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"BIG TEN, PAC-12 PULL PLUG ON FALL FOOTBALL AMID COVID-19 PANDEMIC -ASSOCIATED PRESS HOW THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT WENT MAINSTREAM - WASHINGTON POST WILDFIRES RAGING IN CALIFORNIA AND COLORADO -NPR Headlines like these jostle with hundreds of others vying for our attention, all too often leaving us out of breath just trying to keep up with breaking news. And while these three headlines report actual, factual information, much of the news that reaches us is based on misinformation and oddball conspiracy theories that aim at nothing so much as creating divisiveness, stoking fears, and inciting distrust."
"It's enough to make us want to throw up our hands and just tune out. But I say: resist that urge! If we have ever needed to put our critical thinking caps on, to take a deep breath, to stop, look , and listen , this is it. For all the junk that clogs our news feeds and inboxes, there's much of real importance to think about, to read about, to talk about-and yes, to write about. And that's what this book will help you do."
"To talk about these and other important issues with others, including those whose views differ from yours-and to listen to what they say, respectfully and with an open mind. To research topics and issues you care about as a matter of inquiry, searching for multiple perspectives rather than just for data to support what you already believe."
"And of course to write-as a way to explore ideas, to respond to something you've read or heard, to report on a topic you've researched or argue a position you want others to think about. In fact, thinking and writing almost always go hand in hand: as one of my students put it, I really can't think without a pen in my hand-or a mouse. This book is here to help you do all that. Stop!"
"In the face of so many urgent issues, it seems especially important to hit the pause button long enough to look very closely at these issues in all their immediate complexity. In other words, to resist the urge to rush from one tweet to another, one headline to the next. Instead, we need to slow down to a crawl, and then to a halt: close observation and real understanding take time and patience-they can't be done on the fly."
"So turn off your devices, put distractions aside, and practice being still and open to what is happening around you. Take a moment, pause, and look at things from all perspectives. -MELANIA TRUMP Look! We all have ways of seeing the world, some of which are so deeply ingrained that we're not even aware of them. So it's especially important to understand them, to look at where they come from, and to ask if they really reflect values we want to embrace."
"We need to look at ourselves as clearly as possible -our age, race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, political affiliation; where we live, where we work and play, where we go to school, what interests we pursue-and ask how these factors lead us to see and understand the world from a certain position, and how that position keeps us from seeing the world as others from different backgrounds see it. This kind of up close and personal looking at ourselves is not easy."
"But it is necessary if we are to recognize and understand-and acknowledge-the role we may be playing in going along with the status quo, and even in perpetuating unjust systems. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in. -ALAN ALDA Consider the coronavirus pandemic, for instance."
"How do we understand competing policies and narratives about protecting people's health versus protecting the nation's economy, about how best to combat the virus, about something as simple as whether or not to wear a mask? What are our responsibilities in such a time-to ourselves, our families, and our fellow citizens? And what will we actually do, what specific actions will we take?"
"Such choices, though often unconscious, reveal what we pay attention to and how they affect and limit what we see-and also what we read. So as a reader, you first need to be aware of how your preferences and ways of seeing the world lead you to value (and trust) some things and not others, and to think critically about what that means for what you know-and what you don't know. Second, you need to learn to pay close attention to what you read, especially when the stakes are high."
"Most of all, you need to read with an open mind, saying maybe to ideas you're not sure about and attempting to understand them before saying no or rejecting them. It means looking closely at texts you might once have rejected, giving them a chance to make their points to you, and being open to the idea that they just might be right. When you read in this way, you are actively reading to understand, to learn, and to respond thoughtfully to what someone else thinks. Listen!"
"Where do you get most of your news? Facebook ? Twitter ? Take some time to switch gears and listen for half an hour or so to a news source you don't normally pay attention to-or even resist listening to (MSNBC, say, or Fox News). Pay attention to how you are listening : With sources you like, do you accept what you hear without questioning or even thinking about what they say? And with sources you don't like, are you listening with a chip on your shoulder, looking for ways they're wrong?"
"All of us have such patterns of listening, so it's important to get a sense of where your listening biases lie and to keep them from clouding your good judgment. In addition, we all need to listen consciously and critically, doing the kind of listening that rhetoric professor Krista Ratcliffe calls rhetorical listening. This kind of listening means opening yourself up to the views of others, even those with whom you disagree, and really hearing what they have to say."
"It means taking their views seriously, listening to really understand what they're saying. We have to listen to other people, so that we and they may lay our stories alongside one another's. -KRISTA RATCLIFFE This is the kind of listening that one student did when he read a series of Facebook posts attacking a politician in his Navajo community who proudly supports Donald Trump."
"Rather than joining them and screaming out hate speech, he responded to those posts with a call for listening and understanding. As he listened more carefully to this politician, he said: I began to understand more about why she supports what we don't like. In her positions, I have to applaud her for having a clear and civil stance. She doesn't come off to me as aggressive like the comments have labeled her. We need to remember that she is also a loving mother, aunt, and relative in the community."
"Creating memes to Put her in her own casket is taking it too far! You don't understand what this kind of a violent witch hunt can do to a person. I am certain she means good. Furthermore, social media has its good and bad sides, and learning more about an issue before posting that next hate speech is the best method for starting a proper conversation. I know that discussing politics is not all rainbows and butterflies. I get it. She is controversial."
"But taking time to at least know where she's coming from may help you understand her politics (even if, like me, you disagree). After understanding her stance, you can proceed to make a critique that's not violent or threatening. -KYLE WHITE This post is a product of sound rhetorical listening, of listening as a way of coming to understand another person. So the next time you're talking with someone with whom you deeply disagree, take a tip from Kyle White: don't attack, don't insult, don't hate."
"It's always better to stop and listen. Think! The listening and reading this book advocates, and the writing that grows out of them, go hand in hand with thinking -not just skimming over words and passages, but putting your mind to it and asking questions at every turn. But what does that really mean? It means paying very close attention and then asking serious and often detailed questions about what you are hearing or reading."
"In other words, it means not just agreeing or going along with it, but challenging it to convince you. I don't write to make readers think like me. I write to make them think. -ANNA QUINDLEN One student who was taking a course examining cultural stereotypes started wondering where his own largely negative impressions of Iran as a country of religious zealots came from."
"Since he was reading Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis for another course, he decided to make some notes about how Satrapi represents Iran, her home country-and he quickly saw that her perceptions of Iran differed from those he held. This careful reading led him to dig further, looking back to the time of the 1979 Iranian revolution, which overthrew the US-backed regime of the shah."
"Carefully and methodically, he read coverage of Iran in national newspapers and found that New York Times reporting from 1979 reveals a narrative emphasizing a solidly unified, radical religious movement that brought the Islamic Republic into reality. Such a narrative laid the foundation for characterizations of Iran by future leaders, whether by President Bush in his famous claim that Iran was part of an axis of evil or by Iranian Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he spoke of Holocaust denial in the name of Iran."
"-DREW AGUILAR This analysis led to further reading on Iranian history and especially on the diversity within Iran, a diversity that contradicted the monolithic stereotype he saw reflected in the Times coverage."
"At the end of his investigation, this student had not only learned a great deal about Iran; he had also thought about how narratives about entire countries can build up in our minds almost without our even noticing-and he was able to bring this new understanding to his reading of Satrapi's famous graphic novel as well."
"Best of all, he was well prepared to write essays in both of his classes that drew on the knowledge he had gained and on his growing understanding of how cultural stereotypes get established and reinforced. Act! Taking time to stop, look, listen, think, and write can bring us only so far. Sooner or later we need to roll up our sleeves and do something-to take some kind of action."
"When 17-year-old Trayvon Brown, who had organized a protest following the death of George Floyd, found a burning cross propped up on the lawn of his home in Monroe, Virginia, he was so shocked and taken aback that the event stopped him in his tracks. What deeply held beliefs could have propelled such a hateful and violent attack?"
"As he looked at the situation in his community and listened to those on both sides of the debate surrounding police violence, Brown came to the conclusion that he had to do something-to lead a second protest. Here's what he said to those who joined him as the protest began: This is your chance, young people. Y'all complain about the laws? Go change those laws. You don't have to destroy anything. You don't have to tear down statues. -TRAYVON BROWN Stand up, speak up, and speak out!"
"-JOHN LEWIS As news of that second protest march had spread, counterprotesters were there as well, some waving Confederate flags, some armed. Law enforcement officials gathered to try to keep the two sides apart, as those on both sides began shouting angrily at each other. With tensions at a boiling point, Brown took another action: he knelt, raised his arm, and began shouting I love you to those on the other side."
"He was soon joined by the rest of the protesters, who did the same-thus defusing the situation and leading to a peaceful conclusion to the march. Remember the Golden Rule Trayvon Brown's actions call to mind the old Golden Rule, of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. Showing respect for others and for their views will encourage them to reciprocate, and in so doing will pave the way for establishing common ground that can move a conversation forward."
"And doing so is pretty simple, even if sometimes challenging: you demonstrate respect when you take other people's feelings and thoughts seriouly, when you acknowledge them as equals in conversation, when you listen to what they say carefully and with an open mind, and when you are truthful."
"Such respect is especially necessary now, in the summer of 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic takes hundreds of thousands of lives, as millions of Americans are out of work and suffering, and as the deep inequities built into our institutions are more visible and disturbing than ever. Such times call for us to think beyond our individual selves, to recognize that we are all in this together, and to take action not just for ourselves but for the greater good of all."
"In short, we need to focus less on I and more on we, knowing that in helping-and respecting-others we will in the long run be helping everyone. When I is replaced with we, even illness becomes wellness. -MALCOLM X Respect, in other words, is the very opposite of the kind of trolling, cyberbullying, and harassment that often takes place online-actions that seek to disrupt, to attack, to sow discontent and distrust and even fear."
"This is not to say that you cannot disagree with someone; just keep in mind that you can disagree without being disagreeable, much less frightening or disruptive. We all need, then, to stop, look, and listen-to step back and think hard about how we communicate with others, about how well and how respectfully we listen. But we can't stop there. Eventually, we will need to engage with the issues most important to us and with other people, including those who do not share our views as well as those who do."
"Write! This kind of engagement will often involve writing. Taking notes and trying to capture in words what you've heard someone say, for example, is a very good way to help understand it better, and to remember it."
"And just think of the role that writing plays in the courses you're taking, from preparing reports to analyzing issues, summarizing and synthesizing information drawn from many sources, developing a script to use in an important oral presentation, and reflecting on the ideas and perspectives of others-all writing."
"And don't be surprised if you find that as you write, your thinking gets sharper, your ideas more focused, your message more clear: you are, in fact, writing yourself into the role of a college student. Then, as you move toward your major, absorbing its vocabulary and methods and style, you are writing yourself into that discipline, becoming a member of its intellectual community. How can I know what I think till I see what I say? -E."
"M. FORSTER And then there's the role that writing plays well beyond the classroom. Think about posters and signs proclaiming No Justice, No Peace! Make America Great Again! I Can't Breathe! Vote!-these are all words, yes, but they are actions as well. Think about the writing you do on social media- Instagram, Facebook , and Twitter all connect you to friends and family as well as to people you might never otherwise know."
"Podcasts and YouTube videos-these allow you to put the power of your spoken voice and your personality to work in getting your messages across. No matter what kinds of writing you do, you'll be aiming to reach particular audiences in particular contexts and for particular reasons. That means you'll be listening and thinking hard about what others say."
"Thus moving purposely from listening to thinking, and from thinking to writing, is a kind of dance that good communication calls for-and the more we practice that dance, the better we will get. Stopping, looking, listening, thinking, taking action. None of the steps in this dance are easy or simple, especially in times as contentious as those we face today. But we need to try-and to recognize that our differences are some of our most valuable assets."
"We won't know about those differences, however, without being open to them, without opening ourselves to the thoughts and ideas and beliefs of others. This book is one attempt to begin and sustain such conversations. So-let's talk! REFLECT!"
"Fox News host Laura Ingraham once famously criticized LeBron James for commenting on political issues, saying that he should shut up and dribble. Her comment got instant blowback from many, including James and other athletes, who posted on social media with the hashtag #wewillnotshutupanddribble."
"Ingraham and James are coming from completely different places in terms of their personal beliefs and ideologies, but how might this exchange have gone differently had they at least attempted a face-to-face conversation-and first taken time to stop, look, listen, and think? PART ONE RHETORIC: JOIN THE CONVERSATION 1. Listening 2. Thinking Rhetorically 3. Engaging Respectfully with Others 4."
"Developing Academic Habits of Mind PART 1 RHETORIC / JOIN THE CONVERSATION Chapter 1 Listening LISTENING TO OTHERS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH WHOM WE DISAGREE, TESTS OUR OWN IDEAS AND BELIEFS. IT FORCES US TO RECOGNIZE, WITH HUMILITY, THAT WE DON'T HAVE A MONOPOLY ON THE TRUTH. -JANET YELLEN IF YOU WANT TO BE LISTENED TO, YOU SHOULD PUT IN TIME LISTENING. -MARGE PIERCY Why would a book titled Let's Talk begin with a chapter on listening? That's a good question, and it has an important answer."
"Talking is (at least) a two-way street: when you talk, you're talking to someone, and you want that someone to listen, to hear what you're saying, whether it's calling a clinic to make a doctor's appointment or talking confidentially with your best friend about whether to break off a relationship. You want-and sometimes need-to be listened to. You can probably think of times when you've felt like you weren't being listened to, or when the person you were talking with was only halfway listening."
"Elizabeth MacGregor certainly has such memories. As the first person in her family-and one of only two students in her high school graduating class-to go to college, she remembers feeling insecure when she first arrived at college. Do I really belong here? she wondered. Faced with some daunting assignments in the first weeks of fall term, she asked for advice from an older student in her dorm."
"That person was sympathetic, but he was checking email and was somewhat distracted, responding don't worry; you'll be fine. She also went to her history instructor's office hours, hoping to get some guidance for doing the first assignment. He merely encouraged her to start on the assignment early and wished her luck; he didn't seem to hear what she was really asking for, which was concrete advice on how to address the assignment."
"Reflecting on these experiences two years later, MacGregor said, They were well meaning, but they just weren't listening to me. Or you may be part of a group that feels ignored or not listened to."
"After the 2018 shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, when a group of predominantly white students started a protest that went viral and led to a huge rally against gun violence, a march for our lives, students of color at that school pointed out that they'd been talking persistently about gun violence for years and years-but no one was listening to them."
"Tyah-Amoy Roberts made this point, saying that students of color had never seen this kind of support and that they didn't feel as if their voices were valued as much as those of our white counterparts. In other words, they were speaking up-but no one was listening. Students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Listening is the ultimate sign of respect. What you say when you listen says more than any words. -THOMAS FRIEDMAN Or sometimes you may be the one who is not listening."
"During the 2019 NBA finals, Draymond Green-known for his constant chatter on and off the court-decided he'd been doing too much talking and not enough listening. In particular, he decided to listen to his mother and his fiance, both of whom told him he needed to learn some self-discipline and especially to stop screaming at the referees. As Green put it: Sometimes I'm not mindful, and I'll get a tech and that will just kill the energy of our team."
"I've really been focused and locked in on that, and I realized I got to a point where I was doing more crying than playing. I'm sure it was disgusting to watch, because I felt disgusting playing that way. -DRAYMOND GREEN Draymond Green, frustrated by getting a tech for yelling. Sometimes we all need to take a good look at our behavior to see if we are doing more talking than listening."
"Certainly, careful listening has been in short supply in the last few years, as the divisions in our society have grown deeper and more entrenched and as many people have retreated into their own bubbles or echo chambers where they hear only what they already agree with-and have stopped listening to anyone else."
"Yet if we don't learn to listen openly and carefully to one another, including those whose views differ from our own, we can't hope to gain understanding and insight into their motivations, hopes, and goals. So that's why this book opens with a chapter calling on you to start by listening and calling on all of us to pay attention to the words of others-and be willing to hear what they say."
"Think of the times when you have most needed someone to listen-openly and carefully and intently-to something you needed to say: when you were talking through a serious conflict with a family member, for instance, or when you were trying to explain to a professor something you didn't understand about a complex topic. On occasions like these, you want the person you're addressing to really listen-to look up from what they're doing and pay attention to what you're saying."
"And in return, you'll want to reciprocate, listening-really listening-to what others are saying. At times you may be tempted to jump into a conversation and say what you think; but think again: it's often much more effective to find out what others think before doing so. We have two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak. -EPICTETUS Whether you're writing an essay or participating in a face-to-face discussion, you'll need to engage with other people's views."
"In order to do so, you'll need to listen to what they say-and even to repeat what they say as a way of making sure you've understood before responding with what you want to say. This kind of listening is what rhetorician Krista Ratcliffe dubs RHETORICAL LISTENING -opening yourself to the thoughts of others and making the effort not only to hear their words but to take those words in and fully understand them."
"It means paying attention to what others say as a way of establishing good will and acknowledging the importance of their views. And yes, it means taking seriously and engaging with views that differ, sometimes radically, from your own. See p. 31 for advice on getting to know people different from you."
"Rhetorical listening is what middle school teacher Julia Blount asked for in a Facebook post following the 2015 riots in Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray, who suffered fatal spinal injuries while in police custody: Every comment or post I have read today voicing some version of disdain for the people of Baltimore-I can't understand or they're destroying their own community-tells me that many of you are not listening. I am not asking you to condone or agree with violence."
"I just need you to listen. . . . -JULIA BLOUNT, Dear White Facebook Friends: I Need You to Respect What Black America Is Feeling Right Now. Blount went on to call for her friends to expose themselves to unfamiliar perspectives, and to engage in conversation-in other words, to listen rhetorically. Learning to listen this way takes time and attention and practice, but it is a skill you can develop and one that will pay off in better and more effective communication."
"There aren't any magic bullets for becoming a good listener, but here are some tips that should put you on your way to achieving that goal. Listen with an open mind and without an agenda. Listen to learn, and with the goal of understanding. Let others speak before stating your own opinions or asking questions. And be sure that any questions you ask are respectful, not judgmental."
"Ask questions that are open-ended (What do you think we should do?) or that clarify, not challenge (Are you saying-? rather than Don't you think-?). Turn off your phone , and don't be checking email. Let the other person have your full attention. Listen with empathy to try to see things from the other person's point of view. Make it a goal to understand their perspective, where they're coming from."
"Be on the lookout for COMMON GROUND , things you can agree on: I can see where you're coming from.   Pay attention to body language and TONE of voice-yours and theirs. These can give you insight into the message the other person is trying to send. And maintain a respectful tone and posture yourself: lean in, nod your head. Don't interrupt , and don't be thinking about what you're going to say in response. Summarize what the other person says to make sure you understand what they're saying."
"Offer affirmation when possible: Good point; I hadn't thought of that.   Make it a point to listen to people whose views differ from yours -and whenever possible, talk with them in person. It's much harder to be dismissive (or mean-spirited, as so often happens online) when you're speaking face-to-face. What's listening got to do with writing?"
"That's a good question, and it has a good answer: whatever you're writing, you need to start by doing your homework-reading up on your topic, doing research, maybe conducting some interviews. That means listening. Writing doesn't begin when you sit down to write. It's a way of being in the world, and its essence is paying attention. -JULIA ALVAREZ And whatever your topic, it's unlikely that you'll be the first to write about it."
"In fact, when it comes to academic writing, what you write will usually respond to something that others have already said about your topic: they say this, you think that. So after introducing your topic, one effective way to proceed is to SUMMARIZE , QUOTE , or PARAPHRASE what other credible sources have said about your topic and then to present your ideas as a response. And that means listening carefully to what's already been said, not just launching into what you have to say."
"So writing is actually a way of participating in a larger conversation, of engaging with the ideas of others. When you quote or summarize or paraphrase sources, you're weaving their words or ideas in with yours-and hopefully responding to them in some way. You can't do that unless you've listened closely to those words and ideas. Like writing, reading demands listening, really hearing what an author has to say."
"And if you read rhetorically, not just to absorb information but also to question and respond to the text, you are entering into a dialogue with the author. That too starts with listening. Listening to views that differ from yours Fortunately, there are now a number of organizations that provide guidance for listening respectfully and with an open mind, along with opportunities to meet up with people who think differently than you do."
"-TREVOR NOAH One such organization is the Listen First Project, founded by Pearce Godwin with the goal of mend[ing] the frayed fabric of America by bridging divides one conversation at a time. Listen First has launched the National Conversation Project, which helps people start new conversations, ones dedicated to moving from us vs. them to me and you."
" In 2018, hundreds of schools, libraries, faith communities, and other groups hosted conversations grounded in a commitment to listen first to understand.' Go to listenfirstproject.org or www.nationalconversationproject.org if you're interested in joining or hosting such a conversation. A Listen First poster at a rally during the 2016 presidential election."
"I hope you'll take the advice in this chapter to heart, seeking to understand those with whom you may disagree, and learning to become a better listener as you do. REFLECT! Think of a time when you felt you were being ignored, or not listened to. Why were others not listening-or not listening well enough? Did you try to do something about that, to get them to hear you? If not, why not? Then think of a time when you yourself failed to really listen to someone else. What caused you not to listen carefully?"
"What would you do differently if you could go back and re-live that encounter? Glossary RHETORICAL LISTENING, 7-11 A way of listening that is open-minded, accepting, and respectful-of listening to what others say as a way of understanding their PERSPECTIVES and demonstrating respect for their views. COMMON GROUND, 9, 37-40, 114-16 Shared values."
"Writers build common ground with AUDIENCES by acknowledging their points of view, seeking areas of compromise, and using language that includes, rather than excludes, those they aim to reach. TONE, 27, 96 The way a writer's or speaker's STANCE is reflected in the text. SUMMARIZE To use your own words and sentence structure to condense someone else's text into a version that gives the main ideas of the original. In academic writing, summarizing requires DOCUMENTATION ."
"See PATCHWRITING QUOTE, 285-90 To cite someone else's words exactly as they were said or written. Quotation is most effective when the wording is worth repeating or makes a point so well that no rewording will do it justice or when you want to cite someone's exact words. Quotations in academic writing need to be acknowledged with DOCUMENTATION . PARAPHRASE, 284-85, 290-92 To reword a text in about the same number of words but without using the word order or sentence structure of the original."
Paraphrasing is generally called for when you want to include the details of a passage but do not need to QUOTE it word for word. Paraphrasing a source in academic writing requires DOCUMENTATION . See also PATCHWRITING PART 1 RHETORIC / JOIN THE CONVERSATION Chapter 2 Thinking Rhetorically THE ONLY REAL ALTERNATIVE TO WAR IS RHETORIC. -WAYNE BOOTH WE DIDN'T BURN DOWN ANY BUILDINGS. . . . YOU CAN DO A LOT WITH A PEN AND PAD.
"-ICE CUBE Wayne Booth made the above statement at a conference of writing teachers held only months after 9/11, and it quickly drew a range of responses. Just what did Booth mean by this stark statement? How could rhetoric-usually thought of as the art, theory, and practice of persuasion-act as a counter to war?"
"A noted critic and scholar, Booth explored these questions throughout his long career, identifying rhetoric as an ethical art that begins with intense listening and that searches for mutual understanding and common ground as alternatives to violence and war. Put another way, two of the most potent tools we have for persuasion are language-and violence: when words fail us, violence often wins the day. Booth sees the careful and ethical use of language as our best approach to keeping violence and war at bay."
"In the years since 9/11, Booth's words have echoed again and again as warfare continues to erupt in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. And in the United States, people have protested the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black people at the hands of police. Protesters have held up signs saying I Can't Breathe and No Justice, No Peace, and Black Lives Matter has been written in large yellow letters on streets in Washington, DC, and other cities."
"And after way too many other such killings, protesters have taken to social media as well, using similarly dramatic and memorable statements as rhetorical strategies that have captured and held the attention of people around the world. Aerial view of Fulton Street in Brooklyn, New York."
"Rhetoric as an ethical art Note that while Booth speaks of rhetoric as an ethical art (based on good intentions), rhetoric can also be used for unethical purposes (with bad or evil intent)-as Hitler and other dictators have done. In fact, rhetoric used in unethical ways can itself lead to violence."
"That's why the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle cautioned that we need to understand rhetoric both to communicate our own ethical messages and to be able to recognize and resist unethical messages that others attempt to use against us. That's also why this book defines rhetoric as the practice of ETHICAL communication. So how can you go about developing your own careful, ethical use of language?"
"One short answer: by developing habits of mind that begin with listening and searching for understanding before deciding what you yourself think, and by thinking hard about your own beliefs before trying to persuade others to listen to and act on what you say. In other words, by learning to THINK RHETORICALLY . Learning to think rhetorically can serve you well-at school, at work, even at home."
"After all, you'll need to communicate successfully with others in order to get things done in a responsible and ethical way. On the job, you and your coworkers might do this kind of thinking to revise a shift schedule so that every worker is treated fairly and no one is required to work double shifts. Or in your college courses, you'll surely encounter class discussions that call for rhetorical thinking-for listening closely and really thinking about what others say before saying what you think."
"When a group of college students became aware of how little the temporary workers on their campus were paid, for example, they met with the workers and listened to gather information about the situation. They then mounted a campaign using flyers, social media, speeches, and sit-ins-in other words, using the available means of persuasion-to win attention and convince the administration to raise the workers' pay. These students were thinking and acting rhetorically-and doing so responsibly."
"Note that these students worked together, both with the workers and with one another. After all, none of us can manage such actions all by ourselves; we need to engage in conversation with others and listen hard to what they say. Perhaps that's what philosopher Kenneth Burke had in mind when he created his famous parlor metaphor: Imagine that you enter a parlor. You come late."
"When you arrive, others have long preceded you, and they are engaged in a heated discussion, a discussion too heated for them to pause and tell you exactly what it is about. . . . You listen for a while, until you decide that you have caught the tenor of the argument; then you put in your oar. -KENNETH BURKE In this parable, each of us is the person arriving late to a room full of animated conversation; we don't understand what's going on."
"Yet instead of butting in or trying too quickly to get in on the conversation, we listen closely until we catch on to what people are saying. And then we join in, using language and rhetoric carefully to engage with others as we add our own voices to the conversation."
"This book aims to teach you to think rhetorically:  To listen to others carefully and respectfully  To try to understand what they think, and why-and then to think hard about your own beliefs and where they come from  To do these things before deciding what you yourself think and trying to persuade others to listen to what you say Pay attention to what others are saying-and think about why Thinking rhetorically begins with a willingness to hear the words of others with an open mind."
"It means paying attention to what others say before and even as a way of making your own contributions to a conversation. More than that, it means being open to the thoughts of others and making the effort not only to hear their words but also to take those words in and fully understand what they are saying. It means paying attention to what others say as a way of establishing good will and acknowledging the importance of their views."
"And most of all, it means engaging with views that differ from your own-and being open to what they say. The simple act of paying attention can take you a long way. -KEANU REEVES When you enter any conversation, whether at school, at work, or with friends, take the time to understand what's being said rather than rushing to a conclusion or a judgment. Listen carefully to what others are saying, and think about what motivates them: Where are they coming from?"
"Developing such habits of mind will be useful to you almost every day, whether you're participating in a class discussion, negotiating with friends over what movie to see, or thinking about a local ballot issue to decide how you'll vote. In each case, thinking rhetorically means being flexible, determined to seek out varying-and sometimes conflicting-points of view."
"In ancient Rome, the great Roman statesman and orator Cicero argued that considering alternative POINTS OF VIEW and COUNTERARGUMENTS was key to making a successful argument, and it is just as important today. Even when you disagree with a point of view-perhaps especially when you disagree with it-force yourself to see the issue from the viewpoint of its advocates before you reject their positions."
"Say you're skeptical that hydrogen fuel will be the solution to climate change, for example: don't reject the idea until you've thought hard about what those in favor of it say and carefully considered other possible solutions. REFLECT!"
"Blogger Sean Blanda warns that many of us gravitate on social media to those who think like we do, which often leads to the belief that we are right and that those with other worldviews are dumb. He argues that we need to make an honest effort to understand those who are not like us and to remember that we might be wrong. Look at some of your own posts. How many different perspectives do you see represented? What might you do to think-and listen-more rhetorically?"
"Consider the larger context Thinking hard about the views of others also means considering the larger CONTEXT and how it shapes what they're saying. When you think rhetorically, you may need to do some research, to investigate whether there are any historical, political, or cultural factors that might account for where someone's beliefs are coming from. In analyzing the issue of gun rights, for instance, you would not merely consider your own thinking or read about what others think."
"In addition, you would look at the issue in a larger context by considering what the US Constitution says about gun ownership and how it's been interpreted over time, thinking about the broader political agendas of both those who advocate for and those who oppose stricter gun control, asking what the economic ramifications of adopting-or rejecting-new gun restrictions might be, and so on."
"In short, you would try to see the issue from as many different perspectives and in as broad a context as possible before formulating your own stance. And in writing about this issue, you'll draw on these sources-what others have said about the issue-to support your own position and to help you consider other positions. What do you think, and why?"
"Examining all points of view on any issue will involve some tough thinking about your own STANCE -literally, where you yourself are coming from-and why you think as you do. Such thinking can help you define your stance or perhaps even lead you to change your mind; in either case, you stand to gain."
"Just as you need to think hard about the motivations of others, it's important to examine what's motivating you, asking yourself what influences in your life lead you to think as you do or to take certain positions. Ibram X. Kendi offers an example. When a student from Ghana gave a monologue in class detailing negative and racist ideas about Black Americans, Professor Kendi provided data to counter his views, to no avail."
"After class, however, the discussion continued, with Kendi asking the student if he could name some racist ideas the British say about Ghanaians. The student hesitated, but then came up with a list of such ideas, which he vehemently agreed were not true. Then Kendi returned to the student's earlier statements about Black Americans, asking him where he got those ideas. On reflection, the student said he got them from his family, friends, and his own observations."
"And where did he think those people get their ideas about Black Americans? Probably American Whites, the student said. His mind seemed open, so I jumped on in. So if African Americans went to Ghana, consumed British racist ideas about Ghanaians, and started expressing those ideas to Ghanaians . . . What would you think about that? He smiled, surprising me. I got it, he said, turning to walk out of the classroom. Are you sure? I said. He turned back to me. Yes, sir."
"Thanks, Prof. -IBRAM X. KENDI, How to Be an Antiracist Examining your own stance and motivation is equally important outside the classroom. Suppose you're urging fellow members of a campus group to lobby for a rigorous set of procedures to deal with accusations of sexual harassment. On one level, you're alarmed by the statistics showing a steep increase in cases of rape on college campuses, and you want to do something about it."
"But when you think a bit more, you begin to consider the rights of those who stand accused. Maybe a close friend has been a victim of sexual harassment-and maybe another friend has been falsely accused. You begin to realize that the issue of sexual harassment on campus is more complex than you thought. Your commitment to reduce sexual violence still holds, but thinking rhetorically has led you to a more nuanced understanding of what it means to have fairness and justice for all."
"Find out what's been said about your topic Rhetorical thinking calls on you to do some homework, to find out everything you can about what's been said about your topic, to ANALYZE what you find, and then to use that information to inform your own ideas. In other words, you want your own thinking to be well informed and to reflect more than just your own opinion. To take an everyday example, you should do some pretty serious thinking when deciding on a major purchase, such as a new laptop."
"You'll want to begin by considering the purchase in the larger context of your life. Why do you need a new laptop right now? If you're considering buying the newest model, is it for practical reasons or just because it seems likely to be the best? Do you want it in part as a status symbol? If you're concerned about the environment, how will you dispose of your current laptop? Analyzing your specific motivations and purposes this way can guide you in drawing up a list of laptops to consider."
"Then you'll need to do some RESEARCH , checking out product reports and reviews. Don't just trust the information provided by the company that manufactures and sells the laptops you're considering. Instead, you should consult multiple sources and check them against one another. You'll also want to consider your findings in light of your priorities. Cost, for instance, may not be as high on your priority list as something else."
"Such careful thinking will help you come to a sound decision, and then explain it to others. If your parents are helping you buy the laptop, you'll want to consider what they might think, and to anticipate questions they may ask. You'll also need to recognize and analyze how various rhetorical strategies work to persuade you. You may have been won over by a funny Apple commercial you saw on Super Bowl Sunday. But what made that ad so memorable?"
"To answer that question, you'll need to study it closely, determining just what qualities-a clever script? memorable music? celebrity actors? cute animals? a provocative message?-made the ad so persuasive. Once you've determined that, you'll want to consider whether the laptop will actually live up to the advertiser's promises. This is the kind of research and analysis you will do when you engage in rhetorical thinking."
"Give credit Part of engaging with what others have thought and said is to give credit where credit is due. Acknowledging the work of others will show that you've done your homework and that you want to credit those who have influenced you. The great physicist Isaac Newton famously and graciously gave credit when he wrote to his rival Robert Hooke in 1676, saying: You have added much in several ways. . . . If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."
"-ISAAC NEWTON In this letter, Newton acknowledges the work of Hooke before saying, with a fair amount of modesty, that his own contributions were made possible by Hooke and others. In doing so, he is thinking-and acting-rhetorically. You can give credit informally, as Newton does in this letter, or you can do so formally with a full CITATION and DOCUMENTATION . Which method you choose will depend on your purpose, genre, and the rest of your RHETORICAL SITUATION ."
"Academic writing, for instance, usually requires documentation, but if you're writing for a personal blog, you might embed a link that connects to a work you've cited-or simply give an informal shout-out to a friend who contributed to your thinking. In each case, you'll want to be specific about what words or ideas you've drawn from others, and to be sure it's clear what they say and what you're saying."
"Such care in crediting your sources contributes to your credibility-and is an important part of ethical, rhetorical thinking. Be imaginative Remember that intuition and imagination can often lead to great insights. While you want to think carefully and analytically, don't be afraid to take chances. A little imagination can lead you to new ideas about a topic you're studying and about how to approach it in a way that will interest others. Such insights can often pay off big-time."
"One student athlete was interested in how the mass media covered the Olympics, and he began doing research on the coverage in Sports Illustrated from different periods. So far, so good: he found plenty of information for an essay showing that the magazine had been a major promoter of the Olympics. While looking through old issues of Sports Illustrated , however, he kept feeling that something he was seeing in the early issues was different from current issues . . . though he couldn't quite articulate what."
"This hunch led him to make an imaginative leap, to study that difference even though it was beyond the topic he had set out to examine. On closer inspection, he found that over the decades Sports Illustrated had slowly but surely moved from focusing on teams to depicting only individual stars. A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something."
"-FRANK CAPRA This discovery led him to make an argument he would never have made had he not followed his creative hunch-that the evolution of sports from a focus on the team to a focus on individual stars is reflected in the pages of Sports Illustrated . It also helped him write a much more interesting-and more persuasive-essay, one that captured the attention not only of his instructor and classmates but also of a local sports newsmagazine, which reprinted his essay."
"Like this student, you can benefit by using your imagination and listening to your intuition. You just might stumble on something exciting. The cover on the left shows the 1980 US ice hockey team's miracle on ice victory over the USSR; the one on the right shows the 2018 MVP in the Stanley Cup playoffs. REFLECT! Think about a topic you'd like to explore or a question you'd like to answer. You could do some research . . . or you could begin by thinking beyond the box."
"Draw a picture that captures your topic, or compose a brief rap, or create a meme. If you made a movie about your topic, what would the title be-and who would star in it? In other words, use your imagination! Put in your oar So rhetorical thinking offers a toolkit of strategies for entering a conversation, strategies that will help you understand the situation and put in your oar and make your voice count."
"Whatever you say, give some thought to how you want to present yourself and how you can best appeal to your audience. Following are some tips that can help.  How do you want to come across-as thoughtful? serious? curious? something else?  What can you do to represent yourself as knowledgeable and CREDIBLE ?  What can you do to show respect for your AUDIENCE ?  How can you show that you have your audience's best interests at heart?"
"Imagine you want to create a campus food pantry and are preparing a presentation for your meeting with the dean and the director of food services. You'll want to come across as knowledgeable and well informed, to show them that you've done your homework."
"You'll need to present evidence of food insecurity on your campus and of what other colleges have done-statistics about how many students often go hungry, anecdotes about students you know, examples of food pantries that similar schools have created, and so on. You might want to put this information on a PowerPoint slide to reinforce the points you are making. You'll also want to be careful to demonstrate respect for your audience."
"That means thanking them for meeting with you, being well prepared, and keeping to the time allotted for the meeting. And you'll want to show that you're aware of the stakes involved and to acknowledge that they have many other issues to deal with. Finally, you'll want to listen carefully to what they say, and with an open mind. In other words, you'll want to think and act rhetorically-and to use language that shows you have the best interests of the college and its students in mind."
"You might say you wish to suggest that opening a food pantry is one way to help students who are food insecure-rather than expecting your audience to come up with a solution and insisting, perhaps too strongly, that something needs to be done right now. This is not to say that you should underestimate the problem; but better to focus on your proposed solution, on how the college can help students who are food insecure."
"This kind of rhetorical thinking will go a long way toward making sure you will be listened to and taken seriously. As the examples in this chapter illustrate, rhetorical thinking involves certain habits of mind that can and should lead to something-often to an action, to making something happen. And when it comes to taking action, those who think rhetorically are in a very strong position."
"They have listened attentively, engaged with the words and ideas of others, viewed their topic from many alternative perspectives, and done their homework. This kind of rhetorical thinking will set you up to contribute your own ideas-and will increase the likelihood that your ideas will be heard and will inspire real action."
"Indeed, the ability to think rhetorically is of great importance in today's global world, as professors Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein explain: The ability to enter complex, many-sided conversations has taken on a special urgency in today's diverse, post-9/11 world, where the future for all of us may depend on our ability to put ourselves in the shoes of those who think very differently from us."
"Listening carefully to others, including those who disagree with us, and then engaging with them thoughtfully and respectfully . . . can help us see beyond our own pet beliefs, which may not be shared by everyone. The mere act of acknowledging that someone might disagree with us may not seem like a way to change the world; but it does have the potential to jog us out of our comfort zones, to get us thinking critically about our own beliefs, and perhaps even to change our minds."
"-GERALD GRAFF and CATHY BIRKENSTEIN, They Say / I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing In the long run, if enough of us learn to think rhetorically, we just might achieve Wayne Booth's goal-to use words (and images) in thoughtful and constructive ways as an alternative to violence and war. REFLECT! Spend a half hour or so looking back over the above tips for thinking rhetorically, and then make some notes about how many of those tips you currently follow-and to what effect."
"Glossary ETHICS, 14-15 Right or moral conduct, practices, or choices that guide us in life. THINKING RHETORICALLY, 12-28 Listening to others with an open mind, trying to understand what they think and why-and then examining your own beliefs and where they come from, before deciding what you yourself think. POINT OF VIEW, 194 The position from which something is considered: first person ( I or we ), second person ( you ), or third person ( he, she , or they )."
"See also PERSPECTIVES COUNTERARGUMENT, 16, 90-91, 265 In ARGUMENT , an alternative POSITION or objection to the writer's position. The writer of an argument should not only acknowledge counterarguments but also, if at all possible, accept, accommodate, or refute each counterargument. CONTEXT, 17, 27-28, 59 Part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION , conditions affecting the text such as what else has been said about a topic; social, economic, and other factors; and any constants such as due date and length."
"STANCE, 17-19, 26-27 A writer's attitude toward the subject-for example, reasonable, neutral, angry, curious. Stance is conveyed through TONE and word choice. ANALYSIS, 132-56 A GENRE of writing in which you look at what a text says and how it says it."
"Key Features: a SUMMARY of a text or other subject - attention to CONTEXT - a clear INTERPRETATION or judgment - reasonable support for your conclusions RESEARCH, 83, 103, 159-60 A process of INQUIRY -of gathering information from reliable sources to learn about something, find an answer to a question that interests you, understand or support an ARGUMENT , and more."
"See also FIELD RESEARCH CITATION, 283-94 In a text, the act of giving information from a source, for example, by QUOTING , PARAPHRASING , or SUMMARIZING . A citation and its corresponding parenthetical DOCUMENTATION , footnote, or endnote provide minimal information about the source; complete information appears in a list of WORKS CITED or REFERENCES at the end of the text. DOCUMENTATION, 309-44, 360-86 Publication information about the sources cited in a text."
"IN-TEXT DOCUMENTATION usually appears in parentheses at the point where it's cited or in an endnote or a footnote. Complete documentation usually appears as a list of WORKS CITED or REFERENCES at the end of the text. Documentation styles vary by discipline. See also APA STYLE ; MLA STYLE RHETORICAL SITUATION, 25-28, 81-82 The circumstances that affect writing or other communication, including PURPOSE , AUDIENCE , GENRE , STANCE , CONTEXT , MEDIA , and DESIGN ."
"CREDIBILITY, 164-66, 297-98 The sense of trustworthiness that a writer conveys through the text. AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION ."
"THINK ABOUT YOUR OWN RHETORICAL SITUATION Whatever you're writing-a text to a friend, a job application, an essay exam, a script for a presentation-will call for you to consider your rhetorical situation: your purpose for writing, your stance toward your topic, the audience you want to reach, a genre and medium for doing so. In addition, you'll want to consider the larger context , about both the topic and what you'll need to know to write well about it."
"These are all things to think about early in the process of writing. The following guidelines will help you do so: What is your purpose for writing, and what motivates you to do so? What drives you to write? In college, it may be an assignment. Even then it's likely that you'll write about something that matters, that grabs your attention. But beyond an explicit assignment, what gives you the itch to write?"
"Most likely it will be some issue you're passionate about, and that inspires you to speak up, to add your voice to the conversation. It's worth taking time to explore your purposes for writing: Do you want to explain a topic, to help others understand it? To persuade someone to agree with your position on an issue? To fulfill an assignment? To entertain, or bring a smile to those who read what you write?"
"Whatever your purpose, it affects your choice of genre, medium, design, and content: the material needed to entertain is not the same as that needed to explain a theory or to persuade an audience to support a certain cause. So your purpose becomes your guiding light, one that helps you stay on track. What audience do you want to reach? Before starting to write, take some time to think about your potential audiences."
"Today, that audience might be as narrow as your instructor or as wide as anyone with access to the internet; but the more you can know about who you're writing to, the better chance you have of connecting with them. If your audience is an instructor, for instance, you know that they value clarity, so you should choose your words carefully and make sure that your points are clear."
"If you're tweeting to friends, however, you can probably assume that they want information about you and your thoughts-and that they won't hold you to a high bar in terms of correctness or precision. Here are some questions for thinking about your audience:  What do you and your AUDIENCE have in common? Where do you differ?  What values do they hold, and what kinds of EVIDENCE will they accept? How can you build on any COMMON GROUND you share with them and appeal to their values?"
" What do they know about your topic, and how much background information will they need? Can you assume they'll be interested in what you say-and if not, how can you get them interested?  What do you want your audience to think or do in response to what you say-take your ideas seriously? Take some kind of action? If your audience is largely unknown, be careful not to assume that they think as you do, value what you value, or have the same cultural and linguistic background as you do."
"For these audiences, best to take a calm and respectful stance, hoping that they will respond to you in the same way. What is your stance on your topic, and what do you want to say about it? Think of stance as your attitude toward the topic. If your topic is one about which you have some depth of knowledge, you may take an authoritative stance: you've done your homework and know what you're talking about."
"Or you might take a reporter's stance, laying out information you've researched so that others can understand it. Or your stance may be that of a critic who analyzes a text and raises questions about it. On other occasions, you may take up the stance of an advocate, a skeptic, even a cheerleader for an issue you're passionate about."
"In each case, your stance will guide the TONE you adopt in your writing: whether passionate, objective, curious, outraged, or something else, you'll want to make sure that it reflects your stance and is appropriate to your AUDIENCE and PURPOSE . What genre(s) will you use? Academic genres include many of the assignments you regularly receive: REPORTS , ANALYSES , close readings, ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES , research-based ARGUMENTS . All genres."
"In some cases, you may be assigned to write in a specific genre (Write an argument related to the maker movement). But if not, you'll need to decide which genre best matches your purpose, audience, and stance. Then you'll have to make sure that you understand the characteristic features of your chosen genre, including format. What media will you use, and how will you design what you write? Closely aligned to the genre you choose are questions of MEDIA and DESIGN ."
"Do your purpose, stance, and audience call for a written print text, perhaps with illustrations? a password-protected website? an oral presentation with slides or handouts? Whether your medium is oral, print, or digital, you'll need to consider questions of design: what you want the look of your text to be-informal or formal, eye-catching or subdued, serious or humorous, and so on. What use of headings, fonts, color, or white space will help achieve your purpose?"
"What VISUALS , video clips, or audio clips might enhance your text? Consider context: What do you need to know? Answering this question calls for taking an inventory of what you know about your issue topic. For an assignment that asks you to ANALYZE a text or image, you'll need the ability (and the time) to do a detailed close reading that will uphold your interpretation."
"For an ARGUMENT on Bollywood films, you might need to research the history of Bollywood, its rise in popularity, and what's already been said about it. For a presentation on the need for more lighting on campus to make it a safer place, you might conduct a survey of student opinion, carry out observations on poorly lit areas of campus, interview campus officials, or track changes to lighting over the years. In all these instances, you would also need to decide whether you need illustrations."
"Consider your answer to this question in context: How much time do you have to complete the project, and what sources will you need and find available in that time frame? If you've thought about the questions in this chapter for considering your own rhetorical situation, you should have a pretty good grasp of the circumstances within which you write."
"It's important to recognize that your writing doesn't come out of nowhere but rather occurs in a particular time and place, in response to particular things others have thought and said, and in relation to those who will be receiving your message. It's also important to recognize that the advice offered here is itself part of a particular context-of college writing in English-speaking countries. But writing and rhetoric differ across contexts and cultures."
"That's one more reason to analyze the contexts you're working in as well as the audience you're trying to reach. Wherever you are, think of yourself as being at the center of an ongoing conversation, one in which what you have to say matters. Then start to write! REFLECT! Look over something you've written, and think about the rhetorical situation in which you wrote it-your intended audience and purpose, the genre and medium, and so on. Choose one of those elements, and think about how well you addressed it."
"Then think about what you would have done differently if your rhetorical situation had been different-for example, if you'd written in a different genre or medium-and write a paragraph or two about how your writing would have been different, and why. Glossary EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS ."
"Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling. Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making). COMMON GROUND, 9, 37-40, 114-16 Shared values."
"Writers build common ground with AUDIENCES by acknowledging their points of view, seeking areas of compromise, and using language that includes, rather than excludes, those they aim to reach. TONE, 27, 96 The way a writer's or speaker's STANCE is reflected in the text. AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION ."
"AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION . REPORT, 157-85 A GENRE of writing that presents information to inform readers on a subject."
"Key Features: a topic carefully focused for a specific AUDIENCE - definitions of key terms - trustworthy information - appropriate organization and DESIGN - a confident TONE that informs rather than argues. See also IMRAD ; PROFILE ANALYSIS, 132-56 A GENRE of writing in which you look at what a text says and how it says it."
"Key Features: a SUMMARY of a text or other subject - attention to CONTEXT - a clear INTERPRETATION or judgment - reasonable support for your conclusions ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY, 272-76 A GENRE of writing that gives an overview of published research and scholarship on a topic. Each entry includes complete publication information for a source and a SUMMARY or an ABSTRACT ."
"A descriptive annotation summarizes the content of a source without commenting on its value; an evaluative annotation gives an opinion about the source along with a description of it. Key Features: complete bibliographic information - a brief SUMMARY or DESCRIPTION of the work - evaluative comments (for an evaluative bibliography) - some indication of how the source will inform your RESEARCH - consistency ARGUMENT, 99-131 Any text that makes a CLAIM supported by REASONS and EVIDENCE ."
"A GENRE that uses REASONS and EVIDENCE to support a CLAIM . Key Features: an explicit POSITION - a response to what others have said - appropriate background information - a clear indication of why the topic matters - good REASONS and EVIDENCE - attention to more than one POINT OF VIEW - an authoritative TONE - an appeal to readers' values MEDIA, 191, 205, 226-29 The means of delivering messages-for example, digital, oral, print, and social."
"The singular of media is medium. DESIGN, 96-97, 448-58 The way a text is arranged and presented visually. Elements of design include FONTS , colors, illustrations, LAYOUT , and white space. VISUALS, 455-57, 459-67 Photos, graphs, maps, diagrams, pie charts, tables, videos, and other images. Visuals can be used to support or illustrate a point and also to present information that is easier to understand in a chart or graph than it would be in a paragraph."
"ANALYSIS, 132-56 A GENRE of writing in which you look at what a text says and how it says it. Key Features: a SUMMARY of a text or other subject - attention to CONTEXT - a clear INTERPRETATION or judgment - reasonable support for your conclusions ARGUMENT, 99-131 Any text that makes a CLAIM supported by REASONS and EVIDENCE . A GENRE that uses REASONS and EVIDENCE to support a CLAIM ."
"Key Features: an explicit POSITION - a response to what others have said - appropriate background information - a clear indication of why the topic matters - good REASONS and EVIDENCE - attention to more than one POINT OF VIEW - an authoritative TONE - an appeal to readers' values PART 1 RHETORIC / JOIN THE CONVERSATION Chapter 3 Engaging Respectfully with Others LET US TALK WITH-NOT AT-EACH OTHER-IN OUR HOMES, SCHOOLS, WORKPLACES, AND PLACES OF WORSHIP."
"-CONDOLEEZZA RICE WHERE SOMETHING STANDS, SOMETHING ELSE STANDS BESIDE IT. -IGBO PROVERB In the late spring of 2017, Oprah Winfrey stood before a cheering crowd of graduating students at Agnes Scott College, urging them to learn to engage respectfully with others."
"She told the assembled crowd that two weeks after the election last year she had invited a group of women voters-half on the right and half on the left, politically-to join her at a diner for great croissants with jam. But no one wanted to come, saying they'd never sat this close to someone from the other side and didn't want to be around them."
"Winfrey eventually prevailed and brought the women together, even though they came in all tight and hardened. But as she goes on to say in her speech, it worked. After two and a half hours . . . the women were sitting around the table, listening to each other's stories, hearing both sides, and by the end they were holding hands, exchanging emails and phone numbers, and singing Reach Out and Touch. . . . Which means it's possible; it can happen."
"So I want you to work in your own way to change the world in respectful conversations with others. . . . And I want you to enter every situation aware of its context, open to hear the truths of others and most important open to letting the process of changing the world change you. -OPRAH WINFREY, Agnes Scott College commencement address Watch Oprah Winfrey's speech at letstalklibrary.com ."
"You have probably encountered views that differ a great deal from your own in your college classes: after all, that's one good reason for going to college-to learn about people and cultures and places other than those you call home. And some of your instructors may have focused on how to engage in critical conversations without being belligerent or disrespectful. But consider this incident that took place some years ago in one writing class at Ohio State."
"Students who were serving as peer reviewers were reading a narrative essay called The Little Squirrel in which the author described finding a small, helpless squirrel caught in a trap on his family farm. His descriptions of the squirrel were empathetic and emotional as he contemplated his choices: What should I do now? he asked."
"The peer reviewers, expecting him to free the little squirrel, were quite startled when he continued the essay by saying that with only a few seconds hesitation, he pulled out his gun and killed the squirrel. How could you do that to a little squirrel? two students demanded, one coming just short of calling him a murderer."
"The author responded defensively and said he thought they were being wimps. At this point, they weren't even talking about the essay anymore, until another student who'd been quietly observing the scene said, Hold on now! This isn't getting us anywhere. We need to step back and give each other a little space-and a little respect. This intervention allowed the writer to say he thought he had made the ethical decision because the squirrel had a broken leg and wasn't going to survive."
"In his view, he had done the right thing. Giving him their attention enabled the group to understand his motives better. In addition, they noted that if the author had explained his rationale in the narrative, rather than arousing their empathy for the little squirrel, they might still disagree with his decision but wouldn't have been so horrified and antagonistic to him."
"In this case, paying respectful attention didn't lead to unanimous agreement, but it did lead to defusing a very contentious situation and to learning about differing views of responsibility and action. The goal of this chapter is to encourage and guide you as you engage with others: respectfully listening to their stories, their truths-and contributing to a process that may, indeed, change the world. Here are some steps you can take to realize this goal."
"Get to know people different from you It's a commonplace today to point out that we often live and act in silos, places where we encounter only people who think like we do, who hold the same values we do. Even though the internet has made the whole world available to us, we increasingly choose to interact only with like-minded people-online and in person. We operate in what some call echo chambers, where we hear our views echoed back to us from every direction."
"It can be easy, and comforting, to think this is the real world-but it's not! Beyond your own bubble of posts and conversations lie countless others with different views and values. To make sense of the world, look to those who see it differently. - THE ATLANTIC So one of the big challenges we face today is finding ways to get out of our own echo chambers and make an effort to know people who take different positions, hold different values."
"But simply encountering people who think differently is just the start. Breaking out of our bubbles calls for making the effort to understand those different perspectives, to listen with empathy and an open mind, and to hear where others are literally coming from. As we see in the story Oprah Winfrey tells in her commencement address, even the first step is hard: she had to work to convince the women to simply meet one another, and then she had to persuade them to listen, as she says, with respect."
"Once they did, things changed: they realized that it's not as easy to dislike or dismiss someone when you're sitting face-to-face. That's certainly what one Canadian student found when she spent a semester in Washington, DC."
