: Neil Postman, “Technology as Dazzling Distraction”
Questions for Reading, Discussion, Writing, and Research-Postman
See also: Writing for Success, 10.8 Rhetorical Modes:Â Cause and Effect
Process Analysis
Reading 1: Nikki Giovanni, “Campus Racism 101”
Questions for Reading, Discussion, Writing, and Research-Giovanni
Reading 2: Robert Leamnson, “Learning (Your First Job)”
Questions for Reading, Discussion, Writing, and Research-Leamnson
Reading 3: Brogan Sullivan, “Active Reading”
Questions for Reading, Discussion, Writing, and Research-Sullivan
See also: Writing for Success, 10.5 Rhetorical Modes:Â Process Analysis
 Chapter Two: The Expository Modes
Comparison and Contrast
Reading 1: Susan Dominus, “Motherhood, Screened Off”
Questions for Reading, Discussion, Writing, and Research-Dominus
Reading 2: Chief Seattle, 1854 Oration
Questions for Reading, Discussion, Writing, and Research-Seattle
See also: Writing for Success, 10.7 Rhetorical Modes:Â Comparison and Contrast
Division, Classification, and Definition
Reading 1: Louis Menand, “Live and Learn: Why We Have College”
Questions for Reading, Discussion, Writing, and Research-Menand
Reading 2: Michael Pollan, “Unhappy Meals”
Questions for Reading, Discussion, Writing, and Research-Pollan
Reading 3: Amy Tan, “Mother Tongue”
Questions for Reading, Discussion, Writing, and Research-Tan
Reading 4: Theophrastus, “Characters”
Questions for Reading, Discussion, Writing, and Research-Theophrastus
See also: Writing for Success, 10.4 Rhetorical Modes: Classification
See also: Writing for Success, 10.6: Rhetorical Modes; Definition
Chapter Three: The Descriptive Mode
Description
Reading 1: Annie Dillard, “Living Like Weasels”
Questions for Reading, Discussion, Writing, and Research-Dillard
Reading 2: Maxim Gorky, “Coney Island”
Questions for Reading, Discussion, Writing, and Research-Gorky
See also:  Writing for Success, 10.3, “Rhetorical Modes: Description ”
Chapter Four: The Argumentative or Persuasive Mode
Argument/Persuasion
Modes of Persuasion-An Overview by Ashar Foley
Reading 1: Nicholas Carr, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”
Questions for Reading, Discussion, Writing, and Research-Carr
Reading 2: Bill McKibben, “A Modest Proposal to Destroy Western Civilization as We Know It”
Questions for Reading, Discussion, Writing, and Research-McKibben
See also:  Writing for Success, 10.9: Rhetorical Modes: Persuasion
See also:Â Â Purdue OWL: Introductions, Body Paragraphs, and Conclusions for an Argument Paper
See also: Purdue OWL:Â Argument Papers: Rebuttal Sections-
 Section 2: Conversing with Other Writers
 Chapter One: Strategies for Developing a Response Essay
Planning Sheet for a “Response Essay”
Organized around a five paragraph essay pattern, this aid is designed to help students prepare for the English Department’s in-class essay assigned at the end of the semester.
Assignments for Response Essays
Reading 1: Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
Response Essay Writing Assignment-Martin Luther King, Jr
Reading 2: Joe Queenan, “Eight Reasons New York Is Better”
Response Essay Writing Assignment-Joe Queenan
See also, “The Five Paragraph Essay” (handout) detailed below.
See also: Hunter College (CUNY) Writing Center:Â Â Writing a Response Paper
Chapter Two: Strategies for Developing a Research Essay
Research Essay Module: Readings and Writing on Gentrification
This research assignment begins with a Preliminary Essay that serves as the basis for a slightly longer research essay. The sources for the Preliminary Essay (articles from general newspapers) are designed to be updated by instructors as this changing topic evolves. The Preliminary Essay also requires students to include one quote from a peer during an in-class debate. The research essay extends the graded Preliminary Essay by requiring references to two more sources found through resources in the college library and one personal interview. An interview transcript is also required in the complete assignment.
- Readings on Gentrification-A Handout
- Readings on Research Essay Writing-A Handout
- Preliminary Essay Materials (4 Items)
- Preliminary Essay-Debate Materials(2 items)
- Research Essay Materials-scaffolded from the preliminary essay (6 Handouts, 1 Rubric)
Additional Resources for Research Techniques
Purdue OWL: Conducting Primary Research: Interviewing
Writing Spaces, Vol. 2-“Introduction to Primary Research: Observations, Surveys, and Interviews”
TedTalk-(14 min) – Tim Urban: “Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator”
Section 3: Conventions of Academic Writing
Chapter 1: Introductory Materials for College Writing
The following resources offer an overview of the general concepts of essay and “academic writing.” They are useful at the beginning of the semester to clarify what ENG 1101 includes and why this course is required for a student’s overall college success.
