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:  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:  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:  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:  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:  Purdue OWL: Introductions, Body Paragraphs, and Conclusions for an Argument Paper
See also: Purdue OWL: 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:  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.

1. Readings on Gentrification-A Handout
2. Readings on Research Essay Writing-A Handout
3. Preliminary Essay Materials  (4 Items)
   • Preliminary Essay Handout 1: The Assignment
   • Preliminary Essay Handout 2: Planning Sheet
   • Preliminary Essay Handout 3: Instructions for Revision
   • Preliminary Essay Grading Rubric
4. Preliminary Essay-Debate Materials(2 items)
   • Debate Materials: Planning Sheet (for groups before the debate)
   • Debate Materials:  Note Takers’ Sheet (for use during debate)
5. Research Essay Materials-scaffolded from the preliminary essay  (6 Handouts, 1 Rubric)
   • Handout 1: The Assignment
   • Handout 2: Brainstorming and Library Key Words
   • Handout 3: The Interview Assignment
   • Handout 4: Planning Sheet (Outline)
   • Handout 5: Making an Anti-Procrastination Timeline
   • Handout 6: Final Checklist
   • Research Essay Grading 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: 
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” 

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 Paper 

 

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

1. Teresa Thonney, “Teaching the Conventions of Academic Discourse
2. Joseph Bizup, “BEAM: A Rhetorical Vocabulary for Teaching Research-Based Writing”
3. Karen Rosenberg, “Reading Games: Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources”

On Developing Classroom Reading Skills:

1. K-W-L instructional reading strategy, preparation for reading texts as well as research assignments
2. Brainstorming Techniques