"She had expected the highlights of her semester to be visiting places like the Smithsonian museums or the Library of Congress, but her greatest experience, as she describes it in a blog post, turned out to be an unexpected gift: While in DC, I became close, close friends with people I disagree with on almost everything. As she got to know these people, she found that they were funny, smart, and kind. We all really liked music. . . . We even lived together. We ate dinner together, every single night."
"So I couldn't look down on them. I couldn't even consider it. And when you can't look down on someone who fundamentally disagrees with you, when you're busy breaking bread, sharing your days, laughing about the weather . . . well."
"-SHAUNA VERT, Making Friends Who Disagree with You (Is the Healthiest Thing in the World) During a conversation with one of her housemates, a deeply conservative Christian from Mississippi, Vert mentioned that she was pro-choice, realizing as she did so that this was dangerous territory. To her surprise, she met not resistance or rebuke but-curiosity: She wanted to know more. Her curiosity fueled my curiosity, and we talked. We didn't argue-we debated gently, very gently. . . ."
"We laughed at nuance, we self-deprecated, we trusted each other. And we liked each other. Before the conversation, and after the conversation. To recap: Left-wing Canadian meets Bible Belt Republican. Discusses controversial political issues for over an hour. Walks away with a new friend. Read Shauna Vert's full blog post at letstalklibrary.com ."
"This kind of careful, responsible, respectful exchange seems particularly hard in today's highly polarized society, where anger and hate are fueled by incendiary messages coming from social media and highly partisan news organizations. Just finding people outside our silos to talk with can be hard. But, like Vert, some people have taken up the challenge and acted to find ways to bring people with different views together."
"One group aiming to create conversation rather than conflict is the Living Room Conversations project, which offers guidelines for engaging in meaningful discussions on more than fifty specific topics-free speech on campus, the opportunity gap, and more."
"The founders want these conversations among people who disagree to increase understanding, reveal common ground, and allow us to discuss possible solutions. Visit livingroomconversations.org to find the resources to start a living room conversation yourself. We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now. -MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. The point is that it's worth making the time to find and engage with those who hold different ideas and values than you do."
"And this means becoming familiar with sources other people read, too. Get out of your comfort zone, and look beyond the sources you know and trust; look carefully at what the other side is reading. Sites like allsides.com that present views from left, right, and center can help. It's time to shut down the echo chambers, seek out people outside of our silos, and engage respectfully with others."
"Practice empathy Many of the examples above suggest the power of EMPATHY , the ability to share someone else's feelings. Dylan Marron is someone who directly addresses empathy and shows how it works."
"As the creator and host of several popular video series on controversial social issues, Marron has gained quite a bit of attention and, he says, a lot of hate. Early on, he tried to ignore hateful Comments, but then he started to get interested and began visiting Commenter profiles to learn about the people writing them. Doing so, he said, led him to realize there was a human on the other side of the screen-and prompted him to call some of these people and talk with them on the phone."
"In one of these talks, Marron learned that Josh, who in a Comment had called Marron a moron and said that being gay was a sin, had recently graduated from high school, so Marron asked him how was high school for you? Josh replied that it was hell and elaborated by saying that he'd been bullied by kids who made fun of him for being bigger. Marron went on to share his own experiences of being bullied, and as the conversation progressed, empathy laid the groundwork that helped them relate to each other."
"At the end of another conversation, a man who had called Marron a talentless hack reflected on the ubiquitous Comment fields where such statements often appear, saying that the Comment sections are really a way to get your anger at the world out on random strangers-an insight that made him rethink the way I interact with people online. Marron's work shows that Comment sections are sometimes used to release anger-and often hate, the very opposite of the kind of empathy that can bring people together."
"More than that, his work demonstrates the power of practicing empathy and how it can help us to see one another as human, even in the most negative and nasty places. Watch Dylan Marron's TED Talk and listen to his podcast at letstalklibrary.com ."
"In his 2018 TED Talk, Marron stresses the importance of empathy, noting, however, that empathy is not endorsement and doesn't require us to compromise our deeply held values but, rather, to acknowledge the views of someone raised to think very differently than we do. That's the power and the promise of practicing empathy. Demonstrate respect If you've never heard Aretha Franklin belt out the lyrics to Respect, take time to look it up on YouTube ."
"Franklin added two now-famous lines along with a chorus to Otis Redding's original song, transforming it into an anthem for all those who are demanding R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Franklin's message is still a timely one today, when dis respect seems so common, especially among those who don't agree. But respect is a two-way street: if we need to stand up and ask for the respect of others, then we also need to respect them. Moreover, we need to invite (and deserve!) respect. Easy to say, but harder to do."
"So just how can you demonstrate respect for others? Aretha Franklin onstage in 1968.  Listen with genuine interest and an open mind, and without interrupting or making snap judgments.  Be helpful and cooperative.  Build bridges instead of shutting others out.  Represent other people's views fairly and generously-and acknowledge their accomplishments whenever you can.  Ask questions rather than issuing orders or challenges.  Apologize if you say something you regret. We all make mistakes!"
" Be sincere , and remember to say thank you.  Be on time : even that is a sign of respect.  Do what you say you'll do . Keep your promises. This advice largely holds for writing as well as speaking. Whether online or in print, our written words will usually be more effective if they come across as sincere, cooperative, and fair-and if we acknowledge viewpoints other than our own and consider them evenhandedly."
"These acts help build bridges in our writing, connecting us to members of our audience, including those who may not agree with us on all things. If you respect others in these ways, in both writing and speaking, it's more likely that you'll earn their respect in return. Remember that respect can engender respect in return and thus lead to common ground, compromise, and understanding."
"As the French philosopher Voltaire is reported to have said, I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. Search for common ground Even children learn pretty early on that digging in to opposing positions doesn't usually get very far: No you can't! Yes I can! can go on forever, without getting anywhere."
"Rhetoricians in the ancient world understood this very well and thus argued that for conversations to progress, it's necessary to look for and establish some COMMON GROUND , no matter how small. If No you can't! moves on to Well, you can't do that in this particular situation, then maybe the conversation can continue. You like dogs? So do I. -TRISH HALL, How to Persuade This was a strategy that members of a book group used when they were discussing Michelle Obama's Becoming ."
"One member set off alarm bells when she said she was shocked by the glossy cover photo, showing the former First Lady with one shoulder bare. Another member of the group responded, saying she was equally shocked that anyone would make a fuss about what's on the cover rather than focusing on what's inside the book-and went on to say she found the book deeply moving. Conversation could have stopped right there, at an impasse."
"But then someone said, Well, like it or not, it's a story well worth reading. That comment established some common ground they could all agree on-and the conversation continued. In this case, the stakes were not high: all members of the group were friends, and whether or not they all liked the book, they liked and respected one another. But sometimes the stakes can be very high, and even potentially dangerous."
"That was certainly the case when Daryl Davis, a Black blues musician, decided to do some research on the history of the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacist group that had terrorized-and lynched-Black people in the past. Davis's research led him to decide to try to meet with some Klansmen, and to listen to them and try to engage with what they said. He was well aware of the risks he was taking but persevered."
"Davis has written and lectured widely about these experiences (which eventually led over 200 members to leave the Klan), about the importance of finding common ground, and how the rest of us can go about doing so: Look for commonalities. You can find something in five minutes, even with your worst enemy. And build on those. Say I don't like you because you're white and I'm black. . . . And so our contention is based upon our races."
"But if you say how do you feel about all these drugs on the street and I say I think the law needs to crack down on things that people can get addicted to very easily. . . . and you say Well, yeah I agree with that. You might even tell me your son started dabbling in drugs. So now I see that you want what I want, that drugs are affecting your family the same way they affect my family. So now we're in agreement. Let's focus on that."
"And as we focus more and more and find more things in common, things we have in contrast, such as skin color, matter less and less. -DARYL DAVIS, How to Argue We're in this boat together. We sink or swim together. And when there's a leak in the boat and people are at risk, it puts all of us at risk. -SUSAN RICE Davis reports that he was not always successful-there were some people he met with whom it was impossible to find common ground."
"Yet he urges us whenever possible to seek out areas of agreement and then areas of compromise, all the while listening carefully and respectfully to one another. And he reminds us that argument doesn't need to be abusive, insulting, or condescending-stances that usually only make things worse. But he notes as well that looking for areas of compromise doesn't mean giving in to ideas you know are not right. As Davis says, You're going to hear things that you know are absolutely wrong."
"You will also hear opinions put out as facts. In such cases, he suggests offering facts or other EVIDENCE that disprove the opinion being put forward. Then, if the person still holds to the opinion, try saying something like I believe you are wrong, but if you think you're right, then bring me the data. Daryl Davis with Scott Shepherd. Because Davis was willing to listen, respect, and talk with him, Shepherd listened, respected, and talked with Davis, a process that led to his leaving the KKK."
"Such a response invites the other person to bring information that may actually carry the conversation forward. So when you hear things you believe to be wrong, be careful to respond in a civil way, showing data that refutes what the other person says or asking them to show you evidence that you are wrong-with the hope of continuing the conversation based on data and evidence rather than mere opinion. If you sense danger."
"It's important to remember that some situations may not allow for you to engage with those who disagree vehemently with you-or who perhaps even threaten you. Some social media threads are so hateful and toxic that you'd be wise not to engage in the discussion. Remember as well that in the case of clearly dangerous exchanges, simply not engaging isn't enough, especially if the discussion is one that could lead to violence."
"In such cases, you must remove yourself from the situation as quickly as possible, and then alert the police or a faculty member-or both. Souad Kirama, who is Muslim, described being confronted by teenage girls in New York who screamed curses and charges of terrorist at her, definitely targeting and endangering her. Such a situation allows for little or no possibility for discussion. Kirama had very little choice then but to get to safety, and quickly."
"So if you encounter a situation in which all the empathy and efforts to find common ground you can think of fail to work, remember: your own physical safety is paramount. REFLECT! Some would say it's pointless or even wrong to try to find common ground with people whose views they find hateful or dangerous. Daryl Davis would probably disagree. Based on your own experiences, what do you think-and why?"
"Invite response Note that all the examples we've provided in this chapter feature dialogue and conversation; the road to understanding and change is never a one-way street. That's why long harangues or speeches-monologues-often have little effect on anyone who doesn't already agree with you. But as Dylan Marron discovered, tuning out is a lot harder in live conversations-face-to-face or on the phone."
"So if you want to engage successfully with people who think differently from you, then inviting them to respond, to join the conversation, is a good way forward. To invite response, you have to make time for it. Rather than rushing forward, hogging the air space, or talking over others, make a space for them to chime in: pause, make eye contact, even ask for response directly-So how do you feel about what I've just said? You can invite response to your writing as well as to your spoken words."
"Especially online, you can turn on Commenting features and ask explicitly for responses to tweets or social media posts-and then respond (respectfully) to those who leave Comments for you. In doing so, you show that you value what others think and that you really want to hear and understand their views. Join the conversation: collaborate! engage! participate!"
"Especially in times of such deep societal divisions, it may be tempting to retreat, to put our heads in the sand and hope that somehow things will get better. But don't give in to that temptation. Your voice is important, your thoughts are important, and you can best make them heard if you engage with other people. That may mean working with groups of like-minded people to speak out-for or against-contentious social issues such as immigration, guns, or environmental protections."
"That kind of civic engagement and participation is important in a democracy. We cannot do democracy without a heavy dose of civility. -MIKE PENCE But there are smaller ways, too, like looking beyond those who think as you do, collaborating with them, listening to them, understanding their reasons for thinking as they do-and then searching for a shared goal you can work toward together."
"As a country, as a world, we have a lot riding on being able to reach across barriers and work together for the common good and to keep on trying even in the most difficult circumstances. And as writers, readers, and thinkers, we all have much to offer in this endeavor. So let's get going! REFLECT! Throughout history, generalizations have been made about other people,' but the only true generalization you can say about other people is that they are not you. They have done different things than you have."
"They were raised differently, maybe, or they have seen or heard things, perhaps, about which you don't know. They have different thoughts. Listen to them, and you may find out what everyone is arguing about. That's what Lemony Snicket has to say about other people. Think about your own experiences interacting with people who think differently from you. How much listening have you done, and how much talking? Have you been satisfied with the results? What might you try to do differently next time?"
"Glossary EMPATHY, 9, 34-35 The ability to be aware of and understand what someone else is feeling. COMMON GROUND, 9, 37-40, 114-16 Shared values. Writers build common ground with AUDIENCES by acknowledging their points of view, seeking areas of compromise, and using language that includes, rather than excludes, those they aim to reach. EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS ."
"Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling. Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making). PART 1 RHETORIC / JOIN THE CONVERSATION Chapter 4 Developing Academic Habits of Mind YOU CAN'T BE AFRAID TO FAIL. IT'S THE ONLY WAY YOU SUCCEED-AND YOU'RE NOT GOING TO SUCCEED ALL THE TIME."
"-LeBRON JAMES JUST TRY NEW THINGS. DON'T BE AFRAID. STEP OUT OF YOUR OWN COMFORT ZONE AND SOAR, ALL RIGHT? -MICHELLE OBAMA Have you given some thought to what exactly you want to accomplish in college? What do you want to learn, but more than that: What do you hope to gain from your time in college? When a group of Howard University students asked Michelle Obama what she got from her college experience, she could hardly contain herself. College did everything for me, she said."
"And then she offered some advice, saying that going to college opens up a world of opportunity and urging them to be open to trying new things, to move out of their comfort zones in order to soar. That's pretty darned good advice. And it turns out that a nationwide group of writing teachers have figured out some more detailed advice-and identified several habits of mind that are essential for that kind of success in college."
"This chapter provides guidelines for developing ten habits of mind as you travel the path toward being an active, curious, and engaged reader, writer, and thinker. Be curious Inquire, investigate, ask questions. Poke and pry until you find answers. Explore the college catalog, looking for courses you want to take, even if they're not required."
"If you're assigned to do reseach, don't think of it just as an assignment you've got to get done. Take it as an opportunity to learn something that you don't already know. And do the same with any writing assignments. Whatever position you take in an essay, find out about other POSITIONS -and take them seriously. Be curious about what others think: they just might change your mind. You can practice curiosity by asking questions: What? What if ? Why? Why not ? Who? How? Where? When?"
"Two students at Ohio State were tired of walking fifteen minutes through rain and snow from the parking lot to class and wondered why student parking was outdoors rather than in a garage. And why was it so far from the classrooms? Could it be located any closer, and in a garage? They were curious about who makes such decisions and whether students are ever consulted-and so they drafted an op-ed for the student newspaper raising their concerns."
"Be open to new ideas You're sure to encounter all kinds of new ideas in college, and new perspectives. In class or elsewhere, you'll have occasion to discuss ideas with others, including people whose views differ from yours. Make it a goal to understand their views, to try to see the world from their perspective. Ask questions, and be interested in what they say. Resist the temptation to respond too quickly with your own opinions. Remember that they just might be right."
"And even if they aren't, they'll get you thinking. New ideas do that. The writing and research you'll do will be all about ideas. Here too you'll need to start by seeking out multiple positions on your topic-and to do so before even thinking about where you stand. What you don't want to do is to start with an idea you already have and simply look for sources that support that idea; you'll never learn anything new if you do that. Seek out ideas and viewpoints that differ from yours."
"In a campus discussion about anti-racism, for example, be sure to examine your own assumptions and biases and try to put yourself in the position of people with different perspectives-a student from Kenya or Brazil, a descendant of Japanese grandparents who were incarcerated during World War II, a victim of police violence. They'll all have different viewpoints, ones that should be part of the discussion. Engage Grapple with ideas: focus."
"To really focus on something-reading, writing, listening to a lecture, whatever-you need to clear your mind of everything else and pay attention to what you're doing, 100 percent. Turn off your monitor; stop checking email or Twitter . ANNOTATING as you read can help you engage with the text: underline key points, scribble questions in the margins. SUMMARIZING can help you understand and remember a difficult or complex text. If you're in a class that doesn't engage your interest, look for an angle that does."
"That's what one student did in a physics for nonmajors course. She found physics hard, and abstract-and boring. Then one day her instructor mentioned the physics of Angry Birds . That was one of her favorite video games, and calculating acceleration and velocity became much less abstract when it helped her launch the birds. Soon she was knocking over the pig like a champ-and finally enjoying physics. Angry Birds Be creative Explore new ideas, try out new methods, experiment with new approaches."
"Play around with ideas, and see where they take you. Try BRAINSTORMING and FREEWRITING . If you're struggling to write an essay, for instance, try expressing your ideas in a different MEDIUM . One of my students was taking a course on ancient religious texts, primarily to fulfill a requirement, and when he was assigned to read the Samson and Delilah story in different religious traditions, he used his keen interest in comics to create a graphic narrative of his favorite version."
"-ALBERT EINSTEIN If you think about your most successful school endeavors, you'll probably find that creativity played an important role: the science project you created and presented that was unlike anything anyone else imagined; those hip-hop lyrics you wrote to illustrate a point in a history presentation; the marathon you weren't thoroughly prepared for but that you managed to finish-which led to a fascination with effective training processes, which in turn might lead to a senior thesis in human biology."
"Be flexible Whether you're at a small college or a large university, there will be a lot to deal with-classes in multiple fields that call for various kinds of work (labs and lab reports in science classes, long reading lists and essays in English, large textbooks and online homework in Econ), much more work than you've had before now, and maybe you have a part-time job and a young child. Or maybe you're caring for a sick or elderly parent."
"It's a lot to juggle, and you are the one who's responsible for doing all that. This means you need to develop strategies for managing your time, planning for due dates, and keeping yourself on task-and that you'll need to be flexible. Perhaps you prefer to do your serious reading early in the morning, but one term you have early classes every day. Rather than getting up earlier and earlier, try to stay flexible and find a time later in the day you can devote to your reading assignments."
"One student was so determined to write a summary of an assigned article that she told herself she couldn't get up from her desk until it was done. Hours later, she was still sitting there, praying for inspiration that just wouldn't come. A little flexibility-getting up and taking a walk, doing another task that she could accomplish easily, or just taking a brief break-would probably have helped her make a fresh start. Be persistent Keep at it. Follow through."
"Take advantage of opportunities to revise and improve. Keep track of what's challenging or hard for you-and look for ways to overcome those obstacles. You've probably already seen the positive effects of persistence in your life, and these effects will double (or triple) in college: successful students don't give up but keep on keeping on. It's hard to beat a person who never gives up."
-BABE RUTH One student who was searching for information on a distant relative who had played a role in the civil rights movement kept coming up empty-handed and was about to give up on the project. But she decided to try one last lead through ancestry.com -and discovered a crucial piece of information that led to a big breakthrough and a sense of personal satisfaction.
"Her persistence paid off, and it eventually led her to write a profile of her relative introducing that person to the rest of her large extended family. Take responsibility The work you do in college will call on you to take responsibility for what you say and write and do. You'll need to take charge of your learning and make the most of your education. That means not just being engaged with the topics you're writing or speaking about, but owning what you say about them, standing behind your words."
"And that also means being able to vouch for the sources you use. Chapter 15 provides tips for determining if a source is reliable. One student who was very interested in the right-to-die movement in his state began researching arguments on all sides of this debate. Coming to the conclusion that those arguing in favor of the movement were persuasive, he began incorporating some of their arguments into an essay."
"But something began nagging at him when he realized that several of his sources were saying pretty much exactly the same thing. He traced these sources back to one single source-a website owned by the Euthanasia Society, a group dedicated to assisted suicide. And that discovery led him to do additional research, including sources by groups that oppose assisted suicide and explain their reasons for doing so."
"This additional research then led him to qualify his conclusions-and to present a more balanced argument about this volatile issue. In short, he was taking responsibility for what he was writing-and for the sources he was using. Collaborate Remember to work with others. When it comes to solving problems or coming up with new ideas, two heads are better than one-and more than two is often better still."
"Lots of your college work will call for collaboration, from conducting an experiment with a lab partner to working with a team to research and present a report. As a writer you're in constant collaboration with those who read and respond to your ideas. Then there's all you'll do online-on Zoom , or Twitter . All collaboration. And all important: learning to work well with others is as important as anything else you learn in college."
"Talk to the person next to you, make a network, have an open mind, and don't be ashamed to ask for help. -GAIL MELLOW Reflect Think about how you learn, and make it a habit of doing so often. Where do you do most of your learning-in class? at the library? at home? How does your learning take place-from lectures? textbooks? doing research? talking to others? writing? Who takes charge of this learning-instructors? your mom? you?"
"Several major studies identify this kind of purposeful reflection as instrumental to becoming well educated. And many students find that keeping an informal journal to write about what they're learning, how they're learning it, and how they're learning to overcome obstacles leads to better comprehension and better success."
"One group of students used Twitter to share what they were learning, saying that doing so helped them learn it better. Don't be afraid to fail You may remember your grandmother or some other wise person saying nothing ventured, nothing gained, and they were right! After all, we all learn from our mistakes, from doing something wrong and then keeping at it until we get it right. The first time I tried to ride a bike, I promptly fell off."
"But with encouragement and a little instruction from my dad, I got back on and kept trying until I was zooming around the neighborhood like an ace. When Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles was asked about his amazing career, from barely a starter to a backup, and then eventually to MVP in the 2018 Super Bowl, here's what he said: I think the big thing is, don't be afraid to fail. In our society today- Instagram , Twitter -it's a highlight reel. It's all the good things. And then . . ."
"when you have a rough day . . . you think you're failing. Failure is a part of life . . . a part of building character and growing. . . . I wouldn't be up here if I hadn't fallen thousands of times. Made mistakes. [So] if something's going on in your life and you're struggling? Embrace it. Because you're growing. -NICK FOLES, 2018 Super Bowl press conference Nick Foles scoring on fourth-down-and-goal in the 2018 Super Bowl, the first player in Super Bowl history to both throw and catch a touchdown."
"It's no coincidence that all these habits of mind go along with what it means to think and act rhetorically. The same practices that make us careful, ethical, and effective communicators (listen, search for understanding, put in your oar) also lead to success in college-or in the Super Bowl. You'll have plenty of opportunities to practice and develop these habits in the writing and reading and speaking and listening you'll do in college."
"I bet you'll enjoy the ride-and if, like Michelle Obama, you work at it, you too can soar! REFLECT! What new things have you tried so far in college? And what other new things do you hope to try? Make a bucket list of all that you hope to experience and accomplish before you graduate. Then get started-and remember: don't be afraid to make mistakes. That's just part of trying new things! Glossary POSITION, 43-44 A statement that asserts a belief or a CLAIM ."
"In an ARGUMENT , a position needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied and to be supported with REASONS and EVIDENCE . ANNOTATING, 44, 56-58 The process of taking notes, underlining key information, and marking aspects of a text that strikes you as important while reading. SUMMARIZE To use your own words and sentence structure to condense someone else's text into a version that gives the main ideas of the original. In academic writing, summarizing requires DOCUMENTATION ."
"See PATCHWRITING BRAINSTORMING, 45, 82 A process for GENERATING IDEAS AND TEXT by writing down everything that comes to mind about a topic, then looking for patterns or connections among the ideas. FREEWRITING, 82 A process for GENERATING IDEAS AND TEXT by writing continuously for several minutes without pausing to read what has been written. MEDIA, 191, 205, 226-29 The means of delivering messages-for example, digital, oral, print, and social."
"The singular of media is medium. PART 2 READING / GET THE MESSAGE Chapter 5 Reading to Understand, Engage &Respond THE WORDS ON THE PAGE ARE ONLY HALF THE STORY. THE REST IS WHAT YOU BRING TO THE PARTY. -TONI MORRISON Chances are, you read more than you think you do. You read print texts, of course, but you're probably reading even more on a phone, a tablet, a computer, or other devices. Reading is now, as perhaps never before, a basic necessity."
"In fact, if you think that reading is something you learned once and for all in the first or second grade, think again. Today, reading calls for strategic effort. As media critic Howard Rheingold sees it, literacy today involves at least five interlocking abilities: attention, participation, collaboration, network awareness, and critical consumption. Of these, attention is first and foremost. In short, you need to work at paying attention to what you read."
"In The Economics of Attention , rhetorician Richard Lanham explains: We're drowning in information. What we lack is the human attention needed to make sense of it all. When so many texts are vying for our attention, which ones do we choose to read?"
"In order to decide what to read, what to pay attention to, we need to practice what Rheingold calls infotention, a word he coined to describe a mind-machine combination of brain-powered attention skills and computer-powered information filters. In other words, it helps us to focus. And while some of us can multitask (fighter pilots are one example Rheingold gives of those whose jobs demand it), most of us aren't good at it and must learn to focus our attention when we read."
"READING TO UNDERSTAND Your first job as a reader is to make sure you understand what you are reading, and why you're reading it. Start by previewing Reading experts tell us that it's best to begin not by plunging right into a text but by previewing it to get a sense of what it's about. Look at the title and any subtitle, the first paragraph, and any headings to get a sense of what the text covers. What do you know (and think) about the topic? What do you want to learn about it?"
"Who are the authors , and what's their expertise? Where do you think they're coming from? Might they have an agenda? Who's the publisher or sponsor, and what does that tell you about the text's intended audience and purpose? Consider any sources that are cited. Are they credible? Look at any visuals -photos or drawings, charts, graphs. What information do they contribute? Consider the design . How does it affect the way you understand the text?"
"What do the fonts and any use of color suggest about the text's TONE ? Are there any sidebars or other features that highlight parts of the text? What's your first impression of the text, and what interests you the most? Think about your rhetorical situation Once you have a sense of what the text is about, think about why you're reading it and the rest of your rhetorical situation.  What's your PURPOSE for reading? To learn something new? To fulfill an assignment? To prepare for a test? Something else?"
" Who's the intended AUDIENCE for the text? What words or images in the text make you think so? Are you a member of this group? If not, there may be unfamiliar terms or references that you'll need to look up.  What's the GENRE ? An argument? A report? A narrative? An annotated bibliography? Knowing the genre will tell you something about what to expect.  How does the MEDIUM affect the way you will read the text? Is it a written print text? a podcast? a visual or MULTIMODAL text, such as an infographic?"
" Think about the larger CONTEXT . What do you know about the topic and what others say about it? What do you need to find out?  What's your own STANCE on the topic? Are you an advocate? a critic? an impartial observer? Read difficult texts strategically Reading is an active, imaginative act; it takes work. -KHALED HOSSEINI You'll surely encounter texts and subject matter that are hard to understand. Most often these will be ones you're reading not for pleasure but to learn something."
"You'll want to slow down with such texts, to stop and think-and you might find this easier to do with print texts, where paragraphs and headings and highlighted information help you see the various parts and find key information. Here are some other tips for making your way through difficult texts:  Read first for what you can understand, and simply mark places that are confusing, things you don't understand, words or concepts you'll need to look up."
" Then choose a modest amount of material to reread-a chapter, or part of a chapter. Figure out how it's organized and see its main points-look at headings, and any THESIS and TOPIC SENTENCES .  Check to see if there's a SUMMARY at the beginning or end of the text. If so, read it very carefully.  Reread the hard parts. Slow down, and focus.  Try to make sense of the parts: this part offers evidence; that paragraph summarizes an alternative view; here's a signal about what's coming next."
" If the text includes VISUALS , what data or other information do they contribute to the message?  Resist highlighting: it's better to take notes in the margins or on digital sticky notes.  Get together with one or two classmates, and read together, talking through anything you find difficult to understand. Glossary TONE, 27, 96 The way a writer's or speaker's STANCE is reflected in the text."
"PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION . AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . GENRE, 27, 82, 245 A way of classifying things."
"The genres this book is concerned with are kinds of writing that writers can use to accomplish a certain goal and to reach a particular AUDIENCE . As such, they have well-established features that help guide writers, but they are flexible and change over time, and can be adapted by writers to address their own RHETORICAL SITUATIONS . Genres covered in this book include ANALYSES , ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES , ARGUMENTS , NARRATIVES , REPORTS , SUMMARY/RESPONSE , and VISUAL ANALYSES ."
"MEDIA, 191, 205, 226-29 The means of delivering messages-for example, digital, oral, print, and social. The singular of media is medium. MULTIMODAL WRITING, 223-39 Writing that uses more than one MODE of expression-for example: linguistic, visual, audio, spatial, and gestural. CONTEXT, 17, 27-28, 59 Part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION , conditions affecting the text such as what else has been said about a topic; social, economic, and other factors; and any constants such as due date and length."
"STANCE, 17-19, 26-27 A writer's attitude toward the subject-for example, reasonable, neutral, angry, curious. Stance is conveyed through TONE and word choice. THESIS, 84-85 A statement that identifies the topic and main point of a piece of writing, giving readers an idea of what the text will cover. TOPIC SENTENCE, 95 A sentence, often at the beginning of a paragraph, that states the paragraph's main point. The details in the rest of the paragraph should support the topic sentence."
"SUMMARY/RESPONSE, 203-22 A GENRE of writing that conveys a text's main ideas in condensed form and engages with those ideas by ARGUING a position, ANALYZING the text, or REFLECTING on what it says. Key Features: identification of the author and title - a concise summary - an explicit response - support for your response VISUALS, 455-57, 459-67 Photos, graphs, maps, diagrams, pie charts, tables, videos, and other images."
"Visuals can be used to support or illustrate a point and also to present information that is easier to understand in a chart or graph than it would be in a paragraph. ENGAGING WITH WHAT YOU READ Engagement is one of the habits of mind that are crucial to success in college and to the reading you do there. You're engaged as a reader when you approach a text with an open mind, ready to listen to what it has to say. This kind of engagement may come naturally when you're reading something you want to read."
"But what about texts you're assigned to read, ones you wouldn't read otherwise? How do you engage productively with them? There's no magic wand you can wave to make this happen, but here's a little advice, based on what students have told me about how they can get into an assigned text. First, find your comfort zone, a place where you can concentrate. A comfy lounge chair? A chair with good back support? Starbucks? Wherever it is, getting up to stretch every half hour or so will help you maintain focus."
"Then choose the medium or device that helps you focus. Some readers like print text best for taking notes. Others prefer ebooks, which can be read on a Kindle or similar device to avoid the distractions phones and computers have. And consider reading with a classmate. Particularly with difficult texts, two heads are usually better than one-and discussing any text with someone else will help you both to engage with it."
"Try to explain something in the text to a friend: if you can get the major points across, you've understood it! Annotate as you read Annotating enables you to note the key points in the text. Do what literary critic Anatole Broyard once recommended: Stomp around in it . . . underlining passages, scribbling in the margins, leaving [your] mark. Broyard's point echoes what reading experts say: the more you stomp around in a text, the better you'll understand it and engage with what it says."
"Here are some points to look for as you read and annotate:   What CLAIMS does the text make? Note any THESIS statement. What REASONS and EVIDENCE are offered to support any claims-examples, DEFINITIONS , and so on? Identify any key terms (and look them up if necessary). Note places in the text where the author demonstrates AUTHORITY to write on the topic. What is the author's STANCE toward the topic-passionate? skeptical? neutral? something else? Note any words that reflect the author's stance."
"How would you describe the author's STYLE and TONE -formal? conversational? skeptical? something else? Mark words that establish that, and think about how they affect the way you react to the text. Mark any COUNTERARGUMENTS or other perspectives. How fairly are those views described, and how does the author respond to them? Consider any sources cited in the text and think about whether you can trust them. If you have any doubts, FACT-CHECK ."
"Pay attention to the DESIGN and any VISUALS , and think about how they affect the message. Underline any points that are unclear or confusing, and jot down your questions in the margins. Note anything you find surprising-and why. Chapter 6 provides tips for checking anything that's questionable. Give some thought to anything in the text that you question or disagree with; keep an open mind!"
"A sample annotated text On the following page is the opening of an essay about minority student clubs on college campuses written by Gabriela Moro, a student at the University of Notre Dame. See how one reader has annotated her text-and how it helped that reader engage with her argument. You can read Moro's full essay on page 123 ."
"Minority representation on US college campuses has increased significasntly in recent years, and many schools have made it a priority to increase diversity on their campuses in order to prepare students for a culturally diverse US democratic society (Hurtado and Ruiz 3-4). To complement this increase, many schools have implemented minority student clubs to provide safe and comfortable environments where minority students can thrive academically and socially with peers from similar backgrounds."
"However, do these minority groups amplify students' tendency to interact only with those who are similar to themselves? Put another way, do these groups inhibit students from engaging in diverse relationships? She's going to consider more views. I like that. I wonder who these students are and how she found them. What does she mean by minority students? Looks like her stance will be to take the middle ground in this debate. Let's see if this holds true."
"Many view such programs to be positive and integral to minority students' college experience; some, however, feel that these clubs are not productive for promoting cross-cultural interaction. While minority clubs have proven to be beneficial to minority students in some cases, particularly on campuses that are not very diverse, my research suggests that colleges would enrich the educational experience for all students by introducing multicultural clubs as well."
"To frame my discussion, I will use an article from College Student Journal that distinguishes between two types of students: one who believes minority clubs are essential for helping minority students stay connected with their cultures, and another who believes these clubs isolate minorities and work against diverse interaction among students."
"To pursue the question of whether or not such groups segregate minorities from the rest of the student body and even discourage cultural awareness, I will use perspectives from minority students at Notre Dame to show that these programs are especially helpful for first-year students. I will also use other student testimonials to show that when taken too far, minority groups can lead to self-segregation and defy what most universities claim to be their diversity goals."
"Findings from research will contribute to a better understanding of the role minority clubs play on college campuses and offer a complete answer to my question about the importance of minority programs. -GABRIELA MORO, Minority Student Clubs: Integration or Segregation? Consider the larger context All texts are part of some larger conversation, and one reason academic writers document their sources is to acknowledge an awareness of that conversation."
"Considering that larger context will help you understand the text and shed light on issues that you may not have known about. When Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) stand tall as pioneers of school choice, her words sounded like a compliment and testimony to the work of HBCUs. But putting that claim into context helps to assess-or reassess-what she said."
"After all, HBCUs arose in response to Jim Crow segregation at many colleges and universities, from which Black students were excluded. Putting DeVos's statement in context, then, calls it into question, revealing that in fact students of color had very few choices in terms of higher education. Here are some tips to help you consider the larger context of texts you read:  What else has been said about this topic?"
"What's the larger conversation surrounding it, and how does this text fit into that conversation?  Is the writer's point confirmed (or challenged) by what others say?  Is the author responding to what someone else has said-and if so, what?  Who's cited, and what does that tell you about the author's STANCE ?  Does the text consider COUNTERARGUMENTS and multiple PERSPECTIVES on the topic fairly and respectfully?  Who cares about this topic, and why does this topic matter in the first place?"
" How does the larger context inform your thinking about the topic? Glossary CLAIM, 84-85, 103-5 A statement of a belief or POSITION . In an ARGUMENT , a claim needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied, and requires support by REASONS and EVIDENCE . THESIS, 84-85 A statement that identifies the topic and main point of a piece of writing, giving readers an idea of what the text will cover. REASONS, 105-8 Support for a CLAIM or a POSITION . A reason, in turn, requires its own support."
"EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS . Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling. Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making). DEFINITION, 88 A STRATEGY that says what something is."
"Formal definitions identify the category that something belongs to and tell what distinguishes it from other things in that category: A worm is an invertebrate (a category) with a long, rounded body and no appendages (distinguishing features). Extended definitions go into more detail: a paragraph or even an essay explaining why a character in a story is tragic. Stipulative definitions give a writer's own use of a term, one not found in a dictionary."
"Definition can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or whole text. AUTHORITY, 57, 112-13, 142-43 A person or text that is cited as support for an ARGUMENT . A structural engineer may be quoted as an authority on bridge construction, for example. Authority also refers to a quality conveyed by writers who are knowledgeable about their subjects. STANCE, 17-19, 26-27 A writer's attitude toward the subject-for example, reasonable, neutral, angry, curious."
"Stance is conveyed through TONE and word choice. STYLE, 210, 406-7 The particular way something is written, designed, or communicated-its sentence structure, TONE , DESIGN , and word choice-that make it distinctive and get attention. TONE, 27, 96 The way a writer's or speaker's STANCE is reflected in the text. COUNTERARGUMENT, 16, 90-91, 265 In ARGUMENT , an alternative POSITION or objection to the writer's position."
"The writer of an argument should not only acknowledge counterarguments but also, if at all possible, accept, accommodate, or refute each counterargument. FACT-CHECKING, 266-69 The process of verifying the accuracy of FACTS and CLAIMS presented in a piece of writing, a speech, or elsewhere-by READING LATERALLY, TRIANGULATING , or consulting various fact-checking sites. DESIGN, 96-97, 448-58 The way a text is arranged and presented visually."
"Elements of design include FONTS , colors, illustrations, LAYOUT , and white space. VISUALS, 455-57, 459-67 Photos, graphs, maps, diagrams, pie charts, tables, videos, and other images. Visuals can be used to support or illustrate a point and also to present information that is easier to understand in a chart or graph than it would be in a paragraph. STANCE, 17-19, 26-27 A writer's attitude toward the subject-for example, reasonable, neutral, angry, curious. Stance is conveyed through TONE and word choice."
"COUNTERARGUMENT, 16, 90-91, 265 In ARGUMENT , an alternative POSITION or objection to the writer's position. The writer of an argument should not only acknowledge counterarguments but also, if at all possible, accept, accommodate, or refute each counterargument. PERSPECTIVES, 90-91, 29-41 Viewpoints, an important part of a writer's STANCE . As a writer and a researcher, you should always strive to seek, think about, and work to understand multiple perspectives. Endnotes  Good question! What's the answer?"
"Return to text  Is this her thesis? Return to text  I need to check out this source-are these real students or just stereotypes? Return to text RESPONDING TO WHAT YOU READ Whenever you actively engage with a text, annotating and stomping around in it, you are already responding, talking back to it, questioning it, assessing its claims, and coming to conclusions about whether or not you accept them."
"There are many ways to respond more explicitly-from jotting a quick reply to a blog post, to writing in the comment space following a news article, to writing a full-blown review. Following are three kinds of writing you may be assigned to do when responding to something you've read. Summarize Summarizing something you've read in your own words can help you understand and remember its main points."
"Following are some tips for doing so:  Keep your summary short and sweet, capturing the text's main ideas but leaving out its supporting information.  Take care that your summary is fair and accurate-and uses neutral, nonjudgmental language.  Use your own words and sentence structure; if you do QUOTE any words from the original text, be sure to enclose them in quotation marks.  DOCUMENT any texts you summarize in academic writing of your own."
"Here's a summary of Gabriela Moro's essay: In a time of increasing diversity on US college campuses, Gabriela Moro asks whether minority student clubs and programs help minority students succeed and have a good college experience, or whether they result in separation and even segregation. Moro considers the pros and cons of each position and concludes that while these clubs and programs are especially helpful for first-year students, they can work against college goals for inclusiveness."
"See Moro's full essay on p. 123 . If you're assigned to write a SUMMARY/RESPONSE essay, there are various ways to respond. Two ways that are often assigned are by arguing with what the text says and analyzing the way it says it. Respond to what the text says Agree or disagree-or even agree with some parts and disagree with others. However you respond, you'll be making an ARGUMENT for what you say."
"Following are some tips to help you do so:  What does the text CLAIM , and is it stated explicitly in a THESIS ? Does the claim need to be QUALIFIED -or stated more strongly?  What REASONS and EVIDENCE does the author provide? Are they sufficient?  Does the author acknowledge any COUNTERARGUMENTS or other positions? If not, what other views should be addressed?  Has the author cited any sources-and if so, how trustworthy are they?  Do you agree with the author's position? disagree?"
"both agree and disagree? Why?  See an essay that responds to an op-ed on p. 217 . Analyze the way the text is written How does the text work? What makes it tick? ANALYZING how a text is written can help you to understand what it's saying. Here are some questions to consider:  What does the author CLAIM about the text? Is it stated explicitly in a THESIS -and if not, should it be?  Is the text DESCRIBED or SUMMARIZED in enough detail?  What EVIDENCE is provided in support of the claim? Is it sufficient?"
"If not, what additional evidence would help?  What insight does your analysis lead to? How does the way it's written affect the way you understand it?  See an essay that analyzes a magazine on p. 148 . Glossary QUOTE, 285-90 To cite someone else's words exactly as they were said or written. Quotation is most effective when the wording is worth repeating or makes a point so well that no rewording will do it justice or when you want to cite someone's exact words."
"Quotations in academic writing need to be acknowledged with DOCUMENTATION . DOCUMENTATION, 309-44, 360-86 Publication information about the sources cited in a text. IN-TEXT DOCUMENTATION usually appears in parentheses at the point where it's cited or in an endnote or a footnote. Complete documentation usually appears as a list of WORKS CITED or REFERENCES at the end of the text. Documentation styles vary by discipline."
"See also APA STYLE ; MLA STYLE SUMMARY/RESPONSE, 203-22 A GENRE of writing that conveys a text's main ideas in condensed form and engages with those ideas by ARGUING a position, ANALYZING the text, or REFLECTING on what it says. Key Features: identification of the author and title - a concise summary - an explicit response - support for your response ARGUMENT, 99-131 Any text that makes a CLAIM supported by REASONS and EVIDENCE . A GENRE that uses REASONS and EVIDENCE to support a CLAIM ."
"Key Features: an explicit POSITION - a response to what others have said - appropriate background information - a clear indication of why the topic matters - good REASONS and EVIDENCE - attention to more than one POINT OF VIEW - an authoritative TONE - an appeal to readers' values CLAIM, 84-85, 103-5 A statement of a belief or POSITION . In an ARGUMENT , a claim needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied, and requires support by REASONS and EVIDENCE ."
"THESIS, 84-85 A statement that identifies the topic and main point of a piece of writing, giving readers an idea of what the text will cover. QUALIFY, 84, 104-5 To limit a CLAIM -saying, for example, that most people like cake rather than people like cake. Words like frequently, often, generally , or sometimes can help you qualify what you claim-and make it something you'll be able to support. REASONS, 105-8 Support for a CLAIM or a POSITION . A reason, in turn, requires its own support."
"EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS . Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling. Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making). COUNTERARGUMENT, 16, 90-91, 265 In ARGUMENT , an alternative POSITION or objection to the writer's position."
"The writer of an argument should not only acknowledge counterarguments but also, if at all possible, accept, accommodate, or refute each counterargument. ANALYSIS, 132-56 A GENRE of writing in which you look at what a text says and how it says it. Key Features: a SUMMARY of a text or other subject - attention to CONTEXT - a clear INTERPRETATION or judgment - reasonable support for your conclusions CLAIM, 84-85, 103-5 A statement of a belief or POSITION ."
"In an ARGUMENT , a claim needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied, and requires support by REASONS and EVIDENCE . THESIS, 84-85 A statement that identifies the topic and main point of a piece of writing, giving readers an idea of what the text will cover. DESCRIPTION, 86 A STRATEGY that tells how something looks, sounds, smells, feels, or tastes. Effective description creates a clear DOMINANT IMPRESSION built from specific details. Description can be objective, subjective , or both."
"Description can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or whole text. SUMMARIZE To use your own words and sentence structure to condense someone else's text into a version that gives the main ideas of the original. In academic writing, summarizing requires DOCUMENTATION . See PATCHWRITING EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS ."
"Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling. Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making). READING ON-SCREEN AND OFF Once upon a time reading meant attending to words on paper."
"But today we often encounter texts that convey information in images and in sound as well-and they may be on- or off-screen. Whatever texts you're reading, be sure to think carefully about how the medium may affect your understanding, engagement, and response. Researchers have found that we often take shortcuts when we read online, searching and scanning and jumping around in a text or leaping from link to link."
"This kind of reading is very helpful for finding answers and information quickly, but it can blur your focus and make it difficult to attend to the text carefully and purposefully. Here are a few tips to help you when reading on a screen:  Be clear about your PURPOSE for reading. If you need to remember the text, remind yourself to read very carefully and to avoid skimming or skipping around.  Close Facebook or any other pages that may distract you."
" Try taking notes on PDFs or Word documents so that you can jot down questions and comments as you read. Alternatively, print out the text and take notes on paper.  Look up unfamiliar terms as you read, making a note of definitions you may need later.  For really high-stakes reading, consider printing out the text to read and take notes on. The pervasiveness of reading on-screen may suggest that many readers prefer to read that way."
"But current research suggests that most students still prefer to read print, especially if the reading is important and needs to be internalized and remembered. Print texts, it's worth remembering, are easy to navigate-you can tell at a glance how much you've read and how much you still have to go, and you can move back and forth in the text to find something important."
"In addition, researchers have found that students who read on-screen are less likely to reflect on what they read or to make connections in ways that bind learning to memory. It's important to note, however, that studies like these almost always end with a caveat: reading practices are changing, and technology is making it easier to read on-screen."
"It's also important to note that online texts often blend written words with audio, video, links, charts and graphs, and other elements that can be attended to in any order you choose. In reading such texts, you'll need to make decisions carefully. When exactly should you click on a link, for example? The first moment it comes up? Or should you make a note to check it out later, since doing so now may break your concentration-and you might not be able to get back easily to what you were reading?"
"Links can be a good thing in that they lead to more information, but following them can interrupt your train of thought. In addition, scrolling seems to encourage skimming and to make us read more rapidly. In short, it can be harder to stay on task. So you may well need to make a special effort with digital texts-to read them attentively, and to pay close attention to what you're reading."
"We are clearly in a time of flux where reading is concerned, so the best advice is to think very carefully about why you're reading. If you want to find some information quickly, to follow a conversation on Twitter , or to look for online sources on a topic you're researching, reading on-screen is the way to go. But if you need to fully comprehend and retain the information, you may want to stick with print."
"Glossary PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION . READING VISUALS Visual texts present their own opportunities and challenges. As new technologies bring images into our phones and lives on a minute-by-minute basis, visual texts have become so familiar and pervasive that it may seem that reading them is just natural."
"But reading visual texts with a critical eye takes time and patience-and attention. Take a look at the advertisement for a Shinola watch on page 64 . You may know that Shinola is a Detroit-based watchmaker proud that its watches are built in America; if not, a quick look at Shinola.com will fill in this part of the ad's CONTEXT . But there's a lot more going on in terms of its particular rhetorical situation."
"The ad first ran in 2015, when it was clearly responding to smart watches in general and to the launch of the Apple Watch in particular, with its full panoply of futuristic bells and whistles. Hey, the Shinola ad writers seemed to be saying, our watch is just smart enough. Thinking through the rhetorical situation tells us something about the ad's purpose and audience."
"Of course its major PURPOSE is to sell watches; but one other goal seems to be to poke a little fun at all the high-tech, super-smart watches on the market. And what about its AUDIENCE -who do you think the ad addresses most directly? Perhaps Americans who think of themselves as solid no frills folks? Reading a visual begins, then, with studying its purpose, audience, message, and context. But there's a lot more you can do to understand a visual. You can look closely, for instance, at its DESIGN ."
"In the Shinola ad, the stark, high-contrast, black-and-white image takes center stage, drawing our eyes to it and its accompanying captions. There are no other distracting elements, no other colors, no glitz. The simplicity gives the watch a retro look, which is emphasized by its sturdy straps, open face, and clear numerals, its old-fashioned wind-up button and second hand. You'll also want to take a close look at any words."
"In this case, the Shinola ad includes a large headline right above the image, three lines of all-caps, sans serif type that match the simplicity of the image itself. And it's hard to miss the mocking TONE : A WATCH SO SMART THAT IT CAN TELL YOU THE TIME JUST BY LOOKING AT IT . The small caption below the image underscores this message: THE RUNWELL . IT 'S JUST SMART ENOUGH . Take that, Apple!"
"Glossary CONTEXT, 17, 27-28, 59 Part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION , conditions affecting the text such as what else has been said about a topic; social, economic, and other factors; and any constants such as due date and length. PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION ."
"AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . DESIGN, 96-97, 448-58 The way a text is arranged and presented visually. Elements of design include FONTS , colors, illustrations, LAYOUT , and white space. TONE, 27, 96 The way a writer's or speaker's STANCE is reflected in the text."
"READING ACROSS ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES Differences in disciplines can make for some challenging reading tasks, as you encounter texts that seem almost to be written in foreign languages. As with most new things, however, new disciplines and their texts will become familiar to you the more you work with them."
"So don't be put off if texts in fields like psychology or physics seem hard to read: the more you read such texts, the more familiar they'll become until, eventually, you'll be able to talk the talk of that discipline yourself. Pay attention to terminology It's especially important to read carefully when encountering texts in different academic fields. Take the word analysis , for instance. That little word has a wide range of definitions as it moves from one field to another."
"In philosophy , analysis has traditionally meant breaking down a topic into its constituent parts in order to understand them-and the whole text-more completely. In the sciences , analysis often involves the scientific method of observing a phenomenon, formulating a hypothesis about it, and experimenting to see whether the hypothesis holds up. In business , analysis often refers to assessing needs and finding ways to meet them."
"And in literary studies , analysis usually calls for close reading in order to interpret a passage of text. When you're assigned to carry out an analysis, then, it's important to know what the particular field of study expects you to do and to ask your instructors if you aren't sure. Know what counts as evidence Beyond knowing what particular words mean from field to field, you should note that what counts as EVIDENCE can differ across academic disciplines."
"In literature and other fields in the humanities , textual evidence is often the most important: your job as a reader is to focus on the text itself. For the sciences , you'll most often focus on evidence gathered through experimentation, on facts and figures. Some of the social sciences also favor the use of hard evidence or data, while others are more likely to use evidence drawn from interviews, oral histories, or even anecdotes."
"As a reader, you'll need to be aware of what counts as credible evidence in the fields you study. Be aware of how information is presented Finally, pay attention to the way various disciplines format and present their information. You'll probably find that articles and books in literature and history present their information in paragraphs, sometimes with illustrations."
"Physics texts present much important information in equations, while those in psychology and political science rely on charts, graphs, and other visual representations of quantitative data. In art history , you can expect to see extensive use of images, while much of the work in music will rely on notation and sound. So reading calls for some real effort."
"Whether you're reading words or images or bar graphs, literary analysis or musical notation, in a print book or on a screen, you need to read attentively and intentionally and with an open mind. On top of all that, you need to be an active participant with what you read. As Toni Morrison says: The words on the page are only half the story. The rest is what you bring to the party. REFLECT! The next time you read a text online, pay attention to your process. Do you go straight through, or do you stop often?"
"Do you take notes? Do you turn away from what you're reading to look at or attend to something else? What do you do if you don't understand a passage? How long can you read at a stretch and maintain full concentration? Then answer the same questions the next time you read a print text. What differences do you notice in the way you read each kind of text? What conclusions can you draw about how to be a more effective reader, both on- and off-screen?"
"Glossary EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS . Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling. Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making)."
"PART 2 READING / GET THE MESSAGE Chapter 6 Recognizing Facts, Misinformation &Lies FACTS ARE FACTS AND WILL NOT DISAPPEAR ON ACCOUNT OF YOUR LIKES. -JAWAHARLAL NEHRU YOU KNOW WHERE I'M COMING FROM, BUT YOU CAN FACT-CHECK ANYTHING I SAY. -RACHEL MADDOW Palestinians Recognize Texas as Part of Mexico. Pope Francis: God Has Instructed Me to Revise the Ten Commandments. Canada Bans Beyonc after Her Superbowl Performance. Really? Well, no."
"While these are in fact actual headlines, none is anywhere near the truth. But being false hasn't kept them from being widely shared-and not as jokes, but as facts. With so many people spreading misinformation, unsubstantiated claims, and even outright lies today, it can be hard to know who and what to trust, or whether to trust anything at all. The good news, however, is that you don't have to be taken in by such claims."
"This chapter provides strategies for navigating today's choppy waters of news and information so that you can make confident decisions about what to trust-and what not to. Facts, misinformation, fake news, and lies Some say we're living in a post-truth era, that the loudest voices take up so much airtime that they can sometimes be seen as telling the truth no matter what they say."
"A 2018 study by MIT scholars examined tweets about 126,000 major news stories in English and came to the conclusion that the truth simply can't compete with hoax and rumor. In fact, the study says, fake news and false rumors reach more people, penetrate deeper into the social network, and spread much faster than accurate stories. A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes. -MARK TWAIN It's worth asking why misinformation and even lies outperform real news."
"While it is notoriously difficult to establish an airtight cause-and-effect relationship, these researchers suspect that several reasons account for their success. First, they're often outlandish and novel in a way that attracts attention. Second, the content of such stories is often negative and tends to arouse very strong emotions. Third, they use language that evokes surprise or disgust, and seems to lead to the information going viral."
"Accurate tweets, the researchers found, use words associated with trust or sadness rather than surprise or disgust-and as they note, the truth simply does not compete. Lies and misinformation are nothing new. What's new is that anyone with an internet connection can post whatever they think (or want others to think) online, where it can easily reach a wide audience. And unlike mainstream newspapers and other such publications, online postings go out without being vetted by editors or fact-checkers."
"Perhaps it's time to step back, take a deep breath, and attend to some basic definitions. Just what is a fact? What's fake news? And what about misinformation and lies? Both misinformation and lies give false or inaccurate information. The difference is that misinformation is not necessarily intended to deceive, whereas lies are always told deliberately, for the purpose of giving false information. Fake news stories are fabricated and false articles are made to look authentic."