Writing Spaces, Vol. 2
Writing Spaces, Vol. 2-What is Academic Writing?”-
Online Writing Lab at Purdue University (Purdue OWL)
Purdue OWL- Tips for Writing in North American Colleges: The Basics”
Purdue OWL- Essay Writing,” “Expository Essays,” “Descriptive Essays,” “Narrative Essays,” and “Argumentative/Persuasive Essays”
Writing for Success
Writing for Success, 1.1, “Reading and Writing in College”
Writing for Success, 1.2 “Developing Study Skills,”
Writing for Success, Ch. 8.4, Revising and Editing
Writing for Success, 9.1-9.4, “Writing an Essay from Start to Finish”
Chapter 2: Learning Modern Language Association (MLA) Format
City Tech Library Resources:
The ENG 1101 guide from City Tech’s Library web page offers helpful advice on finding scholarly resources, tips for approaching research about current events, and citation guides.
City Tech Library- New York City College of Technology-Subject Guide-ENG 1101
City Tech Library-MLA Handbook
Online Writing Lab at Purdue University (Purdue OWL):
Purdue OWL-Sample MLA Research Paper (This resource is heavily annotated and quite helpful.)
Purdue OWL- “MLA Works Cited Page: The Basics”-Purdue OWL
Purdue OWL- “MLA Works Cited Page: Sample Paper”-Purdue OWL
Writing for Success
Writing for Success, 9.1-5: Writing Essays from Start to Finish
 Writing for Success, 11.1 “The Purpose of Research Writing”
Writing for Success 11.5, “Critical Thinking and Research Applications”
 Writing for Success: 12.2: “Developing a Final Draft of a Research Paper”
Writing for Success, 13.2, “Citing and Referencing Techniques”
Writing for Success, 13.4, “Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Style.”
University of Wisconsin Writing Center:Â
This Writer’s Handbook is thorough, reliable, and well organized.
The Writer’s Handbook MLA Documentation Guide“A Quick Orientation to MLA”
The Writer’s Handbook MLA Documentation Guide: Using MLA In-Text Citations
The Writer’s Handbook MLA Documentation GuideCreating an MLA Works Cited Page”Â
Chapter 3: Conventions of Academic Style
Incorporating Transitions
These resources are designed to help students understand the importance of incorporating transitions to flow between their ideas and the ideas of their sources, achieve a college level tone, and enrich their current vocabulary.
Transition Handout 1: Using Transitions for “Beginnings, Middles, and Ends”
Transition Handout 2: Using Transitions to Integrate Sources
See also: Improving Style: Using Transitions
This list of transitions from the University of Wisconsin Writing Center arranges transitions by rhetorical mode
Summary, Paraphrase and Quotation
Handout: Tips for Summarizing
Handout and Exercise: Practice Exercise for Paraphrasing and Summarizing
Reading: “A Zombie is a Slave Forever” by Amy Wilentz (Cause and Effect Essay)
See also: Writing a Summary or Rhetorical Precis to Analyze Non-fiction Texts
This explanation from the Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin reviews the relationship between close reading and analysis.
See also: Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing-Purdue OWL
Understanding the Five Part Essay
Handout: Planning Sheet for a Five Part Essay
This sheet outlines the classic “five part” or “five paragraph” essay. Purdue OWL defines this basic five paragraph format as an “expository essay,” involving an introduction, three “evidentiary body sections, and a concluding section. Purdue OWL also suggests that the five paragraph essay is format that is learned as a starting point and a format that students quickly grow out of during their college writing career. Despite the form’s obviousness, students can benefit from learning this as a standard format they can refer to when writing in-class essays and also teaches the introductory concepts of formulating a freshman essay around the thesis statement and introduces the concept of introducing outside sources that support that original argument.
See also: Purdue OWL- Expository Essays
See also: Writing for Success, 9.1-5: Writing Essays from Start to Finish
Planning Sheet for a “Response Essay”
This sheet offers a suggested outline for a Response Essay. Organized around a five paragraph essay pattern, this aid is designed to help students prepare for the English Department’s in-class essay assigned at the end of the semester.
See also: Hunter College (CUNY) Writing Center: Writing a Response PaperÂ
Section 4: Resources for Writing and Teaching
Sample Essay Assignments:
See the sections for the Research Essay and Response Essays
Sample Syllabi:
Forthcoming
Recommended Teacher and Student Resource Readings
- Teresa Thonney, “Teaching the Conventions of Academic Discourse
- Joseph Bizup, “BEAM: A Rhetorical Vocabulary for Teaching Research-Based Writing”
- Karen Rosenberg, “Reading Games: Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources”