"Often they're used to spread conspiracy theories or deliberate hoaxes-the more bizarre, the better. In addition, many people simply dismiss anything they don't like or agree with as fake news. Facts , on the other hand, can be verified and backed up by reliable evidence-that the Washington Capitals won the 2018 Stanley Cup, for example, or that the consumption of soft drinks in the United States has declined in the last five years."
"Unlike claims about what God has instructed Pope Francis to do, these statements can be checked and verified; we can then trust them. Think about your own beliefs It's one thing to be able to spot misinformation, unsubstantiated claims, and exaggerations in the words of others, but it's another thing entirely to spot them in our own thinking and writing. So we need to take a good look at our own assumptions and biases. We all have them!"
"Attribution bias is the tendency to think that our motives for believing, say, that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is crucially important for keeping our air and water clean are objective or good, while the motives of those who believe the EPA is unnecessary are dubious or suspect. We all have this kind of bias naturally, tending to believe that what we think must be right."
"When you're thinking about an argument you strongly disagree with, then, it's a good idea to ask yourself why you disagree-and why you believe you're right. What is that belief based on? Have you considered that your own bias may be keeping you from seeing all sides of the issue fairly, or at all? Confirmation bias is the tendency to favor and seek out information that confirms what we already believe and to reject and ignore information that contradicts those beliefs."
"Many studies have documented this phenomenon, including a university experiment with student participants, half of whom favored capital punishment and thought it was a deterrent to crime and half of whom thought just the opposite. Researchers then asked the students to respond to two studies: one provided data that supported capital punishment as a deterrent to crime; the other provided data that called this conclusion into question."
"And sure enough, the students who were pro capital punishment rated the study showing evidence that it was a deterrent as more highly credible, while the students who were against capital punishment rated the study showing evidence that it didn't deter crime as more highly credible-in spite of the fact that both studies had been made up by the researchers and were equally compelling in terms of their evidence. Moreover, by the end of the experiment, each side had doubled down on its original beliefs."
"That's confirmation bias at work, and it works on all of us. It affects the way we search for information and what we pay attention to, how we interpret it, and even what we remember. That's all to say you shouldn't assume a news story is trustworthy just because it confirms what you already think. Ask yourself if you're seeing what you want to see. And look for confirmation bias in your sources; do they acknowledge viewpoints other than their own? REFLECT! Where do you get the news?"
"Whatever your sources, what do you pay attention to, and why? What are you most likely to click on? What, on the other hand, are you likely to skip, or ignore? Can you see confirmation bias at work in the choices you make? Read defensively Well over 2,000 years ago, the philosopher Aristotle said that one reason people need rhetoric is for self-defense, for making sure we aren't being manipulated or lied to."
"Today, the need for such caution may be more important than ever-especially in social media and elsewhere online, where false stories may look authentic and appear right next to accurate, factual information. These times call, then, for defensive reading -that is, the kind of reading that doesn't take things at face value, that questions underlying assumptions, that scrutinizes claims carefully, and that doesn't rush to judgment."
"This is the kind of reading that media and technology critic Howard Rheingold calls crap detection. Crap, he says sardonically, is a technical term he uses to describe information tainted by ignorance or deliberate deception. He warns us not to give in to such misinformation. As Rheingold and many others note, there is no single foolproof way to identify lies and misinformation. But the following discussion offers some specific strategies for determining whether-or not-a source can be trusted."
"Triangulate-and use your judgment If you have any doubts, find three different ways to check on whether a story can be trusted. Google the author or the sponsor. Consult fact-checking sites such as Snopes.com or FactCheck.org . Look for other sources that are reporting the same story, especially if you first saw it on social media. If it's true and important, you should find a number of other reputable sources reporting on it."
"But however carefully you check, and whatever facts and evidence you uncover, it's up to you to sort the accurate information from the misinformation-and often as not that will call on you to use your own judgment to do that. See p. 269 for more tips on triangulating. Before reading an unfamiliar source, determine whether it can be trusted Take a tip from professional fact-checkers, who don't even start to read an unfamiliar website until they've determined that it's a trustworthy site."
"If you have any doubts, here are some ways to proceed: Do a search about the author or sponsor. If there's an author, what's their expertise? Do they belong to any organizations you don't know or trust? Be wary if there's no author. And do a search about the site's sponsor. If it's run by an organization you've never heard of, find out what it is-and whether it actually exists. What do reliable sources say about it? Read the site's About page, but check up on what it says."
"If an organization can game what they are, they can certainly game their About page! -SAM WINEBURG Check any links to see who sponsors them and whether they are trustworthy sources. Do the same for works cited in print sources. Be careful of over-the-top headlines, which often serve as CLICKBAIT to draw you in. Check to see that the story and the headline actually match. Question any that are over the top: look for words like amazing , epic , incredible , or unbelievable ."
"(In general, don't believe anything that's said to be unbelievable!) Pay attention to design. Be wary if it looks amateurish, but don't assume that a professional-looking design means the source is accurate or trustworthy. Those who create fake news sites are careful to make them to look like authentic news sites. Recognize satire. Remember that some authors make a living by writing satirical fake news."
"Here's one: China Slaps Two-Thousand-Per-Cent Tariff on Tanning Beds. This comes from Andy Borowitz, who writes political satire in the New Yorker , which tips us off not to take it seriously by labeling it not the news. The Onion is another source that pokes fun at gullible readers. Try this: Genealogists Find 99% of People Are Not Related to Anyone Cool. This one's silly enough that it can't possibly be true. But if you're not sure, better check."
"Ask questions, check evidence Double-check things that too neatly support what you yourself think, or that seem too good to be true. What's the CLAIM , and what EVIDENCE is provided? What motivated the author to write, and what's their PURPOSE ? To provide information? Make you laugh? Convince you of something? Check facts and claims using nonpartisan sites that confirm truths and identify lies. FactCheck.org , Snopes.com , and AllSides.com are three such sites."
"Copy and paste the basics of the statement into the search field; if it's information the site has in its database, you'll find out whether it's a confirmed fact or a lie. If you use Google to check on a stated fact, keep in mind that you'll need to check on any sources it turns up-and that even if the statement brings up many hits, that doesn't make it accurate. See p. 266 for more on fact-checking sites. If you think a story is too good to be true , you're probably right to be skeptical."
"And don't assume that it must be true because no one could make up such a story. They can. Check out stories that are so outrageous that you don't believe them; if they're true, they'll be widely reported. That said, double-check stories that confirm your own beliefs as well; that might be confirmation bias at work. Look up any research that's cited. You may find that the research has been taken out of context or misquoted-or that it doesn't actually exist. Is the research itself reliable?"
"Pay close attention to QUOTATIONS : Who said it, and when? Is it believable? If not, copy and paste the quotation into Google or check FactCheck.org to verify that it's real. Check any comments. If several say the article sounds fake, it may well be. But remember that given the presence of BOTS and TROLLS -not to mention people with malicious intent-comments, too, may be fake. Fact-check photos and videos Is a picture really worth a thousand words?"
"In some cases, yes-but only if the picture is an accurate depiction. Today, it's never been easier to falsify photographs. Take the often-repeated, retweeted, and repurposed story of a shark swimming down a highway whenever a hurricane strikes or some other natural disaster causes flooding. A couple years ago, someone tweeted: Believe it or not, this is a shark on the freeway in New Burn, North Carolina. #HurricaneFlorence-a message that was retweeted 88,000 times."
"But the same shark popped up on Twitter swimming down a road in Houston, Texas, and in many other cities. Easily done with Photoshop . This 2017 photo looks real-but one of these men was photoshopped in. And see the photo on page 75 that went viral in 2017, showing President Trump, Vladimir Putin, and others in conversation. A little investigation, however, showed that Putin had been photoshopped into the image; he wasn't actually at the table."
"Again, there are no simple, foolproof ways to identify doctored photos, but experts in digital forensics recommend various steps we can take. Here's advice from Hany Farid, a computer science professor at the University of California at Berkeley:  Do a reverse image search using Google Images or Tin Eye to see if an image has been recirculated or repurposed from another website."
"Both sites allow you to drag an image or paste a link to an image into a search bar to learn more about its source and see where it appears online.  Check Snopes.com , where altered images are often identified, by typing a brief description of the image into the site's search box.  Look carefully at shadows: an image may have been altered if you find shadows where you don't expect them or don't see them where you do expect them."
"Farid goes on to say that the best defense against fabricated photos is to stop and think about the source-especially before you share it on social media. After a shooter killed seventeen people at a Florida school in 2018, an altered photo of Emma Gonzlez, one of the students who protested the mass shooting, went viral, showing her tearing up a page of the US Constitution."
"In fact, she was actually tearing up a shooting target as part of her advocacy for gun control; the Constitution had been photoshopped in. The same advice holds true for video, which is all too easy to falsify. Videos that flicker constantly or that consist of just one short clip are often questionable, as are videos of famous people doing things that are highly suspicious. How likely is it that Kobe Bryant could jump over a speeding Aston Martin?"
"Not very-but a lot of us were fooled by a fake video made for Nike. Such fabricated videos proliferate daily, especially on YouTube , now an extremely popular source of news. As YouTube has found in trying to control or ban fake videos, those who make them are getting more and more sophisticated."
"As the Guardian reports, artificial intelligence and computer graphics now make it possible to create realistic looking footage of public figures appearing to say, well, anything. Thanks to the internet, there's a lot of misinformation and fake news out there. But the fact-finding and defensive-reading strategies described in this chapter will help you sort out fiction from fact, falsehood from truth-and determine with confidence who and what you can trust."
"You may have to dig a little, but truth and the good stuff are out there. Take it from Elvis Presley: Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away. REFLECT! Look for something that has been sent to you on social media-retweeted, forwarded, liked, whatever. Then take the time to check out its source, using the help provided in this chapter on page 74 . After checking, do you find that the information in the source holds up as credible and trustworthy? Why-or why not?"
"Glossary CLICKBAIT, 408 On the internet, headlines or links designed to get readers to read something or to increase page views. CLAIM, 84-85, 103-5 A statement of a belief or POSITION . In an ARGUMENT , a claim needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied, and requires support by REASONS and EVIDENCE . EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS ."
"Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling. Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making). PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION ."
"QUOTE, 285-90 To cite someone else's words exactly as they were said or written. Quotation is most effective when the wording is worth repeating or makes a point so well that no rewording will do it justice or when you want to cite someone's exact words. Quotations in academic writing need to be acknowledged with DOCUMENTATION . BOT, 75 An automated program on the internet, often used to advocate ideas-and sometimes used for malicious purposes, for example, to capture email addresses for a spam mailing list."
"TROLL, 75 On the internet, someone who says something provocative or disruptive. PART 3 WRITING / MAKE YOUR POINT Chapter 7 Writing Processes THE FUNCTION OF WRITING IS TO DO MORE THAN TELL IT LIKE IT IS-IT IS TO IMAGINE WHAT IS POSSIBLE. -BELL HOOKS IF YOU'VE GOT A PROCESS . . . YOU HAVE A LIST OF THINGS TO DO TO GET TO YOUR GOAL. -NIPSEY HUSSLE Do you knit? play video games? do yoga?"
"If so, you're probably accustomed to following a process of some kind, whether it's for making socks, playing Fortnite , or doing a downward-dog yoga pose. The same goes for writing: whether it's a thank-you letter after a job interview, an email to a teacher, or an essay for a class, you follow some kind of process. This chapter will help you make your way through the process of writing, from a blank page to a finished text."
"Think of it as a GPS that will help you navigate the many choices you have along the way-and direct you to places in the book with additional detail if you need it. Start with questions Whatever your topic or purpose, start out by asking questions. Even if your purpose is to solve some kind of problem, don't just go looking for answers. Whatever the task, approach it with an open mind. If you already have some ideas about your topic, expect to find new ideas. Be curious: inquire! explore!"
"Here are some tips that can help: If you already know something about your topic , what do you think about it, and why? What more do you want to find out? Be aware of CONFIRMATION BIAS , which can make you too quick to accept ideas that confirm what you already believe. Keep an open mind , ready to be challenged. You're sure to encounter viewpoints that differ from yours-and if you don't, seek them out. Take them seriously and be open to the possibility that they just might be right."
"Even if that's not the case, they'll get you thinking! Ask questions : What? Who? How? Where? When? Why? Why not ? What are others saying about your topic , and why? What else might be said? What do you want to say? Ideas come from curiosity. -WALT DISNEY Think about your rhetorical situation Whether you're writing a text or a tweet, an essay or a speech, you have a RHETORICAL SITUATION that you need to consider:   A PURPOSE -what you're trying to accomplish by writing."
"An AUDIENCE -those who will be reading or seeing or listening to what you say. Your own STANCE , or attitude about the topic, which you convey in the TONE of your writing. A larger CONTEXT . What else has been said about your topic? If you're writing for an assignment, what are its requirements-and what can you accomplish in the time you have? One or more GENRES . You may be ARGUING a position, REPORTING information, SUMMARIZING a text, or something else."
"Whatever it is, your genre will determine the way you approach your topic. One or more MEDIA -print, oral, digital, and social. If you have a choice, choose the one(s) that best suit your purpose and audience. DESIGN . What fonts serve your purpose? Do you need headings? images? charts or graphs? Chapter 2 provides detailed guidelines for thinking about each element of a rhetorical situation, but you'll want to keep your audience and purpose in mind from start to finish of whatever you're writing."
"Generate ideas Once you have a topic, it's time to learn what you can about it-to think about it and start writing about it. Here are several techniques that can help you think about and generate ideas. I had an old typewriter and a big idea. -J. K. ROWLING Freewriting is a technique for exploring a topic through writing. Start by writing quickly, without stopping."
"Some writers find it useful to freewrite for five or ten minutes; others find it works better if they write until they fill a screen or a certain number of pages. Don't worry about your spelling or grammar; just write! Your goal is to come up with ideas, and the more the merrier! Brainstorming is a process for generating as many ideas as you can, quickly. And don't worry about whether they're right or wrong, smart or silly."
"You can brainstorm on your own by simply writing down all the ideas you have, or you can work with a group, with everyone suggesting whatever ideas they have, as many as possible. The more brains the better-and the greater the likelihood that you'll discover a range of viewpoints. Alone or with others, the goal is to explore an idea and to be open to whatever it turns up. Questioning is a good way to explore a topic and to get beyond what you already know or think about it."
"And it's easy: just ask what, who, where, when, how , and why . What happened (or happens)? Who's involved? Where and when did (or does) it take place? How does it happen? And why: what caused (or causes) it to happen? Do some research Unless your topic is a personal one, you'll probably need to do some research. Wikipedia can be a good starting point, likely to provide an overview of the topic, to give a sense of the various perspectives that exist on it, and to list sources you can check out."
"If you're writing about a current issue, you may want to check news articles or periodicals or do a KEYWORD search. If you're writing about a topic from the distant past, you'll need to look for older sources, but you may also need to see if there's any recent scholarship on the topic. And if you're writing about a local issue, you may want to interview experts or do some other kind of FIELD RESEARCH . For more on finding sources, see Chapter 14 ."
"Start by thinking about what you already know about the topic. What do you need or want to learn? What questions do you have? What have others written about the topic? What are the various issues, and the different POSITIONS and viewpoints? Be sure to seek out a variety of perspectives, and read them all with an open mind. Check FACTS and CLAIMS . If something seems questionable, check it out. If you see a claim that sounds too good to be true, chances are it's not true."
"Search the web to see if anyone else is saying the same thing; if not, it may not be true. Or maybe you find several sources that say exactly the same thing; check them out-are they all sponsored by a single organization? Even if sources look real, don't assume they are; fake sources are usually designed to look legitimate. For more on checking facts, see Chapter 6 ."
"Come up with a working thesis At this point, you should be ready to write out a thesis, a sentence that identifies your topic and the point you want to make about it. Rarely if ever will you have a final thesis when you start drafting, but establishing a tentative one will help focus your thinking and any research you may yet do."
"Here are some prompts to get you started:  Write out the point you want to make : In this essay, I will present reasons to quit social media.  Plot out a working thesis in two parts , first stating your topic and then making a claim about the topic: Quitting social media will improve your ability to focus, eliminate stress, and make you happier.  Be sure your CLAIM is debatable-and that it matters ."
There's no point in arguing for a claim that is a fact or that no one would disagree with-or that no one would even care about.  Think about whether you need to narrow or QUALIFY your thesis . You don't want to overstate your case-or make a claim that you'll have trouble supporting.
"Adding words like generally or sometimes, or saying might or could rather than will can make your thesis easier to support: Quitting social media could help you sleep better, might make you more productive, and may even make you happier.  Does the thesis tell readers what's coming? Will it help keep you and your readers focused on your message? Will it interest your readers? At this point in your process, this is a tentative thesis, one that could change as you continue to do research, write, and revise."
"Continue exploring your topic, and don't stop until you feel you understand it well. But once you're confident that your thesis makes a claim that you can support and that will interest your audience, gather up the notes from your research. This is the information you'll draw from as support for your thesis. Write out a draft Once you have a working thesis, you will need to organize the evidence that supports what you're claiming and to start drafting."
"If you're writing a narrative, you might tell the story in CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER . If you're making an argument, you might present your evidence in order of importance, starting with the information that's the most important, followed by the less important information. And if you're describing something, you might organize it SPATIALLY , from left to right or top to bottom. Ways of beginning The way you begin a text can grab an audience's attention, or not."
"Here are some ways of making them interested in what you've got to say-and want to read on:  By QUOTING or SUMMARIZING something others have said about your topic  By telling an ANECDOTE that will get your audience's attention  By posing a provocative question  By stating your THESIS  By using a startling fact, statistic, or VISUAL  See Chapter 22 for tips on writing powerful opening sentences."
"Ways of organizing your evidence Whatever your thesis, you need to provide good, reliable evidence to support what you say. The good news is that the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle long ago developed strategies for finding such support, strategies that will serve you well both for finding evidence and for organizing it into paragraphs in the body of your essay. Following are a number of familiar strategies that can help you find and present evidence for what you say. Description."
"When we describe something, we say what it looks like-or how it sounds, smells, feels, or tastes. Good descriptions provide concrete details that create some kind of DOMINANT IMPRESSION that helps your audience imagine what you're describing-and engages their interest. See, for instance, how Maya Angelou describes a group of people gathered in a store to listen to a prize fight on the radio: Women sat on kitchen chairs, dining-room chairs, stools, and upturned wooden boxes."
"Small children and babies perched on every lap available and men leaned on the shelves or on each other. -MAYA ANGELOU, Champion of the World She could have simply said the room was full of women, children, babies, and men-but her vivid descriptive writing brings the scene to life, helps us to picture the scene."
"You'll have reason to use description in almost all the writing you do: in a REPORT on climate change, you might describe some recent hurricanes or severe droughts that are thought to result; and in a NARRATIVE , you'd likely describe people, places, and things. While you can sometimes describe something using words alone, there may be cases when you need to include an image to show what you're describing."
"If, for example, you were writing an art history essay about the architecture of Barcelona, you might describe the multicolored mosaics, stained glass, and glazed titles of its music hall, pictured on the next page. But could you do so in a way that would enable your readers to visualize it? Facade of the Palau de la Msica Catalana. Narrative. Using narrative means telling a story. And according to Tyrion Lannister, There's nothing in the world more powerful than a good story. Exactly!"
"A good story well told can engage your readers and provide memorable support for an argument. In a book called The Years That Matter Most , Paul Tough writes about the growing inequality in US colleges and universities, supporting his argument with stories about how this inequality affects several students he interviewed."
"He tells about Clara, whose parents pay $400 an hour for ACT tutoring to help her get into Yale; about Kim, who gets no support of any kind, financial or emotional, from her family when she goes to Clemson; and about many other students as well-all narratives that provide powerful support for Tough's argument."
"You can use narratives to good effect in writing you do as well-in an essay ARGUMENT for universal early child education, you might include a brief narrative about your own childhood experience in preschool. Or you could add several ANECDOTES about athletes you know who've suffered concussions in a REPORT on head injuries in football. Be sure, however, that any story you tell supports your point, and that it is not the only evidence you offer. See pp. 108-9 for an example of how narrative is used in an ad."
"Comparison and contrast. When we compare things, we focus on their similarities; when we contrast them, we look at their differences. These strategies can help support what you say, explaining something that's unfamiliar by comparing (or contrasting) it with something more familiar. In a blog post arguing that the use of singular they is inevitable, for example, linguist Dennis Baron compares it with singular you , pointing out that it too was originally plural but eventually became singular as well."
"As a student, you'll often be assigned to compare and contrast things as a way of making some kind of point: the music of Philip Glass and Steve Reich, the political philosophies of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, three poems by Adrienne Rich."
"There are two methods you can use for making comparisons: the block method, in which you discuss everything you have to say about one item first and then everything you want to say about another item; or the point-by-point method, in which you discuss one point for both items and then do the same for another point. Definition. A definition says what something is-and what it is not. As a writer, you'll often need to provide definitions for words you use that your audience may not understand."
"And definitions can play another role as well, especially when you're writing about controversial topics. If you define abortion as killing an unborn child but your readers define it as a right for women to have control over their own bodies, they are unlikely to agree with any arguments you make. Example. Good examples bring a subject to life, making abstract ideas more concrete and easier to understand-and providing specific instances to back up a point."
"Here's Jose Antonio Vargas, someone who's won the Pulitzer Prize and lived the American Dream, writing about how he is still undocumented: But I am still an undocumented immigrant. And that means living a different kind of reality. It means going about my day in fear of being found out. It means rarely trusting people, even those closest to me, with who I really am. It means keeping my family photos in a shoebox rather than displaying them on shelves in my home, so friends don't ask about them."
"It means reluctantly, even painfully, doing things I know are wrong and unlawful. And it has meant relying on a sort of 21st-century underground railroad of supporters, people who took an interest in my future and took risks for me. -JOSE ANTONIO VARGAS, My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant With one example after another, he helps us understand what it means to live in the United States as an undocumented immigrant. Examples can often be presented visually, and sometimes need to be."
"You could, for example, describe Yayoi Kusama's famous infinity rooms with words: that they have mirrors on the walls and ceiling and a floor in a reflecting pool, that they include hundreds of lights that change colors, and so on. But if you want readers to get any sense of what an infinity room is, you would also want to provide a photograph. Gleaming Lights of the Souls (2008), an infinity room by Yayoi Kusama, at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebaek, Denmark."
"With words or images, a good example can help you to explain a general statement or concept-and to support what you say about it. See pp. 108-10 for more on using examples. Classification. When we classify things, we group them into categories. Books, for example, can be classified as fiction, nonfiction, fantasy, poetry, picture books, and so on. As a writer, you might use classification as a way to organize a text or to elaborate on a topic."
"If you're writing a presentation ANALYZING films for a course on the history of films, you might organize your text by classifying the films by genre-dramas, thrillers, comedies, musicals, and so on-and then discuss them genre by genre. But you could classify them in many other ways as well. Netflix , for instance, now classifies TV shows into dozens of categories, among them Feel-Good TV shows, Crime TV shows, Family Watch Together TV, and Quirky Sitcoms."
"The categories you choose will depend on your AUDIENCE and PURPOSE . Cause and effect. When we analyze causes, we try to understand and explain why something happened. Why have there been so many wildfires in recent years? Why did Tom Brady leave the New England Patriots? And when we think about effects, we speculate about what might happen. How will the COVID-19 pandemic affect the global economy? How will the Patriots do without Brady? As a writer, you'll sometimes need to cite causes or effects."
"In a LITERACY NARRATIVE about deciding to major in English, you might focus on the books that caused you to love literature, or on particular effects that will serve you well in the future-the ability to write well, for instance. Arguing about causes or effects can be tricky, because it's rarely possible to link a specific cause to a specific effect."
"Consider what we know about what's caused so many people to become ill from vaping, or the long-term effects of climate change: in each case, there are many possible or probable causes and effects. When you write about causes and effects, then, you can often only argue that they are likely, or probable-and one reason that you'll want to QUALIFY what you say by using words like might or could is to limit what you claim."
"Consider counterarguments and other perspectives Unless you're the first to write about your topic, many others will have opinions about it as well-and some of them will have ideas that differ from yours. If you've done your homework, you'll be aware of what else has been said and will have thought about it. You need to acknowledge other perspectives, and to do so respectfully and accurately. And you need to respond to any COUNTERARGUMENTS , objections that others may have to your position."
"Whether you provide evidence refuting ideas you take issue with, admit that some other position just might be right, or QUALIFY what you yourself say, acknowledging other perspectives demonstrates that you've done your homework and that you've considered opinions other than your own carefully. Force yourself to consider opposing arguments, especially if they challenge your best-loved ideas."
"-CHARLIE MUNGER In a newspaper profile of Adam Sandler, Jamie Lauren Keiles acknowledges that not everyone agrees with those of us who love Big Daddy and his many other zany films-and admits that such criticism is sometimes fair: Critics, as a group, hate Sandler comedies, sometimes fairly, but just as often because the movies undermine the project of close reading altogether. If you don't think a Sandler comedy is funny, no amount of thinking on the page is ever going to convince you otherwise."
"It either tickles your funny bone or it doesn't. -JAMIE LAUREN KEILES, Adam Sandler's Everlasting Shtick Cole Sprouse and Adam Sandler in Big Daddy. Ways of concluding Your conclusion is where you get to wrap things up and to leave your audience thinking about what you've said. Here are some ways of doing that:  By reiterating your main point  By issuing a call to action  By saying why your point matters  By inviting response See Chapter 22 for tips on writing strong closing sentences."
"Come up with a title Titles are important. On the one hand, they need to tell readers what your piece is about and give some sense of what you're going to say about it. As an author, however, you'll want to come up with a title that will get your readers' attention and make them want to read on. Whatever your purpose, you should always think about your rhetorical situation when deciding on a title, to be sure it will appeal to your AUDIENCE and reflect your STANCE ."
"Some titles simply indicate the topic:  When Doctors Make Mistakes  The Sanctuary of School  My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant  Stop Coddling the Super-Rich  How Junk Food Can End Obesity Other titles are more provocative, saying something surprising or asking a startling question."
"Such titles often reflect a strong point of view-and make readers want to read on (or not):   Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History   Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?   What My Bike Has Taught Me about White Privilege     Is Google Making Us Stupid?   Get a Knife, Get a Dog, but Get Rid of Guns Some titles include a subtitle, usually to explain the title or indicate the author's stance:  For Better or Worse: Spotify and the Music Industry  Minority Student Clubs: Segregation or Integration?  Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter  Utopian Dream: A New Farm Bill  To Siri with Love: How One Boy with Autism Became BFF with Apple's Siri  Get response and revise One good thing about writing, according to author Robert Cormier, is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon."
"You can always do it better. That's for sure! And a good first step to doing it better is to get a little help from your friends. Once you have a draft, you'll want to get feedback from some readers. Here's a list of questions for reading a draft with a critical eye and thinking about how it might be revised:   How does the OPENING get your AUDIENCE 's attention? Does it make clear why your topic matters? Is your point stated explicitly in a THESIS -and if not, should it be?"
"Have you provided sufficient REASONS and EVIDENCE to support your thesis? If not, do you need to find more evidence? Or do you need to QUALIFY your thesis to make it one you can support? Have you noted any COUNTERARGUMENTS or views other than your own-and represented them accurately and respectfully? What other positions should you consider? Have you cited any sources? If so, have you clearly distinguished what they say from what you say-and provided DOCUMENTATION ?"
"Are any QUOTATIONS introduced with a SIGNAL PHRASE ? Is the text organized in a way that's easy to follow? Have you provided TRANSITIONS to help readers follow what you've written? Are there headings to help readers see the main parts-and if not, should you add some? Does the text include any VISUALS ? Is there any data that would be easier to understand if you presented it in a pie chart or bar graph-or illustrated it with a photo? How does the text CONCLUDE ? What does it leave readers thinking?"
"Have you invited your readers to respond? How else might you conclude? Does your title announce the topic and give some idea of what you have to say about it-and will it get your audience's attention? If not, might it help to add a subtitle? Once you've gotten feedback and read over your draft yourself, put it aside for a day or two if you can."
"The above questions will have identified plenty of specific things to consider as you revise, but be sure to keep your RHETORICAL SITUATION firmly in mind as you work, especially your AUDIENCE and PURPOSE . You want to make your text as readable as possible, and to be sure that everything in the draft contributes to your point and purpose. Take seriously any advice you've gotten from other readers, but don't feel that you have to do everything they suggest. You're the author!"
"I try to leave out the parts that people skip. -ELMORE LEONARD Edit! Cheryl Strayed may be the author of a best-selling book called Wild , but it seems that she's rather cautious when it comes to her writing, saying that she writes to find out what she has to say-and that she edits to figure out how to say it right. Good advice!"
"So once you've written and revised what you want to say, you need to fine-tune your text to be sure that it says precisely what you want it to say, and that your readers will be able to follow and understand what you say. There's no single recipe for doing that, but here are some tips that can help guide you. Editing paragraphs  Check each paragraph to be sure it contributes to your point in some way."
" Does each paragraph focus on one point-and include a TOPIC SENTENCE that tells readers what it will focus on?  Is each paragraph developed in enough detail?  If any paragraphs are especially long, check to see if they might be split into two paragraphs.  Pay special attention to your OPENING paragraph (will it grab your audience's attention?) and CONCLUDING paragraph (will it solidify your message?)."
"Editing sentences  Be sure that your sentences are sentences, starting with a capital letter and ending with a period, question mark, or exclamation point; and including a subject and VERB .  Check for sentences beginning with it is or there is . These can be good ways of emphasizing or introducing an idea, but often they simply add unnecessary words. Why say It is essential that we speak up rather than We need to speak up?  Check to see if you've used any unnecessary words-words like very or really ."
" Count up the words in each sentence. If too many are pretty much the same length, see if you can combine some sentences, add details, or vary the sentence structure in some other way.  Pay attention to the way your sentences open. If sentence after sentence begins with a subject, try varying them by adding PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES or TRANSITIONS .  Chapter 23 offers advice for writing good sentences. Editing words  Have you used any terms that your readers may not understand?"
"If so, be sure to include DEFINITIONS .  Think about what TONE is most appropriate for your audience and purpose-serious? playful? casual? academic?-and be sure that the words you use reflect that tone.  Check to be sure that your language is respectful. Especially when you're writing about a controversial topic or discussing positions you disagree with, use words that demonstrate RESPECT -and not disrespect! Civility matters!  Pay attention to your use of gender pronouns."
"Use he / him / his to refer to someone who is male and uses those pronouns-and she / her / hers to refer to someone who is female and uses those pronouns. If, however, you're referring to someone who uses they / them / their or some other pronouns ( ze or hir , for example), call them what they want to be called. And if you're writing about someone whose gender is unknown or not pertinent, use SINGULAR THEY (as in Nobody would admit they were wrong.). Words matter, tone matters, civility matters."
"-JEN PSAKI Give some thought to design You're almost there: you've written out a draft, gotten response, and edited your text. It says what you want it to say. So now you need to think about what you want it to look like, and whether there are any design elements that will help your readers follow what you say. As usual, you'll need to think hard about what will work best for your AUDIENCE , PURPOSE , and the rest of your RHETORICAL SITUATION ."
"Choose FONTS that suit your purpose and reflect the TONE you want to convey. And think about whether there are any words you want to emphasize with italics or boldface (or boldface italics ). Think about whether you should add headings to help readers see (or scan) your main points. Is there any text that would be easier to understand if it were set off in a list? If you're presenting numerical data, would it be easier to see in a pie chart or bar graph?"
"Are you including any VISUALS -and if not, are there any images, charts, or other visuals that would help to illustrate a point? If so, be sure to include CAPTIONS . Be sure as well to refer to any images, charts, or graphs in the text so that readers know how they relate to your point. Don't forget to proofread Read over your text slowly, start to finish. If at all possible, print it out; mistakes can be hard to spot on a computer screen. Then read it aloud bit by bit."
" Read each sentence to be sure it begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, question mark, or exclamation point.  If you've included headings, be sure they're all in the same font and with the same amount of space above and below.  If you've included any VISUALS , be sure they are all referred to in the text."
" Check for PARALLELISM to be sure that all headings or all elements in a series or list have the same structure: all NOUNS , all GERUNDS , all PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES , all commands, and so on.  Check your spelling. Use a spellchecker, but be aware that it won't catch wrong words that are spelled correctly. For example: if you write principle when it should be principal , a spellchecker would not likely catch the mistake."
" If your text is in MLA , APA , or another style, make sure that your title, margins, spacing, page numbers, and documentation follow the requirements of that style. Take time to reflect on your own writing process Once you've finished writing something, it's a good idea to take stock of what you've written-and of your writing process. Here are some questions that can help you get started:  What did you do well?  If you could do one more draft, what would you change?  What did you find challenging? easy?"
"satisfying? fun?  What response did you get from others, and how did it help?  Did you do any research for this project? If so, how did it contribute to what you wrote? Did it change your mind in any way about your topic?  If you cited other sources, how many different perspectives did you include? Did you incorporate positions that differed from your own, and how fairly did you represent those views?  How did your audience affect what you wrote?  What is your favorite sentence or passage, and why?"
" What was your purpose for writing, and how well do you think you achieved that purpose? I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper. -STEVE MARTIN Finally, think about what you've learned about yourself as a writer. What do you want to work on? REFLECT! Forget a room of one's own-write in the kitchen, lock yourself up in the bathroom."
"Write on the bus or the welfare line, on the job or during meals. Cultural critic Gloria Anzalda wrote these words in 1981, long before cell phones allowed us to write pretty much anywhere. Picture her on a bus, pad of paper in one hand and a pen in the other, writing . Where do you do most of your writing-on a bus or train? in an armchair? at breakfast? And how do you do it-on a laptop? a mobile phone? a pad of paper?"
"Think about your circumstances today: where you write and how that allows you to do your best writing. Glossary CONFIRMATION BIAS, 71-72 The tendency to favor and seek out information that confirms what we already believe and to reject and ignore information that contradicts those beliefs. RHETORICAL SITUATION, 25-28, 81-82 The circumstances that affect writing or other communication, including PURPOSE , AUDIENCE , GENRE , STANCE , CONTEXT , MEDIA , and DESIGN ."
"PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION . AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . STANCE, 17-19, 26-27 A writer's attitude toward the subject-for example, reasonable, neutral, angry, curious. Stance is conveyed through TONE and word choice."
"TONE, 27, 96 The way a writer's or speaker's STANCE is reflected in the text. CONTEXT, 17, 27-28, 59 Part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION , conditions affecting the text such as what else has been said about a topic; social, economic, and other factors; and any constants such as due date and length. GENRE, 27, 82, 245 A way of classifying things. The genres this book is concerned with are kinds of writing that writers can use to accomplish a certain goal and to reach a particular AUDIENCE ."
"As such, they have well-established features that help guide writers, but they are flexible and change over time, and can be adapted by writers to address their own RHETORICAL SITUATIONS . Genres covered in this book include ANALYSES , ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES , ARGUMENTS , NARRATIVES , REPORTS , SUMMARY/RESPONSE , and VISUAL ANALYSES . ARGUMENT, 99-131 Any text that makes a CLAIM supported by REASONS and EVIDENCE . A GENRE that uses REASONS and EVIDENCE to support a CLAIM ."
"Key Features: an explicit POSITION - a response to what others have said - appropriate background information - a clear indication of why the topic matters - good REASONS and EVIDENCE - attention to more than one POINT OF VIEW - an authoritative TONE - an appeal to readers' values REPORT, 157-85 A GENRE of writing that presents information to inform readers on a subject."
"Key Features: a topic carefully focused for a specific AUDIENCE - definitions of key terms - trustworthy information - appropriate organization and DESIGN - a confident TONE that informs rather than argues. See also IMRAD ; PROFILE SUMMARIZE To use your own words and sentence structure to condense someone else's text into a version that gives the main ideas of the original. In academic writing, summarizing requires DOCUMENTATION ."
"See PATCHWRITING MEDIA, 191, 205, 226-29 The means of delivering messages-for example, digital, oral, print, and social. The singular of media is medium. DESIGN, 96-97, 448-58 The way a text is arranged and presented visually. Elements of design include FONTS , colors, illustrations, LAYOUT , and white space. KEYWORD, 83, 253, 258 A term that a researcher inputs when searching for information in databases and elsewhere on the internet."
"FIELD RESEARCH, 259-62 The collection of first-hand data through observation, interviews, conversation, and surveys. POSITION, 43-44 A statement that asserts a belief or a CLAIM . In an ARGUMENT , a position needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied and to be supported with REASONS and EVIDENCE . FACTS, 69-70, 266-69 Information that can be backed up and verified by reliable evidence: Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in 2020 . CLAIM, 84-85, 103-5 A statement of a belief or POSITION ."
"In an ARGUMENT , a claim needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied, and requires support by REASONS and EVIDENCE . QUALIFY, 84, 104-5 To limit a CLAIM -saying, for example, that most people like cake rather than people like cake. Words like frequently, often, generally , or sometimes can help you qualify what you claim-and make it something you'll be able to support. CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, 85, 194 A way of organizing text that proceeds from the beginning of an event to the end."
"Reverse chronological order proceeds in the other direction, from the end to the beginning. SPATIAL ORGANIZATION A way of ordering a text that mirrors the physical arrangement of the subject-for instance, from top to bottom, left to right, outside to inside. QUOTE, 285-90 To cite someone else's words exactly as they were said or written. Quotation is most effective when the wording is worth repeating or makes a point so well that no rewording will do it justice or when you want to cite someone's exact words."
"Quotations in academic writing need to be acknowledged with DOCUMENTATION . SUMMARIZE To use your own words and sentence structure to condense someone else's text into a version that gives the main ideas of the original. In academic writing, summarizing requires DOCUMENTATION . See PATCHWRITING ANECDOTE, 85, 412 A brief NARRATIVE used to illustrate a point. THESIS, 84-85 A statement that identifies the topic and main point of a piece of writing, giving readers an idea of what the text will cover."
"VISUAL ANALYSIS, 63-65, 139 A GENRE of writing that examines an image, video, or some other visual text and how it communicates its message to an AUDIENCE . Key Features: a description of the visual - some contextual information - attention to any words - close ANALYSIS of the message - insight into what the visual says DOMINANT IMPRESSION, 86 The overall effect created by specific details in a DESCRIPTION . REPORT, 157-85 A GENRE of writing that presents information to inform readers on a subject."
"Key Features: a topic carefully focused for a specific AUDIENCE - definitions of key terms - trustworthy information - appropriate organization and DESIGN - a confident TONE that informs rather than argues. See also IMRAD ; PROFILE NARRATIVE, 186-202 A GENRE that tells a story for the PURPOSE of making a point. Key Features: a clearly defined event - a clearly described setting - vivid, descriptive details - a consistent POINT OF VIEW - a clear point."
"Also a strategy for presenting information as a story, for telling what happened. When used in an essay, narration is used to support a point-not merely to tell an interesting story for its own sake. Narration can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or an entire text. See also LITERACY NARRATIVE ARGUMENT, 99-131 Any text that makes a CLAIM supported by REASONS and EVIDENCE . A GENRE that uses REASONS and EVIDENCE to support a CLAIM ."
"Key Features: an explicit POSITION - a response to what others have said - appropriate background information - a clear indication of why the topic matters - good REASONS and EVIDENCE - attention to more than one POINT OF VIEW - an authoritative TONE - an appeal to readers' values ANECDOTE, 85, 412 A brief NARRATIVE used to illustrate a point. REPORT, 157-85 A GENRE of writing that presents information to inform readers on a subject."
"Key Features: a topic carefully focused for a specific AUDIENCE - definitions of key terms - trustworthy information - appropriate organization and DESIGN - a confident TONE that informs rather than argues. See also IMRAD ; PROFILE ANALYSIS, 132-56 A GENRE of writing in which you look at what a text says and how it says it."
"Key Features: a SUMMARY of a text or other subject - attention to CONTEXT - a clear INTERPRETATION or judgment - reasonable support for your conclusions AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION ."
"LITERACY NARRATIVE, 188-90 A GENRE of writing that tells about a writer's experience learning to read or write or do something else. Key Features: a well-told story - a first-hand account - an indication of the narrative's significance QUALIFY, 84, 104-5 To limit a CLAIM -saying, for example, that most people like cake rather than people like cake. Words like frequently, often, generally , or sometimes can help you qualify what you claim-and make it something you'll be able to support."
"COUNTERARGUMENT, 16, 90-91, 265 In ARGUMENT , an alternative POSITION or objection to the writer's position. The writer of an argument should not only acknowledge counterarguments but also, if at all possible, accept, accommodate, or refute each counterargument. QUALIFY, 84, 104-5 To limit a CLAIM -saying, for example, that most people like cake rather than people like cake."
"Words like frequently, often, generally , or sometimes can help you qualify what you claim-and make it something you'll be able to support. AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . STANCE, 17-19, 26-27 A writer's attitude toward the subject-for example, reasonable, neutral, angry, curious. Stance is conveyed through TONE and word choice."
"OPENING, 146, 410-12 The way a text begins, which plays an important role in drawing an AUDIENCE in. Some ways of beginning an essay: with a dramatic or deceptively simple statement, with something others have said about your topic, with a provocative question or a startling CLAIM , or with an ANECDOTE . AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION ."
"THESIS, 84-85 A statement that identifies the topic and main point of a piece of writing, giving readers an idea of what the text will cover. REASONS, 105-8 Support for a CLAIM or a POSITION . A reason, in turn, requires its own support. EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS . Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling."
"Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making). QUALIFY, 84, 104-5 To limit a CLAIM -saying, for example, that most people like cake rather than people like cake. Words like frequently, often, generally , or sometimes can help you qualify what you claim-and make it something you'll be able to support. COUNTERARGUMENT, 16, 90-91, 265 In ARGUMENT , an alternative POSITION or objection to the writer's position."
"The writer of an argument should not only acknowledge counterarguments but also, if at all possible, accept, accommodate, or refute each counterargument. DOCUMENTATION, 309-44, 360-86 Publication information about the sources cited in a text. IN-TEXT DOCUMENTATION usually appears in parentheses at the point where it's cited or in an endnote or a footnote. Complete documentation usually appears as a list of WORKS CITED or REFERENCES at the end of the text. Documentation styles vary by discipline."
"See also APA STYLE ; MLA STYLE QUOTE, 285-90 To cite someone else's words exactly as they were said or written. Quotation is most effective when the wording is worth repeating or makes a point so well that no rewording will do it justice or when you want to cite someone's exact words. Quotations in academic writing need to be acknowledged with DOCUMENTATION . SIGNAL PHRASES, 293-94 Words used to attribute QUOTED , SUMMARIZED , or PARAPHRASED material to a source, as in according to X or Z claims ."
"Transitions can signal COMPARISONS ( also, similarly, likewise, in the same way ); CONTRASTS ( but, instead, although, however, nonetheless ); examples ( for instance, in fact, such as ); place or position ( above, beyond, near, elsewhere ); sequence ( finally, next, again, also ); SUMMARIES or CONCLUSIONS ( on the whole, as we have seen, in brief ); time ( at first, meanwhile, so far, later ); and more. VISUALS, 455-57, 459-67 Photos, graphs, maps, diagrams, pie charts, tables, videos, and other images."
"Visuals can be used to support or illustrate a point and also to present information that is easier to understand in a chart or graph than it would be in a paragraph. VISUALS, 455-57, 459-67 Photos, graphs, maps, diagrams, pie charts, tables, videos, and other images. Visuals can be used to support or illustrate a point and also to present information that is easier to understand in a chart or graph than it would be in a paragraph."
"CONCLUSION, 92, 211, 417-18 The way a text ends, a chance to leave an AUDIENCE thinking about what's been said. Some ways of concluding an essay: REITERATING your point, discussing the implications of your ARGUMENT , proposing some kind of action, inviting response. RHETORICAL SITUATION, 25-28, 81-82 The circumstances that affect writing or other communication, including PURPOSE , AUDIENCE , GENRE , STANCE , CONTEXT , MEDIA , and DESIGN ."
"AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION . TOPIC SENTENCE, 95 A sentence, often at the beginning of a paragraph, that states the paragraph's main point."
"The details in the rest of the paragraph should support the topic sentence. OPENING, 146, 410-12 The way a text begins, which plays an important role in drawing an AUDIENCE in. Some ways of beginning an essay: with a dramatic or deceptively simple statement, with something others have said about your topic, with a provocative question or a startling CLAIM , or with an ANECDOTE . CONCLUSION, 92, 211, 417-18 The way a text ends, a chance to leave an AUDIENCE thinking about what's been said."
"Some ways of concluding an essay: REITERATING your point, discussing the implications of your ARGUMENT , proposing some kind of action, inviting response. VERB A word that expresses an action ( dance, talk ) or a state of being ( be, seem ). A verb is an essential element of a sentence or a CLAUSE . Verbs have four forms: base form ( smile ), past tense ( smiled ), past participle ( smiled ), and present participle ( smiling )."
"See also ACTIVE VOICE and PASSIVE VOICE PREPOSITION A word or group of words that tells about the relationship of a NOUN or a PRONOUN to another word in the sentence. Some common prepositions are after, at, before, behind, between, by, for, from, in, of, on, to, under, until, with , and without . TRANSITIONS, 424 Words or phrases that help to connect sentences and paragraphs and to guide readers through a text."
"Transitions can signal COMPARISONS ( also, similarly, likewise, in the same way ); CONTRASTS ( but, instead, although, however, nonetheless ); examples ( for instance, in fact, such as ); place or position ( above, beyond, near, elsewhere ); sequence ( finally, next, again, also ); SUMMARIES or CONCLUSIONS ( on the whole, as we have seen, in brief ); time ( at first, meanwhile, so far, later ); and more. DEFINITION, 88 A STRATEGY that says what something is."
"Formal definitions identify the category that something belongs to and tell what distinguishes it from other things in that category: A worm is an invertebrate (a category) with a long, rounded body and no appendages (distinguishing features). Extended definitions go into more detail: a paragraph or even an essay explaining why a character in a story is tragic. Stipulative definitions give a writer's own use of a term, one not found in a dictionary."
"Definition can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or whole text. TONE, 27, 96 The way a writer's or speaker's STANCE is reflected in the text. RESPECT, 29-41 The act of giving someone or something your careful attention, listening with an open mind, being polite and considerate, and according someone else the same right to speak that you wish for yourself. AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text."
"Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION . RHETORICAL SITUATION, 25-28, 81-82 The circumstances that affect writing or other communication, including PURPOSE , AUDIENCE , GENRE , STANCE , CONTEXT , MEDIA , and DESIGN . TONE, 27, 96 The way a writer's or speaker's STANCE is reflected in the text."
"CAPTION, 346, 467 A brief explanation accompanying a photograph, diagram, chart, and screen shot, or other visual that appears in a written document. VISUALS, 455-57, 459-67 Photos, graphs, maps, diagrams, pie charts, tables, videos, and other images. Visuals can be used to support or illustrate a point and also to present information that is easier to understand in a chart or graph than it would be in a paragraph. PARALLELISM Writing technique that puts similar items into the same grammatical structure."
"For example, every item on a to-do list might begin with a command: clean, wash, iron ; or a discussion of favorite hobbies might name each as a GERUND : running, playing basketball, writing poetry . NOUN A word that refers to a person, place, animal, thing, or idea ( a justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a forest, Mexico, a tree frog, a notebook, democracy ). GERUND A VERB form ending in - ing that functions as a NOUN : Swimming improves muscle tone and circulation ."
"PREPOSITION A word or group of words that tells about the relationship of a NOUN or a PRONOUN to another word in the sentence. Some common prepositions are after, at, before, behind, between, by, for, from, in, of, on, to, under, until, with , and without . MLA STYLE, 305-56 A system of DOCUMENTATION established by the Modern Language Association and used in the humanities. APA STYLE, 357-403 A system of DOCUMENTATION used in the social sciences. APA stands for the American Psychological Association."
"CLAIM, 84-85, 103-5 A statement of a belief or POSITION . In an ARGUMENT , a claim needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied, and requires support by REASONS and EVIDENCE . SINGULAR THEY The use of they, them , and their to refer to a person whose gender is unknown or not relevant to the context. Everyone locks their bikes . It is also used to refer to a person who is nonbinary, trans, or gender-nonconforming: Jess asked for skim milk in their latte ."
"FONTS, 472 Typefaces, such as Calibri or Times New Roman Endnotes  TOPIC Return to text  CLAIM Return to text PART 3 WRITING / MAKE YOUR POINT Chapter 8 Arguing FIGHT FOR THE THINGS THAT YOU CARE ABOUT. BUT DO IT IN A WAY THAT WILL LEAD OTHERS TO JOIN YOU. -RUTH BADER GINSBURG COME NOW, LET US REASON TOGETHER. -ISAIAH 1:18 College athletes should be paid. Climate change is a reality, and one cause is the burning of fossil fuels. Corporate tax cuts enable companies to pay their workers more."
"These are all arguments, not facts. They make claims that are debatable and with which we may agree or disagree-so anyone making such claims needs to support them with good reasons and evidence. Think for a moment about some of the claims that surround us, coming from social media, podcasts, newspapers, even song lyrics and movies (think We Are the Champions or Parasite ). So we're surrounded by argument-what we read and see, what we hear, what we talk about, and especially what we write."
"We need to look and listen with an open mind but a critical eye, to present our own arguments carefully, and to respond to those of others respectfully. This chapter provides a roadmap for reading, writing, and thinking about the arguments you'll encounter in college, at work, and everywhere in between. A GUIDE TO DEVELOPING AN ARGUMENT You'll often be assigned to write an essay that argues a position of some kind-to stake a CLAIM that you then support with REASONS and EVIDENCE ."
"Here now is some advice that will make you aware of the various choices you'll have and that will help you make good choices. It's designed to be used as you write . Keep it close at hand! Identify a topic that matters If you get to choose your topic, choose one that matters to you and will matter to others. But even if you're assigned to write about a specific topic, try to come up with some aspect that interests you-or that will be of interest to others."
"Think about your rhetorical situation Once you have a topic, give some thought to who your audience is, what you hope to accomplish, and the rest of your rhetorical situation. Purpose. What do you hope to accomplish by writing about this issue? What do you hope to learn? What do you want to persuade your audience to think or do? How can you best achieve these purposes? Audience. Whom do you want to reach? What do they know about your topic, and what if any background information will you need to provide?"
"Are they likely to think your argument matters, or will you have to convince them? How sympathetic are they likely to be to your argument? What kinds of evidence will they find persuasive? What values do they hold, and how are they different from yours? Stance. How do you want to come across as an author-as curious? well-informed? sympathetic?-and how can you establish your credibility to write on this topic? Why do you care about the topic? Do you have any preconceived ideas about it?"
"Where did these ideas come from? How else might you think about it? Context. What's motivating you to write about this issue? What is being said about it: what are the various perspectives? If you're writing in response to an assignment, what's your time frame and are there any requirements you need to keep in mind? Medium and design. How will your argument be delivered-in print? online? as a speech?"
"How does the medium affect the way it will be designed and the kinds of evidence you can provide-can you include images? audio? links to other sources? Be sure the topic is arguable-and one you can approach with an open mind Begin by making sure that the topic is arguable-not an easily verified fact or a mere opinion, but a subject about which there are a number of different perspectives."
"Think about whether it's worth discussing: Is it a topic that matters, and one that others (including your audience) will care about? Be sure the topic is manageable, given the time and resources you have. Finally, ask yourself whether it's a topic you can investigate with an open mind. If not, find another topic. Let's assume you're intrigued by a topic you've read about in your campus newspaper: whether NCAA athletes should be paid."
"A quick search reveals a wide range of viewpoints on this topic, suggesting that it is timely and not a matter of simple facts or mere opinions. So this topic appears to be arguable; so far, so good. The sources you've identified in your quick search suggest that it's also manageable, that you'll be able to find informative arguments on all sides of the issue that will be readily available to you online or through your library."
"In an interview about how he came to write his 2016 book Indentured: The Rebellion against the College Sports Cartel , Joe Nocera reflects on how he first became interested in the topic of pay for athletes in 2011, when he wrote an article in the New York Times Magazine arguing that college athletes should be paid: I got interested in this subject around rights, much more than the issue of pay. I did write the first story with an idea of how to pay the players, but it was more of a thought exercise."
"And I did it five years ago, when I was just starting to get into this, and before the widespread criticism of the NCAA really gained steam. So, I hadn't really thought much about it. And in the course of doing that story . . . I began to realize how pervasively the life of an athlete is controlled."
"-JOE NOCERA, Let's Start Paying College Athletes Note that Nocera started with a question for which he had no answers, and one he hadn't thought much about. So he began with a topic that intrigued him rather than one he had already made up his mind about. And the research he then did led him to understand how many perspectives there are on the topic and how many lives are affected by it."
"Like many of the most talented college athletes, Zion Williamson was one and done and left Duke to play for the New Orleans Pelicans. Research your topic with an open mind Start by thinking about what you already know about the topic-and what you don't know. What questions do you have? What do you think about the topic, and why? Finally, think again about whether you can explore this topic with an open mind."
"Do some research If you're exploring a current topic, you'll likely find a lot of sources online; but if you're studying a topic from the past, you'll probably find many of the sources you'll need in the library. And for some topics you may need to conduct interviews, observations, or other field research. Whatever research you do, keep in mind that your goal is to learn about the topic, not simply to find evidence to support ideas you already have."
"Identify the various positions on the topic You'll want to learn about all the PERSPECTIVES you can find. Especially if you have an idea of your own position on the topic, keep an open mind. What are some of the issues that are being discussed, and what are the various positions on those issues? What are others saying-and why?"
"Formulate an explicit position, and state it as a working thesis When you feel you understand the topic well and have enough information to work with, you'll need to formulate a position that you'll be able to support. And once you can articulate your position, write it out in an explicit THESIS , one that clearly identifies your topic and makes a claim that will get your audience's attention. For example: Artificial intelligence will be the death of humans as we know them."
"Professional athletes today are shuffled around like pawns. COVID-19 will change every aspect of our lives. Be careful, however, not to overstate your thesis: you may need to QUALIFY it using words like sometimes , might , or in some cases , which will limit your position to one that you'll be able to support. For example: Artificial intelligence may well be the death of humans as we know them. Today, professional athletes are too often shuffled around like pawns."
"COVID-19 will change many aspects of our lives. Such qualifying words and phrases show that you are arguing seriously and cautiously, rather than making absolute claims that you may not be able to substantiate. So be sure to ask yourself whether your thesis needs to be qualified-and if so, in what ways. And keep in mind that at this point in the process, this is a working thesis; it may change as you continue to work on your draft. See pp. 84-85 for more detail on coming up with a thesis."
"Here's how one author team stakes out their position on whether higher education is for everyone: Study after study reminds us that higher education is one of the best investments we can make. We all know that, on average, college graduates make significantly more money over their lifetimes than those with only a high school education. What gets less attention is the fact that not all college degrees are equal."
"There is enormous variation in the so-called return to education depending on factors such as institution attended, field of study, whether or not a student graduates, and post-graduation occupation. While the average return to obtaining a college degree is clearly positive . . . it is not universally so. For certain schools, majors, occupations, and individuals, college may not be a smart investment."
"-STEPHANIE OWEN and ISABEL SAWHILL, Should Everyone Go to College? Their position is clear: higher education is not always a good investment. Notice, however, how careful they are to qualify their argument, noting that while college graduates earn more on average, it is not universally so, and that in certain cases college may not be a smart investment. By saying that higher education may not be a good investment, the authors have limited their position to one they will be able to support."
"Even in everyday arguments-say over a claim that Impossible Burgers are ten times better than the real thing-you'd better be prepared to prove that the new meatless wonders are really, really good-or face skeptics who will say, simply, Says who? or Can you prove it? Answering such questions persuasively is the key to supporting your claim."
"The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle long ago wrote that we should use all the available means we can to persuade an audience and suggested three in particular: providing good reasons and evidence, demonstrating credibility, and appealing to emotion. You're entitled to your own opinions but not your own facts. -DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN Provide good reasons and evidence Whatever your thesis, it needs to be backed up by reasons why you take that position."
"One way to think about that is to write out your thesis and then answer the question why? For example: Artificial intelligence may well be the death of humans as we know them. Why? Because robots will be able to do what humans now do-and more. Too often today, professional athletes are shuffled around like pawns. Why? Because most contracts give more rights to teams and owners than to players. COVID-19 will change many aspects of our lives. Why?"
"Because experts including physicians and epidemiologists say that old behaviors won't work in a post-pandemic world. If you can't come up with good reasons, you may need to revise your thesis-or find another topic. But once you have a list of reasons, think about which ones best suit your PURPOSE , and which ones your AUDIENCE is likely to accept. Then you need to provide evidence to support those reasons."
"While there are many kinds of evidence you can use to good advantage, we'll focus here on five common ones: facts and statistics, expert testimony, narrative, examples, and personal experience. See pp. 85-90 for more on finding evidence. Facts and statistics. Facts are ideas that have been proven to be true; because they can be verified, they serve as a kind of evidence that an audience will accept. Statistics are numerical data gathered from research or experimentation."
"See how a report about World Water Day provides both facts and statistics to support what it says about the importance of clean water: A staggering 844 million people live without access to clean water. That's roughly 1 in 10 people on earth, or about twice the population of the United States. March 22nd is World Water Day 2018, a day to pause, consider the impact of clean water in the world, and make a difference."
"A stunning statistic-that one in ten people in the world don't have access to clean water-leads to a description of ten facts about the water crisis: 1. 100 million families are stuck in a cycle of poverty and disease because they don't have access to safe water. 2. More people die from unsafe water than from all forms of violence, including war. 3. 2.4 billion people, 1 in 3, lack access to a toilet. 4. Water-borne diseases kill more children under the age of 5 than malaria, measles, and HIV/AIDS-combined."
"5. In developing countries, as much as 80% of illnesses are linked to poor water and sanitation conditions. 6. Women and girls spend up to 6 hours every day walking to get water for their families. 7. The average distance that women in Africa and Asia walk to collect water is 3.7 miles. That is 19,500 steps, every day, just to get water that is making them sick. 8. 443 million school days are lost each year due to water-related diseases. 9."
"Time spent gathering water around the world translates to $24 billion in lost economic benefits each year, furthering the cycle of poverty. 10. Every dollar invested in safe water and improved hygiene and sanitation results in 8 dollars of increased economic activity. -World Water Day 2018: 10 Facts about the Water Crisis Women in Tanzania carrying containers of water. The writers of this report take care to show that these are indeed facts by linking to a Water Crisis Fact Sheet."
"Facts and statistics like these can help you make sound and believable arguments. But you'll want to make sure that any facts or numbers you cite are accurate, and think about whether they'll be accepted by your readers. You'll want to be especially careful with statistics, which can all too easily be manipulated or taken out of context. Expert testimony. One of the most persuasive kinds of evidence is the direct testimony of experts on the issue you're writing about."
"Citing authorities also demonstrates that you've researched the topic and know what you're talking about, adding to your CREDIBILITY as an author. For an article on the dangers concussions cause to many athletes, Kristin Sainani, a professor of health policy, interviewed David Camarillo, a professor of bioengineering whose lab focuses on understanding and preventing head injuries."
"Throughout her article, Sainani cites information she learned from Camarillo as evidence that wearing a helmet does little to prevent concussions and to convince readers that equipment to protect against concussions needs to be better. Even as a professor of health policy herself, Sainani made her argument more persuasive by citing someone with more expertise on her topic-and you can do the same by citing experts in fields you write about. Narrative."
"We all know that stories matter-and that a powerful story can engage audiences and help support an argument. Be sure, however, that any story you tell is pertinent to your point-and that it is not the only evidence you provide. Advertisements often use narrative to get our attention, as in the ad below from a bus stop in New York for Feeding America, an organization that provides a nationwide network of food banks."
"With just two sentences, the ad tells a story that supports the argument that hunger is something that needs to end. Examples. Good examples make abstract ideas more concrete and easier to understand-and can provide specific instances to back up a claim."
"See how one author uses a specific example to support his argument that resolving lawsuits against opioid producers with large cash settlements has made those drug companies big winners: Consider the case of Florida, which in 2001 became one of the first states to investigate Purdue Pharma. Its attorney general at the time, Robert Butterworth, pointing to a growing number of overdose deaths, declared that he would discover when Purdue Pharma first knew about OxyContin's abuse. That never happened."
"Instead, state investigators interviewed only a single former OxyContin sales representative, and Mr. Butterworth, who was running for a State Senate seat, ended the case soon after it was filed. He lost his election and the case's settlement proved empty. While Purdue Pharma agreed to pay $2 million to fund a system that would monitor how Florida doctors prescribed opioids, state legislators blocked its creation."
"David Aronberg, the state attorney for Palm Beach County, told me that nearly all of the $2 million was returned to the drug company, and Florida went on to become a major center of the opioid crisis."
"-BARRY MEIER, Opioid Makers Are the Big Winners in Lawsuits This example provides concrete evidence to show one instance when a drug manufacturer actually benefited, unfairly and mightily, from a settlement-and how Florida went on to become a major center of the opioid crisis. Personal experience can sometimes provide powerful support for an argument since it brings a kind of eyewitness evidence."
"See how Louie Lazar, a journalist who's fascinated by both basketball and Buddhism, opens an article about the surprising popularity of basketball in Tibet with a personal ANECDOTE about how he came to research that topic: A few years ago, while living in Queens, I began to wonder whether any Buddhist monks played hoops. I'd loved the sport since childhood and had recently become fascinated by practitioners of Buddhism. And while the pairing may seem far-fetched, it made a certain sense to me."
"Devotion to the sport involves countless hours in the solitude of echoing, dimly lit places . . . where one undergoes a genuinely meditative sensory experience: the rhythmic bounding of a ball, the mental focus and repetition essential for knocking down free throws, the visualizations, such as imagining oneself sinking a last-second shot. There's a reason Phil Jackson-a.k.a. the Zen Master-didn't coach football."
"I visited a few Buddhist monasteries in the New York area, where I was met with a consistent response from the polite but puzzled residents: No, monks don't play basketball . That seemed to be that. But there's always the Internet. Late one evening in 2017, I googled basketball and Buddhist monk and eventually found a Facebook page on which a grainy video had been posted. It showed a red-robed monk on an outdoor court effortlessly leaping up, grabbing the rim, and shattering the backboard."
"-LOUIE LAZAR, How Tibet Went Crazy for Hoops Buddhist monks shooting hoops in Tibet. This personal anecdote contributes to Lazar's article in two respects: by providing evidence that some Buddhist monks do in fact play basketball, and also by demonstrating that Lazar has done his homework and knows what he's writing about. In your own writing, make sure that any personal experience you cite is pertinent to your argument and will serve your purpose."
"For another example, take a look at David French's article in the National Review about the virtues of traditional masculinity and his decision to become more fit. He describes being on a Cub Scout trip when his son suffered a serious head injury. When medics were unable to reach the bottom of the ravine, French picked up his son and ran up a steep incline, something he would have been unable to do had he not been so fit."
"Reflecting on this life-threatening event, French explains: But I answered the call of my traditional masculinity and got stronger not because I wanted to look good or attract women or be fit but because something inside me whispered that an able-bodied man should not be weak."
"In other words, I tried my best to become a true grown man. -DAVID FRENCH, Grown Men Are the Solution, Not the Problem Demonstrate your credibility You need to establish your own AUTHORITY as a writer: to show that you know what you're talking about by citing trustworthy sources, and to demonstrate that you're fair by representing other positions evenhandedly and accurately. Be careful, though, not to overdo it, especially when you need to demonstrate respect as well as credibility."
"You don't want to come across as boastful. You might want to acknowledge those you've learned from, noting that you're building on their work. When Jaron Lanier, often said to be the father of virtual reality, decided that social media-for which he'd been an advocate-have become a monster we now can't control, he wrote a book called Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Account RIGHT NOW ."
"Anticipating criticism of his position, Lanier acknowledged and addressed that criticism in the opening chapter: Plenty of critics like me have been warning that bad stuff was happening for a while now. . . . For years, I had to endure quite painful criticism from friends in Silicon Valley because I was perceived as a traitor for criticizing what we were doing. Lately I have the opposite problem."
"I argue that Silicon Valley people are for the most part decent, and I ask that we not be villainized; I take a lot of fresh heat for that. Whether I've been too hard or too soft on my community is hard to know. The more important question now is whether anyone's criticism will matter. It's undeniably out in the open that a bad technology is doing us harm, but will we-will you, meaning you , be able to resist and help steer the world to a better place?"
"-JARON LANIER, Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Account RIGHT NOW In this passage, Lanier comes across as straightforward and honest: he's telling it like it is, even if he gets criticized for doing so."
"But then he takes an unexpected turn: rather than condemning Silicon Valley, he argues that most people working there are in fact decent (and he includes himself in this we) but then points to an even larger issue: Is it possible that by now, no one will be able to make bad stuff stop happening? Lanier suggests that such a goal can only be achieved if everyone who uses social media takes action, and he closes by addressing us directly-as you ."
"Readers will know Lanier's credentials: they are detailed on the inside cover of the book. This passage increases his credibility by including himself in the group he's criticizing and by accepting responsibility, suggesting that we can trust him to be giving us his most thoughtful and best advice."
"Appeal to your audience's emotion Good reasons and evidence provide powerful support for an argument, but sometimes it helps to appeal to an audience's emotions as well-appealing to their hearts as well as their minds. Emotional appeals can be a powerful means of supporting an argument, stirring feelings and sometimes invoking values that those in your audience can be assumed to hold."
"Images are especially effective in conveying emotion and in stirring emotion in others, as did this photo of a dazed and wounded child, pulled from the rubble after air strikes in Aleppo. This photo galvanized millions to protest the war in Syria, to donate to charitable organizations trying to help, and to change their attitudes about the role the United States has played in that war. A young boy just rescued after an air strike in Aleppo, Syria."
"Be careful when you make an emotional appeal that it suits your argument and purpose, and think about what you want your audience to think or do in response. Also, take care not to overdo it, pulling at their heartstrings so hard that your audience feels manipulated or that you have in some way taken advantage of your subject's vulnerability. Remember that if used inappropriately, emotional appeals may turn your audience off!"
"Consider other perspectives respectfully, and look for common ground No matter what your position, others may have different views or even offer COUNTERARGUMENTS . You need to acknowledge views other than your own accurately and respectfully and to answer any objections-whether to explain why you disagree, concede that they have a point, or some of each."
"Doing so shows that you've done your homework and are aware of what else has been said, enhancing your authority to write on the topic and demonstrating to your readers that you're a writer they can trust. And including views that are contrary to your own shows you to be confident enough of your own views to acknowledge other perspectives that are also worth considering."
Acknowledging the views of others is also a way of establishing COMMON GROUND with those who hold positions different from yours-and showing that you're trying to understand where they're coming from will increase the likelihood that they'll take seriously what you say. And finding some point of agreement will always increase the likelihood that your own argument will be heard. Successful arguments include a healthy consideration for other views.
"-JOHN DUFFY Sometimes building common ground is a matter of choosing the right words. Calling someone who doubts the existence of climate change a climate denier, for example, is likely to end the conversation. Better instead to say they're skeptical of the scientific forecasts and to avoid any labels."
"See how journalist Clive Thompson considers other points of view and builds common ground in arguing that technology is making our minds and our lives better: Some people panic that our brains are being deformed on a physiological level by today's technology: spend too much time flipping between windows and skimming text instead of reading a book, or interrupting your conversations to read text messages, and pretty soon you won't be able to concentrate on anything-and if you can't concentrate on it, you can't understand it either."
"In his book The Shallows , Nicholas Carr eloquently raised this alarm, arguing that the quality of our thought, as a species, rose in tandem with the ascendance of slow-moving, linear print and began declining with the arrival of the zingy, flighty Internet. I'm not thinking the way I used to think, he worried. I'm certain that many of these fears are warranted. . . . Today's multitasking tools really do make it harder than before to stay focused. . . ."
"One of the great challenges of today's digital thinking tools is knowing when not to use them, when to rely on the powers of older and slower technologies, like paper and books."
"-CLIVE THOMPSON, Smarter Than You Think: How Technology Is Changing Our Minds for the Better The title of Thompson's book lets readers know that he is an advocate for new technologies: they are changing our minds for the better. Yet he takes time to seek out those like Nicholas Carr who disagree with him, considering his opinion and quoting him, letting Carr speak for himself-a sign of respect. Thompson goes on to build common ground with those readers by acknowledging Carr's position as worthy of respect."
"He even heeds Carr's warning to some degree, noting that it's important to know when and when not to use digital tools. Present your position as a response to what others say Whatever your topic, you will rarely if ever be the first one to say something about it. What you say will be part of a larger conversation, one that began before you got there. It's a good idea, therefore, to start your essay by noting something else that has been said about the issue and then presenting your position as a response."
"In the following example from an op-ed column in the New York Times arguing that community colleges need more support, the president of LaGuardia Community College opens by noting something that many of those who read the Times probably assume about American college students: that they divide their time between classes, parties, and extracurricular activities: You might think the typical college student lives in a state of bliss, spending each day moving among classes, parties and extracurricular activities."
"But the reality is that an increasingly small population of undergraduates enjoys that kind of life. Of the country's nearly 18 million undergraduates, more than 40 percent go to community college, and of those, only 62 percent can afford to go to college full-time. By contrast, a mere 0.4 percent of students in the United States attend one of the ivies. The typical student is not the one burnishing a fancy rsum with numerous unpaid internships."
"It's just the opposite: Over half of all undergraduates live at home to make their degrees more affordable, and a shocking 40 percent of students work at least 30 hours a week. About 25 percent work full-time and go to school full-time."
"-GAIL O. MELLOW, The Biggest Misconception about Today's College Students Mellow responds to what readers might think by questioning that assumption, noting that very few students live that kind of life-and that more than 40 percent attend a community college and work at least thirty hours a week."
"She then points out that public funding for community colleges is significantly less than for 4-year colleges-and states her position clearly and explicitly: Community colleges need increased funding, and students need access to more flexible federal and state financial aid, enhanced paid internships and college work-study programs. . . ."
"It's time to put public and private money where more and more students are educated, and remove the real, but surmountable, obstacles that stand between them and a degree. Students at LaGuardia Community College. Whenever you argue a position, you're responding to something someone else said or did that has motivated you to speak up. Especially in academic writing, you're expected to do more than just assert your own position; you need to let your readers know what larger conversation you're responding to."
"Establish a responsible stance and a trustworthy tone In a time of arguments based on fake news, misleading headlines, and downright lies, it's more important than ever that you aim for honesty and truth, take full responsibility for what you say, and establish a reasonable, trustworthy tone."
"After all, your audience must trust that you know what you're talking about and believe that you have their best interests at heart if they're to listen carefully to what you say, much less accept what you want them to think or do. See how Kamala Harris establishes a trustworthy tone in a commencement address at Howard University, a school that she herself attended: I've had the honor of speaking at many commencements. But this one is particularly special for me."
"Because decades ago, I sat just where you sit now, feeling the embrace of my Howard family. Our Howard family. And a family, at its best, shares common values and aspirations. . . . A family looks for ways to support and inspire one another. . . . You are . . . part of a legacy that has now endured and thrived for 150 years. Endured when the doors of higher education were closed to Black students. Endured when segregation and discrimination were the law of the land."
"But over the last 150 years, Howard has endured and thrived. Generations of students have been nurtured and challenged here-and provided with the tools and confidence to soar. -KAMALA HARRIS, Howard University commencement address It's not hard for Harris to win her audience's trust, having graduated from Howard University herself."
"But she makes the most of it, noting that she's had the honor of speaking at many commencements, but that this one is particularly special. In fact, she still recalls feeling the embrace of Our Howard family. A family shares common values and aspirations, and her words suggest that she and her audience have much in common beyond having attended the same school."
"And when she tells them they have the tools and confidence to soar, she speaks from personal experience: she's been where they are now and assures them that they have what it takes to soar. Her words demonstrate that she knows what she's talking about-and both understands and cares about the members of her audience. There are other ways to establish trustworthiness and credibility, of course."
"Harris could have, for example, cited statistics about how many generations of successful graduates Howard has sent forth to uphold its values. Or she could have drawn on testimony from other respected and knowledgeable scholars who can also speak to Howard's ability to help students soar. But in this instance, she draws on her own authority-as a highly successful former prosecutor, attorney general of California, and senator-and her own experience to build a sense of trust with her audience. REFLECT!"
"Find a speech on YouTube given by someone who interests you, perhaps an author or a candidate for office, and listen for how that speaker establishes credibility-or not. What does the speaker do (or fail to do) to come across as trustworthy (or not)? Invite response Whatever your topic, you are not likely to be the first one to write about it."
"If in writing about an issue, you're joining a larger conversation, then you should invite your readers to do the same-to respond to what you say and add their voices to that conversation."
"One way to do this is to conclude by calling on readers to do something specific, as civil rights activist Michelle Alexander does in the introduction to her book The New Jim Crow : A new social consensus must be forged about race and the role of race in defining the basic structure of our society, if we hope ever to abolish the New Jim Crow. This new consensus must begin with dialogue, a conversation that fosters a critical consciousness, a key prerequisite to effective social action."
"My writing is an attempt to ensure that the conversation does not end with nervous laughter. -MICHELLE ALEXANDER, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Here Alexander calls on readers to act, to join a conversation that she hopes her book will begin, one that she says is prerequisite to effective social action. Now see how she concludes an op-ed on the same topic published in the New York Times ."
"Like many newspapers, the Times explicitly invites readers to respond by sending in letters to the editor or posting comments online, and Alexander concludes by naming specific goals and how they should be met-and then challenging her readers to respond to a direct question: If our goal is not a better system of mass criminalization, but instead the creation of safe, caring, thriving communities, then we ought to be heavily investing in quality schools, job creation, drug treatment and mental health care in the least advantaged communities rather than pouring billions into their high-tech management and control."
"Fifty years ago, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. warned that when machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered. We failed to heed his warning back then. Will we make a different choice today?"
"In this conclusion, Alexander calls directly on readers to reject mass criminalization and instead to invest in education, job creation, and health care as the best way to create safe . . ."
"communities. To underscore this position, she notes that citizens failed to act when Martin Luther King Jr. urged them to take action against the giant triplets that have led to mass criminalization, closing with a potent rhetorical question she very much hopes will be answered by a resounding yes. Read your draft with a critical eye, get response-and revise Now's the time to read over what you've written to see that you've made your position clear, supported it with good reasons and evidence, and considered carefully what others have said-and then to ask a classmate to read it over as well."
"The following questions can help you or someone else to read over a draft that takes a position:   Have you DESCRIBED the issue clearly and in a fair-minded way? Have you stated your POSITION explicitly and as a response to what others have said about the topic? Is there a THESIS -and if not, is one needed? What good REASONS have you given for your position, and what EVIDENCE have you provided as support? Is your evidence factually accurate? How likely is it that your AUDIENCE will find it persuasive?"
What's your STANCE ? Is it trustworthy and appropriate to your audience and purpose? What background information have you provided? What more might your readers need? How reliable are any sources you've cited? What kinds of sources are they-scholarly? popular? Who published or sponsored them? What's their purpose-to inform? sell? persuade? entertain? What can you learn about them? Do other sources say the same thing?
"What COUNTERARGUMENTS and other perspectives have you considered, and have you described them fairly and accurately? How have you addressed what they say? How will your OPENING make your audience want to read on? How else might you begin? Is it clear why the issue matters? Why do you care, and who else should care? Does the CONCLUSION make clear what you want readers to think or do? Have you invited them to respond? Is your argument easy to follow? If not, would it help to add TRANSITIONS or headings?"
"Consider your title. Does it tell readers what the topic is, and will it make them want to read on? Now's the time to think about whether there's a better title. Now take a deep breath-and REVISE ! If you've analyzed your draft and gotten advice from others, you've got a plan. You know what you need or want to do. But remember: you're writing an ARGUMENT , which needs to take a clear POSITION supported by REASONS and EVIDENCE -and to acknowledge other positions as well."
"That said, here's what you think and why! REFLECT! Examine something that you've written-an essay, an email, a presentation, whatever. Have you made clear that what you wrote about mattered to you, and should matter to others? If not, how would you now revise what you wrote to make that explicit? Glossary CLAIM, 84-85, 103-5 A statement of a belief or POSITION . In an ARGUMENT , a claim needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied, and requires support by REASONS and EVIDENCE ."
"REASONS, 105-8 Support for a CLAIM or a POSITION . A reason, in turn, requires its own support. EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS . Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling. Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making)."
"THESIS, 84-85 A statement that identifies the topic and main point of a piece of writing, giving readers an idea of what the text will cover. QUALIFY, 84, 104-5 To limit a CLAIM -saying, for example, that most people like cake rather than people like cake. Words like frequently, often, generally , or sometimes can help you qualify what you claim-and make it something you'll be able to support."
"PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION . CREDIBILITY, 164-66, 297-98 The sense of trustworthiness that a writer conveys through the text. ANECDOTE, 85, 412 A brief NARRATIVE used to illustrate a point. AUTHORITY, 57, 112-13, 142-43 A person or text that is cited as support for an ARGUMENT ."
"A structural engineer may be quoted as an authority on bridge construction, for example. Authority also refers to a quality conveyed by writers who are knowledgeable about their subjects. COUNTERARGUMENT, 16, 90-91, 265 In ARGUMENT , an alternative POSITION or objection to the writer's position. The writer of an argument should not only acknowledge counterarguments but also, if at all possible, accept, accommodate, or refute each counterargument. COMMON GROUND, 9, 37-40, 114-16 Shared values."
"Writers build common ground with AUDIENCES by acknowledging their points of view, seeking areas of compromise, and using language that includes, rather than excludes, those they aim to reach. DESCRIPTION, 86 A STRATEGY that tells how something looks, sounds, smells, feels, or tastes. Effective description creates a clear DOMINANT IMPRESSION built from specific details. Description can be objective, subjective , or both. Description can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or whole text."
"POSITION, 43-44 A statement that asserts a belief or a CLAIM . In an ARGUMENT , a position needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied and to be supported with REASONS and EVIDENCE . THESIS, 84-85 A statement that identifies the topic and main point of a piece of writing, giving readers an idea of what the text will cover. REASONS, 105-8 Support for a CLAIM or a POSITION . A reason, in turn, requires its own support. EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS ."
"Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling. Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making). AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION ."
"AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . STANCE, 17-19, 26-27 A writer's attitude toward the subject-for example, reasonable, neutral, angry, curious. Stance is conveyed through TONE and word choice. COUNTERARGUMENT, 16, 90-91, 265 In ARGUMENT , an alternative POSITION or objection to the writer's position."
"The writer of an argument should not only acknowledge counterarguments but also, if at all possible, accept, accommodate, or refute each counterargument. OPENING, 146, 410-12 The way a text begins, which plays an important role in drawing an AUDIENCE in. Some ways of beginning an essay: with a dramatic or deceptively simple statement, with something others have said about your topic, with a provocative question or a startling CLAIM , or with an ANECDOTE ."
"CONCLUSION, 92, 211, 417-18 The way a text ends, a chance to leave an AUDIENCE thinking about what's been said. Some ways of concluding an essay: REITERATING your point, discussing the implications of your ARGUMENT , proposing some kind of action, inviting response. TRANSITIONS, 424 Words or phrases that help to connect sentences and paragraphs and to guide readers through a text."
"Transitions can signal COMPARISONS ( also, similarly, likewise, in the same way ); CONTRASTS ( but, instead, although, however, nonetheless ); examples ( for instance, in fact, such as ); place or position ( above, beyond, near, elsewhere ); sequence ( finally, next, again, also ); SUMMARIES or CONCLUSIONS ( on the whole, as we have seen, in brief ); time ( at first, meanwhile, so far, later ); and more."
"REVISING, 93-94 The process of making substantive changes, including additions and deletions, to a DRAFT so that it contains all the necessary information in an appropriate organization. Revision generally moves from whole-text issues to details with the goals of sharpening the focus and strengthening the ARGUMENT . See also response and revision ARGUMENT, 99-131 Any text that makes a CLAIM supported by REASONS and EVIDENCE . A GENRE that uses REASONS and EVIDENCE to support a CLAIM ."
"Key Features: an explicit POSITION - a response to what others have said - appropriate background information - a clear indication of why the topic matters - good REASONS and EVIDENCE - attention to more than one POINT OF VIEW - an authoritative TONE - an appeal to readers' values POSITION, 43-44 A statement that asserts a belief or a CLAIM . In an ARGUMENT , a position needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied and to be supported with REASONS and EVIDENCE ."
"REASONS, 105-8 Support for a CLAIM or a POSITION . A reason, in turn, requires its own support. EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS . Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling. Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making)."
"PERSPECTIVES, 90-91, 29-41 Viewpoints, an important part of a writer's STANCE . As a writer and a researcher, you should always strive to seek, think about, and work to understand multiple perspectives. A STUDENT ARGUMENT GABRIELA MORO Minority Student Clubs: Segregation or Integration? Gabriela Moro wrote this essay in her first-year composition class at the University of Notre Dame. It was later published in Fresh Writing , an online archive of exemplary first-year writing by students at Notre Dame."
"Moro graduated in 2018 with a major in neuroscience and behavior and is pursuing a career in medicine. Provides background information and introduces topic. Minority representation on US college campuses has increased significantly in recent years, and many schools have made it a priority to increase diversity on their campuses in order to prepare students for a culturally diverse US democratic society (Hurtado and Ruiz 3-4)."
"To complement this increase, many schools have implemented minority student clubs to provide safe and comfortable environments where minority students can thrive academically and socially with peers from similar backgrounds. However, do these minority groups amplify students' tendency to interact only with those who are similar to themselves? Put another way, do these groups inhibit students from engaging in diverse relationships? Summarizes what others say. States claim as a response to what's been said."
"Many view such programs to be positive and integral to minority students' college experience; some, however, feel that these clubs are not productive for promoting cross-cultural interaction. While minority clubs have proven to be beneficial to minority students in some cases, particularly on campuses that are not very diverse, my research suggests that colleges would enrich the educational experience for all students by introducing multicultural clubs as well. Discusses opposing views."
"To frame my discussion, I will use an article from College Student Journal that distinguishes between two types of students: one who believes minority clubs are essential for helping minority students stay connected with their cultures, and another who believes these clubs isolate minorities and work against diverse interaction among students."
"To pursue the question of whether or not such groups segregate minorities from the rest of the student body and even discourage cultural awareness, I will use perspectives from minority students to show that these programs are especially helpful for first-year students. I will also use other student testimonials to show that when taken too far, minority groups can lead to self-segregation and defy what most universities claim to be their diversity goals."
Findings from research will contribute to a better understanding of the role minority clubs play on college campuses and offer a complete answer to my question about the importance of minority programs.
"Defines key term,  diversity . Before I go further, I would like to differentiate among three kinds of diversity that Gurin and colleagues identify in their article Diversity and Higher Education: Theory and Impact on Educational Outcomes. The first type is structural diversity , the numerical representation of diverse [racial and ethnic] groups. The existence of structural diversity alone does not ensure that students will develop valuable intergroup relationships."
"Classroom diversity , the second type, involves gaining content knowledge or a better understanding about diverse peers and their backgrounds by doing so in the classroom. The third type of diversity, informal interactional diversity , refers to both the frequency and the quality of intergroup interaction as keys to meaningful diversity experiences during college. Students often encounter this kind of diversity in social settings outside the classroom (Gurin 332-33)."
"Informal interactional diversity is the focus of my research, since it is the concept that leads colleges to establish social events and organizations that allow all students to experience and appreciate the variety of cultures present in a student body. Cites evidence from published studies. In a study published in College Student Journal , three administrators at Pennsylvania State University explore how biracial students interact with others on a college campus."
"The authors conclude that views of minority clubs and related programs, which the authors call race-oriented student services, tend to fall into two groups: Although some argue that these race-oriented student services are divisive and damage white-minority relations, others support these services as providing a safe place and meeting the needs of minority students to develop a sense of racial pride, community and importance (Ingram et al. 298)."
I will start by examining the point of view of those associate minority clubs with positive outcomes. Cites evidence showing benefits of minority clubs. A study by Samuel Museus in the Journal of College Student Development finds that minority student programs help students to stay connected with their culture in college and help ease first-year minority students' transition into the college environment.
"The study also shows that ethnic student organizations help students adjust and find their place at universities that have a predominantly white student body (584). Museus concludes that universities should stress the importance of racial and ethnic groups and develop more opportunities for minority students to make connections with them. This way, students can find support from their minority peers as they work together to face academic and social challenges."
"Museus's findings suggest that minority student groups are essential for allowing these to preserve and foster connections to their own cultures. Cites further evidence of positive effects. In another study, Wendell Hall and colleagues evaluated how minority and non-minority students differ in their inclinations to take part in diversity activities and to communicate with racially and ethnically diverse peers at a predominantly white university."
These scholars conclude that engagement [with diverse peers] is learned (434). Students who engaged with diverse students before going to college were more likely to interact with diverse peers by the end of their sophomore year. Minority students were more predisposed than their white peers to interact with diverse peers during their freshman year (435).
"These findings indicate that minority student clubs can be helpful for first-year minority students who have not previously engaged with other minority students, especially if the university has a predominantly white student body. Quotes student testimony on the benefits of such clubs. Professors and scholars are not the only ones who strongly support minority clubs."
"For example, three students at Harvard College-Andrea Delgado, Denzel (no last name given), and Kimi Fafowora-give their perspective on student life and multicultural identity on campus to incoming students via YouTube . The students explain how minority programs on campus have helped them adjust to a new college environment as first-year students. As Delgado puts it, Considers problems with minority clubs."
"I thought [cultural clubs were] something I maybe didn't need, but come November, I missed speaking Spanish and I missed having tacos, and other things like that. That's the reason why I started attending meetings more regularly. Latinas Unidas has been a great intersection of my cultural background and my political views."
"(Student Voices) The experiences these minority students shared support the scholarly evidence that minority clubs help incoming students transition into a new and often intimidating environment. While the benefits of these clubs are quite evident, several problems can also arise from them. The most widely recognized is self-segregation. Self-segregating tendencies are not exclusive to minority students: college students in general tend to self-segregate as they enter an unfamiliar environment."
"As a study by Nathan Martin and colleagues finds, Today, the student bodies of our leading colleges and universities are more diverse than ever. However, college students are increasingly self-segregating by race or ethnicity (720). Several studies as well as interviews with students suggest that minority clubs exacerbate students' inclination to self-segregate. And as students become comfortable with their minority peers, they may no longer desire or feel the need to branch out of their comfort zone."
"Cites research pointing out problems with many clubs. In another study, Julie Park, a professor at the University of Maryland, examines the relationship between participation in college student organizations and the development of interracial friendships. Park suggests, if students spend the majority of time in such groups [Greek, ethnic, and religious student organizations], participation may affect student involvement in the broader diversity of the institution (642)."
"In other words, if minority students form all of their social and academic ties within their minority group, the desired cultural exchange among the student body could suffer. Considers views opposing biracial and multiracial clubs. So what can be done?"
"In the Penn State study mentioned earlier, in which data were collected by an online survey, participants were asked to respond to an open-ended question about what they think universities should do to create a more inviting environment for biracial students (Ingram et al. 303)."
"On one hand, multiple students responded with opinions opposing the formation of both biracial and multiracial clubs: I feel instead of having biracial and multiracial clubs the colleges should have diversity clubs and just allow everyone to get together. All these separate' categorizing of clubs, isn't that just separation of groups? Having a ton of clubs that are for specific races is counter-productive. It creates segregation and lack of communication across cultures (304-05)."
"Cites student testimony in support of multicultural activities. On the other hand, students offered suggestions for the formation of multicultural activities: Encourage more racial integration to show students races aren't so different from each other and to lessen stereotypes (305). Hold cultural events that allow students of different races to express / share their heritage (306)."
"Patreese Ingram and colleagues conclude that, while biracial and multiracial student organizations are helpful in establishing an inviting college environment for minority students, Quotes research on the need for an inclusive environment. creating a truly inclusive environment . . . requires additional efforts: these include multicultural awareness training for faculty, staff, and students, and incorporation of multicultural issues into the curriculum."
"In addition to the creation of biracial / multiracial clubs and organizations, the students in this study want to increase awareness of the mixed heritage population among others on college campuses. (308) Sums up evidence on both sides of the issue. The two very different opinions reported in this study point to the challenges minority student programs can create, but also suggest ways to resolve these challenges."
"Now that evidence from both research studies and student perspectives confirms that these clubs, while beneficial to minority students' experiences, can inhibit cultural immersion, I will continue with my original argument that the entire student body would benefit if campuses also implemented multicultural advocacy clubs, rather than just selective minority clubs."
"Gurin and colleagues, the researchers who identify the three types of diversity in higher education, contend that even with the presence of diverse racial and ethnic groups and regular communication among students formally and informally, a greater push from educators is needed: Reiterates claim."
"In order to foster citizenship for a diverse democracy, educators must intentionally structure opportunities for students to leave the comfort of their homogenous peer group and build relationships across racially/ethnically diverse student communities on campus. (363) This suggestion implies that participation from students and faculty is needed to foster cultural immersion in higher education. Another way to improve cross-cultural exchange is by developing a diverse curriculum."
"An article on multiculturalism in higher education by Alma Clayton-Pedersen and Caryn McTighe Musil in the Encyclopedia of Education reviews the ways in which universities have incorporated diversity studies into their core curriculum over the last several decades. The authors report that the numbers of courses that seek to prepare students for a democratic society rich in diversity have increased (1711, 1714)."
"However, they recommend that institutions need to take a more holistic approach to their academic curricula in order to pursue higher education programs that prepare students to face complex and demanding questions and to use their new knowledge and civic, intercultural capacities to address real-world problems (1714)."
"My research suggests that a more holistic approach to the importance of diversity studies in the college curriculum, as well as multicultural advocacy clubs, are necessary in order to prepare all students, not just minority students, for the diverse world and society ahead of them."
"Thus, even though minority student clubs can lead to self-segregation among students and result in less cross-cultural interaction, their benefits to minority students suggest that a balance needs to be found between providing support for minorities and avoiding segregation of these groups from the rest of the student body."
"Besides sponsoring minority student programs, colleges and universities can implement multicultural events and activities for all students to participate in, especially during the freshman year. An initiative like this would enhance the diverse interactions that occur on campuses, promote cultural immersion, and garner support for minority student clubs. Concludes by calling for response in the form of further research."
"Beyond the reach of this evaluation, further research should be conducted, specifically on the types of cultural events that are most effective in promoting cultural awareness and meaningful diverse interactions among the student body. By examining different multicultural organizations from both public and private institutions, and comparing student experiences and participation in those programs, researchers can suggest an ideal multicultural program to provide an optimal student experience."
"Works Cited Clayton-Pedersen, Alma R., and Caryn McTighe Musil. Multiculturalism in Higher Education. Encyclopedia of Education , edited by James W. Guthrie, 2nd ed., vol. 5, Macmillan, 2002, pp. 1709-16. Gurin, Patricia, et al. Diversity and Higher Education: Theory and Impact on Educational Outcomes. Harvard Educational Review , vol. 72, no. 3, 2002, pp. 330-63. ResearchGate , doi:10.17763/haer.72.3.01151786u134n051. Hall, Wendell, et al."
"A Tale of Two Groups: Differences between Minority Students and Non-Minority Students in Their Predispositions to and Engagement with Diverse Peers at a Predominantly White Institution. Research in Higher Education , vol. 52, no. 4, 2011, pp. 420-39. Academic Search Premier , https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-010-9201-4. Hurtado, Sylvia, and Adriana Ruiz. The Climate for Underrepresented Groups and Diversity on Campus. Higher Education Research Institute , 2012, heri.ucla.edu/briefs/urmbrief.php."
"Ingram, Patreese, et al. How Do Biracial Students Interact with Others on the College Campus? College Student Journal , vol. 48, no. 2, 2014, pp. 297-311. Martin, Nathan D., et al. Interracial Friendships across the College Years: Evidence from a Longitudinal Case Study. Journal of College Student Development , vol. 55, no. 7, 2014, pp. 720-25. Academic Search Premier , https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2014.0075."
"Museus, Samuel D. The Role of Ethnic Student Organizations in Fostering African American and Asian American Students' Cultural Adjustment and Membership at Predominantly White Institutions. Journal of College Student Development , vol. 49, no. 6, 2008, pp. 568-86. Project MUSE , https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0039. Park, Julie J. Clubs and the Campus Racial Climate: Student Organizations and Interracial Friendship in College. Journal of College Student Development , vol. 55, no. 7, 2014, pp. 641-60."
"Academic Search Premier , https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2014.0076. Student Voice: Multicultural Perspectives. YouTube , uploaded by Harvard College Admissions and Financial Aid, 7 Aug. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=djWQgDx-Jc. Thinking about the Text 1. What do you take away as the main CLAIM of Gabriela Moro's argument? 2. How well do you think she supports this claim? Show examples from the text that you find most persuasive. 3. How does Moro take COUNTERARGUMENTS into consideration?"
"Do you think she deals fairly and evenhandedly with all sides? Cite examples from her text. 4. What does Moro do to convince you that she is CREDIBLE and trustworthy? What more might she have done? 5. Moro obviously cares deeply about this topic. Think of a topic that is equally important to you, and write a paragraph or two introducing the topic and summarizing an argument you'd most like to make about it. Glossary CLAIM, 84-85, 103-5 A statement of a belief or POSITION ."
"In an ARGUMENT , a claim needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied, and requires support by REASONS and EVIDENCE . COUNTERARGUMENT, 16, 90-91, 265 In ARGUMENT , an alternative POSITION or objection to the writer's position. The writer of an argument should not only acknowledge counterarguments but also, if at all possible, accept, accommodate, or refute each counterargument. CREDIBILITY, 164-66, 297-98 The sense of trustworthiness that a writer conveys through the text."
"Endnotes  Poses questions that guided her research. Return to text PART 3 WRITING / MAKE YOUR POINT Chapter 9 Analyzing HOPE IS NOT THE BASIS FOR POLICY. WISE POLICYMAKERS ANALYZE ISSUES CAREFULLY AND LOOK AT FACTS AND PROBABILITIES INSTEAD OF JUST HOPING FOR THE BEST. -LAURA INGRAHAM I'M A HUGE FAN OF TEACHING YOU TO THINK, ANALYZE, AND COMMUNICATE, THEN SENDING YOU OUT INTO THE WORLD TO CAUSE TROUBLE. -HILARY MASON Why have you put on five pounds in the last month? What made Tiger King so popular?"
"Which candidate should you vote for? Answering such questions calls for analysis, for examining something in detail in order to understand it in some way. In analyzing why you've gained five pounds, you might begin by detailing your eating patterns: At what time of the day do you eat? How often do you eat? What prompts you to eat-or not? What foods do you favor, and which ones do you avoid?"
"As you gather data on what and when you eat, and on your reasons for eating as you do, you are generating evidence you can use to answer your original question. Analyzing Tiger King will lead you to examine the features of that show that made it so popular: the eccentric characters, the tension and unpredictability, the setting, and so on. And in order to decide which candidate to vote for, you'll need to consider all the candidates, their policies, the issues you care about, and so on."
"Whatever your subject, conducting a detailed analysis-looking at facts and probabilities rather than hoping for the best, in Laura Ingraham's words-will help you answer questions and understand your topic better as a result. Every field uses analysis. Engineers carry out detailed analyses to understand whether a bridge can be built in a specific location. Scientists use quantitative data to analyze causes and effects. Social scientists use qualitative analysis to help them understand human behavior."
"Literature students analyze poetry in order to understand how various aspects of a poem lead us to understand it in a certain way. This chapter provides guidelines for doing a rhetorical analysis, focusing on texts of various kinds and how an author or artist communicates a message to an audience. REFLECT! Think of an issue that's being discussed and debated now-on campus, in a local community, in the world. What are people saying? What do the various sides think, and why?"
"What kinds of analysis are they doing or citing as support for what they think? A GUIDE TO ANALYZING A TEXT A speech, a novel, an ad, a painting, a contract: all are texts , and all are things that you might be assigned to analyze. Or just need to analyze, to figure out what it says and what you think about that. Here now is some advice that will help you analyze texts of various kinds. As you'll see, it's designed to be used as you write . Keep it close at hand!"
"Identify a text you want to understand Whether you're assigned to analyze a specific text or get to choose one yourself, you'll do your best work if the topic or text is of interest to you. But all analysis is driven by a question of some kind, something you're curious about, so a good way to begin is by looking for a question that you really want to know the answer to: What was the best Super Bowl ad this year? What makes K-pop so popular?"
"Journalist Charles Duhigg asks such a question in Why Are We So Angry?-a lengthy essay that unfolds the story of how we all got so mad at one another. Inspired by a strange questionnaire asking people in a small town in Massachusetts to recall the number of times they'd been angry in the past week and to describe the most angry of these experiences, his essay opens by summarizing some of what they said."
"In his analysis, Duhigg shows that the United States has always been an angry country (it arose from an angry, violent revolution, after all) and then focuses on three kinds of anger-everyday or ordinary anger, moral indignation, and desire for revenge-giving copious examples of each and showing how one can escalate into another."
"In his thesis, Duhigg previews the results of his analysis: We are further down this path [from moral indignation to desire for revenge] than you may realize, but it's not too late for us to reverse course. If we can understand anger's mechanisms, we might find a way to turn our indignation back into a strength."
"-CHARLES DUHIGG, Why Are We So Angry? Analyzing anger's mechanisms becomes a major focus of the essay, helping Duhigg to answer why we are so angry and to suggest what we may be able to do about it. Think about your rhetorical situation Once you have a chosen a text to analyze, take time to consider your rhetorical situation. Purpose. What do you want to happen as a result of your analysis-a more thorough understanding of a complex text? a certain interpretation of a poem? a decision about a proposal?"
"How can you best accomplish your goals? Audience. Who will be reading your analysis, and what do you know about them-their age, gender, cultural background? What are they likely to know about the text you're analyzing, and what background information will you need to provide? Can you assume they'll be interested in your subject? If not, how can you frame your analysis in a way that they will relate to?"
"If you're analyzing some of the corporate statements professing solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement for your composition class, for instance, you'd likely analyze any ethical and emotional appeals and look for evidence of what kind of support they plan to provide. If, however, you were writing on Instagram , you might simply post one corporate statement along with a question asking what else they can offer in addition to solidarity. Stance."
"How do you want to come across to your readers-as well-informed? objective? enthusiastic? Whatever it is, how can your writing reflect your stance? And how are you approaching the text you're analyzing-as a student? a serious reader? a critic? something else? Context. What else has been said about the subject of your analysis? What are the various perspectives? You'll need to provide some of that larger context in your analysis."
"And what's your context-if you're writing in response to an assignment, what's your time frame, and are there any requirements that you need to keep in mind? Media and design. Think carefully about how you will deliver your analysis-will it be a print text? an online digital text? an oral or multimedia presentation?"
"Your medium will affect the way it is designed and even the kinds of evidence you provide: for an oral presentation, you might use PowerPoint or Prezi slides; for a print text, you might include illustrations with captions as well as headings. Whatever the medium, your design should aim to help readers follow the major points of your analysis."
Be sure it's a text you can manage-and approach with an open mind Think carefully about how much time you have to complete your analysis before you decide definitively on a text. A student in a course on the history of the Bible who was interested in the Book of Judges proposed doing an analysis of that book.
"This student quickly realized, however, that such a task was far from manageable given the due date, and so he chose to analyze one story in that book that he had always been curious about, the Samson and Delilah story. Consider as well what resources you may need to carry out your analysis-and whether you have access to them."
"The student analyzing the Samson and Delilah story had access to several different translations as well as to a bibliography provided by the instructor that included other scholarly analyses of this story. Finally, think about how open-minded you are about the subject of your analysis. The purpose of an analysis is to gain some kind of insight about the subject, not to confirm something you already believe about it."
"Think about what you want to know about the text You may need little but the text itself to conduct a rhetorical analysis, especially in cases where the text is assigned in class. Sometimes, however, you may need to do some research to find out more about the topic. Wesley Cohen grew up in a household that would never have subscribed to Cosmopolitan , a magazine she therefore assumed was all fluff and no substance-the kind of thing you'd pick up while waiting for a dental appointment."
"But once she got to college and was free to read anything, including Cosmo , she was surprised to see that it now includes articles about some very serious issues-domestic violence, equal pay-right alongside horoscopes and fashion advice."
"So for an assignment to write a feature in a journalism class, she decided to look at what was happening over at Cosmo . Noting that It's rare to find a magazine that covers domestic violence and celebrity fashion on equal footing, she set out to analyze the changes that have taken place there in recent years. If you want to read about what's happening at Cosmo , see Wesley Cohen's essay on p. 148 ."
"You might not always begin an analysis with an explicit question as Cohen did, but your analysis will always be prompted by a question of some kind, by something that you're curious about. Conduct a preliminary rhetorical analysis A rhetorical analysis looks closely at a text (verbal or visual) in order to see what it says and how it does so. When you analyze a text, you examine each of its parts systematically to show how they engage readers' attention and lead them to understand the text in a certain way."
"If you take any humanities courses, you'll surely be asked to analyze various kinds of texts. Imagine, for example, how you might go about analyzing the following short but powerful poem: A word is dead When it is said, Some say. I say it just Begins to live That day. -EMILY DICKINSON In analyzing this poem, you might begin by summing up the meaning as you see it and then showing how each line builds to that meaning."
"You'd consider why Dickinson breaks lines where she does, how rhyme and repetition contribute to the meaning, and what the contrast between living words and dead words suggests about spoken words. You might also be assigned to analyze a visual text. One assignment I've often given to my first-year students asks them to analyze the campus map. Ours is a huge university, and they need to learn their way around campus. Analyzing the map gets them thinking about what's where and why."
"Why are certain buildings in one place rather than another? What is at the center of campus and what is on the periphery? What are the largest buildings? the smallest? Does one area of the map seem dominant? If so, what does that area represent-science and technology? the humanities? the administration? sports arenas? Analyzing the map reveals a lot!"
Suppose you are working on a presentation for an environmental engineering course on what the city of New Orleans should consider doing to prepare for any future hurricanes. You might show a slide of a map in your presentation showing which areas of the city lie at or below sea level as part of your analysis of the potential problems along with specific suggestions for what needs to be done now to ensure the safety of those who live in those low-lying neighborhoods.
"A map of New Orleans showing areas above sea level and those at or below sea level. Whether the text you're analyzing is written or visual, you'll need to examine it carefully to see how it supports what it says. Asking the following questions will help you to do so systematically. Analyzing a written text  What is your overall impression of the text-and what specific elements lead you to that impression?  What CLAIM is the text making, and how do you know?"
 What REASONS and EVIDENCE does the writer provide to support the claim? How convincing do you find them?  What has motivated the writer to take on this topic? What's the larger conversation this text is responding to?  How has the writer acknowledged and responded to COUNTERARGUMENTS -other points of view on the subject? Are they presented fairly and honestly?  Does the writer use any EMOTIONAL APPEALS ?  How does the writer establish AUTHORITY and CREDIBILITY to address this topic?
"Analyzing a visual text  What does your eye go to first, and why has the designer chosen to draw your eye to that spot?  What seems most important or interesting?  Who do you think the visual aims to reach-who is its AUDIENCE , and how do you know?  What is its PURPOSE ? How well does it achieve its goal?  Even if there are no words, what does the visual say ? What's its ARGUMENT (it may be implicit rather than explicit), and how do you know?"
" If there are words, how do they help get the message across? What's the font, and how does it affect the TONE ? What does your preliminary analysis show? By the time you've completed a preliminary analysis, you should be immersed in your subject, so it's time to step back and look not at the trees but at the forest: What does your analysis reveal about the text? What most interests you about what you've discovered, and why does it seem important?"
"Begin by making notes answering these questions and looking for patterns that may emerge. In studying the notes she had taken on our campus map, for example, one of my students found that the very center of the campus houses the administrative offices but that two very large areas, the medical complex and the sports complex, take up the biggest part of campus."
"She found that the engineering and science area is next in terms of space occupied and in prominence on the map, and that student dorms are on the outer periphery of the campus. These findings got her wondering if it had always been this way, so she went to the library and found the original campus map, showing classroom buildings in the center and only one small office devoted to administration. The library was the largest and most prominent building on campus."
"As she continued to think about the data she'd gathered, she thought hard about what her analysis revealed about the university and its values. How do these values play out in terms of campus layout and building design? Do changes in the development of the campus suggest a shift in what the university values? See pp. 84-85 for more on coming up with a working thesis. Come up with a working thesis Once you've analyzed your subject, you need to determine what your analysis shows."
"What have you learned about the subject, and what can you now say about it? Try writing that out as a working thesis, saying what you've analyzed and what you can now claim about the subject."
"Here's what my student wrote: Our campus map is a work in progress, constantly changing in ways that reflect shifting priorities and financial realities. Remember that you may need to qualify your thesis On reflection, my student worried that she was overstating her case, saying that shifting priorities are always linked to financial realities. Such overstatements can hurt a writer's credibility and make an analysis less persuasive, or perhaps not even taken seriously. Be careful to qualify if need be."
"Here's how my student did that: Our campus map is a work in progress, constantly changing in ways that reflect shifting priorities that are often linked to financial realities. Develop support for your analysis Every textual analysis depends on support, and there are three questions you can ask to begin gathering support: What evidence supports the analysis? Is the author trustworthy? Does the text make any emotional appeals? What evidence supports the analysis?"
"Any analysis of a text needs to examine its use of facts and other evidence. In Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America , Beth Macy analyzes the factors that led up to the current opioid epidemic in the United States. Macy, an award-winning journalist, has the credentials to make her account trustworthy and credible; and her interviews with addicted people and those who love them provide very strong emotional appeals."
"The first, by researchers at Princeton, supports Macy's finding that opioid addiction has now reached a crisis point: this study found that mortality rates had quietly risen a half-percentage point annually between 1999 and 2013 while midlife mortality continued to fall in other affluent countries. She then turns to results of a poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation showing that today 56 percent of Americans now know someone who abused, was addicted to, or died from an overdose of opioids. Indeed, Macy's book-length analysis piles up facts and statistics that make her conclusions inescapable: America is dopesick. In addition to facts and statistics, Macy draws on the expert testimony of doctors and medical researchers, who support her analysis of the complicit role the medical community unwittingly played in exacerbating the opioid epidemic."
"And she provides one major example-Purdue Pharma, which introduced OxyContin after it gained FDA approval in 1995 and advertised it as completely safe: If you take the medicine like it is prescribed, the risk of addiction is one half of one percent. Many people using OxyContin, however, ignored the if. Within two months of its release, Macy shows, the drug was on the streets in large amounts, even as it was also being prescribed by doctors nationwide."
"This extended example supports Macy's analysis and the argument she is making about the opioid crisis. The kinds of evidence that you provide as support for an analysis will depend on your topic, but could include ANALOGIES , ANECDOTES , COMPARISONS , examples, FACTS , QUOTATIONS , DEFINITIONS , statistics, personal experience, and so on. Is the author trustworthy?"
"It may be a truism to say we tend to believe people who seem trustworthy, credible, and honest-but establishing such credentials has never been more important than it is today. Whatever kind of text you're analyzing, then, you should ask how the author (or speaker, or artist) manages to come across as believable, as someone whose work you can trust."
"In an analysis of How Change Happens: Why Some Social Movements Succeed While Others Don't , law professor David Cole focuses on that book's author, Leslie Crutchfield, introducing her as someone who has studied social movements extensively over the last several decades. We learn that Crutchfield has analyzed campaigns against smoking and drunk driving, as well as both for and against gun control."
"Cole is careful, then, to provide credentials for the author of the text he is analyzing: she is experienced, deeply knowledgeable, and open-minded-thus, he suggests, readers can trust the advice she offers to those seeking to establish effective social movements."
"He himself is careful to QUALIFY his own conclusions about the viability of some social movements-noting, for instance, the following: Whether #MeToo and other movements will achieve lasting reform will depend on those organizations working collectively in multiple forums, including courtrooms, state legislatures, corporate boardrooms, union halls, and, most importantly, at the ballot box."
"-DAVID COLE, The Path of Greatest Resistance Cole uses Crutchfield's qualification of her claim as further evidence of her credibility: she is a careful researcher not given to exaggeration or to absolute conclusions. Analyzing whether or not you can trust an author or speaker will lead you to look carefully at the words they use to see what kind of TONE they establish (careful and cautious? angry and belligerent? even-handed?)."
"Likewise, in analyzing a visual text, the use of fonts and colors and even layout might give you a sense of whether it's taking its subject seriously or not. Does the text make any emotional appeals? Any rhetorical analysis should carefully consider whether the text appeals to its audience's emotions-and if so, to what effect. Emotional appeals are often misused: think of ads that suggest that buying a certain skincare product will make us as gorgeous as the model using it, for example."
"But appeals to emotion can also tug at our heartstrings in positive ways, persuading us to appoint a designated driver when we've been drinking, for instance, or to contribute to the life-saving work of Doctors without Borders."
"See how Vanessa Friedman, a fashion critic at the New York Times , appealed to readers' emotions in her analysis of the role that clothing played at President Trump's 2019 State of the Union address: When the television cameras came up on the buzzing House chamber as Congress awaited President Trump's entrance, the most striking sight was not the grandeur of the room (though it is pretty grand) or the nerves and excitement of the special guests, but rather the unmistakable block of Congresswomen practically aglow in white on the Democratic side of the aisle."
"-VANESSA FRIEDMAN, A Sea of White, Lit by History Congresswomen in white at the 2019 State of the Union address. A photo underscores Friedman's point: no one, she said, could miss the message in what they wore: one of gender equality and pride, the long arc of history and the fight for women's rights, commitment to an agenda and, in the background, joy. The photo captures that moment of joy and appeals to readers to share in that joy and the message it delivers."
"When analyzing any text, look carefully for emotional appeals, and think about how they're used. Are they used to create empathy? to arouse outrage? to change minds? to help establish the author's credibility? Or are they used negatively, to call out or humiliate someone, or to stoke divisiveness or even hatred? Perhaps they're simply illustrating why readers should care about the topic."
"In each case, think about how any emotional appeal supports or relates to the argument the text is making, and whether it does so fairly. Consider the larger context-and perspectives other than your own If you're analyzing a text or topic that you think matters, chances are that you won't be the first one to do so. That means you should try to look beyond your own reaction and consider other perspectives."
"Being open to the ideas of others will help you produce a stronger analysis and will underscore your credibility as someone who's open to what others think and doesn't rush to judgment. For excellence, the presence of others is always required."
"-HANNAH ARENDT In a lengthy analysis of American exceptionalism, Jake Sullivan, who is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, sums up the perspectives of others before offering his own conclusion: Some argue that the United States is fractured beyond repair- . . . that you can no longer make arguments to the American people based on higher purpose-they are too angry or too cynical. I see it another way. . . ."
"Let's not forget that, throughout American history, the path forward has been determined not in times of disruption but in their aftermath. . . . As for the American people, I believe that they would welcome a renewed form of exceptionalism that addresses their concerns, speaks to their aspirations, and restores confidence that their country can be a force for good in the world. . . . American exceptionalism is not a description of reality but the expression of an ambition."
"It is about striving, and falling short, and improving. This is the essence of a patriotism that every American can embrace. -JAKE SULLIVAN, Yes, America Can Still Lead the World Thus does Sullivan's lengthy analysis of anger lead him to move beyond those who think we cannot recover from the current divisiveness, arguing that his analysis shows that Americans are very likely to keep working toward the goal of improving, always improving."
"Invite response Good analyses need to be able to withstand close scrutiny by others, so remember to ask for response to your draft. When ethnographer Patricia Lather carried out a study of women living with HIV, she used a series of interviews to analyze their experiences, which resulted in a book-length study called Troubling the Angels . Lather didn't publish her book, however, until she had asked the women she'd interviewed to read and respond to it."
"They did so, at length, and Lather then used their astute insights and criticisms to revise her analysis. You can benefit by following Lather's example and inviting response to what you write. Read your draft with a critical eye, get response-and revise Now's the time to read over what you've written to see that you've made clear what question has driven your analysis and that you've provided sufficient evidence to support the conclusion your analysis draws."
"Then you'll want to ask others to read over your draft. Here are some questions that can help you or others read over the draft. How will your OPENING grab readers' attention? If you aim to reach a specific AUDIENCE , will your opening make them want to read on? How else might you begin? Have you DESCRIBED the text in enough detail for readers to follow your analysis? Is there more background information you need to add?"
"Have you made clear what your analysis revealed about the text-and have you stated it explicitly in a THESIS ? If not, should you do so? What EVIDENCE supports your analysis? Is there any other evidence that could add to the strength of your analysis? Have you made any EMOTIONAL APPEALS -and if so, how do they support your analysis? How have you established your CREDIBILITY to write on this subject? Have you addressed PERSPECTIVES other than your own-and if not, should you do so?"
"Have you considered such perspectives fairly? If you've cited any sources, have you DOCUMENTED them fully? How effective is your CONCLUSION ? What does it leave your audience thinking? How else could you conclude? Consider your title. Does it make clear what your analysis is about, and will it engage readers' interest? How might you make the title more engaging? Now's the time to REVISE ! If you've analyzed your analysis (!) and gotten advice from others, you've got a plan. You know what you want to do."
"But remember what you need to do: to explain what your ANALYSIS shows and provide EVIDENCE that supports your conclusions. And as always, keep in mind your AUDIENCE and the rest of your RHETORICAL SITUATION . REFLECT! Set your analysis aside for a few days. Then come back to it with fresh eyes and read it again. What do you find most effective about your analysis? What is your favorite sentence or passage-and why? What spots might call for further revision-and why?"
"How well do you think you conveyed your point(s) to your audience? Write a paragraph or two in which you sum up what you've learned-both about the text, and the process of analysis itself. Glossary CLAIM, 84-85, 103-5 A statement of a belief or POSITION . In an ARGUMENT , a claim needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied, and requires support by REASONS and EVIDENCE . REASONS, 105-8 Support for a CLAIM or a POSITION . A reason, in turn, requires its own support."
"EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS . Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling. Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making). COUNTERARGUMENT, 16, 90-91, 265 In ARGUMENT , an alternative POSITION or objection to the writer's position."
"The writer of an argument should not only acknowledge counterarguments but also, if at all possible, accept, accommodate, or refute each counterargument. EMOTIONAL APPEALS, 113-14, 415 Ways of appealing to an AUDIENCE 's emotions, values, and beliefs by arousing specific feelings-compassion, sympathy, anger, and so on. See also ETHICAL APPEALS ; LOGICAL APPEALS AUTHORITY, 57, 112-13, 142-43 A person or text that is cited as support for an ARGUMENT ."
"A structural engineer may be quoted as an authority on bridge construction, for example. Authority also refers to a quality conveyed by writers who are knowledgeable about their subjects. CREDIBILITY, 164-66, 297-98 The sense of trustworthiness that a writer conveys through the text. AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION ."
"PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION . ARGUMENT, 99-131 Any text that makes a CLAIM supported by REASONS and EVIDENCE . A GENRE that uses REASONS and EVIDENCE to support a CLAIM ."
"Key Features: an explicit POSITION - a response to what others have said - appropriate background information - a clear indication of why the topic matters - good REASONS and EVIDENCE - attention to more than one POINT OF VIEW - an authoritative TONE - an appeal to readers' values TONE, 27, 96 The way a writer's or speaker's STANCE is reflected in the text. ANALOGY, 414 A STRATEGY for COMPARISON by explaining something unfamiliar in terms of something that is more familiar."
"See also FALSE ANALOGY ANECDOTE, 85, 412 A brief NARRATIVE used to illustrate a point. COMPARISON AND CONTRAST, 87-88 A STRATEGY that highlights the points of similarity and difference between items. Using the block method , a writer discusses all the points about one item and then all the same points about the next item; using the point-by-point method , a writer discusses one point for both items before going on to discuss the next point for both items, and so on."
"Sometimes comparison and/or contrast can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or whole text. FACTS, 69-70, 266-69 Information that can be backed up and verified by reliable evidence: Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in 2020 . QUOTE, 285-90 To cite someone else's words exactly as they were said or written. Quotation is most effective when the wording is worth repeating or makes a point so well that no rewording will do it justice or when you want to cite someone's exact words."
"Quotations in academic writing need to be acknowledged with DOCUMENTATION . DEFINITION, 88 A STRATEGY that says what something is. Formal definitions identify the category that something belongs to and tell what distinguishes it from other things in that category: A worm is an invertebrate (a category) with a long, rounded body and no appendages (distinguishing features). Extended definitions go into more detail: a paragraph or even an essay explaining why a character in a story is tragic."
"Stipulative definitions give a writer's own use of a term, one not found in a dictionary. Definition can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or whole text. QUALIFY, 84, 104-5 To limit a CLAIM -saying, for example, that most people like cake rather than people like cake. Words like frequently, often, generally , or sometimes can help you qualify what you claim-and make it something you'll be able to support. TONE, 27, 96 The way a writer's or speaker's STANCE is reflected in the text."
"OPENING, 146, 410-12 The way a text begins, which plays an important role in drawing an AUDIENCE in. Some ways of beginning an essay: with a dramatic or deceptively simple statement, with something others have said about your topic, with a provocative question or a startling CLAIM , or with an ANECDOTE . AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION ."
"DESCRIPTION, 86 A STRATEGY that tells how something looks, sounds, smells, feels, or tastes. Effective description creates a clear DOMINANT IMPRESSION built from specific details. Description can be objective, subjective , or both. Description can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or whole text. THESIS, 84-85 A statement that identifies the topic and main point of a piece of writing, giving readers an idea of what the text will cover."
"EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS . Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling. Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making)."
"EMOTIONAL APPEALS, 113-14, 415 Ways of appealing to an AUDIENCE 's emotions, values, and beliefs by arousing specific feelings-compassion, sympathy, anger, and so on. See also ETHICAL APPEALS ; LOGICAL APPEALS CREDIBILITY, 164-66, 297-98 The sense of trustworthiness that a writer conveys through the text. PERSPECTIVES, 90-91, 29-41 Viewpoints, an important part of a writer's STANCE . As a writer and a researcher, you should always strive to seek, think about, and work to understand multiple perspectives."
"DOCUMENTATION, 309-44, 360-86 Publication information about the sources cited in a text. IN-TEXT DOCUMENTATION usually appears in parentheses at the point where it's cited or in an endnote or a footnote. Complete documentation usually appears as a list of WORKS CITED or REFERENCES at the end of the text. Documentation styles vary by discipline. See also APA STYLE ; MLA STYLE CONCLUSION, 92, 211, 417-18 The way a text ends, a chance to leave an AUDIENCE thinking about what's been said."
"Some ways of concluding an essay: REITERATING your point, discussing the implications of your ARGUMENT , proposing some kind of action, inviting response. ANALYSIS, 132-56 A GENRE of writing in which you look at what a text says and how it says it. Key Features: a SUMMARY of a text or other subject - attention to CONTEXT - a clear INTERPRETATION or judgment - reasonable support for your conclusions EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS ."
"Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling. Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making). AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION ."
"AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . RHETORICAL SITUATION, 25-28, 81-82 The circumstances that affect writing or other communication, including PURPOSE , AUDIENCE , GENRE , STANCE , CONTEXT , MEDIA , and DESIGN . A STUDENT ANALYSIS WESLEY COHEN What's Happening over at Cosmo ? Wesley Cohen wrote this essay for a journalism class at the University of California at Davis."
"It was later published in Prized Writing , an annual book of exemplary writing from across the disciplines done by students at Davis. The version included here has been revised to include MLA documentation, something that was not required in her journalism class. She graduated in 2019 and is now working as a college sales representative at W. W. Norton &Company. The title and opening sentences capture readers' interest."
Open up Cosmopolitan Magazine 's March 2016 issue and you'll find tips for flirting with a guy at work (Text him a funny follow-up!) and a fashion-infused profile of actress-slash-beauty mogul Jessica Alba (titled Billion Dollar Babe). Summarizes the contrast that she'll explore in her analysis. Between these pieces is an eight-page feature on the intersection of gun rights and domestic violence in America.
"The article includes an eye-catching graphic of a chocolate gun in a candy box surrounded by brightly striped truffles, and a handy flowchart for talking with a new romantic partner about gun ownership. There are also stark warnings and statistics. According to the piece's author, Liz Welch, 8,700 women were shot to death by their partners between 2000 and 2013 (162) and women are 200 percent more likely to be killed when a physically abusive relationship involves a gun."
"The article frames gun control as a women's issue, chronicling the stories of several young women who were murdered by abusive partners or ex-partners (Welch). First claim. It's rare to find a magazine that covers domestic violence and celebrity fashion on equal footing-and this wide editorial scope is largely the work of the former editor-in-chief Joanna Coles."
"Cosmo 's shift toward more diverse content goes against decades of editorial tradition in a brand famous for its focus on sex, celebrities, and fashion-and its racy covers, as figure 1 shows. Provides background information. Cosmo started life in 1886 as a women's magazine that published Willa Cather, Upton Sinclair, and Kurt Vonnegut."
"Chief editor Helen Gurley Brown was brought on in the 1960s in response to weak sales, and she recreated the magazine as a sex-centered, single woman's guidebook to the fab life. Brown pledged to keep Cosmo frisky and fresh over her three-decade reign."
"She acknowledged in her November 1995 letter from the editor that women may be interested in subjects other than sexual pleasure, passion, friendship, love, achievement, but told readers that we let the newspapers, TV shows, and newsmagazines deal with them (30). But Joanna Coles eschewed this either-or approach to writing for women, telling NPR's Rachel Martin, I have no problem understanding that women are interested in mascara and the Middle East ( Morning Edition )."
"(Indeed, figure 2 shows Coles speaking at a Cosmo event that was sponsored by Maybelline, a company known for its mascara.) Fig. 1. 2006 cover names Beyonc Fun, Fearless Female of the Year. www.getty.comFig. 2. Editor-in-chief Joanna Coles speaking at a Cosmopolitan event in 2015 that was sponsored by Maybelline. www.getty.com Provides examples to support the claim that Cosmo tackles serious issues."
"Since 2014, Cosmo has endorsed political candidates based on whether they support equal pay, birth control access, and reproductive rights. Coles doesn't see a conflict in presenting pro-choice political endorsements alongside stiletto recommendations: I feel that these are about lifestyle issues for women. The biggest single decision which will impact your life is when you have a child. I want women to have control over that (qtd. in Gold)."
"Coles's Cosmo is all about diversifying what counts as women's interest. A new header, Cosmopolitan.com , next to LOVE, CELEBS, and BEAUTY reads-in appropriate millennial format-#COSMOVOTES. Under this tab, readers can find Cosmo 's political endorsements, updates on polls and primaries, and opinion pieces on candidates and issues. It makes no secret of Cosmo 's political leanings."
"In her same 1995 letter from the editor, Brown laid out her reasoning for leaving hard-hitting subjects out of Cosmo 's pages, writing, We're not big on scaring you (30). But Jill Filipovic's November 2015 piece about anti-abortion violence seems pretty scary to me. Filipovic, a UN Foundation Fellow and award-winning contributor to The Guardian , The New York Times , Al Jazeera America , and Time magazine, is no lightweight."
"But in the margin by Filipovic's byline, there's a picture of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen as toddlers above a link offering to show me A Photo from Every Year of Their Lives. This new Cosmo balances pithy quizzes about Hannah Montana and critiques of the hypher-sexual portrayals of African American women in film and TV. How does one women's magazine make it all work? First of all, Cosmo 's new direction rejects the idea of women's-interest journalism as a niche market."
"On CNN's Reliable Sources , Joanna Coles pushed back against host Brian Stelter's suggestion that working with women's magazines to reach voters-instead of reaching out directly through social media or relying on hard news reporting-was a way that political candidates use alternative media. Well, I don't think of women's magazines with 53 million readers as being alternative media,' said Coles, nearly breaking into a laugh."
"I think it might be as big, if not bigger, than the footprint of Reliable Sources , Brian (Coles, Reliable Sources ). Coles noted instead that she believes her very large readership has been underserved by mainstream media. It's hard to argue with her."
"While men's-interest magazines like Esquire publish hard-hitting cultural essays alongside fiction by the likes of George Saunders and Stephen King, the news that Cosmo had won a National Magazine Award in 2014 for an extensive piece on contraception was met with astonishment. Coles seems to carry her sense of humor in her purse, however. About a story titled It's Time to Start Taking Cosmopolitan Seriously, she tweeted Start???? ? (Coles, Twitter )."
"Introduces another perspective: Can women's magazines be serious? A different Reliable Sources interview featured host Brian Stelter asking two uncomfortable-looking female journalists Are women's magazines serious? Roberta Meyers, editor-in-chief at Elle , was set up against Rolling Stone writer Janet Reitman, who worried aloud that female writers who focus on women's-interest writing often never break out of women-only journalism."
"Meyers noted that she started out at Rolling Stone before taking the lead at Elle and pointed out that many of her writers are also published in The New Yorker, New York Magazine , and Rolling Stone . Reitman responded by saying that she appreciates and reads women's magazines herself, but reiterated her earlier concern about the ghettoizing of female-interest journalists."
"This time, Reitman said, eyes focused and concerned, that many women journalists just literally cannot, somehow, make it to write for larger men's magazines or general-interest magazines (Meyers and Reitman). It seems that this, in Reitman's mind, is the ladder that female journalists must climb: women's magazines, men's magazines, then general-interest magazines. Or perhaps: women's magazines/general-interest magazines. Because in many ways, male interests are considered general interest."
"While writing about romance or fashion puts a journalist into the ghetto of trivial feminine pursuits, typically masculine interests are widely considered respectable reading material. As Joanna Coles noted in her NPR interview, Men are allowed to talk about sports relentlessly, and yet we still take them seriously. I don't understand why women can't talk about fashion, or sex, or love, or wanting more money and not be taken as seriously as men ( Morning Edition )."
"In her Reliable Sources appearance, Elle 's Roberta Meyers looked fabulous: her blow-out great, her makeup subtle and professional, her poise unshakeable. But she looked worn down, too. She spoke of a perceived gap between her readers and the rest of the world, the idea that there's a divide between people who care about fashion and only fashion, and everybody else. She then went on to say I find it sad . . ."
"that we're still talking about women as a whole separate kind of people, you know? (Meyers and Reitman). Meyers spoke brightly of her love for her readers, but to Reitman and Stelter, choosing to write for Elle instead of Rolling Stone is apparently a real comedown. Acknowledges Cosmo 's earlier reputation. It's hard to find an article discussing Cosmo 's long history without reading contemptuous descriptions of its past content."
"As Jezebel 's managing editor Kate Dries said, Cosmo 's new focus on career advancement and female empowerment has been a slow climb out of lipstick-and-lasagna land (The New Cosmopolitan ). Cites her own experience to support the claim that Cosmo once presented shallow views. Cosmo was forbidden to my sisters and me when we were growing up. My parents didn't want us encountering this male-centric view of sexuality or developing such a shallow image of female beauty."
"They even tried to ban Barbie from the premises before she snuck in inside wrapped birthday presents and well-meant hand-me-downs. I don't blame them. Explores the view that Cosmo presents a narrow view of women. Cosmo still passes down narrow ideas of what a woman is and does and wants. Women of color, transgender women, and queer women are not addressed as Cosmo 's central audience, and the women who star on its covers month to month are overwhelmingly thin and pale and provocatively dressed."
"My parents didn't want to limit the type of woman I could be while I was still a girl. Makes an emotional appeal. So instead I learned how to be like a boy. I learned how to play hockey and laughed at the sorts of girls who wanted to be princesses. I learned not to cry when I got hurt, and I learned to love reading about boys, or girls who pretended to be boys, in Eragon and To Kill a Mockingbird and The Woman Who Rides Like a Man ."
"And in many ways this was an honest expression of who I was and who I wanted to be. But perhaps these behaviors also came from an understanding that it was possible-easy, even-to be too feminine. That uber-femininity could be shallow, or stupid, or mean. That it could be dangerous. Cites personal experience to establish her credibility to write on this topic. Now I am learning to look hard at the books that I read and the movies that I watch and the people that I admire."
"I am learning not to dismiss femininity for its own sake, but this is hard when feminine books and speech patterns and movies are constantly dismissed by the cultural outlets I admire. The shock with which media outlets have responded to Joanna Coles's work at Cosmo is yet another example of this dismissal. But still I have learned to love Taylor Swift and horoscopes and eyeshadow, as well as weight lifting and science fiction and neuroscience, Walt Whitman and Suzanne Collins. And Cosmo has helped."
"I am not saying that Cosmo is above critique. It continues to sideline the experiences of women who do not fit its target audience. It builds prehistoric concepts of femininity into its columns, and tells women implicitly or explicitly to trim down, dress up, and make themselves beautiful. Its advertisements and photosets build a fantasy of femininity in which woman is pale and thin and glossy. This does real damage. Why her analysis matters. But Cosmo is not beneath contempt."
"When we close the door to Cosmo for its perceived frivolity or irrelevance, we close the door to women's voices, their interests and concerns and desires. By assuming that women's journalism cannot be real journalism, Brian Stelter and others declare that women cannot know what journalism looks like, that we don't even know which stories are important and which are stupid. That we earn the right to tell our own stories only by making them unfeminine. That femininity cannot be universal."
"But femininity is universal. It always has been. Reiterates claim that Cosmo can be both progressive and not progressive. And universal experiences are feminine. As long as men are taught, like I was, that femininity is saccharine and silly and toxic, they are also taught to hate a part of themselves. Nobody wins this fight. Making room for femininity in feminism means recognizing that outlets like Cosmo can be progressive as well as problematic."
"I want the right to criticize Cosmo when it writes harshly about female celebrities' bodies and the right to relish its fashion slideshows. I want to read about face gloss and I want to know about domestic terrorism. I want the right to be unfeminine without recourse, and the right to delight in my femininity. As a woman, and as a person, I should not have to choose just one story. Concludes on a personal note-and by echoing Walt Whitman's Song of Myself. Do I contradict myself?"
"Well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.) Works Cited Brown, Helen Gurley. Step into My Parlor. Cosmopolitan , Nov. 1995, pp. 28, 30. Coles, Joanna. Interview with Brian Stelter. Reliable Sources , CNN, 7 June 2015. Transcript. ---. Interview with Rachel Martin. Morning Edition , NPR, 14 Oct. 2014. Transcript. ---. Start???? ? @JillFilipovic: Time to take @Cosmopolitan seriously. Twitter , 2 May 2014, 3:28 p.m., twitter.com/joannacoles/status/462312728812863488. Dries, Kate."
"The New Cosmopolitan &the Slow Climb Out of Lipstick-and-Lasagna Land. Jezebel , 9 Dec. 2014, jezebel.com/the-new-cosmopolitan-the-slow-clim-out-of-lipstick-a-1666538526. Gold, Hadas. The New Cosmo : Love, Sex, Politics? Politico , 9 Apr. 2014, www.politico.com/story/2014/09/the-new-cosmo-love-sex-politics-110586. Meyers, Roberta, and Janet Reitman. Interview with Brian Stelter. Reliable Sources , CNN, 30 June 2013. Transcript. Welch, Liz. Love and Guns. Cosmopolitan , Mar. 2016, pp. 158-66."
"Thinking about the Text 1. Wesley Cohen has a lot to say about Cosmopolitan , but what is her primary CLAIM about what's happening over at Cosmo ? 2. How well do you think she supports that claim? Point out examples of the EVIDENCE she provides that you find most persuasive, and explain why you find them so persuasive. 3. Cohen includes a lot of personal information; how do you think it contributes to her analysis? 4."
"You might say that this essay analyzes more than one text-that which is found on the pages of Cosmopolitan and that which has been said (and written) about it. How effectively does Cohen weave it all together? 5. Go to cosmopolitan.com and see for yourself what's happening over there now. Find some examples that support-or contradict-what Cohen concludes about Cosmo , and draft an email to her about what you find. Glossary CLAIM, 84-85, 103-5 A statement of a belief or POSITION ."
"In an ARGUMENT , a claim needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied, and requires support by REASONS and EVIDENCE . EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS . Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling. Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making)."
"Endnotes  Poses a question that will guide the analysis. Return to text PART 3 WRITING / MAKE YOUR POINT Chapter 10 Reporting I LOVE THE ADVENTURE OF GOING OUT AND REPORTING ON THINGS. -TOM WOLFE ANYONE CAN BE A REPORTER ON TWITTER , AND THAT'S LED TO A UNIVERSE OF DIVERSE VIEWPOINTS. . . . - WIRED Reporters often think of themselves as adventurers-on a quest to discover something important and to share that information with others."
"Some reports have galvanized the entire country, as was the case with Rachel Carson's report on the dangers of pesticides in 1962, a report that is again at issue this year in thousands of lawsuits against the weed killer Roundup. In the 1940s, the Kinsey Reports on human sexual behavior caused a national uproar of epic proportions-and led to changes in the way people think about sex."
"Much more recently, in 2018 an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report led many Americans to purchase electric cars and install solar panels. So reports-written or spoken accounts of some topic the author has thoroughly investigated-have been influential documents for a long time and continue in that role today. And you yourself may well be assigned to write reports in college-lab reports in biology , ethnographic reports in sociology , research reports in many classes."
"In many ways, then, Reports R Us, providing much of the information we rely on to get as close to the truth as possible, to make sense of the world, and to take effective action. A GUIDE TO DEVELOPING A REPORT Whatever kind of report you're writing, you'll need to think about who will be reading it, what they know about the topic, and what information you'll need to provide."
"And since reports are expected to provide factual information, you'll likely have to do some research-and to demonstrate that the information you report is accurate and trustworthy. Here now is a guide to the process of writing a report. It's designed to be used as you write , so keep it close at hand. Choose a topic that interests you In many instances, you may be assigned a specific topic. If so, find an angle that interests you-and one that you think will interest your audience."
"Say you're assigned to write a report for an economics class on supply and demand in a particular industry. Choose an industry you want to know more about-skin care, craft beer, whatever. On other occasions, you may be able to choose a topic to report on. If so, spend some time BRAINSTORMING about topics or issues that interest you, that you feel you can research with an open mind, and that you want to spend some time learning about. Here's a chance to do so!"
"Think about your rhetorical situation Once you have a topic, spend some time thinking about the audience for the report, what you hope the report will accomplish, and the rest of your rhetorical situation. Purpose. What do you want to accomplish with this report-provide information? inspire your audience to take some kind of action? What can you do in your report to achieve this purpose? Audience. Who will be reading your report? Stakeholders of some kind? Your superiors in an organization? Fellow students?"
Think about what your target audience already knows about the topic and what background information you may need to provide. How interested will they be in the topic-or will you have to get them interested? Stance. How do you want to be perceived as the author-as an authority on the topic? an interested and knowledgeable observer? How can you establish that stance-and how will you establish your credibility to report on this topic? Context.
"What have others said about the topic, and do you need to take their perspectives into account in your report? How will your report contribute to the larger conversation about the topic? How much time do you have to complete the report, and what kind of research will you need to do? Reports are often written by a team. Will you be collaborating with other writers? Are there any other requirements you need to keep in mind? Medium and design. How will your report be delivered-in print? as an oral report?"
"online? How does the medium affect the way you'll design the report? If it will include information that's best presented in a graph or charts, will that affect the medium you use? Research your topic and decide on a focus The heart of most reports is in the information they provide, so a big part of your job as a report writer will be to gather as much relevant data as possible. Whatever your topic, your report will only be as strong as the information it provides."
"Begin with any information you already have about the topic, and make notes about what more you need to find out. What questions do you have? What will your readers want to know or need to be told? Do some research Start with REFERENCE WORKS that give an overview of the topic. If you're reporting on a current issue, you'll likely find a lot of sources online; sometimes Wikipedia can be a good place to start, for it often includes links to other sources."
"You'll also find help in this book-check out Chapter 14 : Starting with Questions, Finding Sources. What are the various perspectives on your topic? What are others saying about it? Reporting calls on you to maintain a neutral, objective STANCE , but others are sure to have various viewpoints on the topic, and you need to be aware of them. Focus on an angle that interests you Once you have a broad understanding of the topic, what aspect do you want to focus on?"
"Here's where you need to consider the constraints of your assignment: What can you do in the time you have? And think about your audience: What angle will interest them? Most of all, though, think about what interests you! Formulate a working thesis Say what you plan to report about the topic. For example, if you're reporting on food insecurity on campus, your working thesis might be something like this: Hunger is a big problem in the United States today."
"Then think about whether you need to QUALIFY that statement-to make it one that you'll be able to support, and that will interest your AUDIENCE . Here's one way to qualify that statement: Hunger is a growing problem on our campus today. If you're reporting on a controversial topic, your research may lead you to develop an opinion about the issue. But remember that your goal is to present information on the topic, not to tell readers what you think about it."
See how a report written for the general public summing up the findings of an annual survey presents its facts and data. The survey measured who people in 2019 trusted the most. Read on: you may be surprised by what it found.
"Employers are now the most trusted institution, according to the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer, with 75% of respondents saying they trust my employer-25 points more than business in general, 40 points more than government, 20 points more than a peer or expert and 10 points above traditional media. Of the 33,000 people surveyed in 27 countries for the 19th annual Trust Barometer, more than three quarters (76%) say they want CEOs to take the lead on change instead of waiting for government."
"And 73% believe a company can take actions that both increase profits and improve economic and social conditions in the community where it operates. A similarly high number of employees expect their employer to actively join them in advocating for social issues (67%), and 71% expect that their work will shape the future of society in a meaningful way."
"Stephen Kehoe, Edelman's global chair of reputation, told the Holmes Report: Overall, people are pessimistic about the future, and they are also concerned about fake news, and don't trust the media and government, so 58% say they are looking to their employer as being a trustworthy source of information about headline issues where there is not consensus in society, such as gun control, #MeToo, or immigration. -MAJA PAWINSKA SIMS, The Holmes Report Note how much data the reporter packs into this passage: we know that these findings are based on a survey of 33,000 people, for instance, from 27 countries."
"Note too the use of statistics to support the findings: 76 percent of those 33,000 people reported that they wanted CEOs to take the lead on change, rather than waiting for government. Finally, see how this reporter uses quotations to support the findings she reports, quoting the chair of reputation of the firm that conducted the original research. As readers, we know this is information we can trust."
"Tailor your report to a target audience Some reports are written for very specific audiences: a company's annual report to stockholders, for example, will address a group of people who have a stake in the company's performance, attempting to provide a clear and positive overview of the firm's accomplishments in the preceding year."
"A report to members of a synagogue on how their funds have been used to reduce poverty in a partner community will present data documenting the use of funds and may include photos showing the effect that the funds had on those in need. Whatever your audience, you'll want to think hard about what they already know about your topic and what information they'll be looking for."
"The annual report for Girls Who Code, a national non-profit working to close the gender gap in technology, addresses two audiences: contributors to the organization, and those people who might contribute in the future. See how the author of the report, the founder and CEO of the organization, speaks directly to these two audiences: When I started Girls Who Code, I never imagined that we would grow to become a movement reaching almost 90,000 girls of all backgrounds in all 50 states."
"And now, just six years into our work, we've reached a tipping point. We are on track to achieve gender parity in computer science by 2027. And we know why: because our work is as much about quantity as it is about quality. We scale our programs to reach more girls in more places, and to give them the chance to forge lifelong bonds so they may persist in computer science. It's incredible. But for us, parity is really just the beginning."
"We've reached a moment unmatched in our history, a moment as full of anger and anguish as it is promise and potential. Women and girls across the country are coming together to correct centuries-long power imbalances across lines of gender, race, sexuality, and more. Girls Who Code is proud to be a part of this movement, and even prouder because our girls-girls of all races and ethnicities and abilities and zip codes-are leading it."
"They are solving problems in their communities, empowering their friends, and defining the future of our world. We're thrilled to be giving them the tools they need to get there. I hope you'll join us and make sure every girl has the chance to change her world-our world-for the better. Thank you for your support."
"-RESHMA SAUJANI, Annual Report of Girls Who Code Here Saujani engages supporters and potential donors by summarizing the remarkable strides the group has made in its six years of operation-now working with girls of all races and ethnicities and abilities and zip codes! And she includes a map showing that the organization now has programs in all 50 states."
"Note too that girls don't just get coding skills: they get coding skills that can help them change our world. Finally, Saujani concludes her report with a thank-you, another way of acknowledging and encouraging donors. Girl coders.Girls Who Code is in every state."
"Demonstrate your credibility, and that of the information you're reporting In an age of misinformation and even outright lies, it's more important than ever to demonstrate that you are knowledgeable, trustworthy, and fair-and that the information in your report can be trusted as well. You can build credibility by demonstrating that you've read up on the topic, by citing reliable sources, and by documenting your sources."
"And you can demonstrate fairness by being evenhanded in the information you present-by citing sources that reflect various perspectives. In an essay reporting on food production, Sam Forman compares two kinds of farms in Iowa-large industrial farms and small family -owned farms."
"As a student at Grinnell, a college in Iowa, he had some firsthand knowledge of both kinds of farms, but see how he presents information in ways that make readers feel we can trust both the author and what he reports: Proponents of large-scale agriculture argue that it is cheaper and more efficient to produce food following an industrial model. Judging by price tags, they may be right. Often vegetables at a farmer's market fetch a higher price than those in the supermarket do."
"But the supermarket is not the only place we pay for industrially produced goods. Iowa State professor Mark Honeyman pointed out to me, citing work by J. E. Ikerd, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of Missouri, that many of the costs of mass-produced agriculture are hidden. For instance, we all pay taxes to the government, which in turn spends billions of tax dollars a year subsidizing the industrial food system."
"Between 2003 and 2005 the government spent an average of $11.5 billion per year on crop subsidies, 47 percent of which went to the top 5 percent of beneficiaries (Crop Subsidy). This means we are subsidizing a lot, and mostly the biggest agri-businesses. Most family farmers receive no government subsidies."
"So when I told Barney Bahrenfuse and Suzanne Costello, who run B &B Farms in Grinnell, that I repeatedly heard from people involved in large-scale agriculture that family farming is nice but ultimately not very profitable if even viable at all, Costello was quick to respond: You take away the industrial farms' government subsidies-they don't work."
"We don't take any government subsidies, so who's viable? In fact, the CEO of Fremont Farms, which holds about 9 million hens, pointed out to me that they receive no government subsidies, which I verified online; according to the Environmental Working Group's website, which gets its statistics from the US Department of Agriculture, except for a paltry $5,361 in corn subsidies between 1999 and 2000, Fremont Farms has gotten no subsidies at all. No direct subsidies, that is."
"It is important to remember, however, that their operation is indirectly subsidized by the artificially low price of corn in their chickens' feed. -SAM FORMAN, The Future of Food Production Note that Forman interviewed and quotes an Iowa State professor, the owners of a small family farm, and the CEO of a large industrial farm-and that he even did the work of verifying what one of them told him. He also cites (and documents) data from a policy analysis database. He's clearly done his homework!"
"See also how careful he is to qualify his information, noting that those who say food produced by large-scale farms is less expensive than food sold at farmer's markets may be right and that family farmers receive no subsidies for the most part. And while he quotes one family farmer who says that industrial farms wouldn't work without government subsidies, he also notes that the CEO of a large-scale poultry farm said they get no government subsidies."
"Forman may well have his own opinions, but he's careful here to report only what he has learned about his topic, leaving readers free to reach their own conclusions. Without data, you're just another person with an opinion. -W. E. DEMING It's important to note that reports are supposed to be objective, just the facts. But while you should strive to be as objective as possible, most of the people you cite will have a particular point of view."
"And even as it's important to keep objectivity as a goal, it's also worth noting that reports are rarely if ever completely neutral: think of a fact-filled infographic reporting on the quality of local water sources, which will probably lead readers to draw conclusions that favor one viewpoint more than others. Remember, however, that readers will expect you to provide some kind of information, not to tell them what you think about it-or what they should think."
"Remember too that bringing in more than one viewpoint or perspective can help you aim for fairness and objectivity. REFLECT! Reread the excerpt from Sam Forman 's report on food production. How would you describe Forman's TONE ? What words in his text help you decide what his tone is? And how would you describe his STANCE toward the topic: Can you spot any places where he is less than objective-and if so, does that affect how you respond to the report?"
"Write a paragraph reflecting on the challenges of maintaining objectivity when you have your own opinions about a topic you're reporting on. Establish a confident stance and an engaging tone One of your tasks as a writer reporting information is to engage your readers, to make them interested in reading about your topic. In an era when we're all constantly bombarded with information, getting readers' attention is more important than ever."
"Jean Twenge might have been thinking about this reality when she wrote an article for the Atlantic on the question Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? That's a title that grabs attention, and the article that follows includes some startling facts: The arrival of the smartphone has radically changed every aspect of teenagers' lives, from the nature of their social interactions to their mental health. These changes have affected young people in every corner of the nation and in every type of household."
"The trends appear among teens poor and rich; of every ethnic background; in cities, suburbs, and small towns. Where there are cell towers, there are teens living their lives on their smartphone. . . . You might expect that teens spend so much time [on their phones] because it makes them happy, but most data suggest that it does not."
"The Monitoring the Future survey, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and designed to be nationally representative, has asked 12th-graders more than 1,000 questions every year since 1975 and queried eighth- and tenth-graders since 1991."
"The survey asks teens how happy they are and also how much of their leisure time they spend on various activities, including nonscreen activities such as in-person social interaction and exercise, and, in recent years, screen activities such as using social media, texting, and browsing the web."
"The results could not be clearer: Teens who spend more time than average on screen activities are more likely to be unhappy, and those who spend more time than average on nonscreen activities are more likely to be happy. There's not a single exception. All screen activities are linked to less happiness, and all nonscreen activities are linked to more happiness."
"Eighth-graders who spend 10 or more hours a week on social media are 56 percent more likely to say they're unhappy than those who devote less time to social media. Admittedly, 10 hours a week is a lot. But those who spend six to nine hours a week on social media are still 47 percent more likely to say they are unhappy than those who use social media even less. The opposite is true of in-person interactions."
"Those who spend an above-average amount of time with their friends in person are 20 percent less likely to say they're unhappy than those who hang out for a below-average amount of time. -JEAN TWENGE, Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? Twenge is clear, straightforward, and unequivocal, and she provides data to support the connection between time spent on phones and general unhappiness and stress."
"She tells it like it is, with confidence: The results, she says, could not be clearer: Teens who spend more time than average on screen activities are more likely to be unhappy. Her tone throughout is serious but not alarmist: she reports information her readers need to know, and she comes across as a confident, steady, reliable reporter who provides some very interesting and thought-provoking information."
"Organize your report to suit your topic The way you organize and design a report depends on the information you're presenting and the medium you'll use. Some topics call for COMPARISON , others call for you to present many examples, still others may lead you to present numerical data as a VISUAL in a bar chart or an infographic. So it's not possible to specify one generic way to organize all reports."
"Most reports, however, feature an organization their audiences can easily follow, whether it's using headings to guide readers from topic to topic, presenting some information in a list to make it easier to follow, and so on. See pp. 85-90 on ways of organizing information. Let's say you're writing a report comparing two teams in the NBA finals that are most likely to win the championship."
"You could organize your reports in two sections-one on Team A and the other on Team B-and for each team you would examine the star players, the postseason statistics, and other factors that point toward winning or losing. Or you might choose to organize the report around key statistics-rebounds per game, number of turnovers, and so on-and then look at both Team A and Team B in each of these categories. Each method of organization should yield a clear and reader-friendly result."
"Take a look at part of a recent article from the Washington Post that uses classification as an organizing principle for reporting on the attitudes and feelings of people who have pets-in this case, those who have dogs, cats, cats and dogs, or no pets: Dog or cat? In 2018, the General Social Survey for the first time included a battery of questions on pet ownership."
"The findings not only quantified the nation's pet population -nearly 6 in 10 households have at least one-they made it possible to see how pet ownership overlaps with all sorts of factors of interest to social scientists. Like happiness. For starters, there is little difference between pet owners and non-owners when it comes to happiness, the survey shows."
"The two groups are statistically indistinguishable on the likelihood of identifying as very happy (a little over 30 percent) or not too happy (in the mid-teens). Source: General Social Survey, 2018 But when you break the data down by pet type-cats, dogs or both-a stunning divide emerges: Dog owners are about twice as likely as cat owners to say they're very happy, with people owning both falling somewhere in between. Dog people, in other words, are slightly happier than those without any pets."
"Those in the cat camp, on the other hand, are significantly less happy than the pet-less. And having both appears to cancel each other out happiness-wise. (Since someone's bound to ask, it isn't possible to do this same type of analysis for, say, rabbit owners or lizard owners or fish owners, since there aren't enough of those folks in the survey to make a statistically valid sample.)"
"-CHRISTOPHER INGRAHAM, Dog Owners Are Much Happier Than Cat Owners This article reports on a 2018 survey in which researchers set out to answer an age-old question-do dogs or cats make people happier?"
"And the answer is DOGS: when you break the data down by pet type-cats, dogs or both-a stunning divide emerges: dog owners are about twice as likely as cat owners to say they're very happy, with people owning both falling somewhere in between. Notice that the writer classifies the pet owners in four categories: those with dogs, with cats, with both dogs and cats, and with no pets. He presents the findings in two different ways: with words, in paragraphs; and in a bar graph."
"Which of these two ways do you find easier to understand? Finally, when it comes to organizing a report that you're assigned to do for a class, make sure to find out if there are any requirements for how to organize your work. Some fields in the sciences and social sciences require an organization known as IMRAD for the headings it includes: introduction, methods, results, and discussion."
"Engineering instructors may require you to include a title page and organize your report around methods, results, discussion, conclusions, and references. Other disciplines may require different organizations. Consider whether to include any visuals Many reports include information that is best presented in visual texts. The annual report for Girls Who Code, for example, includes a map to show all the states where that organization has chapters."
And the Atlantic article on smartphones includes a number of graphs showing ways that smartphones have affected teenagers' behavior. The one below shows how much less they've been hanging out with friends since the iPhone was released. Joe Sacco's depiction of Sarajevo during the Bosnian war. But there are many other ways to use illustrations in a report. Journalist and war correspondent Joe Sacco is well known for his graphic reporting on the horrors and heartaches of warfare.
"Reporting on the 1990s war in Bosnia in a series of reports later published in a book called The Fixer , Sacco describes what he saw when he entered the devastated city of Sarajevo: [P]ut yourself in my shoes: You've just arrived at the Great Siege . . . your teeth are still rattling from the ride over Mt. Igman . . . and someone has just pointed you down the road and into an awful silence."
"-JOE SACCO, The Fixer The awful silence is surprising, given that the siege featured horrific noise-exploding bombs, gunfire, and what Sacco describes as a very noisy media circus. But that has all given way to an awful silence. At this point, Sacco includes a wordless, two-page image of his entry into Sarajevo. Readers see Sacco, very small and hunched over and wearing a heavy backpack, walking past burned-out buildings, including a shelled Holiday Inn. No words. No sounds at all."
"Thus the illustration shows readers just what walking into an awful silence looked like. Read your draft with a critical eye, get response-and revise Once you have a draft, it's time to read over what you've written to be sure that your report will engage readers and tell them what you want them to know about your topic. If at all possible, get feedback from a classmate or friend. The following questions can help you or others read a report with a critical eye."
Does the title make clear what the report is about-and will it engage readers' interest? What other title might you use? How well does the report address your intended AUDIENCE ? Will they see why the topic matters? Have you indicated in a THESIS what the report is about and how it is organized? How have you established your CREDIBILITY ? How many PERSPECTIVES does your report represent? Have you done your homework? How have you demonstrated that the information in your report is accurate and trustworthy?
"Have you FACT-CHECKED to be sure? How would you characterize the TONE ? Does it reflect your STANCE and the way you want to come across to your readers? If you have an opinion about your topic, have you kept it out of the report? Is the organization clear and appropriate to the topic? Have you included headings and TRANSITIONS to help readers follow the report easily? Have you included any VISUALS or presented any text graphically?"
"If not, is there any information that would be easier to understand in a chart or table or list? How does the report CONCLUDE ? What do you want to leave readers thinking-and does the conclusion do that? How else might your report conclude? And now it's time to REVISE . If you've analyzed your draft and gotten advice from others, you've got a plan. You know what you want to do-but think about what you need to do."
"Remember that you're writing a REPORT , and that means providing FACTUAL information-just the facts, some would say. You're also writing to a particular AUDIENCE about something that you think matters, so now's your chance to make them care as well. REFLECT! Choose a topic you are very interested in, and then browse the web to find someone who is reporting on that topic. Read the report carefully, and reflect on how effective the reporting is: How trustworthy is the information it provides?"
"How objective is it? How credible is the author? How well does the report engage you and make you want to read on (or not)? If you could revise the report or give advice to the writer, what would you do or say? Glossary BRAINSTORMING, 45, 82 A process for GENERATING IDEAS AND TEXT by writing down everything that comes to mind about a topic, then looking for patterns or connections among the ideas."
"REFERENCE WORKS, 257 Encyclopedias, handbooks, atlases, biographical dictionaries, almanacs, and other such sources that provide overviews of a topic. STANCE, 17-19, 26-27 A writer's attitude toward the subject-for example, reasonable, neutral, angry, curious. Stance is conveyed through TONE and word choice. QUALIFY, 84, 104-5 To limit a CLAIM -saying, for example, that most people like cake rather than people like cake."
"Words like frequently, often, generally , or sometimes can help you qualify what you claim-and make it something you'll be able to support. AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . TONE, 27, 96 The way a writer's or speaker's STANCE is reflected in the text. STANCE, 17-19, 26-27 A writer's attitude toward the subject-for example, reasonable, neutral, angry, curious."
"Stance is conveyed through TONE and word choice. COMPARISON AND CONTRAST, 87-88 A STRATEGY that highlights the points of similarity and difference between items. Using the block method , a writer discusses all the points about one item and then all the same points about the next item; using the point-by-point method , a writer discusses one point for both items before going on to discuss the next point for both items, and so on."
"Sometimes comparison and/or contrast can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or whole text. VISUAL ANALYSIS, 63-65, 139 A GENRE of writing that examines an image, video, or some other visual text and how it communicates its message to an AUDIENCE ."
"Key Features: a description of the visual - some contextual information - attention to any words - close ANALYSIS of the message - insight into what the visual says IMRAD A GENRE of writing scientific reports organized in four parts: an introduction (asks a question), methods (tells about experiments), results (states findings), and discussion (tries to make sense of findings in light of what was already known)."
"AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . THESIS, 84-85 A statement that identifies the topic and main point of a piece of writing, giving readers an idea of what the text will cover. CREDIBILITY, 164-66, 297-98 The sense of trustworthiness that a writer conveys through the text. PERSPECTIVES, 90-91, 29-41 Viewpoints, an important part of a writer's STANCE ."
"As a writer and a researcher, you should always strive to seek, think about, and work to understand multiple perspectives. FACT-CHECKING, 266-69 The process of verifying the accuracy of FACTS and CLAIMS presented in a piece of writing, a speech, or elsewhere-by READING LATERALLY, TRIANGULATING , or consulting various fact-checking sites. TONE, 27, 96 The way a writer's or speaker's STANCE is reflected in the text."
"STANCE, 17-19, 26-27 A writer's attitude toward the subject-for example, reasonable, neutral, angry, curious. Stance is conveyed through TONE and word choice. TRANSITIONS, 424 Words or phrases that help to connect sentences and paragraphs and to guide readers through a text."
"Transitions can signal COMPARISONS ( also, similarly, likewise, in the same way ); CONTRASTS ( but, instead, although, however, nonetheless ); examples ( for instance, in fact, such as ); place or position ( above, beyond, near, elsewhere ); sequence ( finally, next, again, also ); SUMMARIES or CONCLUSIONS ( on the whole, as we have seen, in brief ); time ( at first, meanwhile, so far, later ); and more. VISUALS, 455-57, 459-67 Photos, graphs, maps, diagrams, pie charts, tables, videos, and other images."
"Visuals can be used to support or illustrate a point and also to present information that is easier to understand in a chart or graph than it would be in a paragraph. CONCLUSION, 92, 211, 417-18 The way a text ends, a chance to leave an AUDIENCE thinking about what's been said. Some ways of concluding an essay: REITERATING your point, discussing the implications of your ARGUMENT , proposing some kind of action, inviting response."
"REVISING, 93-94 The process of making substantive changes, including additions and deletions, to a DRAFT so that it contains all the necessary information in an appropriate organization. Revision generally moves from whole-text issues to details with the goals of sharpening the focus and strengthening the ARGUMENT . See also response and revision REPORT, 157-85 A GENRE of writing that presents information to inform readers on a subject."
"Key Features: a topic carefully focused for a specific AUDIENCE - definitions of key terms - trustworthy information - appropriate organization and DESIGN - a confident TONE that informs rather than argues. See also IMRAD ; PROFILE FACTS, 69-70, 266-69 Information that can be backed up and verified by reliable evidence: Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in 2020 . AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION ."
"A STUDENT REPORT STEPHANIE POMALES For Better or Worse: Spotify and the Music Industry Stephanie Pomales wrote this essay for an introduction to computers class when she was a student at the University of Califoria at Davis, and it was a winner of the school's annual Prized Writing competition. She has a passion for communication and social media, and she has continued to pursue writing and research since her graduation. Her essay is documented using APA style."
"Opens with questions that engage her audience of college students. When you want music, where do you turn? Are you a purist who demands vinyl? Or do you go online to Pandora ? YouTube ? Apple Music ? Tidal Music ? Spotify ? If so, you are one of millions upon millions of people who access music digitally. But how much do you really know about the digital streaming services you are using?"
"If streaming is the way most of us now listen to music, what issues does this shift raise for artists and the music industry? This report sets out to explore that question. Provides background information. Let's consider Spotify , the most popular streaming music service in the United States today. Founded in 2008 by Swedish entrepreneur Daniel Ek, Spotify was first made available here in 2011."
"Since then, Spotify has created a new way for people to consume music and has had a huge impact on the music industry's business model. With over 40 million paying subscribers, Spotify currently ranks number one as the most popular music service in the world, with more users than Apple Music , Tidal , or Pandora . However, with popularity has come a critical backlash."
"The company, and its CEO, have been on defense ever since Spotify was first introduced into the US music marketplace, facing public opposition from recording artists, labels, and music industry executives. Piracy concerns, a decline in physical record sales, and Spotify 's pay-per-stream model have been major points of discord between the music industry and streaming companies."
"Most everyone in the industry acknowledges that streaming services are not going away, but many are still concerned about the ethics of streaming and whether musicians, especially independent artists, are being treated fairly. Despite these criticisms, streaming services are likely here to stay-at least until a new technology that is better, faster, or cheaper comes onto the marketplace. Provides a short narrative about the history of streaming."
"In fact, Spotify was once a new technology, one that was invented to be better than existing technology. You might say it all started with Napster , a peer-to-peer service that let people share and receive music files online or through email. It made music available for free, and thus was hugely popular. Its site was shut down after intense legal battles with copyright holders, but Napster had already changed the face of the music industry (Swanson, 2013)."
"Apple's iTunes , Rhapsody , and Pandora all came shortly thereafter, each helping to further the digital music sphere into a more legitimate way of listening to music online (Marshall, 2015). And then, in 2008, along came Spotify . Describes the services Spotify provides. Provides statistics. Spotify is an on demand streaming service that operates on two plans. The first level, Spotify Free (freemium), lets users listen to music for free but with advertisements and with limited options."
"For example, they can listen to music only on shuffle mode and cannot access the higher quality sound that comes with a paid subscription. They also cannot listen to songs on demand and are limited to a certain number of skips in shuffle mode. For $9.99 per month ($4.99 for students), users can upgrade to the second tier, Spotify Premium , which gives them consistent, high quality, on-demand music."
"The music is considered on demand because users can listen to specific music that they choose instead of having music chosen for them by a computer-generated formula. Spotify licenses access to millions of songs by making deals with labels and independent artists for a certain percentage of its profits, money that comes from advertisements in the Spotify Free tier or from subscription fees in Spotify Premium ."
"These funds go into a pool that is distributed based on how often songs are played and other popularity factors; think of it like having your paycheck fluctuate based not only on your own performance, but on the performance of everyone else in your industry as well (Luckerson, 2019). According to an article in Quartz , song rightsholders make anywhere from $.006 to $.0084 cents per play, and these earnings can be divided up between the label, the producers, and the artists (Livni, 2018)."
"Introduces alternative views of streaming services. Streaming services are currently locked in a heated debate with music industry professionals over whether or not the pay-per-stream model is adversely affecting the industry and the artists. As the top streaming service in the world, Spotify takes up much of the spotlight, especially after Taylor Swift pulled all her music from Spotify in 2014."
"Swift added her albums back in 2017, but her absence on the site for many years raised serious questions about the ethics of Spotify 's free model. Many artists and music industry professionals believe that the backlash is warranted, while others argue that Spotify provides a legal alternative to pirating that justifies its existence (Swanson, 2013). Taylor Swift raised red flags about Spotify when she removed her albums from Spotify in 2014."
"Spotify started with good intentions: to combat the music piracy that Napster had unleashed, as people began to see peer-to-peer sharing as a way of owning free music. Daniel Ek, Spotify 's founder, believed that streaming services could simply monetize already existing consumer behavior, and that it would be a legitimate alternative to the global issue of pirating. Provides evidence of Spotify 's positive effects. In spite of the criticism, Spotify has lived up to much of its early promise."
"Streaming services are in fact saving music sales, which have been declining in recent years in part because of struggles with piracy (Shaw, 2016). Even Carl Sherman, the president of the Recording Industry Association of America, has spoken out on the subject."
"In a recent blog article reporting on the music industry midway through 2016, Sherman admitted that much of the growth in the music industry in recent years has been brought about by music subscription services (Sherman, 2016), saying that 2016 was the first time that music professionals had seen consistent sales since 1999, when record sales reached their peak (Singleton &Popper, 2016)."
"Sherman even acknowledged that streaming had contributed a lot to these record-high sales numbers, noting that it accounted for almost half of all recorded music revenue in the first half of 2016 (Sherman, 2016). Since Spotify is the streaming service with the most subscribers, and the main contributor to the industry's increased sales, its impact on the music marketplace is considerable."
"Approximately $1 billion was spent on streaming services in the first half of 2016, with more people than ever opting for paid subscription plans. Music spending in total for the same year, including record sales and online sales, was more than $3.4 billion according to industry statistics (Shaw, 2016)."
"The three major record labels-Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group-have all seen improved sales, largely due to the popularity of streaming services in the United States (Shaw, 2016). Provides evidence of Spotify 's negative effects. Notes counterarguments to Spotify 's critics. Many still believe, however, that Spotify is not doing enough to help musicians earn a living wage, especially in the case of independent artists."
"Many common arguments state that music buying is decreasing. During the heydays of CDs and records, buying music was a more public, even social, experience. Now that big box stores are reducing their CD sections and there are fewer music stores around, music buying takes place mostly online and in the privacy of one's home."
"While it's easy to assume that fewer people are willing to pay for music, data shows that people who pay for streaming services will spend more over time than those who bought physical CDs in the 1990s (Shaw, 2016). A typical CD buyer in 1990 spent $50 per year on music, while a Spotify subscription could cost as much as $120 per year (Singleton &Popper, 2016)."
"With 25% of all Spotify freemium users converting to paid subscriptions (Singleton &Popper, 2016), more people than ever before are paying for their music. Spotify 's billboards celebrate its listeners and inspire others to join the fun. Compares streaming with earlier technologies. Many of Spotify 's defenders believe that critics are simply looking at streaming services in the wrong way, saying that streaming services and store-bought albums are different things."
"Streaming, they say, needs to be taken seriously as a new technology that cannot be compared to previous technologies. Vinyl, cassettes, and CDs each had a moment in which they were the most in-demand technology, and streaming is now having its moment. This suggests that a major change is overdue concerning how people view the streaming model. When radio DJs play a song, they are sending music over airwaves to hundreds or even thousands of people at the same time."
"On the other hand, streaming occurs on a one-to-one basis with individual people accessing a song they want to hear whenever they want to hear it. This explains why the payment per stream is so low, and why Spotify simply can't be compared with AirPlay . Spotify 's Daniel Ek has a response to all the criticism that his company has faced. Most industry professionals see music sales on a per-unit basis, he says, like buying an individual song on an online music store."
"Ek suggests that the music industry needs to move away from a unit-based business model and to a streaming model. People do not buy music from streaming services-instead, they pay for access to music for a designated period. Over an extended period, the small payments for music access will result in more money for both artists and industry professionals (Marshall, 2015). Introduces the music industry's main problem: piracy. But Spotify 's biggest problem is not the complaints of artists or industry bigwigs."
"Indeed, it is piracy, in the form of illegal music downloading. The switch to streaming has many researchers trying to determine whether it has resulted in more or less music piracy. After all, one of the main reasons Ek started Spotify was to make streaming a viable alternative to piracy in the digital age."
"If piracy has decreased, then one could say that streaming services have fulfilled a valuable goal for the music industry; if piracy has risen, it may be that streaming services are adding to digital piracy. Provides evidence of the damage done by piracy. The Federation of the Phonographic Industry estimates that 20 million Americans are pirating on a regular basis (Carman, 2016), and it seems that the exclusives that some streaming companies offer may be partly responsible."
"When popular music is available only on specific streaming services, users are less able to get all their music on one service, resulting in widespread pirating of that music (Singleton &Popper, 2016). For example, when Kanye West's Life of Pablo album was available only on Tidal , it is estimated that 500,000 people illegally downloaded the album from various file-sharing websites (Carman, 2016)."
"Each of the illegal downloads resulted in loss of income for the artist, the streaming services, and the industry professionals behind the production and creation of the album. Although exclusive content may help to bring more business to a specific streaming service, ultimately, they may be doing more harm than good to the industry and to Spotify 's efforts to eradicate pirating. Cites research about Spotify 's effects on piracy."
"Citing scholarly research helps build the author's credibility: she's done her homework! Academic research offers conflicting viewpoints about music streaming services and their influence on pirating. In their paper Streaming Reaches Flood Stage: Does Spotify Stimulate or Depress Music Sales? Aguiar and Waldfogel (2015) conclude that Spotify has been revenue-neutral for the music industry, stating that losses from displaced sales are roughly outweighed by the gains in streaming revenue (p. 1)."
"Their research also shows that Spotify has helped to decrease the amount of music piracy in the United States and across the globe, but does not do much to raise the net profit of the music industry (Aguiar &Waldfogel, 2015). Borja and Dieringer (2016), however, conclude that streaming services like Spotify increase instances of pirating by 11%, with more streaming directly correlated with higher rates of music pirating."
"This might have to do with the fact that most people do not view streaming as a low-price substitute for pirating, as many complain that streaming services are still too expensive (Borja &Dieringer, 2016, p. 91). In fact, Borja and Dieringer found that the two most predictive factors for pirating were peer pressure and a high tendency toward risk taking. College students seem to be the population most inclined to this behavior, as students have little income and many expenses."
"With higher levels of risk taking, students are more likely to pirate from illegal file-sharing websites because they have less money to buy music and are more susceptible to the considerations of others. Considers other perspectives on piracy. While peer pressure surely plays a significant role in piracy behavior, internet users may have more complex reasons behind why they resort to pirating even when low-cost alternatives like streaming are available."
"In 2016, Russ Crupnick, a writer for MusicWatch .com , conducted a survey with 1,000 respondents between the ages of 13 and 50 and found that the reasons for music pirating are varied between different age categories. Some people surveyed simply stated that they want to own the music, rather than only have access to it for a brief period, while others only pirate music if they do not like the track enough to purchase it on a digital music site (Crupnick, 2016)."
"Many of the respondents stated that they wanted to have on demand music on their smartphones, a feature that Spotify Free does not offer. Somewhat surprisingly, many of the people surveyed who pirated music claimed that they spend a fair amount of money buying music from legal sources; in fact, the amount they spend on legal music is only slightly less than the amount spent by average, non-pirating music buyers (Crupnick, 2016). Sums up the findings of her research."
"Although criticism of streaming continues and research gives conflicting information concerning piracy, streaming services have made their mark on the music industry. Those using these sites, including both premium and freemium subscribers, have grown accustomed to accessing large quantities of music for free, or for incredibly cheap prices."
"Music labels must adjust to these changes and work accordingly with streaming services in order to stay relevant into the 21st century, especially given the potential for streaming services to independently contract with musicians in the near future. The more subscribers join, the more money artists will see in their pockets and the less irritated music executives will be with Spotify 's cut of the profits. This not only applies to big name artists receiving millions of streams, but indie artists as well."
"Longer free trials, special discounts, and family memberships are all ways that streaming services can get more paid subscribers. Any money that goes to the music industry is still better than having musicians' work be pirated. Marketing toward older generations on the benefits of streaming services may also prove to be useful in increasing the number of paid subscription members."
"With Spotify holding a high conversion rate of users from free to paid plans, it is likely that streaming services will become more normalized in music history and will begin to secure a stronger reputation in the eyes of industry professionals. Challenges readers to think about where they get music; invites response. If you're someone who gets your music via Spotify , Pandora , or another streaming service, do you subscribe or take the freemium options?"
"Or do you find a way to download what you want for free? What do you think you should do, and why? As subscribers, or potential subscribers, these are all issues that you should consider when you stream your next song. As this report has demonstrated, these are decisions we all need to think about. References Aguiar, L., &Waldfogel, J. (2015). Streaming reaches flood stage: Does Spotify stimulate or depress music sales? (NBER Working Paper No. 21653). The National Bureau of Economic Research."
"http://doi.org/df3d Borja, K., &Dieringer, S. (2016). Streaming or stealing? The complementary features between music streaming and music piracy. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 32 , 86-95. http://doi.org/gc8qv8 Carman, A. (2016, April 10). How music streaming service exclusives make pirating tempting again . The Verge. http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/10/11394272/music-streaming-service-piracy-spoti fy-tlop-tidal Crupnick, R. (2016, February 22). Bad company, you can't deny . MusicWatch."
"http://www.musicwatchinc.com/blog/bad-company-you-cant-deny/ Livni, E. (2018, December 25). Mariah Carey's record-breaking day shows how little musicians make from Spotify. Quartz. https://qz.com/1507361/mariah-careys-record-breaking-day-shows-how-little-musici ans-make-from-spotify/ Luckerson, V. (2019, January 16). Is Spotify 's model wiping out music's middle class? The Ringer. https://www.theringer.com/tech/2019/1/16/18184314/spotify-music-streaming-servic e-royalty-payout-model Marshall, L. (2015)."
"Let's keep music special. F- Spotify : On-demand streaming and the controversy over artist royalties. Creative Industries Journal, 8 (2), 177-189. http://doi.org/gc3chw Shaw, L. (2016, September 19). The music industry is finally making money on streaming . Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-20/spotify-apple-drive-u-s-music -industry-s-8-first-half-growth Sherman, C. (2016, September 20). The modern music business midway through 2016 . Medium."
"https://medium.com/@RIAA/the-modern-music-business-midway-through-2016-f74 e22ecff42#.ge04odf4s Singleton, M., &Popper, B. (2016, September 20). The music industry is on the rebound thanks to paid streaming . The Verge. http://theverge.com/2016/9/20/12986980/music-industry-apple-spotify-paid-streami ng Swanson, K. (2013). A case study on Spotify : Exploring perceptions of the music streaming service. MEIEA Journal, 13 (1), 207-230. http://doi.org/gfvxmh Thinking about the Text 1."
"Stephanie Pomales has obviously done a lot of research on Spotify and other streaming services. What is her major CLAIM and where is it stated? 2. What examples, facts, and reasons does she offer to support the major claim? How well do you think she supports that claim? What EVIDENCE do you find most informative and persuasive-and what leads you to that conclusion? 3. How does Pomales deal with COUNTERARGUMENTS and alternative viewpoints? Do you think she does so fairly? 4."
"Make a rough outline of this report. What does it reveal about how she has organized all her information? How effective is that organization? How else could it be organized? 5. Pomales concludes her report by asking readers how they get music-by subscribing to a streaming service, using a free streaming service, or downloading what they want for free-and then asking what they think they should do, and why."
"Write a paragraph or two describing how you get music, and reflecting on what you now think you should do-and why. Glossary CLAIM, 84-85, 103-5 A statement of a belief or POSITION . In an ARGUMENT , a claim needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied, and requires support by REASONS and EVIDENCE . EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS ."
"Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling. Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making). COUNTERARGUMENT, 16, 90-91, 265 In ARGUMENT , an alternative POSITION or objection to the writer's position."
"The writer of an argument should not only acknowledge counterarguments but also, if at all possible, accept, accommodate, or refute each counterargument. Endnotes  Announces the purpose of her report. Return to text  Establishes a conversational tone. Return to text  States thesis. Return to text  States the conclusion supported by research. Return to text PART 3 WRITING / MAKE YOUR POINT Chapter 11 Narrating WHAT UNITES PEOPLE? ARMIES? GOLD? FLAGS? NAH. STORIES ."
"THERE'S NOTHING MORE POWERFUL THAN A GOOD STORY. NOTHING CAN STOP IT. NO ENEMY CAN DEFEAT IT. -TYRION LANNISTER Why would telling a story be more powerful than everything else in the world? Is it because millions of people watch Game of Thrones ? Or read about the adventures of Odysseus, or Captain Underpants? It's much more than that. Storytelling is a universal genre: the one true democracy we have, says novelist Colum McCann."
"It goes across borders, boundaries, genders, wealth, race-everyone has a story to tell. A good story can even change minds. These are all reasons that stories mean so much to our lives and to the work we do as readers, writers, and speakers. If you're a biology major, you'll learn a lot through stories about how major discoveries were made, from Watson and Crick's quest to solve the structure of DNA to the epic journeys that led Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace to their theory of evolution."
"If you're a business major, you're likely to work with case studies, narratives about situations that real companies faced in which you might be assigned to be the CEO (the protagonist) and have to figure out how to deal with the situation. And if you watched the 2019 Super Bowl , you likely saw the Toyota ad that linked a vehicle to the powerful story about Toni Harris, the first woman to win a college football scholarship and who hopes someday to be the first woman to play in the Super Bowl."
"So narratives are all around us, not just in literature and on TV. It's no surprise then that they will play a role in your composition class. You might open an argument with a personal narrative that makes a point about your topic-and perhaps return to that story in your conclusion. Or you might compose a narrative as a way to make a point. And sometimes you may be assigned to write a literacy narrative about how you learned to read or write or do something else."
"This chapter aims to guide you in creating a narrative of your own. Toni Harris with her teammates. A GUIDE TO DEVELOPING A NARRATIVE Put most simply, a narrative tells about something that's happened in order to make a point of some kind. A personal narrative focuses on something that happened to the person writing it. That's you, and here are some steps to get you started. Identify an event that matters The first step is to come up with a topic that matters-to you, and hopefully to others as well."
"Think about what happened, and why. When and where did it happen? Who was involved, and what roles did they play? Why does it matter to you, and why have you chosen to write about it? How can you write about it in a way that will interest others-especially if it's something they wouldn't ordinarily read about? If you're assigned to write a LITERACY NARRATIVE , you'll focus on how you learned to do something-read, write, knit, play the guitar, whatever. Just be sure it's something you care about."
"Start by thinking about what you learned, and who else was involved. Was it easy? challenging? fun? something else? Why has it mattered enough to write about it? When Melissa Hicks was assigned to write a personal narrative for her writing class at Lane Community College, in Oregon, she found herself thinking over and over about making butter on her family's farm as a young girl and her fondness for butter now as an adult."
"Writing about those experiences prompted her to think about why they've been so important to her: I swear that it's the butter that makes everything taste so good. My favorite foods that remind me of my mother and my own childhood. In the grocery store aisle, I stand under the harsh white lights of the dairy case, margarine in one hand and butter in the other. . . . I weigh them in my mind, thinking of the high cost of butter. No matter how long I stand and weigh, I always put the butter in my cart."
"I remem ber the times when I was a girl-the taste of sweet, fresh butter melting on my tongue. I remember the work it took, and I know the price is more than fair. -MELISSA HICKS, The High Price of Butter The story Hicks goes on to tell moves back and forth between her present grown-up self and her past childhood. She meditates on the honest, hard work on the farm where she took care of the cow and made butter, and reflects on how those experiences shaped the values that she still holds today."
"And here's Savion Glover, now a famous tap dancer, telling the story about how learning to play the drums at a young age got him started making too much noise: I started playing drums in Suzuki class when I was three or four. I'd go in there and start banging on some drum or on the piano or the xylophone, and they eventually moved me up a level into the regular drum class, I think because I was just making too much noise. I just couldn't stop banging around."
"Meanwhile at home I used to play everything, just everything, my mother tells me. I do remember putting on shows for her. She would come home from work, and I'd have the knives and forks out from the drawers and the pots and the pans set up like drums. I figured out you could get different tones out of the big pots and the little pots and the teakettle and the colander. -SAVION GLOVER, My Life in Tap A close-up of Savion Glover, making music and noise with his feet."
"Note that Glover's narrative implicitly tells readers that this sequence of events matters a great deal to him: it captures his commitment to and near obsession with making music (and noise!) since he was a toddler, using red highlighting to underscore that he  just couldn't stop banging around.  Creating sound and performing for his mother seem like the most important things in his life! This paragraph draws readers in and invites us to find out what happens next."
"Think about your rhetorical situation When you've decided on the event(s) your narrative will focus on and considered the point you want the narrative to lead up to, it's time to consider your rhetorical situation. Purpose. Think again about why you want to tell this story. Will telling it help you understand yourself and what has happened to you in your life in new ways? Will it help you connect with a particular audience?"
"Or maybe your narrative is meant to entertain-to get your audience laughing along with you. Whatever your purpose, keep it in mind from start to finish. Audience. Who will read your story? Why would it interest them-or how can you get them interested? What do you want them to take away from it? What do you know about them, and how much background will you need to provide? What do you know about their age, gender, cultural heritage, basic values and beliefs, and so on?"
"How might such factors influence the way you tell your story-and how you present yourself? Stance. What stance will you take? How do you want to come across-as knowledgeable? thoughtful? funny? something else? What ever stance you adopt, think about how the words you choose and the way you put them together will help establish that stance. Context. What else has been said about your topic?"
"Does your narrative relate to any larger social or political or economic issues (or educational ones, if you're writing a literacy narrative)-and if so, what will your audience need to know about that context? Finally, think about your own context-the requirements of an assignment, the time you have to complete your narrative, and so on. Media and design. How will your narrative be delivered-in print? online? as an oral presentation?"
How does your medium affect the way your narrative is designed and the kinds of examples you can provide? Can you include visuals-photos and captions? video? audio? Would headings help readers follow the story? Your decisions about media and design should aim to help your audience follow your story and understand the major points you want to make with that story.
"Try to recall details that will make your story come alive Start by writing down everything you can remember about the event that's at the heart of your narrative-just start writing and keep going until you run out of memories and words. What happened? When and where did it take place? Who was there? What were they wearing, what did they say? Can you recall any specific sounds, smells, colors, or tastes?"
"What vivid or quirky details can you add that will help bring your story to life so that others can experience it along with you? Can you add some dialogue-conversations or even just words that will let your audience listen in on what was happening? Why does this story matter? See how Lynda Barry incorporates visual details and dialogue in her narrative essay recalling how important good teachers have been to her success as a cartoonist, author, and now a teacher herself."
"Here she is at age seven, sneaking out of home and in a panic about needing to get to school: It was quiet outside. Stars were still out. Nothing moved and no one was in the street. It was as if someone had turned the sound off on the world. I walked the alley, breaking thin ice over the puddles with my shoes. I didn't know why I was walking to school in the dark. . . . All I knew was a feeling of panic, like the panic that strikes kids when they realize they are lost."
"That feeling eased the moment I turned the corner and saw the dark outline of my school at the top of the hill. My school was made up of about 15 nondescript portable classrooms set down on a fenced concrete lot in a rundown Seattle neighborhood, but it had the most beautiful view of the Cascade Mountains. You could see them from . . . the windows of my classroom-Room 2. . . . Hey there, young lady. Did you forget to go home last night? It was Mr. Gunderson, our janitor, whom we all loved."
"He was nice and he was funny and he was old with white hair, thick glasses and an unbelievable number of keys. I could hear them jingling as he walked across the playfield. I felt incredibly happy to see him. And I saw my teacher, Mrs. Claire LeSane, walking toward us in a red coat and calling my name in a very happy and surprised way, and suddenly my throat got tight and my eyes stung and I ran toward her crying. . . . It's only thinking about it now, 28 years later, that I realize I was crying from relief."
"I was with my teacher, and in a while I was going to sit at my desk, with my crayons and pencils and books and classmates all around me, and for the next six hours I was going to enjoy a thoroughly secure, warm and stable world. . . . Mrs. LeSane asked me what was wrong and when I said Nothing, she seemingly left it at that. But she asked me if I would carry her purse for her, an honor above all honors, and she asked if I wanted to come into Room 2 early and paint."
"-LYNDA BARRY, The Sanctuary of School Barry is a master cartoonist and storyteller, and this passage is full of colorful, quirky details. We wonder, along with her, why she is going to school in the dark, but that thought is swept aside as she turns a corner and sees her school-her sanctuary, even though the school is just a bunch of nondescript portable classrooms. Then she sees the janitor, with his unbelievable number of keys jingling a greeting-and then her teacher, Mrs. LeSane."
"Note the colorful images (red coat, thin ice over puddles) and how Barry's dialogue helps make the passage more vivid and immediate, and thus carries readers along. Finally, notice how Barry's cartoon image helps tell the story: she's literally cradling her school, her sanctuary, in her arms-and with a smile on her face-as she declares, I'm home. Figure out how to tell your story At this point, you should think about creating a scratch OUTLINE or STORYBOARD for your narrative."
"You might think of the narrative as a big arc, with a dramatic event or something else at the beginning that will get your audience's attention and then lead to other events or details or insights and eventually to some kind of conclusion. Then plot points along this arc where you'll bring in particular information. How can you begin in a way that will get your audience interested? How will you sequence your story and hold their interest?"
"And how should you conclude: What do you want to leave your audience thinking? See Chapter 22 on ways of getting and keeping attention. You'll need to consider POINT OF VIEW . Will you write in the first person ( I , me ) throughout, or will the narrative require you to shift points of view in places as Melissa Hicks does, shifting from I to we when she refers to things her family did? Think about how you'll represent time."
"Most narratives use CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER or a slight variation on it (such as adding FLASHBACKS , for example) and so use past tenses, as Hicks does: For my fourteenth birthday I got a cow. I did not ask for a cow. I had very clearly asked for a horse. While every girl-child wants a horse, I felt that I had earned mine. I had worked at a farm down the road. . . . I knew how to take care of a horse."
"The life my family had worked and sweated for, clearing our own little spot in the Maine woods, was as well suited to horse-raising as any of our other pursuits. The fact was, I didn't know beans about cows. -MELISSA HICKS, The High Price of Butter If you want readers to experience the narrative as very immediate, you might use the present tense. Here's Hicks again, making butter: As my arms tire, I alter the motion. Instead of shaking the jar up and down, I go side to side. My youngest sister . . ."
"asks for the jar. My mother, setting the milk back in the fridge, tells her to wait her turn. The present tense takes readers right into the scene: we are there with her as she does the hard work of making butter. Finally, try your hand at drafting the OPENING and CONCLUSION of your narrative. You may not use them in the end, but getting something down in print will help you build momentum. Try to start in a way that will grab your audience's attention, make them interested in reading on."
"There are many ways to conclude, but think about what you want them to take away from the story, what you want them to remember. See pp. 85 and 410-12 on ways to begin; pp. 92 and 417-18 on ways to conclude. Then work on drafting the rest of the narrative. When you've done that, see if the opening and closing still fit. REFLECT! You probably never got a cow for a present-or maybe you did. But think about gifts you've received-or given. What gift is most memorable, and what makes it so?"
"Write a paragraph or two that tells the story of that gift. Indicate why the story matters Readers expect more from a personal narrative than just a good story. We want to know why the subject of the narrative matters to the author-and why those of us reading it should care. You can't assume that readers will know why your story matters, so you need to make that clear. There's no simple formula for how to do that, other than to say what not to do: don't simply say why it matters."
Let's see how some of the authors in this chapter do that. The best arguments in the world won't change a person's mind. The only thing that can do that is a good story.
"RICHARD POWERS, The Overstory In her essay about how school was a sanctuary for her, Lynda Barry writes about more than just herself, noting that while we know that a good education system saves lives, we are still told that cutting the budget for public schools is necessary, that poor salaries for teachers are all we can manage. She wants to change our minds about that."
"Here's how she concludes her essay: Mrs. LeSane asked us to please stand, face the flag, place our right hands over our hearts and say the Pledge of Allegiance. Children across the country do it faithfully. I wonder now when the country will face its children and say a pledge right back. -LYNDA BARRY, The Sanctuary of School Here's how Melissa Hicks shows us why her essay is about more than just the price of butter: To me the cost of butter is more than a price tag."
"The cost of butter reminds me of my childhood, and how my family struggled to be pioneers in the twentieth century. The cost of butter reminds me of the value of hard work, and how that brought my family together. . . . Yet the cost of butter is more than a symbol of hard work and quality. The fact that I buy it is an affirmation of my own choices in life. Because of my childhood, I know the cost in sweat of butter. As an adult, I choose to pay that price in cash."
"-MELISSA HICKS, The High Price of Butter Finally, here's Michelle Obama, near the end of her memoir, Becoming , reflecting on her own journey and her purpose for writing that book: For me, becoming isn't about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn't end. I became a mother, but I still have a lot to learn from and give to my children."
"I became a wife, but I continue to adapt to and be humbled by what it means to truly love and make a life with another person. I have become, by certain measures, a person of power, and yet there are moments still when I feel insecure or unheard. It's all a process, steps along a path. Becoming requires equal parts patience and rigor. Becoming is never giving up on the idea that there's more growing to be done."
"-MICHELLE OBAMA, Becoming In all three of these examples, the writers show just why the story matters, why it's important to them and should be to us as well. Read your draft with a critical eye, get response-and revise Once you have a draft, ask others to read it over and talk with you about it. Ask them to be frank and open: What did they get out of your story? Was anything confusing? What did they like best? Did they find it engaging? easy to follow?"
"Try to get response from people who represent your intended audience-and some who might not: you want to hear as many diverse perspectives as possible. Now's the time to do so! Eventually, of course, you need to be your own best critic. After all, you know what you were aiming for. So get out your magnifying glass, and take a very close look at what you've produced. How will the OPENING capture the audience's attention and make them want to read on? How else could the narrative begin?"
"How well has the scene for the story been DESCRIBED ? Is it clear when and where the story takes place? If there are shifts in time in your story, are they signaled by the use of different verb tenses? Will readers be able to follow the narrative easily? Are there TRANSITIONS from one part of the story to the next? If not, should there be? What vivid details or memorable words help the story come alive? Does the narrative include dialogue or direct quotation? If not, should you add some?"
"Are there any VISUALS -photos, maps, and so on? If so, what do they contribute to the narrative? If not, would adding some help carry the story along? How would you describe the TONE , and what words, visuals, or other things help establish that tone? Will the AUDIENCE you want to reach find this tone engaging? Is the point or significance of the story clear, both for you and others? What makes it clear? Have you stated it explicitly-and if not, should you do so? How does the narrative CONCLUDE ?"
"What does it leave readers thinking? How else might it end? Have you chosen a title? If so, how will it get your readers' attention, and are you still satisfied with it? If not, try to come up with a title that will make your readers want to read what you've written. Now's the time to REVISE . If you've analyzed your draft and gotten advice from others, you've got a plan. You know what you need to do, and what you want to do. So now's your chance!"
"But remember that you're writing a NARRATIVE : you're telling a story. And you're telling it to an AUDIENCE , and they will want to know why you're telling this story. Be sure to tell them why the story matters to you-and why it might matter to them. REFLECT! Tell me a fact and I'll learn. Tell me the truth and I'll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever. This Native American proverb sets a high standard for the stories we tell."
"Think of a story that has stayed with you for a long time. What made it so memorable: the subject? the way the story was told? the message? Then write a paragraph or so about what makes a narrative live on forever. Glossary LITERACY NARRATIVE, 188-90 A GENRE of writing that tells about a writer's experience learning to read or write or do something else."
"An informal outline simply lists ideas and then numbers them in the order that they will appear; a working outline distinguishes support from main ideas by indenting the former; a formal outline is arranged as a series of headings and indented subheadings, each on a separate line, with letters and numbers indicating relative levels of importance. STORYBOARD, 194, 232 A series of sketches used in planning a film or video essay to map out the sequence of camera shots, movement, and action."
"POINT OF VIEW, 194 The position from which something is considered: first person ( I or we ), second person ( you ), or third person ( he, she , or they ). See also PERSPECTIVES CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, 85, 194 A way of organizing text that proceeds from the beginning of an event to the end. Reverse chronological order proceeds in the other direction, from the end to the beginning. FLASHBACK, 194 In NARRATIVE , an interruption of the main story in order to show an incident that occurred at an earlier time."
"OPENING, 146, 410-12 The way a text begins, which plays an important role in drawing an AUDIENCE in. Some ways of beginning an essay: with a dramatic or deceptively simple statement, with something others have said about your topic, with a provocative question or a startling CLAIM , or with an ANECDOTE . CONCLUSION, 92, 211, 417-18 The way a text ends, a chance to leave an AUDIENCE thinking about what's been said."
"Some ways of concluding an essay: REITERATING your point, discussing the implications of your ARGUMENT , proposing some kind of action, inviting response. OPENING, 146, 410-12 The way a text begins, which plays an important role in drawing an AUDIENCE in. Some ways of beginning an essay: with a dramatic or deceptively simple statement, with something others have said about your topic, with a provocative question or a startling CLAIM , or with an ANECDOTE ."
"DESCRIPTION, 86 A STRATEGY that tells how something looks, sounds, smells, feels, or tastes. Effective description creates a clear DOMINANT IMPRESSION built from specific details. Description can be objective, subjective , or both. Description can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or whole text. TRANSITIONS, 424 Words or phrases that help to connect sentences and paragraphs and to guide readers through a text."
"Transitions can signal COMPARISONS ( also, similarly, likewise, in the same way ); CONTRASTS ( but, instead, although, however, nonetheless ); examples ( for instance, in fact, such as ); place or position ( above, beyond, near, elsewhere ); sequence ( finally, next, again, also ); SUMMARIES or CONCLUSIONS ( on the whole, as we have seen, in brief ); time ( at first, meanwhile, so far, later ); and more. VISUALS, 455-57, 459-67 Photos, graphs, maps, diagrams, pie charts, tables, videos, and other images."
"Visuals can be used to support or illustrate a point and also to present information that is easier to understand in a chart or graph than it would be in a paragraph. TONE, 27, 96 The way a writer's or speaker's STANCE is reflected in the text. AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . CONCLUSION, 92, 211, 417-18 The way a text ends, a chance to leave an AUDIENCE thinking about what's been said."
"Some ways of concluding an essay: REITERATING your point, discussing the implications of your ARGUMENT , proposing some kind of action, inviting response. REVISING, 93-94 The process of making substantive changes, including additions and deletions, to a DRAFT so that it contains all the necessary information in an appropriate organization. Revision generally moves from whole-text issues to details with the goals of sharpening the focus and strengthening the ARGUMENT ."
"See also response and revision NARRATIVE, 186-202 A GENRE that tells a story for the PURPOSE of making a point. Key Features: a clearly defined event - a clearly described setting - vivid, descriptive details - a consistent POINT OF VIEW - a clear point. Also a strategy for presenting information as a story, for telling what happened. When used in an essay, narration is used to support a point-not merely to tell an interesting story for its own sake."
"Narration can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or an entire text. See also LITERACY NARRATIVE AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . A STUDENT NARRATIVE ISAAC LOZANO Remote Learning Is Hard. Losing Family Members Is Worse."
"Isaac Lozano was a senior at Buena Vista High School in Chula Vista, California, when he sent this narrative to the New York Times , where it was published on August 13, 2020. He is currently at work on a children's book. Opens with dramatic events that make us read on: Will his parents be next? Last month, I learned that my uncle died of Covid-19. Not long after, his mother passed away from the virus, too."
"Since my parents are essential workers, I'm starting my senior year of high school worrying whether they're next. Uses first-person point of view. I live in one of San Diego's most infected ZIP codes . And I'm a Latino in a county where Hispanics-43 percent of Covid-19 victims yet only 34 percent of the population-bear the brunt of the pandemic. Echoes his title's contrast, which leads up to his main point."
"When schools went remote earlier this year, low-income students like me, who have limited access to computers and the internet, faced challenges keeping up with schoolwork. Trying to study in cramped quarters and without reliable connectivity was frustrating. But as schools begin this fall, I'd much rather endure the troubles of distance learning than return to campus prematurely and sacrifice my own health or that of my family."
"Throughout the pandemic, my five-member family has been huddled in a 920-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment, where I share a room with my two brothers. For my parents, social distancing isn't an option. My father is a supervisor at a car distribution company, and my mother, in remission from cancer, recently resigned as a caregiver at a hospice facility. Cases in our county were rising, so she opted instead to take care of my autistic cousin through a respite care program."
"It's not much, but in my mother's words, the extra money will allow us to salir adelante, or get ahead. In April, when my school started distance learning, I struggled to stay focused, bouncing from room to room in search of peace and quiet. In the morning, I settled in the kitchen table to attend online meetings while my family was asleep. By the afternoon, I fled to my parents' room to finish schoolwork but only until my father came home from work and ordered me out."
"Dialogue evokes tension and brings the story to life. Sometimes I ignored my parents or grimaced at them for no apparent reason. Are you mad at me? my mother would ask. No, I just want to stay focused, I'd retort. Vivid details help us share his experience."
"In truth, I was angry that I lived in a coronavirus hot spot; that my immigrant parents could only provide me with so much; that my middle-class peers were ensconced in their own bedrooms while I remained confined to a skinny metal chair in my kitchen. At school, I got straight A's and was praised by English teachers for my writing. I saw myself as the poor Mexican kid who could overcome financial barriers with enough determination."
"But when my uncle died of the coronavirus, I realized that gumption wasn't enough to overcome the obstacles of a pandemic. We couldn't even say goodbye. Shift in tense returns us to the present. Black and Latino children already grapple with disproportionately high rates of Covid-19 and face systemic barriers to testing and treatment . Many of us live in multigenerational homes and have parents who are essential workers. We are less likely to have access to health care ."
"And low-income schools across the country are struggling to afford the supplies and infrastructure required to reopen safely. I'm lucky that my district is postponing school reopenings until at least October. But if I am ordered back to campus prematurely, I won't do it."
"As difficult as distance learning was, returning to the classroom now-as cases in the U.S. break records and experts fore see the pandemic persisting until next year -would put my home and the homes of millions of low-income kids of color at greater risk of infection. Sensory details underscore reasons for his decision. I leave my apartment not knowing if my next-door neighbors-only three feet away from my front door-could have the virus."
"I fear for my mother's life every time we go to our local laundromat, a cramped space where visitors don't always wear masks. Though we wash our hands and disinfect items after arriving home, I'm always left with a tingle of uneasiness-like sensing a mosquito in a dark room. I've lamented this to friends who, like me, live in tight quarters and have seen family members sickened: As much as we excel academically, our ZIP codes still hold dominion over us and our families ."
"Living in a noisy home with domestic responsibilities during a pandemic was already a challenge, but the death of a loved one sapped my hope for the future and brought closer the difference a few digits on my address can make. Transitions to a more hopeful view, and his mother's words. But passing the cracked sidewalks of my apartment complex, I'm reminded that others have it worse: My family is financially independent, and we've settled in a tight-knit community."
"I hear my mother's trailing words as we bring home baskets of laundry-and for a moment, I smile. Sums up the significance of this story and looks to the future. The pandemic poses unique challenges for kids like me. But if schools can offer us support-as my district is doing by providing free meals, internet hot spots and laptops to those in need-I know we can continue to learn remotely while staying safe."
"And with help from my teachers and hope that the quarantine subsides, I'm applying to college this fall. Concludes by saying why keeping students at home now is so important. Keeping students at home gives us-and America-the best chance to salir adelante. Thinking about the Text 1. What is Isaac Lozano's main PURPOSE in telling the story of his uncle's death and what it represents to him? 2. Lozano wrote this text as a NARRATIVE , but it's a story with a point. What is his ARGUMENT ?"
"Do you agree with the decision he comes to? Why, or why not? 3. What details does Lozano provide to bring this narrative to life? Cite specific examples from the text. 4. What do you expect Lozano thinks it will take to salir adelante in the United States today? 5. Think of an event in your life (perhaps one that occurred during or was related to the pandemic of 2020) that meant a great deal to you."
"Then, using the guidelines provided in this chapter, write a narrative that will help others share and understand your experience. Glossary PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION . NARRATIVE, 186-202 A GENRE that tells a story for the PURPOSE of making a point."
"Key Features: a clearly defined event - a clearly described setting - vivid, descriptive details - a consistent POINT OF VIEW - a clear point. Also a strategy for presenting information as a story, for telling what happened. When used in an essay, narration is used to support a point-not merely to tell an interesting story for its own sake. Narration can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or an entire text."
Key Features: an explicit POSITION - a response to what others have said - appropriate background information - a clear indication of why the topic matters - good REASONS and EVIDENCE - attention to more than one POINT OF VIEW - an authoritative TONE - an appeal to readers' values Endnotes  Quotes his mother in Spanish to sum up his family's goals.
"Return to text PART 3 WRITING / MAKE YOUR POINT Chapter 12 Summarizing &Responding EFFECTIVE ACADEMIC WRITING RESIDES NOT JUST IN STATING OUR OWN IDEAS BUT IN LISTENING TO OTHERS, SUMMARIZING THEIR VIEWS, AND RESPONDING WITH OUR OWN IDEAS IN KIND. -GERALD GRAFF AND CATHY BIRKENSTEIN Your American history instructor assigns Sojourner Truth's Ain't I a Woman? Your job: to summarize this speech and write an essay responding to it."
"In your environmental science class, the instructor asks students to read the Clean Water Act of 1987 and then to summarize its major goals, followed by a response that suggests ways the act could be strengthened. And in your first-year writing class, it's presentation week! You're assigned to listen to a presentation given by two classmates and then to respond. The assignment specifies that you start by briefly summarizing what they say before responding with what you want to say."
"Instructors who give these assignments know that one way to fully understand a text and remember what it says is to summarize it in our own words-and then to talk back to it, engaging with what it says and offering ideas of our own in response. That's why it's often said that such assignments are where writing meets reading. And these moves-read-understand-respond-are fundamental to much of the work you do in college, and wherever you engage with the ideas and words of others."
"A GUIDE TO SUMMARIZING AND RESPONDING Summarizing and responding to a text is a common college assignment, a way of demonstrating that you've engaged with the text, that you understand what it says, and that you have something to say as a result. Following is some good advice on how to write effective summaries and responses, so listen up: these tips will help you! Read the text you'll be responding to Begin by reading the text straight through."
"Then reread, underlining or jotting down the major CLAIMS and ideas and the main EVIDENCE supporting those ideas. If there's an explicit THESIS , put it in brackets. And put quotation marks around any words or phrases that are written so well that you think you may want to QUOTE them. Whatever the text says, read it with an open mind. Especially if you disagree with what it says, think about where the author is coming from and why they think differently than you do."
"And while you're at it, think about why you think the way you do. Most important, be sure that you understand exactly what the author is saying so that you'll be able to present it from their perspective rather than yours. Write out a few sentences in your own words stating the text's main points. It can be rough-imagine you're telling a friend about what you've just read; the idea is to give the jist of what the author has said."
"Think about your rhetorical situation Once you've carefully read the text you'll be summarizing and responding to, stop and think about who your audience is and the rest of your rhetorical situation. Purpose. If you've been assigned to write a summary/response essay, one purpose will likely be to demonstrate that you understand what the text says. But responding also gives you the opportunity to engage with what it says-and to add your own thoughts to the conversation."
"What do you think about what the text says, and what would you like to say back to the author? Audience. This is a common college assignment, so your audience will likely include your instructor. But other students may read what you write-and if so, how will that affect what you write? Genre. There are various ways you might respond. If you respond to what the text says, you'll be writing a rhetorical argument. If you respond to the way it's written, that will call for ANALYSIS ."
"Or maybe the text just gets you thinking, in which case you might write a REFLECTION . Stance. What is your attitude about the text? Are you a critic? a neutral reporter? something else? Think about how it will affect your response. Context. What are the requirements of your assignment-length, due date, and so on? And what's the larger context surrounding the text you'll be writing about? Media and design. If you get to choose, is there a medium that will work especially well for your subject?"
"If you're writing about a film, for instance, doing so online would enable you to include audio or video clips. Whatever the medium, will your essay need headings or images or any other design elements? Summarize accurately, fairly, and concisely Reread the text slowly , making a list of the main ideas. Then go back and check to see that you've noted every idea that matters, ones that you'll need to account for in your summary. Write out a sentence stating the text's main message."
"You could then start your summary with this sentence, and it will function as a kind of THESIS sentence. Focus on the main ideas , leaving out unnecessary details. Keep in mind that you just need to give readers enough information so that they'll understand what you're responding to. And be sure that you capture the main ideas accurately and fairly. Use your own words, but leave out your own opinions . This should be a SUMMARY of what the text says, not of what you think about it."
"(You can get to that when you respond to what it says!) Use neutral, non-judgmental language-say the author's point, for example, rather than the author's questionable point. Once you've drafted your summary, go back to the text to make sure that you haven't inadvertently copied any of the original wording or sentence structures."
"If you QUOTE any words or phrases , be sure to enclose them in quotation marks and introduce them with a SIGNAL PHRASE to clearly distinguish what the author says from what you say. And while you could use neutral words (X says, according to X), it's better to use words that reflect the author's STANCE . Here, for example, is how you might quote a line from Poet Laureate Joy Harjo's blog: As Poet Laureate Joy Harjo argues in a blog post about music, The saxophone is so human."
"Its tendency is to be rowdy, edgy, talk too loud, bump into people. But quote sparingly, and only when you need to use the author's exact wording for accuracy-or because the wording is so memorable that you want to call special attention to it."
"For example, here's a sentence you might well want to quote if you were summarizing Sojourner Truth's Ain't I a Woman?: Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! This sentence is so powerful and clear in its message that it's hard to imagine how you could summarize it, so this is definitely one to quote. Name the author and title of the text you're summarizing, usually in the first paragraph."
"If you're summarizing a lengthy work, you'll need to provide IN-TEXT DOCUMENTATION giving the pages you've summarized. And if you've consulted additional sources, you'll need to DOCUMENT them in a list of works cited or references. A model summary In the following summary, Taylor Jordan, a student at North Carolina A &T, sums up the argument about college admissions made in a New York Times op-ed. You can read the op-ed on page 214 ."
"In a New York Times opinion piece, I Learned in College That Admission Has Always Been for Sale, Rainesford Stauffer argues that college bribery schemes, a huge test prep industry, and big-time donors strip opportunities from those students who actually work hard on their own."
She begins with a personal narrative about a friend who had a personalized standardized test tutor while applying for college-and recalls her shock at realizing that some of her other friends even had professional editors and college admission coaches.
"She notes that the current college admissions scandal with celebrities engaging in bribery and other illegal acts is only one example of what some rich people do to help their children get into college-and that it's no more abhorrent than what happens every day. Still, she acknowledges her own privileges as a white student with parents who went to college and says that what really makes her mad is thinking about those who have fewer privileges than she does."
Stauffer seems most angry about the fact that there's a huge industry of tutors and essay writers and college admission coaches for those who can afford them-and that it's all perfectly legal.
"Citing the work of a Harvard education professor, she points out that it's a system that results in working class and poor students, black, Latino, Native American and first generation students [being] underrepresented on most campuses. To sum up, Stauffer's central argument is with the unfairness of the college admission system, and the signal it sends to students that their hard work counts for less than their parents' money."
"-TAYLOR JORDAN, North Carolina A &T State University Note that this summary begins by naming the author of the text being summarized and summing up the author's main ideas. Subsequent sentences in the first paragraph point to the author's use of her own experience and provide additional details to back up the main ideas. As she does so, Taylor Jordan includes brief quotations directly from the article, enclosed in quotation marks and integrated smoothly into her own sentences."
"Note also that Jordan is careful to leave her own opinions out of the summary, which focuses solely on the article she is summarizing, and that she is careful to qualify statements (Stauffer seems most angry) rather than putting words in the author's mouth. Finally, note that Jordan quotes a memorable sentence from one of the article's sources, which sums up the author's central argument. REFLECT!"
"Choose a text that you really like-a film, an episode in a TV series, a comic book, a favorite podcast or book, whatever. Then do your best to summarize what you've chosen so that someone who isn't familiar with it will get a good sense of what it's about, and why. Keep your audience in mind as you write your summary-and then ask for their response: How well did you capture the essence of the text you summarized?"
"Develop your response Responding to something you've read (or heard or seen) gives you the opportunity to speak up-to ask questions, point out details you think were overlooked, analyze the way it's written, agree, disagree."
"There's more than one way of responding to a text, but often you'll be assigned to respond in one of three ways:  to respond to what the text says  to respond to how the text is written  to respond to the way the text affects you If you're responding to what the text says In this case you'll likely be making an ARGUMENT . You could agree or disagree with the author's ideas-or both; whatever it is, you should do so explicitly."
"In general, it's a good idea to provide a THESIS sentence that makes your overall response to the text clear. And then you need to give reasons and evidence to support what you say: facts, examples, textual evidence, data the author overlooked, and so on. Even if you agree with what the author says, you need to do more than just re-state views you share."
"Perhaps you could point out evidence the author didn't mention, some personal experience that's pertinent to the conversation, or counterarguments that need to be mentioned. Here are some questions that will help you think about what a text says:  What's the CLAIM ?  What good REASONS and EVIDENCE support that claim? Remember that evidence can include VISUALS as well as words.  Does the text include any COUNTERARGUMENTS or other PERSPECTIVES -and if not, are there some that should be acknowledged?"
" What's your response? Do you agree, disagree, or both agree and disagree with the author's conclusions? Why? If you're responding to the way the text is written Here you'll be writing a rhetorical analysis, and you could do so in various ways. You could analyze its use of language, its sentence patterns, the way it's organized, or other elements of its style-and how these things affect the way you understand or respond to the author's message."
"In any case, you'll need to support your analysis with examples from the text. Here are some questions that will help you think about the way a text is written:  How would you describe the author's STYLE -humorous? serious? conversational? passionate? logical? something else?  What words or structures or images help to establish this style? How do they affect the way you respond? You'll need to show examples in the text that help create this style."
" Does the author use any METAPHORS , ANALOGIES , or other figures of speech-and how do they help get the point across?  How does the way the text is written contribute to the effectiveness of its message? If you're responding with your personal reaction You could go in many directions. This kind of response gives you the opportunity to REFLECT on how the text affected you personally. What did it make you think about-and are you still thinking about it?"
"Did the author make you think the subject matters or make you care about it? As with any kind of writing, you'll need to give reasons and evidence to help your audience understand your reactions-and care about what you say. Here are some questions that may help you reflect on your own reaction to a text:   What was your first reaction to this text? Did anything in the text surprise you? make you laugh? annoy you? mystify you? Show some examples! Did it make you think or change your thinking about something?"
"If so, in what way? Do you now want to learn more about the topic-and if so, what? What would you say about this text if you were telling a friend about it? What REASONS would you give to explain your reaction? Begin your essay in a way that gets readers' interest If you're responding to a text about an unusual issue, you might want to begin with a question or a dramatic statement about that subject."
"When you're responding to what a text says, you might begin with a sentence that first SUMMARIZES what the text says (or what others have said), before responding with what you think. If you're analyzing the way a text is written, you could start by QUOTING a line that exemplifies what you'll be writing about."
"Or perhaps you're responding to a text that touches on something you yourself have experienced; in that case, you might begin with a personal ANECDOTE that shows how you are connected to the topic in question. No matter how you begin, be sure to name the author and the title of the text you're responding to somewhere-ideally, in the first paragraph. For more on ways of beginning, see pp. 85 and 410-12 ."
"Conclude in a way that leaves readers thinking Here's your chance to leave your audience thinking about the implications of what you've said. If you're responding to the text's argument, you could REITERATE your main point; if you're analyzing the way the text was written, you may want to remind readers about how the writer's STYLE affects the message; if your response is a personal one, you might conclude with some insight you got from reading the text."
"Sometimes you might conclude by QUOTING something memorable from the text that your essay is all about. One student who summarized an interview with rapper Nipsey Hussle and responded to what he said about luck and hard work concluded by quoting a famous line from that interview: Luck is just bein' prepared at all times, so when the door opens you're ready. For more on ways of concluding, see pp. 92 and 417-18 . Regardless of how you conclude, you might also invite your audience to respond."
"Keep the conversation going! Come up with a title If you've written an argument, your title should indicate the topic; if you've written an analysis, your title should indicate something about what you analyzed; if you've written a reflection, the title should indicate what the text has led you to think. For more on coming up with a title, see pp. 92-93 and 409."
"Read your draft with a critical eye, get response-and revise Now's the time to read over what you've written to see that you've summarized the text accurately, fairly, and concisely-and responded cogently and persuasively.  Does your title make clear what the essay is about? Can you think of a better title?  How will the OPENING make readers want to read on? Does it mention the author and title of the text you're responding to? If not, are they mentioned elsewhere?"
" Is the summary written in your own words? Check to be sure. And have you provided enough detail so that readers will understand what you're responding to? Is all the detail you've included actually necessary?  Have you SUMMARIZED the text in a fair-minded way, and without indicating your own opinion?  If you've quoted anything, is the wording so memorable or important that it needs to be QUOTED ? Is anything quoted enclosed in quotation marks?"
" If you've quoted a full statement, is it introduced with a SIGNAL PHRASE -and does the verb suit the quotation? If you've used said , is there a more interesting or more accurate verb you might use instead- claimed ? pointed out ? declared ?  Is the point of your response clear? Have you stated it in a THESIS sentence-and if not, should you do so?  What EVIDENCE have you provided to support your response-facts? examples from the text? personal experience?"
"counterarguments or viewpoints the author didn't mention?  Have you included any VISUALS ? If not, is there anything that could be presented in a photo, a chart, or a graph?  Have you provided DOCUMENTATION for any text you've summarized or quoted?  How does the essay CONCLUDE ? This is your chance to help readers engage with some ideas worth thinking about. Now REVISE ! If you've analyzed your draft and gotten advice from others, you've got a plan: you know what you need to do."
"But remember that you're writing a SUMMARY/RESPONSE essay, which means summing up a text succinctly and fairly and then responding in some way. Here's what you think about the text-and why! Glossary CLAIM, 84-85, 103-5 A statement of a belief or POSITION . In an ARGUMENT , a claim needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied, and requires support by REASONS and EVIDENCE . EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS ."
"Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling. Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making). THESIS, 84-85 A statement that identifies the topic and main point of a piece of writing, giving readers an idea of what the text will cover."
"ANALYSIS, 132-56 A GENRE of writing in which you look at what a text says and how it says it. Key Features: a SUMMARY of a text or other subject - attention to CONTEXT - a clear INTERPRETATION or judgment - reasonable support for your conclusions REFLECT, 48, 98 To explore a topic thoughtfully. Reflections are a GENRE of writing."
"Key Features: a topic that intrigues you - appropriate structure - specific details - a speculative TONE THESIS, 84-85 A statement that identifies the topic and main point of a piece of writing, giving readers an idea of what the text will cover. SUMMARY/RESPONSE, 203-22 A GENRE of writing that conveys a text's main ideas in condensed form and engages with those ideas by ARGUING a position, ANALYZING the text, or REFLECTING on what it says."
"Key Features: identification of the author and title - a concise summary - an explicit response - support for your response QUOTE, 285-90 To cite someone else's words exactly as they were said or written. Quotation is most effective when the wording is worth repeating or makes a point so well that no rewording will do it justice or when you want to cite someone's exact words. Quotations in academic writing need to be acknowledged with DOCUMENTATION ."
"QUOTE, 285-90 To cite someone else's words exactly as they were said or written. Quotation is most effective when the wording is worth repeating or makes a point so well that no rewording will do it justice or when you want to cite someone's exact words. Quotations in academic writing need to be acknowledged with DOCUMENTATION . SIGNAL PHRASES, 293-94 Words used to attribute QUOTED , SUMMARIZED , or PARAPHRASED material to a source, as in according to X or Z claims ."
"STANCE, 17-19, 26-27 A writer's attitude toward the subject-for example, reasonable, neutral, angry, curious. Stance is conveyed through TONE and word choice. IN-TEXT DOCUMENTATION Brief documentation in a text that tells readers what the writer has taken from a source and where in the source they found that information. DOCUMENTATION, 309-44, 360-86 Publication information about the sources cited in a text."
"IN-TEXT DOCUMENTATION usually appears in parentheses at the point where it's cited or in an endnote or a footnote. Complete documentation usually appears as a list of WORKS CITED or REFERENCES at the end of the text. Documentation styles vary by discipline. See also APA STYLE ; MLA STYLE ARGUMENT, 99-131 Any text that makes a CLAIM supported by REASONS and EVIDENCE . A GENRE that uses REASONS and EVIDENCE to support a CLAIM ."
"Key Features: an explicit POSITION - a response to what others have said - appropriate background information - a clear indication of why the topic matters - good REASONS and EVIDENCE - attention to more than one POINT OF VIEW - an authoritative TONE - an appeal to readers' values THESIS, 84-85 A statement that identifies the topic and main point of a piece of writing, giving readers an idea of what the text will cover. CLAIM, 84-85, 103-5 A statement of a belief or POSITION ."
"In an ARGUMENT , a claim needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied, and requires support by REASONS and EVIDENCE . REASONS, 105-8 Support for a CLAIM or a POSITION . A reason, in turn, requires its own support. EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS . Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling."
"Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making). VISUALS, 455-57, 459-67 Photos, graphs, maps, diagrams, pie charts, tables, videos, and other images. Visuals can be used to support or illustrate a point and also to present information that is easier to understand in a chart or graph than it would be in a paragraph. COUNTERARGUMENT, 16, 90-91, 265 In ARGUMENT , an alternative POSITION or objection to the writer's position."
"The writer of an argument should not only acknowledge counterarguments but also, if at all possible, accept, accommodate, or refute each counterargument. PERSPECTIVES, 90-91, 29-41 Viewpoints, an important part of a writer's STANCE . As a writer and a researcher, you should always strive to seek, think about, and work to understand multiple perspectives."
"STYLE, 210, 406-7 The particular way something is written, designed, or communicated-its sentence structure, TONE , DESIGN , and word choice-that make it distinctive and get attention. METAPHOR A figure of speech that makes a comparison without using the word like or as : All the world's a stage / And all the men and women merely players (Shakespeare, As You Like It ). See also SIMILE ANALOGY, 414 A STRATEGY for COMPARISON by explaining something unfamiliar in terms of something that is more familiar."
"See also FALSE ANALOGY REFLECT, 48, 98 To explore a topic thoughtfully. Reflections are a GENRE of writing. Key Features: a topic that intrigues you - appropriate structure - specific details - a speculative TONE REASONS, 105-8 Support for a CLAIM or a POSITION . A reason, in turn, requires its own support. SUMMARIZE To use your own words and sentence structure to condense someone else's text into a version that gives the main ideas of the original. In academic writing, summarizing requires DOCUMENTATION ."
"See PATCHWRITING QUOTE, 285-90 To cite someone else's words exactly as they were said or written. Quotation is most effective when the wording is worth repeating or makes a point so well that no rewording will do it justice or when you want to cite someone's exact words. Quotations in academic writing need to be acknowledged with DOCUMENTATION . ANECDOTE, 85, 412 A brief NARRATIVE used to illustrate a point. REITERATION Repeating a word, a phrase, or an image in a way that drives home a point."
"STYLE, 210, 406-7 The particular way something is written, designed, or communicated-its sentence structure, TONE , DESIGN , and word choice-that make it distinctive and get attention. QUOTE, 285-90 To cite someone else's words exactly as they were said or written. Quotation is most effective when the wording is worth repeating or makes a point so well that no rewording will do it justice or when you want to cite someone's exact words."
"Quotations in academic writing need to be acknowledged with DOCUMENTATION . OPENING, 146, 410-12 The way a text begins, which plays an important role in drawing an AUDIENCE in. Some ways of beginning an essay: with a dramatic or deceptively simple statement, with something others have said about your topic, with a provocative question or a startling CLAIM , or with an ANECDOTE . QUOTE, 285-90 To cite someone else's words exactly as they were said or written."
"Quotation is most effective when the wording is worth repeating or makes a point so well that no rewording will do it justice or when you want to cite someone's exact words. Quotations in academic writing need to be acknowledged with DOCUMENTATION . SIGNAL PHRASES, 293-94 Words used to attribute QUOTED , SUMMARIZED , or PARAPHRASED material to a source, as in according to X or Z claims ."
"THESIS, 84-85 A statement that identifies the topic and main point of a piece of writing, giving readers an idea of what the text will cover. EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS . Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling."
"Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making). VISUALS, 455-57, 459-67 Photos, graphs, maps, diagrams, pie charts, tables, videos, and other images. Visuals can be used to support or illustrate a point and also to present information that is easier to understand in a chart or graph than it would be in a paragraph. DOCUMENTATION, 309-44, 360-86 Publication information about the sources cited in a text."
"IN-TEXT DOCUMENTATION usually appears in parentheses at the point where it's cited or in an endnote or a footnote. Complete documentation usually appears as a list of WORKS CITED or REFERENCES at the end of the text. Documentation styles vary by discipline. See also APA STYLE ; MLA STYLE CONCLUSION, 92, 211, 417-18 The way a text ends, a chance to leave an AUDIENCE thinking about what's been said."
"Some ways of concluding an essay: REITERATING your point, discussing the implications of your ARGUMENT , proposing some kind of action, inviting response. REVISING, 93-94 The process of making substantive changes, including additions and deletions, to a DRAFT so that it contains all the necessary information in an appropriate organization. Revision generally moves from whole-text issues to details with the goals of sharpening the focus and strengthening the ARGUMENT ."
"See also response and revision SUMMARY/RESPONSE, 203-22 A GENRE of writing that conveys a text's main ideas in condensed form and engages with those ideas by ARGUING a position, ANALYZING the text, or REFLECTING on what it says. Key Features: identification of the author and title - a concise summary - an explicit response - support for your response SUMMARIZE To use your own words and sentence structure to condense someone else's text into a version that gives the main ideas of the original."
"In academic writing, summarizing requires DOCUMENTATION . See PATCHWRITING AN OP-ED, AND A RESPONSE This chapter concludes with an essay written by Julia Latrice Johnson, a student at North Carolina A &T State University."
"Following the guidelines in this chapter, she responded to a New York Times op-ed about the college admissions scandal of 2019, in which dozens of wealthy parents, celebrities, and coaches were involved in a nationwide fraud and bribery scheme that resulted in some students getting into the colleges of their dreams because of their parents' checkbooks rather than their own work or talent. As you might expect, response to this scandal was swift, especially among college students."
"First comes the Times piece, and then comes the summary/response essay. RAINESFORD STAUFFER I Learned in College That Admission Has Always Been for Sale Rainesford Stauffer is a writer whose work has been published in the New York Times , the Atlantic , GQ , and Teen Vogue . She is the author of An Ordinary Age , a book about the challenges of young adulthood in the United States. The piece here was first published in the Times in 2019."
"Shortly after my freshman year of college, when I was debating whether to transfer to another college or drop out and venture into the work force sans degree, I met with an older friend who had attended an Ivy League-adjacent school. I wanted her advice on whether to apply to her alma mater. I'd love it there, she assured me, with one caveat: You have to be really smart, she said. It became evident that her smart and my smart were different things."
"She casually rattled off hours she'd logged with a personalized standardized test tutor, paid to boost her score. Her parents opted not to pay an editor to work with her on her application essay, but plenty of her classmates' families had. I suddenly felt as though I'd failed a test I didn't know I was taking. I was even more gobsmacked when I realized how common her experience was. Asking around, I learned that a subset of my peers had been carefully groomed with tools I hadn't even known existed."
"I came to realize that my A in Literature from my freshman year and a job between classes and on weekends were not going to compete with pedigrees buffed to application perfection thanks to highly compensated college admissions coaches. I did end up transferring, not to my friend's school but to The New School, where I finished my degree remotely while working full time, and I graduated in January 2017."
"Now I talk to young people, including my own sister, who agonize over the fact that no matter how hard they study, they will never compete with students who have test and application boosts. Even so, I know I've enjoyed benefits that many other students haven't because I'm white and have parents who are college graduates. I'm more angry on behalf of those with fewer resources than me who have to compete with those gaming the system."
"So when news broke that celebrities, top university coaches and other ultrarich individuals were accused by the Justice Department of engaging in college admissions bribery, my initial thought was that this latest round of revelations is no more abhorrent than what happens every day. It's obviously a scandal when rich people are accused of breaking the law to get their kids into top schools."
"But the bigger outrage should be that a legal version of purchasing an advantage happens every college application season and that there's an entire industry supporting it. Anyone can see the kinds of things outlined in the indictment-bribes paid by wealthy parents in exchange for their children's admission to top universities, and accompanying schemes to secure athletics scholarships for teens who didn't even play high school sports-are unacceptable."
"But what about the standardized test prep industry, worth around $840 million, which involves parents forking over up to $200 an hour for Ivy League tutors tasked with increasing their children's scores. That doesn't include application essay writers, who coach students on what to write about, edit their writing and, in some cases, write for them. It doesn't include college coaching firms, which charge up to $40,000 to strategize an applicant's entire process."
"Donations made to schools by the parents of legacy students can essentially buy acceptance letters. Meanwhile, there are some students who don't have a parent to skim their essay for typos or can't afford to pay to enroll in a prep course or to repeatedly take a standardized test until their score rises."
"Natasha Warikoo, a professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education and the author of The Diversity Bargain, says while there's no debate that the actions the people involved in this week's admissions scandal are accused of are reprehensible, there's actually very little agreement among Americans or admissions officers about what is and isn't O.K. in terms of application assistance."
"A fair system to me would produce an outcome in which people who are selected are representative of 18-year-olds overall in the United States, Ms. Warikoo said, noting that while wealthy students are overrepresented, working class and poor students, black, Latino, Native American and first generation students are underrepresented on most campuses."
"We don't have consensus in the United States about what is a fair system of selection. If you had to design a system that would give rich, white kids the best odds of getting into prestigious colleges and universities, look no further than the current system, said Nikhil Goyal, author of Schools on Trial and a doctoral candidate at the University of Cambridge."
His research has found that universities ending legacy admissions and making standardized tests optional would boost class and racial diversity and signal to youth that their worth is less defined by test scores and more by their creativity and passions. It's no coincidence that one of these can be bought: the test scores. Creativity and passion cannot.
"Perhaps it wouldn't sting so much if we scrapped the college rankings, or if we didn't bill college as the foremost experience for young people, one that sets the tone for their entire lives. This newest admissions scandal is infuriating, but the ongoing, perfectly legal one that lets wealthy families pay for the things that lead to greater chances of admission hurts even more."
"It sends a message to any student who can't take advantage of the current system that no matter how hard he or she has worked, it will always be possible for someone else to buy a better life. A STUDENT SUMMARY/RESPONSE ESSAY JULIA LATRICE JOHNSON Can Money Buy Almost Anything? Julia Latrice Johnson is a student at North Carolina A &T State University, where she's majoring in English and African American Literature. After completing college, she hopes to pursue graduate study in linguistics."
"Her eventual goal is to help instructors learn to be more effective teachers of students who speak multiple languages and dialects. Title and opening sentence pose provocative questions that get readers' attention. What do you do when you desire to further your education, but your writing sucks? You know that there are better writers out there because they all have received acceptance letters from colleges where personal statements are a requirement."
"But how would you feel if you knew that those writers had professional tutors and editors to fix and maybe even write their work? This was the frustration described by Rainesford Stauffer in her New York Times op-ed, I Learned in College That Admission Has Always Been for Sale. Summarizes major ideas in the op-ed."
"Stauffer speaks distinctively about privilege-her own privilege in being white and having parents who graduated from college, and the privilege of others who have monetary advantages that essentially buy acceptance letters. Paid tutors and admission essay editors can help buy college admission. Rich parents who bribe admission officers can buy college admission. Rich parents who donate large sums of money can buy college admission."
"Quotes a memorable statement to underscore the unfairness Stauffer is concerned with. Stauffer makes it her business to talk to students who cannot buy admission and who agonize over the fact that no matter how hard they study, they will never compete with students who have test and application boosts. Those boosts include essay editing, test tutoring, and admission coaching, advantages paid for by parents with money. All are common practices, and perfectly legal."
"Lori Loughlin departing from federal court, April 2019. Leaving her own opinion out, focuses on what motivated Stauffer to write her op-ed. Bribery, however, is not legal-but still practiced. Stauffer describes rich people . . . breaking the law to get their kids into top schools as an unacceptable scandal that sparked outrage. But even worse, she says, are the legal ways of buying advantages: the tutors and editors and coaches and large donations."
"What most enrages Stauffer is that it's an unfair system, one that privileges wealthy students but that works against working class and poor students, black, Latino, Native American, and first generation students. Opens her response by giving her own first reaction to the op-ed. Reading Stauffer's article made me think of Lori Loughlin, Aunt Becky from Full House , one of the actresses currently involved in the admissions scandal."
"She and her husband have been accused of paying over a half million dollars to secure their daughters' admission to the University of Southern California (USC). Perhaps in response, Dr. Dre, rapper, producer, and another celebrity parent, took to Instagram to congratulate his daughter on her acceptance to college while also making note of the recent college scandal: My daughter got accepted into USC all on her own. No jail time!! ! (qtd. in Amiri). And yet . . ."
"while he may not have bribed the admissions team, his daughter still had advantages other students did not thanks to her father's $70 million donations to USC. The only difference between Lori Loughlin and Dr. Dre is that he wrote his check as a donation and she wrote hers to an organization that paid USC to admit her daughter. Both famous parents exhibit privilege that screams for attention and response. Dr. Dre and his daughter."
Offers her own experience as an example of what students without privilege do to get into college. Stauffer's article also puts into perspective a part of college that not many people can bring themselves to discuss. There are advantages that certain individuals have. I did not have such advantages. I did not have access to paid tutors or essay editors. I had to study and write on my own and pray that my parents were not too tired after long days at work to help me edit my essays.
"And I have had to focus in on what I can do myself rather than thinking about the unfair advantages others have. Despite not having any particular advantages, much less donating a million dollars, I was still able to gain admission to Coastal Carolina University and even to pursue a second degree at North Carolina A &T State University. Michelle Obama speaking at North Carolina A &T State University. Considers the op-ed in broader context, noting how others may respond to it."
"This article will probably get multiple responses, depending on the readers. One response, similar to Stauffer's and my own, will most likely be shared widely among the many students who do not have access to the advantages wealthy people have, but are still working as hard as they can to get to where they hope to be. Another response may possibly come from students who are okay with the scholastic advantages they have because of their parents' money."
"And there will probably be a lot of privileged students who see nothing wrong with their parents using their money as a means of admission, but who still choose to work hard and go the extra mile to not have mommy or daddy's money follow them throughout life. Introduces major claim and supports it with evidence from the op-ed. In any case, it is not the fault of students, whether they have certain advantages or not."
It's the system that is unfair in granting opportunities to some students just because their parents can buy them. Stauffer is right to be angry on behalf of those with fewer resources than she has who have to compete with those gaming the system. Reflects on what the op-ed has helped her realize about her own experience. The system is unfair.
"Knowing that I may be refused admission in favor of those with rich parents or those who have essentially had the work done for them might discourage me from even applying to certain schools. Realizing that my hard work and that of my parents can be overshadowed by other people's money is disheartening, and yet it also leads me to constantly persevere in my studies. Concludes by articulating the lesson she learned from reading this op-ed."
"What resonated with me the most in Stauffer's article comes at the very end when she says that the way college admission works now sends a message to any student who can't take advantage of the current system that no matter how hard he or she has worked, it will always be possible for someone else to buy a better life. Any students who pride themselves on grasping and mastering any concept, including the college admission process, have reason to resent those who have been fortunate enough to have college and other such things gifted to them."
"Speaking for myself, however, knowing that anything I achieve is the result of my own hard work is highly rewarding, and that is one of the most important lessons that I learned from reading Rainesford Stauffer's op-ed. Works Cited Amiri, Farnoush. Dr. Dre Deletes Post about Daughter's Acceptance to USC after $70M Donation Resurfaces. NBC News , 25 Mar. 2019, www.nbcnews.com/2019/3/25/.../dr-dre-deletes-post-about-daughter-s-acceptance- usc-after-n986906. Stauffer, Rainesford."
"I Learned in College That Admission Has Always Been for Sale. The New York Times , 13 Mar. 2019, www.newyorktimes.com/2019/03/13/opinion/college-admission-scandal-celebrities. html. Thinking about the Text 1. What is the main ARGUMENT that Julia Johnson is making in response to Rainesford Stauffer's op-ed? 2. How does Johnson support that point? How does she use her own experience to support her argument? 3. What do you think makes Johnson's OPENING especially effective (or not)? 4."
What do the three VISUALS add to the effectiveness of her response? 5. Write a letter responding to Johnson in which you share your own thoughts or experiences about the college admissions process. REFLECT! Think about Rainesford Stauffer 's and Julia Johnson 's experiences with college admissions. How do your own experiences compare with theirs? What do you think about Stauffer's claim that college is always for sale?
"Key Features: an explicit POSITION - a response to what others have said - appropriate background information - a clear indication of why the topic matters - good REASONS and EVIDENCE - attention to more than one POINT OF VIEW - an authoritative TONE - an appeal to readers' values OPENING, 146, 410-12 The way a text begins, which plays an important role in drawing an AUDIENCE in."
"Some ways of beginning an essay: with a dramatic or deceptively simple statement, with something others have said about your topic, with a provocative question or a startling CLAIM , or with an ANECDOTE . VISUALS, 455-57, 459-67 Photos, graphs, maps, diagrams, pie charts, tables, videos, and other images. Visuals can be used to support or illustrate a point and also to present information that is easier to understand in a chart or graph than it would be in a paragraph."
"Endnotes  Names author and title in the first paragraph. Return to text PART 3 WRITING / MAKE YOUR POINT Chapter 13 Writing in Multiple Modes THIS IS A TIME FOR EXPLORATION, FOR EXPERIMENTATION: WHEN WE CAN CREATE AND RISK, WRITE GRAFFITI ON THE WALLS AND COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES. . . . -ADAM BANKS Check out an article or blog post on the web and you will probably find links to videos, databases, and other sources."
Go to a sales presentation and you will no doubt encounter a speaker using slides and maybe audio or video clips-or even a print handout. Attend a poster session on campus and you'll see student presenters offering infographics that they introduce and then answer questions about. Read a film review online and you'll probably be able to click on a link to watch a trailer.
"Even a traditional essay assignment may call on you to use photos or drawings and to provide other information visually in pie charts or graphs. That's writing in multiple modes. In some ways, writing in multiple modes is nothing new: just google illustrated manuscripts and maps, for example, and you'll find pages with decorative initials and miniature drawings written over a thousand years ago."
"And today writers can produce texts that combine words, images, colors, sounds, and even videos-and that can be delivered through print, spoken, and digital media. This chapter will help you take advantage of the opportunities offered by writing in multiple modes-so get ready to deliver your messages as you've never delivered them before! A GUIDE TO WRITING IN MULTIPLE MODES Students tell me that they love doing multimodal projects. They say they're a lot of work, but a whole lot of fun."
"This guide will help you do the work-and have some fun! Identify a topic You may be assigned a topic, but if you get to choose, start by making a list of questions that really intrigue you, questions you really want to answer. Chances are one of these questions will lead you to an important topic, one that you care about and that will bring out the best in you as a thinker. Vrinda Vasavada had been reading a lot online about how much we are controlled by our phones and other devices."
"The more she thought about it, the more she wondered whether tech addiction was actually a problem-and if so, what we should do about it. She decided that this topic-which was certainly timely and potentially very important-was worth investigating. But her assignment was to write using multiple modes, and so she then needed to consider what modes (and what media) she would work with."
"After talking with her instructor and assessing the resources available, Vasavada decided to prepare an oral presentation and assumed it would likely include print or digital materials. Her multimodal project was on the way! A page from a 1511 Book of Hours, a medieval prayer book. Think about your rhetorical situation Multimodal writing calls for the same close attention to rhetorical principles that all writing and speaking do."
"Whatever your topic, you need to think carefully about your purpose, audience, stance, context, and genre-in addition to modes and media. Purpose . What are your goals for this project: To fulfill an assignment? To raise awareness about a problem? To convince others to support a cause? To provide information? Ask yourself what you want to happen as a result of your project; what actions do you want to see taken, or what ideas do you hope to convey?"
"What modes and media will be most useful for achieving your goals? Audience . Whom do you want to reach? What are they likely to know about your topic, and what background information will you need to provide? Will they be interested in your topic-and if not, are there certain modes that will get them interested-photos? music? a provocative title? If you want to reach students on your campus, then you might choose an online campus bulletin board or Facebook group."
"If your audience is limited to people you know, you may be able to make some assumptions about what they're likely to respond to-but most projects you put online may well be seen by people you don't know, so you can't make any such assumptions. Finally, consider how you can make your project accessible to those who have limited vision or hearing. Do you need to provide ALT TEXT ? Stance ."
"What's your attitude toward your topic, and how do you want to present yourself to your audience-as a well-informed observer? a stern critic? a puzzled inquirer trying to figure something out? Then consider how you will reflect that stance: For an oral presentation, what facial expressions and gestures will convey your stance? What will you wear? For written projects, think about what fonts and tone will help establish your stance. Genre ."
"The kind of text you're writing may affect the modes you can or should use. If you're ANALYZING a scientific text or REPORTING information, you may have reason to present data visually, in graphs or pie charts. If you're writing a NARRATIVE , you may want to add photos or include some dialogue in audio. If you're making an ARGUMENT in a print essay, you might want to choose a font and write in a manner that reflects the seriousness of your subject. Context ."
"When is the project due, and can you manage to complete the project you have in mind in the time available? What resources will you need to complete the project? What modes would you like to use? If you plan to give an oral presentation, make sure to check out the space and equipment that will be there and find out what you will need to bring (a laptop and a particular dongle, an easel to display photographs, and so on). Medium and design . How will your project be delivered-in print? online? as a speech?"
or through some combination of media? How does the medium affect the way it will be designed and the modes you can or cannot use? Will you be able to include images? audio? video? links to other sources?
"Consider the modes you could use Rhetorician Cynthia Selfe identifies five modes that writers and speakers can use to convey our messages: Linguistic -words, titles, headings, captions, ALT TEXT Visual -photos, drawings, charts, graphs, colors, fonts Audio -speech, spoken dialogue, sounds, music, tone of voice Gestural -facial expressions, body language Spatial -how text and visuals are arranged on page or screen Your media will dictate which modes you will be able to use-you can't include audio in a print text, right?-but your AUDIENCE and PURPOSE will often determine which modes you will want to use."
"Take a look at the following passage from an article about Olympic gymnast Simone Biles that depends entirely on words. On Sunday, during the all-around, Simone Biles, her hair trailing behind her like an exclamation point, became the first woman to perform a triple-double-two flips and three twists-in competition during a floor routine. Only a few men can do it, and the way Biles does it is better than the way most of them do. The triple-double is so difficult that U.S.A."
"Gymnastics has argued that a new tier needs to be added to the code of points, gymnastics' rule book, to account for it. -LOUISA THOMAS, The Unlimited Greatness of Simone Biles Now let's see how this passage might be brought more fully to life by using additional modes. You could use the visual mode, for example, by including an image like the one shown here."
"As for the audio mode, how about an audio clip of her talking about how she learned to do a triple-double-or the roar of the audience as she does a perfect landing? And just imagine the ways you could use the gestural mode: you could link to a video of her doing a triple-double, showing her facial expressions as she flips and twists-or as she breaks into a big smile when she lands. Finally comes the spatial mode. How might you arrange the various modes?"
"You could start with the words and then add an image or a video to illustrate what you say. Or you could do the reverse: start with an image showing Simone Biles doing a triple-double, and then describe with words what it was that she did, and what an astounding accomplishment it was. Simone Biles warms up, 2019. REFLECT! Select something you've written recently that uses words only, and think about how you could use additional modes to expand, illustrate, or elaborate on what you wrote. Try doing it!"
"And then write a paragraph or so comparing the two versions. Which one do you prefer, and why? Choose a primary medium of delivery Most multimodal projects have at their core one medium of delivery-oral, print, or digital. Class presentations, for example, are primarily oral, though the spoken words can be enhanced by print text (handouts) or digital ones (audio or video clips; PowerPoint slides)."
"An informative REPORT , on the other hand, might be primarily a print text, though one augmented with images, charts, graphs, or other visual material. A BLOG will always be delivered digitally, though it can include links to both oral and print texts. Spend some time, then, thinking about how best to deliver your message to your particular audience."
"Explore your topic, do some research Whether your primary medium is print, spoken, or digital, you'll need to immerse yourself in your topic, exploring it in various ways and likely doing some research. Your goal is to examine the topic from multiple PERSPECTIVES , not only to understand the topic but to be aware of the conversation surrounding it, of who's talking about it and what they're saying. Here too you can use various modes to explore a topic."
"You might start by FREEWRITING about the topic or even try drawing a picture of it. If your topic is a current issue, there may be a podcast about it. And there could also be some people on campus with expertise in the topic who you could interview. For her project about tech addiction, Vrinda Vasavada found information in a number of databases available through her university's library, in several blogs and podcasts, and from some interviews. For more detail on exploring a topic, see pp. 82-83 ."
"Come up with a working thesis Once you have some idea about what you want to say about your topic, take some time to craft a working thesis, a clear statement identifying the topic and the claim you will make about it. Keep in mind that this THESIS may well change (and get better and more precise!) as you continue to work. See pp. 84-89 for detail on coming up with a thesis. Vrinda Vasavada began with a nagging question about whether tech addiction was real."
"As she researched the topic, she found more and more evidence to support the fact that such behavior is indeed evident in many people who devote a lot of time to their phones and other devices. But she dug deeper still, looking at the causes of such addiction and at ways of addressing the problem."
"Here's the thesis she began with: Tech addiction is a verifiable phenomenon, and while users can work to limit their screen time, it is the responsibility of tech companies to make design choices that prioritize user health. Whatever media you're using, you need to make your major point very clear. Don't make your audience search for it! In a spoken presentation, you'll want to state your thesis clearly up front, at the beginning of your talk."
"You may want to put it on a slide so that your audience will both hear it and see it. You have more options in a print text: you may state your claim in your introduction, but sometimes you may have reason to withhold it until further into your text. Ways of providing evidence As with any text, a multimodal one will be only as good as the information you put in it. But a multimodal text gives you many ways to present that information. You can present data in a paragraph-or on a line graph."
"You can describe something with words, or with an image-or even a video. If you want to compare two things, you can do so with words alone, but you can also make the comparison easy to see and understand with a bar graph or pie chart. And think of all you can link to in a digital text. Vrinda Vasavada presented much of the evidence for her project about tech addiction in words, both written and spoken."
"But in her spoken presentation (and the video which was then posted online), she highlighted key questions and points on slides, making it easy for her audience to follow her thoughts. Organize carefully Multimodal projects include a number of different elements, which must be carefully organized. In fact, you may well be organizing throughout the process of developing a multimodal project."
"You might start with a stack of sticky notes, jotting down major points, evidence, images, video and audio clips on each note, which you can then organize and arrange as they'll be used. One of my students likes to use 3-by-5 cards, each card with a main point or idea, and then tape them together in a chain to spread out on the floor."
"Going from top to bottom, one card at a time, lets this student see all the points and whether they follow logically from one to another or need to be rearranged, revised, and so on. For a video essay, you might start out with a STORYBOARD , sketching in the parts of your project so that you can see how they fit together logically and systematically. For an audio essay, you'd likely develop a script that accounts for both words and any other sounds."
"For print texts, you might use a good old OUTLINE , making major points heads and supporting points subheads. How to begin? Whether your text is delivered in a print document, a speech, or online, it has to begin somewhere. Whatever the medium, you might begin with a provocative question or quotation, or by summarizing what's been said about your topic and then responding with what you think-and these are all strategies that work in any medium."
"But when you're writing with multiple modes, you have some additional options. In a presentation, for example, you could not only begin by asking a question-you could have the question on a slide, in large type. Even better, you could then pause to give your audience a chance to respond to the question. And imagine you're writing a digital narrative about a frisky little dog. You could start by saying, Once upon a time, I had a frisky little dog."
"His name was Gus. You might insert a photo of him right there-or even better, a video of him chasing a ball. And if your text lets readers decide where to begin, you'll want to have a menu with a button that says Introduction. These are just some ideas; the point is that multiple modalities present a number of ways to get an audience's attention. Ways of beginning are covered on pp. 85 and 410-12 . How to conclude?"
"Whatever your medium, you can conclude by summing up your argument, explaining what you hope your audience will take from what you've written or said, or call for some kind of action. You can also invite response. If you're giving an oral presentation, you'll probably follow that by saying thank you and then asking if there are any questions. If you're writing on the web, you can add your email address or Twitter handle and invite readers to respond."
"You can even invite response in a print document; you've had your say, so let readers know that you'd like to know what they think and would welcome their response. Ways of ending are covered on pp. 92 and 417-18 . Don't forget transitions While you may understand precisely how the parts of anything you write fit together, you need to make certain that those reading and especially those listening will be able to follow what you say."
"This means providing explicit transitions from point to point, and explicit references in your text to any images, audio or video clips, and other elements. Transitions are words like first , then , also , and for example that smooth the way for your audience to follow your argument and move from point to point. See p. 424 for a list of common transitions. To provide a transition from paragraph to paragraph, you can also write a sentence that links the two."
"For example: If young people are too dependent on their phones for getting information, they also depend on them to stay connected to friends. In this transition sentence, the first part refers back to what has just been discussed (dependence on phones for information) and then forecasts what is coming up next (dependence on phones for friendship)."
"For multimodal projects, transitions need to be even more explicit: you can't just insert an audio clip into a digital report, for example, and assume that your audience will know why the audio clip is there and what it contributes to the overall point you're making."
"Just as you would use a signal phrase to introduce a quotation in a print essay (they declared, the author responded), you need to introduce images, audio or video clips, or other such elements explicitly (Figure 1 shows---, as you'll hear in the following audio clip). You also need to explain explicitly what they add to your overall point (this graph demonstrates my point that---, as you can see in this brief video)."
"The best way to be sure that your organization works, that all the parts fit together smoothly and your transitions are explicit enough, is to try it out on a friend or classmate, asking them if they can follow what you say. And ask them directly if there's any place where they got confused, needed a clearer transition, or anything else. Document sources As with any academic assignment, you should document any sources you refer to or cite."
"For projects that are delivered in print, this means including a list of works cited ( MLA ) or references ( APA ). And for digital projects, you can simply link to the sources you've used, enabling readers who want to check them out to do so. For presentations, oral or digital, this usually means including a slide at the end that lists all sources; you might also distribute this list in print, as a handout. REFLECT!"
"This is a time for exploration, for experimentation: when we can create and risk, write graffiti on the walls and color outside the lines. . . . we must expand our notion of academic discourse. That's a challenge that professor Adam Banks issued to an audience of college writing teachers. How would you answer his challenge? Find a piece of academic writing you have done, and then imagine how you could rewrite it using multiple modes."
"Describe that revised piece in a brief paragraph, and explain what you especially like about it. Glossary ALT TEXT, 227, 466 A way of describing images in digital texts for readers who are visually impaired or whose computers do not display images. ANALYSIS, 132-56 A GENRE of writing in which you look at what a text says and how it says it."
"Key Features: a SUMMARY of a text or other subject - attention to CONTEXT - a clear INTERPRETATION or judgment - reasonable support for your conclusions REPORT, 157-85 A GENRE of writing that presents information to inform readers on a subject. Key Features: a topic carefully focused for a specific AUDIENCE - definitions of key terms - trustworthy information - appropriate organization and DESIGN - a confident TONE that informs rather than argues."
"See also IMRAD ; PROFILE NARRATIVE, 186-202 A GENRE that tells a story for the PURPOSE of making a point. Key Features: a clearly defined event - a clearly described setting - vivid, descriptive details - a consistent POINT OF VIEW - a clear point. Also a strategy for presenting information as a story, for telling what happened. When used in an essay, narration is used to support a point-not merely to tell an interesting story for its own sake."
"Narration can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or an entire text. See also LITERACY NARRATIVE ARGUMENT, 99-131 Any text that makes a CLAIM supported by REASONS and EVIDENCE . A GENRE that uses REASONS and EVIDENCE to support a CLAIM ."
"Key Features: an explicit POSITION - a response to what others have said - appropriate background information - a clear indication of why the topic matters - good REASONS and EVIDENCE - attention to more than one POINT OF VIEW - an authoritative TONE - an appeal to readers' values ALT TEXT, 227, 466 A way of describing images in digital texts for readers who are visually impaired or whose computers do not display images."
"AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION . REPORT, 157-85 A GENRE of writing that presents information to inform readers on a subject."
"Key Features: a topic carefully focused for a specific AUDIENCE - definitions of key terms - trustworthy information - appropriate organization and DESIGN - a confident TONE that informs rather than argues. See also IMRAD ; PROFILE BLOG, 496-98 From web + log , blogs are sites that focus on topics of all kinds. Blogs are regularly updated, usually strike an informal TONE , and include a space where readers can respond. PERSPECTIVES, 90-91, 29-41 Viewpoints, an important part of a writer's STANCE ."
"As a writer and a researcher, you should always strive to seek, think about, and work to understand multiple perspectives. FREEWRITING, 82 A process for GENERATING IDEAS AND TEXT by writing continuously for several minutes without pausing to read what has been written. STORYBOARD, 194, 232 A series of sketches used in planning a film or video essay to map out the sequence of camera shots, movement, and action. OUTLINING, 194 A process for GENERATING IDEAS AND TEXT or for examining a text."
"An informal outline simply lists ideas and then numbers them in the order that they will appear; a working outline distinguishes support from main ideas by indenting the former; a formal outline is arranged as a series of headings and indented subheadings, each on a separate line, with letters and numbers indicating relative levels of importance. MLA STYLE, 305-56 A system of DOCUMENTATION established by the Modern Language Association and used in the humanities."
"APA STYLE, 357-403 A system of DOCUMENTATION used in the social sciences. APA stands for the American Psychological Association. THESIS, 84-85 A statement that identifies the topic and main point of a piece of writing, giving readers an idea of what the text will cover. A MULTIMODAL PROJECT IN THREE MEDIA VRINDA VASAVADA Is Addicted the New Normal?"
"Fighting Tech Addiction Vrinda Vasavada, who is studying computer science and economics at Stanford, created a multimodal project for her second-year rhetoric and writing class. Her assignment began with a research-based argument, delivered as a print document that included some illustrations. She then developed an oral presentation with PowerPoint slides on the same topic. Finally, her presentation was videotaped and posted to the web as a digital text."
"Here you can see excerpts from all three versions of her project. Print Here is the opening of Vasavada's print essay: Opens with provocative statistics. In-text documentation follows MLA style. According to a recent Deloitte study, the average American young adult checks their phone seventy-four times a day (Wigginton et al. 3)."
"In total, these checks add up to about five hours of the day, and most of this use is subconscious: according to a 2015 study by British psychologists, young adults use their phones twice as much as they estimate (Andrews et al. 6). Further, our phone usage is not restricted to times of solitude: according to a recent Pew study, 89 percent of Americans report using their phones during their last social interaction, and 82 percent of those who did say that it deteriorated the conversation (Rainie et al. 4)."
"These numbers reveal the large role that technology plays in our daily lives, but also point to a more frightening trend: we are losing control over our technology usage. While we sense that using our phones during social interactions affects the quality of our conversations negatively, we are unable to change our behavior to fix this problem. Discovering such lack of control leads us to an extremely important question: is excessive technology usage a form of addiction?"
"If so, what should different stakeholders in the technology space do to curb its effects? Connects tech addiction to other kinds of addiction. From both a behavioral and a biological perspective, excessive technology usage closely mirrors other forms of behavioral addiction. While users can make specific choices to limit their tech usage, research suggests that they have not been successful in limiting screen time."
"Instead, the responsibility and power to curb the effects of tech addiction now rest predominantly on the shoulders of technology companies, who need to make conscious design choices that prioritize user health. In order to incentivize such changes, we need to leverage existing power dynamics within the tech space, exerting pressure from both inside and outside the companies. Oral Here is the opening of Vasavada's spoken presentation: Starts by addressing audience directly and introducing her topic."
"Good morning everyone. My name is Vrinda and I'm a sophomore studying computer science and economics, and I'm excited to present my research from this term to you on fighting tech addiction. I want to start us off with a couple of quick questions. Questions engage audience and elicit response. What was the first thing you did when you woke up this morning? Right. If you're like 60 percent of Americans you checked your phone within five minutes of waking up."
Here's another one: Think back to the last social event you went to. Did you check your phone? Short sentences and everyday language make presentation engaging and easy to follow. I thought so. Eighty-nine percent of Americans reported using their phones during their last social interaction. And something that's even crazier than that: 82 percent claimed that it deteriorated the conversation. So clearly we can sense that there's something going on where our phones are getting in the way of our conversations.
"But we aren't able to do anything to stop it. This leads me to my main research question for today: Is tech addiction a real problem? And if so, what should we be doing to fix it? And here's Vasavada's conclusion: How can we solve the problem of tech addiction? There are a few key sources of pressure that we can use. First of all, pressure from within."
"Engaging employees in conversations about ethics is extremely important because each of those features that we just talked about was brought up by a group of employees at one of these companies. Making sure that these people are thinking about the ethics and the impact of the features they're working on can be a powerful way of forcing companies to change. First, Second, Third help audience follow along. Second, pressure from where the money is coming from: the investors."
"So if more investors start to place their money in places that do social good, that will have impact. And we see that this is actually happening. Recently Apple's investors called on them to produce a less addictive iPhone because they'd been seeing the negative effects that iPhone usage is having on their children and grandchildren and they are not happy. Third, leveraging hardware company power. The incentives for companies like Apple and Google are actually closely aligned with their consumers."
"And if consumers think their phones are getting them addicted, they are less likely to buy the next generation. So in fact these big companies are very closely aligned with our incentives in making sure that we have healthy relationships with their devices. And they're in a position of power to make sure they are curbing tech addiction. For one thing, they can cap the number of notifications that certain apps can send us."
"They can also make us more conscious of how we're spending our time by sending a daily report of where we've spent our time on each app. Concludes with a direct appeal to her audience, noting what tech companies must do to keep them. And finally, we see that there is a surprising source of pressure from consumers themselves. Our generation, Gen-Z, born between 1995 and 2005, has been confusing the media with our tech habits."
"So while we have grown up with a lot of technology, 53 percent of our generation actually prefers f2f communication to digital. Not only will these companies want to develop devices that are healthier for their consumers, but in order to survive our generation, they will need to. Thank you! Digital The video of Vasavada's presentation was posted on her writing program's website, and you can watch it at letstalklibrary.com ."
"You'll see that she uses all five modalities: linguistic (her words), audio (her voice), gestural (her movements and facial expressions), visual (her slides), and spatial (her position in the room, the elements on her slides). Simple, uncluttered slide uses contrast to highlight key statistic. Shows key question on slide. Thinking about the Text 1. Vrinda Vasavada began this project by drafting a print argument."
Take a look at the facts and studies she mentions in the introduction to her essay: How well do you think it supports the claim she makes as her thesis? What other points might she have made in leading up to her thesis? 2. Compare the opening of Vasavada's oral presentation with the opening of her print essay. Her research question is the same in each-is excessive tech use an addiction? But note the differences in the two versions: What do you see as the strengths of each?
"Which one is more memorable, and why? 3. Vasavada uses questions extensively in her oral presentation. What is the effect of those questions? Why do you think she asks questions rather than simply making statements? 4. How is the conclusion of her oral presentation organized, and what transitions link one point to the next? What do you find most memorable about the conclusion-and why? 5."
"Write a paragraph or two about your own use or overuse of tech devices: What advice, if any, do you have for yourself about how to modify your use of these devices? Endnotes  Transitional sentence sums up previous paragraph and points to new topic. Return to sentence  States thesis. Return to text  Announces her research question. Return to text  Question signals what comes next."
"Return to text PART 4 RESEARCH / FIND OUT Chapter 14 Starting with Questions, Finding Sources RESEARCH IS FORMALIZED CURIOSITY. IT'S POKING AND PRYING WITH A PURPOSE. -ZORA NEALE HURSTON THE IMPORTANT THING IS NOT TO STOP QUESTIONING. CURIOSITY HAS ITS OWN REASON FOR EXISTENCE. -ALBERT EINSTEIN You, it turns out, are a born questioner. In fact, research shows that humans differ from non-human primates in just this way: we ask questions!"
"In addition, humans have evolved to spend lots of time, brain space, and brain power articulating questions-and then searching for and creating knowledge that will help provide answers. And we do so not just because of everyday needs like food and shelter but also because, well, because it's just what we do . This chapter recognizes the questioner and researcher in all of us and provides guidance as you engage in these distinctly human activities. No one person is the authority on anything."
"-CLEO KEAHNA Being curious-and asking questions-is at the very heart of the poking and prying with a purpose that Zora Neale Hurston associates with research. So doing research calls on you to immerse yourself in new ideas and topics you want to know more about, searching out what other people have said about them, and considering a wide range of perspectives-including those that differ from any ideas about the topic you already have."
"Tracking down answers to important questions (another way of saying research) is crucial to getting and creating knowledge. While most of us grew up accepting ideas handed down to us by others, at some point we begin to question some of those ideas, to want to understand and evaluate them on our own rather than accepting them as just the way it is. We start to think about and search for answers to questions that excite or puzzle or even frighten us. In short, we become researchers."
"In fact, you are probably already a pretty experienced researcher: the reading you do and the questions you ask before buying a new smartphone; the time you spend exploring your college's website to decide what courses to take; the hours and hours you spend looking for recordings by BTS or some other K-pop group. All research. During your college years, you will have the opportunity to do research in many courses and on many topics."
"Take advantage of these opportunities to put your curiosity and imagination to work, to discover things you couldn't have imagined before now, and to add to your own knowledge. This chapter will help get you started on any research you set out to do. STARTING WITH QUESTIONS Choose a topic that matters to you Sometimes a topic chooses you, one you're so fascinated by that you've been thinking about it for a long time. If so, chances are good that this is a topic you should take time to explore."
"Other times, you may be assigned a topic to research-particularly in a class you're taking or a job you hold. But even when topics are assigned, they are often broad enough to let you focus on one aspect that seems most important or that really piques your curiosity. Still other times, the topic may be left open to you as long as it somehow relates to the course content. In each of these cases, you need to focus the topic so that its importance is absolutely clear and in some way matters to you."
"How NOT to do research! In one first-year seminar on environmental science, students were assigned to write a research-based essay on some aspect of sustainability. In response, one student who lived in a dorm chose to pursue a question that had been bothering him: How many plastic straws and bottles and aluminum cans were fellow students tossing into the trash rather than recycling?"
"So he decided to do a little field research, counting the number of straws, bottles, and cans he found in the trash cans on three floors of his dorm. The number was even higher than he had imagined; and when he thought about how many more floors there were in this one dorm, he was even more alarmed."
"The question he started with led him to this basic research of his own, which he then followed up with research using online databases and other sources in order to find out what others have reported about the growing amount of perfectly recyclable material that ends up in landfills and dumps and even in the ocean. This student was certain he had identified an important topic, one that mattered and that was worth researching and writing about."
"Think about your rhetorical situation Once you've identified a topic to research, take time to think carefully about your purpose, audience, and the rest of your rhetorical situation. Jotting down some notes on the following elements of the rhetorical situation will come in handy when you begin shaping your topic into a RESEARCH QUESTION and eventually a THESIS . Purpose . Why have you chosen this topic, and what do you hope to accomplish in researching and writing about it?"
"What do you want to happen as a result of your work? Audience. Who will read what you write, and what are they likely to know about your topic? What background information will you need to provide? What kinds of EVIDENCE or sources will they find most persuasive? Stance . What do you know about the topic, and what do you think and believe about it? At this point, how would you describe your attitude on the topic-neutral? curious? passionate? something else?"
"How do you want to come across to your audience-and how can you establish your credibility to write on this topic? Your tone (serious? humorous? conversational?) will be important for establishing this stance. Context . Who is doing research on this topic, and how will their work inform what you write? Identifying this part of your rhetorical situation brings you into a conversation that's already taking place about your topic and that will be very important to you as you begin your own research."
"In addition, what is the context for your assignment: When is it due? Are there any requirements about the length of what you write and the kinds of sources you should consult? Genre . Have you been assigned to write in a particular genre-an ARGUMENT ? a REPORT ? an ANALYSIS ? a MULTIMODAL presentation of some kind? If not, what genre best suits your topic and purpose? Media and design . Are you required to use a certain medium?"
"If not, which media will best suit your topic and purpose and help you reach your audience? Will you need to include photos or other images? graphs or charts? Will you need headings? Does your assignment have any format requirements? Even if you can't answer all these questions right now, they'll get you thinking about your topic. And do take notes: it's amazing what good ideas may pop into your head as you think systematically about your rhetorical situation."
"Do some research to get an overview of your topic At this point, it's a good idea to do a quick Google search, checking out a few sources on your topic just to get a sense of who has written about it and what's been said. Wikipedia can be a good starting point, a site where you'll encounter the various perspectives on your topic, find links to sources you may want to consult, and read about any controversies. Wikipedia will likely provide a snapshot of all that, which makes it a good place to start."
"For now, you should just be dipping into a few sources, seeing what they have to say about your topic and casting a wide net to see what good ideas you may catch in it. Make some notes about what sources you might use. Focus your topic Once you've gathered some basic information and have some sense of the larger conversation surrounding your topic, think about whether you need to narrow it to make it more manageable. One good way to begin is to jot down what you now know about the topic."
"Then highlight the points that are most interesting to you: the more the topic matters to you, the better your research and writing about it will be. Suppose you've been following some discussions online about the pros and cons of social media. So you begin with a broad topic like effects of social media. But you quickly realize that you can't possibly cover such a huge topic, so you begin to focus and narrow: How about cognitive effects of social media? Still pretty unmanageable."
"So you try again: cognitive effects of social media use on middle school kids in the United States. This is still a big topic, but it is now narrowed enough that you can at least begin to gather information in a somewhat focused way. Come up with a research question Once you have a manageable topic, you can turn it into a question that will guide your research as you look for compelling ways to answer it."
"Your question should be clear and succinct, and not one that can be answered with a simple yes or no. Does climate change exist? Well, yes it does or no it doesn't, and you're left with a one-word response that won't help you at all to engage the large body of work that exists on climate change. Here are two ways that the topic on the effects of social media can be recast as a research question: What are the cognitive effects of social media use on middle school kids in the United States?"
"How does the use of social media affect the cognitive abilities of middle school kids in the United States? These are questions that can guide you as you begin to research this topic. They are also questions worth investigating, because the answers will be very important not only to you but to others as well. As you begin your research to answer this question, remember to do so with an open mind, ready to consider sources that present many different perspectives."
"You don't want to choose only sources that you agree with: take a look at what researchers and scholars with many varying, even conflicting opinions have to say. Plot out a working thesis Once you have a research question, the next step is to come up with a working thesis that can help guide your search."
"Keep in mind that you'll keep asking your research question, and you may well modify the thesis as you continue the research, but your working thesis will function as a HYPOTHESIS , your best guess at this point about what you will claim in writing about your topic."
"As someone investigating the effects of social media on middle school students, you might begin with a working thesis like this: Middle school children in the United States seem to be strongly affected by the use of social media, and excessive use has been shown to lead to troubling cognitive results."
"This thesis will almost surely change as you dig into research on the topic: Will your research turn up credible evidence to support the statement that middle school children are strongly affected by social media use? If so, are the most troublesome effects cognitive ones? What is the correlation between the increasing use of social media and various behaviors among middle school kids?"
"These are questions that careful and systematic research will answer and that may then lead you to further revise your thesis statement. See p. 84 for more on drafting a thesis. REFLECT! Take some time to jot down some of the things you worry about, or things you wish you knew more about. BRAINSTORM about these things for ten or so minutes, until you've identified a few ideas. Which ones are most important to you, and which ones might have the greatest impact on others?"
"Choose one, and write a paragraph introducing this topic to a friend and explaining why you want to carry out research on it. Glossary RESEARCH QUESTION, 245-47 A question that guides research. A good research question should be simple, focused, and require more than just a yes or no answer. THESIS, 84-85 A statement that identifies the topic and main point of a piece of writing, giving readers an idea of what the text will cover."
"EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS . Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling. Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making). ARGUMENT, 99-131 Any text that makes a CLAIM supported by REASONS and EVIDENCE ."
"A GENRE that uses REASONS and EVIDENCE to support a CLAIM . Key Features: an explicit POSITION - a response to what others have said - appropriate background information - a clear indication of why the topic matters - good REASONS and EVIDENCE - attention to more than one POINT OF VIEW - an authoritative TONE - an appeal to readers' values REPORT, 157-85 A GENRE of writing that presents information to inform readers on a subject."
"Key Features: a topic carefully focused for a specific AUDIENCE - definitions of key terms - trustworthy information - appropriate organization and DESIGN - a confident TONE that informs rather than argues. See also IMRAD ; PROFILE ANALYSIS, 132-56 A GENRE of writing in which you look at what a text says and how it says it."
"Key Features: a SUMMARY of a text or other subject - attention to CONTEXT - a clear INTERPRETATION or judgment - reasonable support for your conclusions MULTIMODAL WRITING, 223-39 Writing that uses more than one MODE of expression-for example: linguistic, visual, audio, spatial, and gestural. HYPOTHESIS, 247-48 A supposition that's a starting point for exploration and investigation."
"BRAINSTORMING, 45, 82 A process for GENERATING IDEAS AND TEXT by writing down everything that comes to mind about a topic, then looking for patterns or connections among the ideas. FINDING SOURCES In 2018, well into the #MeToo movement, Elizabeth Winkler began musing about all the strong, resourceful, and memorable women in Shakespeare's plays."
"As she attended and reread these plays, she kept finding more and more instances of remarkable women characters, so much so that she decided to research the controversy over who actually wrote Shakespeare's plays. So she immersed herself in the arguments various scholars had put forward in favor of pos sible authors-an all-male cast including Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, and Edward deVere-and then turned again to the plays themselves."
"And they led her to ask a most provocative question: What if Shakespeare was a woman? From there, she was off on the research adventure of a lifetime. Winkler's experience shows how research often works: you start out with a focus on a topic, even with a preliminary thesis, but a simple turn of the kaleidoscope can reveal an entirely new way of looking at the topic. And that new way of looking can then lead you to consider sources that might not have seemed relevant before."
"In this case, Winkler's question led her to turn to primary sources-Shakespeare's own plays-with a new eye, which in turn led her to discover things in the plays that the real Shakespeare would have been hard-pressed to know, but that would have been known by a particular woman poet living at the same time: Amelia Bassano. From there, Winkler was off on a hunt for everything she could find out about Bassano. And she found a lot-enough to support her claim that Shakespeare may well have been a woman."
"Was Shakespeare a woman? In doing her research, Winkler used time-tested methods: careful, critical reading of the plays-and of secondary sources on the question of authorship. She also did some field research, interviewing one of the scholars who's theorized that Bassano was the actual author. Most important, however, she kept her mind wide open to new possibilities, and looked for sources from a very wide range of viewpoints."
"Like Winkler, you may also draw on both primary and secondary materials when you conduct research-and may even gather information from field research. What kinds of sources do you need? Deciding on the sources that will be most helpful to you is a challenge today when there are so many to choose from, ranging from books and articles and databases to video and audio files of all kinds-all readily available in your school library."
"So it's wise to spend some time thinking about the kinds of sources your topic calls for. Like Winkler's, your topic might call for consulting primary sources and historical documents. But if your topic is a contemporary one-say, about the environment-you would probably need current sources from scientific and environmental journals. You might also want to schedule an interview with an environmental studies professor."
"Whatever your topic, look for sources that represent different perspectives on it, including ones that challenge your own thinking on the topic. Remember that research is about INQUIRY : to learn about the topic, not simply to find support for what you already think about it. Primary and secondary sources Primary sources are original works-like Shakespeare's plays. They are firsthand accounts, diaries, historical documents, and materials generated from FIELD RESEARCH like interviews or surveys."
"Secondary sources , in contrast, REPORT on or ANALYZE primary sources-and provide secondhand knowledge. So Beloved is a primary source, while a critic's analysis of that novel is a secondary source. Sometimes your purpose determines whether a source is primary or secondary. Suppose you are writing an essay on Cardi B, who won the 2019 Grammy for best rap album of the year. That album is your primary source, while a critic who has written a review of Cardi B's album is a secondary source."
"But suppose you decide to write an essay on that particular critic's work: then the review of Cardi B's album would be a primary source for your research. Don't forget about NARRATIVES . Firsthand narratives might provide good examples or evidence, as well as appealing to readers. In the same way, a personal narrative of your own- your story-can also serve as a source you can draw on in doing research. Scholarly and popular sources Scholarly sources are those written by experts for an academic audience."
"Whether they're journal articles, books, conference papers, or some other publication, they've usually been peer-reviewed by experts and include full documentation of their sources. Popular sources , in contrast, are written for a general audience; while they can be authoritative and cite scholarly research, they haven't been as fully vetted as academic sources, nor do they usually include documentation."
"In the field of psychology, the journal Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice is a scholarly source, while Psychology Today is a popular source. Even though both kinds of sources can provide excellent information, you'll want to be sure that the sources you use are appropriate to your PURPOSE and AUDIENCE ."
"If you're writing about tax policy for a business class, the Wall Street Journal might be a useful source, but its movie reviews would not be appropriate sources in a film analysis for a history of film class. How to determine if a source is scholarly or popular   What's the title? Scholarly titles sound academic and often include subtitles. Popular titles are more likely to be catchy, sometimes provocative. What are the author's credentials?"
"Scholarly sources are written by academics, those affiliated with a college or university. Some academic authors also write books or articles for a general audience. These would be considered popular rather than scholarly. Who's the publisher or sponsor? Look for academic presses or organizations. Does it include DOCUMENTATION ? Scholarly sources cite research and document their sources, both in in-text documentation within the text and on a list of works cited or references. If it's online, what's the URL?"
"Colleges and universities use . edu . Does it look scholarly? Academic sources tend to have a one-color, conservative design and often include tables and charts. Popular texts are more likely to have a colorful design and to include photos and other illustrations. Are there ads? Popular sources often include many ads; scholarly ones have few if any ads. See examples from popular and scholarly sources on pp. 254-55 ."
"All that said, keep a very sharp eye out for sources that claim to be credible scholarly sources-and look scholarly-because they may not be. In this age of FAKE NEWS , we now have to worry about fake scholarly sources as well, especially those that pop up in a Google search. Such sites are written and designed to sound and look scholarly. Check to see who's sponsoring the site: Is it an academic institution or an advocacy group?"
"And check out Snopes.com or another fact-checking site to see what they say about it. See Chapter 15 for advice on how to determine whether unfamiliar sources should be trusted. Finding sources on the internet Many of us turn to the internet whenever we need to find some kind of information. A click of a few keys and wham-o-a long list of sources! Google is not a synonym for research. -DAN BROWN Search engines . Many of us today begin research by using search engines like Bing , DuckDuckGo , or Google ."
"These are all powerful tools for research, but they can quickly become overwhelming. Typing in plastic in oceans on Google , for example, yields over 40 million possible sources-in less than a second. Still, using Google or another search engine as a starting point can give you an overview of what's out there-and help you discover photographs, videos, blogs, maps, and other materials related to your topic."
But the results you get from any search engine are affected by algorithms designed to give you what they think you want. And that is not going to help you find the multiple perspectives on your topic that you need. So don't just click on the first two or three items that appear. The good stuff may appear farther down in the list!
"And get to know Google Scholar , a search engine that will direct you to scholarly literature across an array of disciplines: journal articles, books, technical reports, court opinions, and more. (What you won't find here: news and magazine articles, book reviews, or editorials.) Many of the sources available on Google Scholar aren't available for free, but you can access them if your college library subscribes to the databases that contain them-and most likely it does. Running searches on the web ."
"Whatever search engine you use or whatever you're searching for, choosing KEYWORDS will be a key to focusing your search to get the sources you need. Say you're interested in race car driving. Searching for those three words yields an unmanageable number of results, so you try race car drivers. Still too much. Further thinking leads you to wonder about the gender of drivers-and more specifically, about women NASCAR drivers."
"So you narrow your search and type in women NASCAR drivers. There are various ways of focusing what a search engine looks for, but here are a few that work with many engines:  Use quotation marks to search for an exact phrase (women NASCAR drivers). If you enter those same words without quotation marks, you'll get sources with all three words but not only in that order.  Use and to retrieve texts using all of these words (women and NASCAR and drivers)."
" Use or to retrieve texts using any of those words (women or NASCAR or drivers). SCHOLARLY SOURCE Published in an academic journal. Multiple authors who are academics. Includes an abstract. Describes research methods, includes numerical data. Cites academic research with consistent documentation style. Includes complete references list. POPULAR SOURCE Published in a general-interest periodical. Author is a journalist. Catchy, provocative title and photo."
"Academic experts and studies cited but not documented. Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that can give you a sense of what is being written and debated about your topic. But because virtually anyone can edit what's on Wikipedia , its information is always changing-which means it's a source you usually won't want to cite. Still, most of its entries include links and bibliographies that will lead you to other sources, so it can be a good starting point for researching a topic. Government sites ."
"Are you looking for information about AmeriCorps? the Census Bureau? the Justice Department? the Library of Congress? the National Archives? the Supreme Court? Go to USA.gov , where you can access sites for these and many other government departments. News sites . Many newspapers and magazines offer free access to at least some of their content that's available online. And your college library might well subscribe to some of those that don't; if so, you'll be able to access them through the library's portal."
"In addition, some newspapers allow you to search their archives so you can look for articles relevant to your topic that have been published in the past. Google News is another source of news. It offers a continuous flow of articles from thousands of publishers and magazines. According to its site, it focuses especially on diverse perspectives-and in thirty-five languages."
"And it allows you to search for news from a particular time period and to request email alerts about topics you're following (or researching!). Social media sites such as Twitter , Instagram , or Facebook , as well as blogs and podcasts, can be useful sources-or not. I follow the work of several cognitive scientists on Twitter , for example, as a way of keeping up to date on the work in this field, and I also follow linguist Dennis Baron's deeply researched and informative blog, The Web of Language ."
"In these cases, I know some of the writers and their expertise; I can generally trust what they say to be credible sources of information. I am much less likely to use information provided by sources whose reputation I don't know. As we all know, there's a lot of misinformation being retweeted and reposted on social media every minute of every day. So if you cannot trust or verify information you find on Twitter , it's wise to pass it by-and not to cite it in anything you write."
"Image, video, and audio banks . Free images, audio, and even films are available in a number of sources on the web. For photos, check out StockSnap.io , Unsplash , Reshot , or Shutterstock . For videos, consult pexels.com and storybook.com . And for audio files, check out audiojungle.net , audioblocks.com , and freesound.org . Remember, though, that while these sources are free of charge, you still need to acknowledge and DOCUMENT any that you use in your own writing. REFLECT!"
"Together with a partner, do a search for the same term using the same search engine-but each on your own computer. Compare what the two searches turn up. Most likely they will be different. Why? Spend some time BRAINSTORMING about this, and how it might affect the way you think about search results. Using your college's library Learn how to use your school's library-the physical library on campus and the library's website that gives access to all that's in the library."
"Take a tour, or try to meet with a reference librarian, and come prepared with questions: Where can you find encyclopedias, almanacs, and other general reference works? What special collections (of art, film, music, audio, and video) does the library have? How can you access library resources online? And once you've settled on a topic, see if there's a librarian who specializes in the field that you're researching. The library catalog ."
"The books, the encyclopedias, the films, the audios, and more: it's all accounted for in the library catalog, with information about where it's located. At most colleges, the catalog is digital; you can search by author, title, subject, and keyword. Do an author search if you want to find out everything in the library written by that author. Do a title search if you know the complete title of what you're looking for."
"If you don't know a specific author or title, you can do a subject or keyword search that will give an overview of all the materials in the library related to that topic. Your library probably uses the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), so you may need to experiment for a while to make sure you're using a word that LCSH also uses."
"For example, if you enter American Civil War as a subject heading, you would get a notice telling you that this is not a LCSH subject heading-but that United States History Civil War is. Then you'll be on the right track to do a successful subject search. Databases . These are large digital collections of journal, magazine, and newspaper articles and other sources. Many are available by subscription, but they are likely available through your college library."
"General databases that cover a wide range of fields and include both scholarly and popular sources can be a good place to start:   Academic Search Complete offers access to thousands of journals and magazines, including many that are open access. JSTOR provides access to millions of academic journals, books, and primary sources in seventy-five disciplines. ProQuest Central provides access to thousands of its most used academic journals, newspapers, magazines, dissertations, and more."
"Look here for the New York Times , the Wall Street Journal , The Economist , and more. Lexis/Nexis Academic offers documents from business, government, legal, and news sources. Subject-specific databases come in handy once you have a research question."
"If you are researching the effect of changing rules in pro basketball, check with a reference librarian to recommend specific subject databases, or refer to several that are often very useful:  AGRIS is a public domain database for accessing millions of resources in agricultural science and technology.  ERIC gives access to journals, conference papers, and other publications related to education.  IEEE Xplore provides access to publications in computer science, electrical engineering, and related fields."
" PsychINFO provides abstracts for peer-reviewed articles in psychology and the behavioral sciences.  MLA International Bibliography indexes scholarly articles and books in the fields of literature, language, linguistics, rhetoric, and folklore."
"Conducting field research You can learn a lot at the library and on the web, but some topics might lead you to do your own firsthand research: to interview someone with expertise in your topic, to conduct a survey to gather information, or to observe people in a particular place or situation."
Field research that involves people may require approval; your instructor can help you determine whether you need to consult with your college's Institutional Review Board to make sure that your study will not be harmful to any of its participants. Interviews You can sometimes get information by interviewing someone with expertise or experience in the area you're researching. Say you're looking into the incidence of pandemics in this century.
"You might interview a microbiology professor on your campus to help launch your search. Here are some tips for conducting a successful interview:  Request and schedule the interview well in advance, either by email or with a telephone call. Be sure to explain your PURPOSE and ask how much time the person would be willing to grant you for the interview.  Prepare a list of questions in advance. You might begin with some questions about the person's work."
"But then move to open-ended questions that will elicit full answers. Avoid questions that can be answered with a simple yes or no (Do you follow the Spurs?) or that prompt certain answers (Don't you agree that student athletes should be paid?).  Take notes or record the interview-or do both. Ask for permission if you wish to tape, and be sure to test all equipment in advance!  Write down the person's full name and title along with the date, time, and place."
" Say thank-you , both at the end of the interview and later in a written note or email. Conversations While interviews are often formal and structured, you may find that more informal, unstructured conversations can sometimes be useful for gathering information. Some indigenous researchers also stress respectful, engaged silence and listening as a way of coming to understand and appreciate the information that someone is sharing with you."
"Here are some tips for having such conversations:   Try to meet in a comfortable setting where you can do something together-sew, cook, garden, and so on. Ask permission to record or take notes. Share some of your own experience with the topic. Respect the other person's silence , and be patient waiting for response. Listen carefully and intently, letting the person know that you're paying close attention. Do not interrupt. If you do ask questions , do so only for clarification."
"Express gratitude for the time spent together. Observations Some research questions will lead you to do firsthand observation. Say you're researching how the way desks are arranged in a classroom affects participation. You might observe several classrooms-one with desks in rows, another where they're in a circle, and a third where they're in small clusters. This kind of observing calls for intense and purposeful attention, looking to catch every detail you can and recording the data accurately."
"Here are some tips to help you do so:  Think about your PURPOSE . What do you want to find out? And how will you use what you learn?  Plan ahead . What will you observe, and when? What materials will you need-a notebook? a camera or video camera? Do you need to ask permission in advance to observe, and to take photos or videos?  Take notes . DESCRIBE the place, who's there, what they're doing. Don't start analyzing what you see; just record what you observe. Be sure to note the date, time, and place."
" After the observation , take time to jot down any additional details and to record your thoughts about what you saw, along with any questions you may have.  Review your notes and any recorded material carefully, noting any recurring patterns. What have you learned? Did anything surprise you? How can you use the findings when you write up your research? Surveys Sometimes your research will require you to get information from a large number of people."
"Suppose you want to get student response to the latest hike in tuition fees. The best way to do that is with a questionnaire. Here are some tips for planning a survey and creating a questionnaire:  Think about your PURPOSE . What are you trying to learn, and how will you use the results?  Decide who to contact , and how. Will you email them a questionnaire? use Survey Monkey ? conduct the survey on the phone?  Write out your questions ."
"It's best not to ask too many questions, and to make them easy to answer. Multiple-choice questions are easy to answer and then to tabulate, but you may also need to ask some open-ended questions to get the information you're seeking.  Begin by saying thanks for taking the time to respond to your questions, and be sure to explain what you're trying to learn. End by again saying thank-you and saying when the survey is due."
" ANALYZE the responses , looking for patterns and for what they reveal about your topic. Think about how you can use the information in reporting on your research. REFLECT! What have you learned about your topic so far? At this point in the process, which sources seem the most promising, and why? Are you finding enough sources to answer your research question? If not, might you need to revise your question? Have you looked at your topic from a number of different perspectives?"
"If so, have they got you thinking? If not, get to work! Glossary INQUIRY, 242-47 A process for investigating a topic by posing questions, searching for multiple answers, and keeping an open mind. FIELD RESEARCH, 259-62 The collection of first-hand data through observation, interviews, conversation, and surveys. REPORT, 157-85 A GENRE of writing that presents information to inform readers on a subject."
"Key Features: a topic carefully focused for a specific AUDIENCE - definitions of key terms - trustworthy information - appropriate organization and DESIGN - a confident TONE that informs rather than argues. See also IMRAD ; PROFILE ANALYSIS, 132-56 A GENRE of writing in which you look at what a text says and how it says it."
"Key Features: a SUMMARY of a text or other subject - attention to CONTEXT - a clear INTERPRETATION or judgment - reasonable support for your conclusions ANALYSIS, 132-56 A GENRE of writing in which you look at what a text says and how it says it. Key Features: a SUMMARY of a text or other subject - attention to CONTEXT - a clear INTERPRETATION or judgment - reasonable support for your conclusions NARRATIVE, 186-202 A GENRE that tells a story for the PURPOSE of making a point."
"Key Features: a clearly defined event - a clearly described setting - vivid, descriptive details - a consistent POINT OF VIEW - a clear point. Also a strategy for presenting information as a story, for telling what happened. When used in an essay, narration is used to support a point-not merely to tell an interesting story for its own sake. Narration can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or an entire text."
"See also LITERACY NARRATIVE PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION . PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION ."
"PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION . PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION . AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text."
"Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . DOCUMENTATION, 309-44, 360-86 Publication information about the sources cited in a text. IN-TEXT DOCUMENTATION usually appears in parentheses at the point where it's cited or in an endnote or a footnote. Complete documentation usually appears as a list of WORKS CITED or REFERENCES at the end of the text. Documentation styles vary by discipline."
"See also APA STYLE ; MLA STYLE KEYWORD, 83, 253, 258 A term that a researcher inputs when searching for information in databases and elsewhere on the internet. DOCUMENTATION, 309-44, 360-86 Publication information about the sources cited in a text. IN-TEXT DOCUMENTATION usually appears in parentheses at the point where it's cited or in an endnote or a footnote. Complete documentation usually appears as a list of WORKS CITED or REFERENCES at the end of the text. Documentation styles vary by discipline."
"See also APA STYLE ; MLA STYLE BRAINSTORMING, 45, 82 A process for GENERATING IDEAS AND TEXT by writing down everything that comes to mind about a topic, then looking for patterns or connections among the ideas. FAKE NEWS, 69-77 False or misleading information designed and written to look like authentic news. See also MISINFORMATION DESCRIPTION, 86 A STRATEGY that tells how something looks, sounds, smells, feels, or tastes."
"Effective description creates a clear DOMINANT IMPRESSION built from specific details. Description can be objective, subjective , or both. Description can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or whole text. PART 4 RESEARCH / FIND OUT Chapter 15 Evaluating Sources, Checking Facts YOU MAY HAVE READ THAT I WENT TO MIT. IN 1982 I FILLED OUT A WHO'S WHO SURVEY WITH JOKING RESPONSES, AND THEY NEVER BOTHERED TO CHECK THE FACTS."
"-CHEVY CHASE When I got my first personal computer in 1985, I heard a lot about GIGO: garbage in, garbage out, shorthand for saying if the data you put into a computer is faulty, the outcome will be equally faulty. That phrase is still used, and its warning is perhaps as timely as ever in an even broader context: if the authors and sources you rely on in your writing are garbage-well, then, your writing is in danger of being garbage too!"
"And today, when distinguishing fact from fiction, truth from lies, accurate from deep fake is more and more difficult, writers need all the help we can get in making sure that the information we find in sources is honest and trustworthy-and that any source we cite in our own work is too. As you begin your search for useful and credible sources, remember that all sources will have a point of view and so will inevitably reflect at least some of the assumptions and preferences of those who create them."
"Even the most careful authors can never be all-seeing and all-knowing: while they can aim to present information accurately and fairly, they can't possibly see the topic from every perspective. Pure objectivity is just not possible, but we can still try hard to be as accurate and truthful as possible. It's up to you then to carefully assess all the sources you consult to determine whether you can trust and believe what they say."
"This chapter will help you make sure the sources you rely on are worthy of your attention-and your trust. IS THE SOURCE USEFUL? Once you find sources that seem promising, you need to decide whether they're likely to be useful-how they'll serve your purpose, whether your audience will find them persuasive, and so on. Here are some questions to ask of sources you're considering: How useful is the source for your research?"
"Check out any table of contents, abstracts, or introduction to get a sense of what the source covers. Then think about what it might contribute to your research. Does it include a bibliography that would lead you to other sources on the topic? Does it include CITATIONS or links that will lead you to other sources? What is the source's major CLAIM -and does it make sense to you? If you find it hard to believe, see if you can find any other sources that make similar claims."
"If the claim does seem reasonable, what kinds of EVIDENCE does it provide as support? What's the genre ? Is it REPORTING information or ARGUING a certain position? Chances are you'll need both; but if it's advocating a particular POINT OF VIEW , you'll want to find sources that provide other PERSPECTIVES as well. When was the source published or last updated? Keep in mind that more recent does not necessarily mean more useful; the kinds of sources you need will depend on your topic."
"If you're writing about free speech on your campus, you'll likely need to find recent sources with up-to-date information-but you might also want to consult the US Constitution to see what it has to say about freedom of speech. Who are the authors , and what are their qualifications for writing on the topic? Are they affiliated with a particular organization that might affect their viewpoint or goals? If the source doesn't include any information about the author, do a web search to see what you can learn."
"Who's the publisher or sponsor? If it's a university press, scholarly journal, or government organization, you can assume that the information has been peer-reviewed; if it's a mainstream news publisher, it's likely been fact-checked. If it's an online source, the URL will help you determine what kind of organization is sponsoring the site: .org is used by non-profits, . gov by government agencies, . edu by colleges and universities, .us by US government offices, and .com by commercial enterprises."
"No matter who the publisher or sponsor is, do they have a point of view or an agenda you should be aware of? How might you use this source in your own writing -for background information? as support for your claims? as a counterargument or an example of another perspective? Glossary CITATION, 283-94 In a text, the act of giving information from a source, for example, by QUOTING , PARAPHRASING , or SUMMARIZING ."
"A citation and its corresponding parenthetical DOCUMENTATION , footnote, or endnote provide minimal information about the source; complete information appears in a list of WORKS CITED or REFERENCES at the end of the text. CLAIM, 84-85, 103-5 A statement of a belief or POSITION . In an ARGUMENT , a claim needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied, and requires support by REASONS and EVIDENCE . EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS ."
"Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling. Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making). REPORT, 157-85 A GENRE of writing that presents information to inform readers on a subject."
"Key Features: a topic carefully focused for a specific AUDIENCE - definitions of key terms - trustworthy information - appropriate organization and DESIGN - a confident TONE that informs rather than argues. See also IMRAD ; PROFILE ARGUMENT, 99-131 Any text that makes a CLAIM supported by REASONS and EVIDENCE . A GENRE that uses REASONS and EVIDENCE to support a CLAIM ."
"Key Features: an explicit POSITION - a response to what others have said - appropriate background information - a clear indication of why the topic matters - good REASONS and EVIDENCE - attention to more than one POINT OF VIEW - an authoritative TONE - an appeal to readers' values POINT OF VIEW, 194 The position from which something is considered: first person ( I or we ), second person ( you ), or third person ( he, she , or they )."
"See also PERSPECTIVES PERSPECTIVES, 90-91, 29-41 Viewpoints, an important part of a writer's STANCE . As a writer and a researcher, you should always strive to seek, think about, and work to understand multiple perspectives. IS THE SOURCE RELIABLE? Writers today need to make sure that any sources we use are trustworthy. But that's easier said than done, now that anyone with a computer can post whatever they think-and want others to think."
"And when entire websites and news organizations present information deliberately slanted to favor one side and denigrate another, sorting through what's accurate and what's not is often a tough call. Just take a look at the left-leaning Media Matters for America and the right-leaning Accuracy in Media and you'll find them reporting the same information, but often spinning it in radically different ways."
That's one reason you need to check out who sponsors such sites and do enough research on them to determine whether they have any biases you need to be aware of. This section provides strategies for checking facts and determining whether-or not-a source should be trusted. Checking facts Jackie Chan fought off a large group of people armed with melon knives at a Hong Kong restaurant. Steph Curry parted ways with Nike because they wouldn't let him write Bible verses on his shoes.
"Californians are no longer allowed to take a shower, do laundry, and flush the toilet on the same day. These are all stories that were once reported as facts-and were then researched and disputed by various fact-checking organizations. Trust, but verify. -RONALD REAGAN If you're working with academic sources, you may not encounter too many claims as outlandish as these. But then again, you just might."
"And given all the misinformation, deliberately misleading news reports, and outright lies that exist these days, you'll want to check the facts if you have any doubts. Thank goodness, there are now a number of sites dedicated to investigating what's a fact-and what's not."
"Here are three sites dedicated to investigating what's a fact, and what's not-all nonpartisan, meaning they lean neither left nor right: Checking everything from facts to news stories to images, Snopes.com also accepts submissions if you find something you want fact-checked."
"A non-profit site run by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, FactCheck.org monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major US political players in ads, debates, speeches, interviews, news releases, and other statements. A fact-checking website run by the Pointer Institute for Media Studies, PolitiFact.com includes a Truth-O-Meter that rates claims as true, mostly true, half true, mostly false, or false. In spite of its name, this site covers more than just politics."
"(In fact, it's where we found the story about Steph Curry's shoes!) Sites like these can go a long way toward helping you choose sources that are credible-and be confident that any sources you cite, and thus pass on to others, are trustworthy and accurate. REFLECT! Choose a website that you've identified as potentially useful for a topic you're researching or are interested in learning about. Using one of the fact-checking sites listed above, decide whether the information on the site is trustworthy."
"Write a brief paragraph summing up how reliable the site seems-or not. Reading laterally Researchers at Stanford asked a number of students, historians, and professional fact-checkers to study various websites to determine which ones were credible and trustworthy. What they discovered was alarming: the historians and the students were largely unable to determine which sites were credible. The professional fact-checkers, on the other hand, identified the credible sites every time. Their secret?"
"They would quickly look over the site, but then they would open a number of additional browser tabs and search to see what others had to say about the site. As the authors of the study say: Historians and students often fell victim to easily manipulated features of websites, such as official-looking logos and domain names. They read vertically, staying within a website to evaluate its reliability."
"In contrast, fact checkers read laterally, leaving a site after a quick scan and opening up new browser tabs in order to judge the credibility of the original site. Compared to the other groups, fact checkers arrived at more warranted conclusions in a fraction of the time."
"-SAM WINEBURG and SARAH McGREW In short, the students and historians read vertically , focusing on the site they were checking-its author, its sponsor, its links, its claims-whereas the professional fact-checkers read laterally , leaving the site to find out what other sources had to say. Specifically, they tried to verify if anyone else was saying what the source they were checking said-and to find out what if anything other sources had to say about the site or its author. And that's what you should do."
"When you're researching something online and find a website you know nothing about, take a tip from the pros: open several tabs in the same browser at the top of your screen to search for information about the site or the text.  Enter the title of the site , and add keywords like sponsor or funding to find out if the site has a particular agenda.  If you're investigating a specific article , enter its title to see if it's discussed on other sites-and if so, what they're saying."
" Enter the name of the author to see what you can find out about their expertise and STANCE on the topic.  Enter any claims that seem questionable . See if any other sources make similar claims-or whether it pops up on Snopes.com or another fact-checking site. By studying a number of other sites on the same topic, you'll find information that you wouldn't likely spot by simply studying the site itself-and you'll find it more quickly to boot. REFLECT! Look again at the website you evaluated on page 267 ."
"This time look beyond the source, opening several browser tabs to see what other sites claim about the same topic. Does reading laterally turn up any new information about the source's reliability? Triangulating Experienced researchers know to raise a caution flag when they find a source that can't be verified by other sources. That's a pretty good sign that the source may not be trustworthy."
"To avoid falling victim to such sources, it's always wise to triangulate sources-that is, to check at least three other sources that are reporting the same story. If it's accurate, you should find a number of other sources reporting on it. Likewise, if you can find only one or two pieces of evidence to back up a claim you want to make, you'd better re-evaluate your claim: you may be on shaky ground. But triangulation is about more than validating the accuracy of a source or its claims."
"In addition, it will take you deeper into the topic you're exploring, leading to a richer understanding of it and helping you see the topic from several different perspectives. Finally, triangulation is one more way to uncover and counter biases, including your own. Reading with a critical eye Once you've determined that a source seems reliable, read it very carefully for what you can learn about your topic and how it might inform what you yourself write. What's the CLAIM ? Is it clearly stated?"
"Does it support your own thinking about your topic? Or does it provide a different perspective-one that might get you thinking differently? What REASONS and EVIDENCE support that claim: facts? expert testimony? data? personal experience? analogies? Look here for evidence that you might use in your own argument. Does the source acknowledge and respond to any COUNTERARGUMENTS or other PERSPECTIVES ? If it cites other sources, does it provide DOCUMENTATION ? Should you check out any of these other sources?"
"What's motivating the author? If there's no author, who's the sponsor-and what's their interest in the issue? What are their PURPOSES for sponsoring the site, and are they clearly stated? Are you convinced that the argument is one to take seriously? Is this a source you'd want to CITE ? How would it contribute to your own argument? Finding the good stuff You've checked facts, triangulated, read carefully and laterally. You're pretty sure the information you've found is reliable. But is it good?"
"Take it from Howard Rheingold: it's there, and we just have to know how to find it. Here are some things he says to look for:  The authors are identified-and it's even better if they provide a way to respond or to contact them. If they're academics, check Google Scholar to see if their work has been cited by other scholars.  The site is .edu , .gov , or .org -and the author or site is affiliated with a college or university, government agency, or some other trustworthy institution."
" The source cites or links to other sources as support for any claims. The good stuff is out there if you know how to find and verify it. -HOWARD RHEINGOLD These are all signs of information you can trust. But don't forget about your own good common sense: if a source sounds outlandish or ridiculous or too good to be true, it very well may be. Then your own good judgment can come into play-just remember that in this age of misinformation, you probably need to confirm even your own good judgment!"
"Checking your own firsthand research You also need to take a good look at any FIELD RESEARCH you yourself have done. If your research has led you to conduct experiments, interviews, observations, or surveys, then you need to do some double-checking of that work, assessing it with a critical eye."
"Begin by checking that you have provided necessary details-exactly when and where the research took place, the instruments you used (such as questionnaires or questions for interviews), how you went about analyzing the results, and whether you have permission to conduct the research. Make sure that you have also clarified your own part in the research and taken into account how your own beliefs or assumptions might have unconsciously influenced the findings."
"Double-check the data you gathered to make sure your calculations are accurate and the conclusions you draw are fully supported by the data. Finally, if you have quoted the words of any participants, check to see that these are absolutely accurate. REFLECT! Choose two websites on a topic you're exploring or want to explore. Then use the various methods provided in this chapter-fact-checking, lateral reading, and triangulating-to assess the reliability of each site. Which method works best, and why?"
"Finally, write a paragraph describing the steps you took to assess the sites and what you learned by doing so. Glossary STANCE, 17-19, 26-27 A writer's attitude toward the subject-for example, reasonable, neutral, angry, curious. Stance is conveyed through TONE and word choice. CLAIM, 84-85, 103-5 A statement of a belief or POSITION . In an ARGUMENT , a claim needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied, and requires support by REASONS and EVIDENCE . REASONS, 105-8 Support for a CLAIM or a POSITION ."
"A reason, in turn, requires its own support. EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS . Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling. Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making)."
"COUNTERARGUMENT, 16, 90-91, 265 In ARGUMENT , an alternative POSITION or objection to the writer's position. The writer of an argument should not only acknowledge counterarguments but also, if at all possible, accept, accommodate, or refute each counterargument. PERSPECTIVES, 90-91, 29-41 Viewpoints, an important part of a writer's STANCE . As a writer and a researcher, you should always strive to seek, think about, and work to understand multiple perspectives."
"DOCUMENTATION, 309-44, 360-86 Publication information about the sources cited in a text. IN-TEXT DOCUMENTATION usually appears in parentheses at the point where it's cited or in an endnote or a footnote. Complete documentation usually appears as a list of WORKS CITED or REFERENCES at the end of the text. Documentation styles vary by discipline."
"See also APA STYLE ; MLA STYLE PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION . CITATION, 283-94 In a text, the act of giving information from a source, for example, by QUOTING , PARAPHRASING , or SUMMARIZING ."
"A citation and its corresponding parenthetical DOCUMENTATION , footnote, or endnote provide minimal information about the source; complete information appears in a list of WORKS CITED or REFERENCES at the end of the text. FIELD RESEARCH, 259-62 The collection of first-hand data through observation, interviews, conversation, and surveys. PART 4 RESEARCH / FIND OUT Chapter 16 Building an Annotated Bibliography AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY CAN SOMETIMES BE A RESEARCHER'S BEST FRIEND."
"-SHIRLEY BRICE HEATH As a researcher, you may have several reasons for compiling an annotated bibliography. Doing so can help you narrow and focus your topic, or help move you toward a thesis or major claim. Or it can help you to decide which sources will be the most useful for your particular projecton, or to compare several sources on the same topic. In addition, annotating a source will surely help you read it carefully and critically and thus understand it more fully."
"And the more sources you annotate, the more you will be able to understand the larger conversation surrounding your topic, the range of perspectives on it, and the way the sources relate to your own research. Finally, compiling an annotated bibliography will help separate the sources you have found into those that are credible, timely, and useful-and those that are not. In one of my classes, students decided they would annotate some sources and detonate others!"
"In any case, an annotated bibliography demonstrates that you've done your homework, that you are familiar with what others have had to say about your topic, and that the sources you've identified are trustworthy and credible. Unlike the student in the cartoon on this page, you will not be relying on anonymous sources! There are two ways to annotate a bibliography: by describing sources and by evaluating them."
"Descriptive annotations primarily summarize the contents of a source and explain how you expect it to contribute to your research. Evaluative annotations do that as well, but also they explain what you see as the source's strengths and weaknesses. This chapter provides guidelines and examples for doing each one."
"A GUIDE TO ANNOTATING A BIBLIOGRAPHY Annotations vary in length, usually between 150 and 300 words in one or two paragraphs: remember that you're trying to capture the essence of the source as succinctly as possible. You will be expected to DESCRIBE each source and explain what it will contribute to your research-and you may be assigned to EVALUATE sources as well."
"The following tips will help you get started: Begin your annotation with complete documentation for the source, following the style assigned by your instructor or most often used in your field- MLA , APA , or some other style. This information will help you or your readers locate the source easily, and it can also be cut and pasted into your final list of WORKS CITED , REFERENCES , or other bibliography. Identify any authors , along with their credentials."
"If they have a particular STANCE , note that as well. Briefly SUMMARIZE or DESCRIBE the source's main points and any details that are relevant to your research, making sure to do so accurately and fairly. Note how the source contributes to your research and informs your thinking on the topic-and how you expect to use it in what you write. If you're writing an evaluative bibliography , consider things that matter to your project: How AUTHORITATIVE is the source?"
"Does it consider multiple perspectives, or a particular view you need to learn about? Does it include a bibliography or CITE any sources you didn't already know about? Be sure to note both its strengths and any limitations. Alphabetize entries in your bibliography by the lead author's name; if there is no author, use the first word of the title (excluding a , an , or the ). And all the annotations in a bibliography should be presented consistently: if one is written in complete sentences, they should all be."
"Glossary DESCRIPTION, 86 A STRATEGY that tells how something looks, sounds, smells, feels, or tastes. Effective description creates a clear DOMINANT IMPRESSION built from specific details. Description can be objective, subjective , or both. Description can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or whole text. EVALUATION A GENRE of writing that makes a judgment about something-a source, poem, film, restaurant, whatever-based on certain CRITERIA ."
"Key Features: a description of the subject - clearly defined criteria - knowledgeable discussion of the subject - a balanced and fair assessment MLA STYLE, 305-56 A system of DOCUMENTATION established by the Modern Language Association and used in the humanities. APA STYLE, 357-403 A system of DOCUMENTATION used in the social sciences. APA stands for the American Psychological Association."
"WORKS CITED, 315-44 The list of full bibliographic information for all the sources cited in the text, which appears at the end of a researched text prepared in MLA STYLE . REFERENCES, 365-86 The list of sources at the end of a text prepared in APA STYLE . STANCE, 17-19, 26-27 A writer's attitude toward the subject-for example, reasonable, neutral, angry, curious. Stance is conveyed through TONE and word choice."
"SUMMARIZE To use your own words and sentence structure to condense someone else's text into a version that gives the main ideas of the original. In academic writing, summarizing requires DOCUMENTATION . See PATCHWRITING DESCRIPTION, 86 A STRATEGY that tells how something looks, sounds, smells, feels, or tastes. Effective description creates a clear DOMINANT IMPRESSION built from specific details. Description can be objective, subjective , or both."
"Description can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or whole text. AUTHORITY, 57, 112-13, 142-43 A person or text that is cited as support for an ARGUMENT . A structural engineer may be quoted as an authority on bridge construction, for example. Authority also refers to a quality conveyed by writers who are knowledgeable about their subjects. CITATION, 283-94 In a text, the act of giving information from a source, for example, by QUOTING , PARAPHRASING , or SUMMARIZING ."
"A citation and its corresponding parenthetical DOCUMENTATION , footnote, or endnote provide minimal information about the source; complete information appears in a list of WORKS CITED or REFERENCES at the end of the text. TWO KINDS OF ANNOTATIONS Olivia Steely is a student at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, where she is majoring in English with a minor in Spanish."
"The following examples are from an annotated bibliography she compiled while researching the empathetic rhetoric of Dorothy Roudebush, an educator and activist for women's rights. The first is a descriptive entry she wrote for her class, and the second is an evaluative one she wrote for this book. A descriptive annotation Leake, Eric. Writing Pedagogies of Empathy: As Rhetoric and Disposition. Composition Forum , vol. 34, Jan. 2016, https://compositionforum.com/issue/34/empathy.php."
"This article by a rhetoric professor at Texas State University answers the calls for the teaching of empathy and discusses ways that it can be taught in writing classes. Leake discusses two theories of empathy and how they can be taught-as rhetoric, and as a disposition. Rhetorical empathy, he says, focuses on the enticements and the limitations of empathy as a means of persuasion, while dispositional empathy teaches habits of mind aimed at helping students better understand and engage with others."
"Leake also reviews multiple definitions of empathy and perspectives on it, which provides much more context and adds to my own understanding of what empathy can and cannot do. An evaluative annotation Leake, Eric. Writing Pedagogies of Empathy: As Rhetoric and Disposition. Composition Forum , vol. 34, Jan. 2016, https://compositionforum.com/issue/34/empathy.php. This article by a professor of rhetoric addresses the calls for teaching empathy and discusses ways that it can be taught in writing classes."
"Leake discusses two theories of empathy and how they can be taught-as rhetoric, and as a disposition. Rhetorical empathy, he says, focuses on what he calls the enticements and limitations of empathy as a means of persuasion, whereas dispositional empathy teaches habits of mind aimed at helping students better understand and engage with others."
"Even though the many detailed suggestions he offers for incorporating empathy in a writing class do not pertain to my project, the multiple perspectives and definitions he provides will broaden both my understanding of empathy and the way I think about it. In addition, he's made me aware of what Carl Rogers, Krista Ratcliffe, John Duffy, and other scholrs have said about empathy-and whose work I will now pursue. REFLECT!"
"If you are lucky enough to find an annotated bibliography someone else has done on a topic you're researching, it can potentially save you time and lead you to important sources you might have missed. See if you can find an annotated bibliography on a topic you're researching. If you do, does it include any sources you haven't found yourself? And if it's an evaluative one, is it helpful to you, and in what ways?"
"If you cannot find an annotated bibliography on your topic, there are quite a few on the web about empathy. Take a look at one, and see how it compares with the examples in this chapter. PART 4 RESEARCH / FIND OUT Chapter 17 Synthesizing Ideas WE ARE DROWNING IN INFORMATION . . . . THE WORLD HENCEFORTH WILL BE RUN BY SYNTHESIZERS, PEOPLE ABLE TO PUT TOGETHER THE RIGHT INFORMATION AT THE RIGHT TIME, THINK CRITICALLY ABOUT IT, AND MAKE IMPORTANT CHOICES WISELY. -E. O. WILSON Should a college education be free?"
"That's your research question. You get started, and your research turns up many different answers: Yes, college should be a universal right, just like K-12. College needs to be affordable, but not free. Making college free would be a needless windfall for affluent students; financial aid should be given only to students who really need it. It would never actually be free; the cost would be borne by taxpayers."
"These are answers that reflect many different positions and present various kinds of evidence and data, giving you a lot to think about. As a researcher, you'll need to synthesize what your sources say, looking for connections, patterns, ideas, examples, controversies, and more-all things that will help you figure out what you think about your topic and then to support what you say about it."
"This chapter will help you think about the ideas you find in your sources and then weave some of them in with your own. Identifying patterns and themes As a researcher, you will often need to contend with ideas and information from varying points of view-and think about how they connect to one another (or not) and inform, support, or challenge what you want to say. That means reading carefully and purposefully, and with a critical eye but an open mind ."
"It also means taking notes as you read, noting any similarities or differences, recurring patterns, ideas, citations, or other things. Here are some tips to help you synthesize information as you read this way:  What do your sources have in common? Are there any recurring facts or examples? ideas? issues or controversies? Is there any data that's cited in more than one source?  Are there any disagreements among your sources? Do they take different POSITIONS ? Use different methods?"
Serve different audiences or purposes? Present different kinds of EVIDENCE ? Rely on different sources?  Do any of your sources cite or refer to one another? Do they respond to one another in any way? Do any of your sources contain the same links? Are there any sources cited that you haven't seen-and that you should check out?  Have you encountered any surprising ideas or EVIDENCE -things that you now need to investigate?  What GENRES are your sources? Magazine articles? Newspaper op-eds?
"Scholarly arguments? Blog posts? Books? Speeches? If they're all from the same one or two genres, consider checking out other genres as well. Moving from what your sources say to what you say The work you do identifying common patterns, themes, and differences among your sources is the first step in synthesizing the information you've found."
"You may note, for example, that almost all your sources call for one particular solution to a problem-or that each source identifies a different solution to that problem. Synthesizing this information, you could say that there is general agreement (or very little agreement) on how to solve the problem. And of course you'll likely have sources that present sharply different positions."
"Making sense of it all is a challenge, but it will make you aware of what many others have said about your topic-and get you thinking more about your own position. The mind's synthesizing powers at work! In short, the work of synthesizing multiple ideas and perspectives will help you think about (or rethink) your own POSITION ."
"Now is the time to go back to your working THESIS : in light of all you've learned from your sources, do you need to revise it-to focus on one aspect of the topic, or to QUALIFY it in some way? Here are some questions that can help you think about how your sources have affected your thinking about your topic:   How exactly do your sources relate to your topic or THESIS ? Are there any ideas or positions in your sources that you want to respond to?"
"Do any sources present data or examples that you want to cite or challenge? Have your sources changed your views-and if so, how? Have any sources brought up questions you hadn't considered and now want to explore? If so, yay! Good solid research is supposed to open our minds to new possibilities and lead us to see things more clearly and comprehensively. These insights can even lead you to see your topic in a new light and to have new ideas about what you want to say about it."
"If, as Zora Neale Hurston says, research is poking and prying with a purpose, such poking and prying will inevitably lead to new discoveries, to new ideas, and to new understandings. Most important, synthesizing your sources systematically will help you to discover and clarify your own ideas and to come up with your own conclusions-and then to make your own contribution to the conversation. REFLECT!"
"Choose one or two sources you are working with to see if they themselves have woven in any information taken from other sources. If so, look them up to see how accurately and effectively your source has used them. Writing that synthesizes information You will see signs of synthesis at work in much of what you read."
"Here, for example, is the opening of an article that synthesizes information drawn from multiple sources on the effects that vacations can have on the health of those who take them-and of the planet: Beyond souvenirs and suntans, the best reason to take a break may be your own health. For the Helsinki Businessman Study, a 40-year-old cardiovascular-health study . . . researchers treated men at risk of heart disease."
"From 1974 to 2004, those men who took at least three weeks of vacation were 37 percent less likely to die than those who took fewer weeks off (Strandberg et al.). Even if we don't view time off as a matter of life and death, people who take more of their allotted vacation time tend to find their work more meaningful (West et al.). Vacation can yield other benefits, too."
"People who took all or most of their paid vacation time to travel were more likely than others to report a recent raise or bonus (U.S. Travel Association). -BEN HEALY, Hell Is Other People's Vacations So far, so good."
"But Healy goes on to synthesize information from other sources that share another common pattern-concern for how vacation travel is affecting our planet: Tourism's carbon footprint grew four times as much as expected from 2009 to 2013, and accounted for 8 percent of all greenhouse-gas emissions in that period (Lenzen). What's more, the travel industry is expected to consume 92 percent more water in 2050 than it did in 2010, and 189 percent more land."
"In other news, people are less likely to recycle while on vacation (Oliver). The patterns and themes Healy traces from his sources and synthesizes into these paragraphs lead him to draw an ironic conclusion of his own: So for your own health and sanity, book that vacation. But for everyone else's, please travel as sustainably as you can, and take it easy with Instagram . And notice that he includes IN-TEXT DOCUMENTATION for the sources he cites. You need to do that as well. Here's one more example."
"Researcher Peggy Orenstein spent two years talking to more than 100 young men between the ages of 16 and 21 about what they think it means to be a man and about how they view masculinity. In the following paragraph, she synthesizes information drawn from these interviews and from a recent survey. [W]hen asked to describe the attributes of the ideal guy, these boys appeared to be harking back to 1955. Dominance. Aggression. Rugged good looks (with an emphasis on height). Sexual prowess. Stoicism."
"Athleticism. Wealth (at least some day). It's not that these qualities, properly channeled, are bad. But while a 2018 national survey of more than 1,000 10- to 19-year-olds conducted by the polling firm PerryUndem found that young women believe there were many ways to be a girl . . . young men described just one narrow route to successful masculinity."
"One-third said they felt compelled to suppress their feelings, to suck it up or be a man when they were sad or scared, and more than 40 percent said that when they were angry, society expected them to be combative."
"-PEGGY ORENSTEIN, The Miseducation of the American Boy What Orenstein has done is to study the responses of these 100 young men, looking for patterns and themes and trends-and then reporting the results of that synthesis, in this case the characteristics these young men claim make up the ideal man. Note that she does not cite the interview sources because they are her own research."
"In addition, she does not cite the source of the 2018 national survey because she is publishing this article in a magazine- The Atlantic -that doesn't include formal documentation. In the writing you do in your academic classes, you would cite both of these sources-your own research as well as the national survey. REFLECT! Why not take Peggy Orenstein 's question (What do you think are the attributes of the ideal guy'?) and interview several males you know-classmates, friends, family members."
"With their permission, record their responses and then look for patterns, similarities, differences, themes, and so on-and synthesize these findings into one brief paragraph. Glossary POSITION, 43-44 A statement that asserts a belief or a CLAIM . In an ARGUMENT , a position needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied and to be supported with REASONS and EVIDENCE . POSITION, 43-44 A statement that asserts a belief or a CLAIM ."
"In an ARGUMENT , a position needs to be stated in a THESIS or clearly implied and to be supported with REASONS and EVIDENCE . EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS . Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling."
"Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making). EVIDENCE, 85-90 In ARGUMENT , the data you present to support your REASONS . Such data may include statistics, calculations, examples, ANECDOTES , QUOTATIONS , case studies, or anything else that will convince your readers that your reasons are compelling."
"Evidence should be sufficient (enough to show that the reasons have merit) and relevant (appropriate to the argument you're making). GENRE, 27, 82, 245 A way of classifying things. The genres this book is concerned with are kinds of writing that writers can use to accomplish a certain goal and to reach a particular AUDIENCE ."
"As such, they have well-established features that help guide writers, but they are flexible and change over time, and can be adapted by writers to address their own RHETORICAL SITUATIONS . Genres covered in this book include ANALYSES , ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES , ARGUMENTS , NARRATIVES , REPORTS , SUMMARY/RESPONSE , and VISUAL ANALYSES . THESIS, 84-85 A statement that identifies the topic and main point of a piece of writing, giving readers an idea of what the text will cover."
"QUALIFY, 84, 104-5 To limit a CLAIM -saying, for example, that most people like cake rather than people like cake. Words like frequently, often, generally , or sometimes can help you qualify what you claim-and make it something you'll be able to support. THESIS, 84-85 A statement that identifies the topic and main point of a piece of writing, giving readers an idea of what the text will cover."
"IN-TEXT DOCUMENTATION Brief documentation in a text that tells readers what the writer has taken from a source and where in the source they found that information. PART 4 RESEARCH / FIND OUT Chapter 18 Quoting, Paraphrasing, Summarizing TO QUOTE? TO PARAPHRASE? OR SUMMARIZE? THAT IS THE QUESTION. -CAROLE CLARK PAPPER Good researchers are part detective, part explorer."
"Their sources provide clues and point to new leads; they identify new directions that delve deeper and deeper into knowledge about the topic of research. But researchers are also part conductor, gathering sources, bringing them together to make beautiful music-not in a symphony but in a compelling, eye-opening research project."
"As the conductor, you are in charge of your project-the one who discovers a new way of looking at your topic, who decides what conclusions can be drawn from the evidence you consider, who moves from a challenging research question to a thorough exploration of the question and its implications, and eventually to staking your claim, developing a thesis and supporting it."
"And just as an orchestra's conductor decides when to bring in the string section or turn to a flute solo, so you decide when to bring in your sources for greatest effect. The sources you bring in act like supporting players or voices, highlighting and accenting the points you are making but without drowning out or overpowering your own voice."
"In most instances, you will bring these supporting voices in with a quotation (the precise words of a source, enclosed in quotation marks), a paraphrase (ideas in a passage from a source, in your own words), or a summary (a brief statement of a source's major points). A way to establish your authority Bringing the ideas and voices of others into your writing shows that you understand the context surrounding your topic, that you know what others have said about it and the varying perspectives they bring."
"In other words, it helps build your credibility and trustworthiness to write on the topic: you know what you're talking about and are now a part of the conversation. And finally, judicious quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing allow you to be the conductor, to direct the action in your research essay to the desired end."
"Quote   If an idea is so important and powerfully stated that rewording it might weaken or distort it   When it's a passage you intend to analyze     To call attention to the author's expertise in order to help establish your own credibility   To make sure you are presenting a source fairly and accurately, especially if it's one you do not agree with Paraphrase  When the precise words aren't important, but there's a point or some details you want to include  If the language will be hard for your audience to understand Summarize  A lengthy passage when the point is important but the details are not QUOTING Quoting someone's exact words helps ensure that you're representing their ideas accurately."
"By quoting sources directly, you show that you're being careful and respectful, letting those you quote speak for themselves rather than interpreting what they say. Be sure to use the exact words of your source, and to enclose them in quotation marks. And make sure to frame the quotation by introducing it and then explaining how it relates to your point. Enclose short quotations in quotation marks within your text. If you're following MLA style, short quotations should be no longer than four typed lines."
"Michael Lewis, author of Moneyball and The Big Short , says in the Afterword to his 2002 book Next: The Future Just Happened that he began writing this book after the Internet had become a commercial joke. In raising his voice in opposition to that view, Lewis felt he was being ridiculously brave, though in retrospect neither he nor those whose views he was challenging seem to have gotten the Internet's significance right ( Next 237)."
"Today, eighteen years after Lewis's book came out, theorists and pundits are still trying to determine that significance. In this example, the short quotations are incorporated into the sentences of the text. Set off long quotations as BLOCK QUOTATIONS , indented from the left margin. No need to enclose them in quotation marks, but you do need to indent them five spaces (or one-half inch), either MLA or APA style. What counts as long varies: it's more than four lines for MLA or forty words for APA ."
"The following example is in APA style. Here is Berkeley professor Jabari Mahiri using a block quotation in a study of the language used by high school coaches and their players: As one technique for focusing on players' accomplishments and improvements, coaches gave extended turns of praise both to the team as a whole and to individual players, as when coach LeRoy Crowe pulled a player to the side after a game to say: You played a good game out there my man. You know that?"
"People weren't recognizing what you were doing, but the coaches saw what you were doing. You were playin' that point guard position. You were looking down low. You hit Kendall with a nice pass down there. You remember that pass he scooped up? You weren't hitting your free throws. But, I mean, we recognized that you stayed under control."
"(p. 34) -JABARI MAHIRI, Shooting for Excellence: African American and Youth Culture in New Century Schools In this passage, Mahiri uses a long quotation to let coach Crowe speak for himself, providing an example of the kind of coach-player interaction Mahiri is studying. Note too that the parenthetical documentation comes after the period at the end of the quotation. Quoting poetry You can quote up to three lines of poetry in your text, enclosed within quotation marks."
"Separate lines with slashes, leaving one space on either side of the slash. Appointed in 2019, Joy Harjo, a member of Mvskoke/Creek Nation, is the first Native American Poet Laureate of the United States. In Remember, a poem about what is most important to remember in one's life, she encourages readers to Remember you are all people and all people are you. / Remember you are this universe and this universe is you (9-10). Here Harjo suggests that our memories should encode our common humanity."
"If you're quoting four or more lines of poetry, set them off in a BLOCK QUOTATION , indented five spaces from the left margin. Set the lines as they appear in the original poem. Alas rhetoric can be used for harmful purposes: to humiliate and belittle, to confuse and distract, to distort and mislead."
"In W. B. Yeats's haunting words, written amidst the horrors of the great war in 1919: Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. (3-8) Today it may well seem that the worst among us are the ones whose passionate intensity is being heard."
"But giving in to that vision would mean giving up on rhetoric as ethical communication. And that we cannot do. Changing a quotation to fit into your text Put ELLIPSES in places where you omit words from a quotation because they're unnecessary for your point. Use three dots with a space before each one and after the last dot. If, however, you omit an entire sentence or more, add a period before the ellipses."
"In 1879, the Scottish philosopher Alexander Bain wrote one of the few nineteenth-century grammars to approve of singular they . . . declaring, When both genders are implied, it is allowable to use the plural. . . . Grammarians frequently call this construction an error, not reflecting that it is equally an error to apply his to feminine subjects."
"The best writers furnish examples of the use of the plural as a mode of getting out of the difficulty. Put brackets around any words that you insert in a quotation to make it fit grammatically into your text, or that you add to clarify something that might otherwise be unclear."
"In 1885, the linguist Fred Newton Scott observed that pretty much everyone used the singular they , both people who care about good grammar, and those who don't, noting, The word they is being used as a [common gender] pronoun every day by millions of persons who are not particular about their language, and every other day by several thousands who are particular. (qtd. in Baron 167). -DENNIS BARON, What's Your Pronoun?"
"Punctuating quotations When a quotation is followed by other punctuation, that punctuation goes inside the final quotation mark in some cases and outside in others. Following are some guidelines on where it goes: Commas and periods go inside the closing quotation marks, except when there's in-text documentation-in that case, the documentation goes after the closing quotation mark, and the end punctuation that's part of your sentence goes after the parentheses."
"Chelsea's mother-in-law is disappointed that she is still working. A mother's place is in the home, she says to Chelsea. Your kids will be ruined. -JOEY FRANKLIN, Working at Wendy's Nothing in my education had provided me with strategies for resisting certain versions of whiteness that may privilege me but oppress others. I state this lack and unearned privilege . . . simply because I want to make them visible."
"For only by visualizing this privilege and incorporating it into discourse can people of good faith combat discrimination in ways that prevent their doing more harm than good (Wildman and Davis 660, 661). -KRISTA RATCLIFFE, Rhetorical Listening: Identification, Gender, Whiteness Exclamation points and question marks go inside closing quotation marks if they are part of the quoted text."
"But they go outside the closing quotation marks if they are a part of the sentence you're writing, not a part of the quotation. And if there's any parenthetical documentation, it goes after the closing quotation mark-and the end punctuation that's part of your sentence goes after the parentheses."
"Noting that most people are more likely to cheat on their taxes if they believe others are not paying a fair share of what they earn, Rene Chun asks So why are Americans still paying? One answer-that taxpayers now have to list a Social Security number for every dependent-has meant that the number of dependents nationwide shrank by millions. It's worth noting, however, that some of the disappeared had names like Fluffy! Colons and semicolons always go outside the closing quotation marks."
"Despite deep IRS budget cuts, Chun says, most Americans still pay their income taxes every year; indeed, he goes on to say that most of us feel obliged to pay (Why Americans, par. 7.). Parenthetical documentation goes after the quotation mark-and put any end punctuation that's part of your sentence after the parentheses."
"The restaurant became the place where Rosie studied human behavior, puzzling over the problems of her regular customers and refining her ability to deal with people in a difficult world. She took pride in being among the public, she'd say. There isn't a day that goes by in the restaurant that you don't learn something (451). -MIKE ROSE, Blue-Collar Brilliance. See p. 345 (MLA) and p. 388 (APA) on punctuating parenthetical documentation with long quotations."
"Explaining how a quotation relates to your point When you insert a quotation into a text you're writing, you need to explain what it means and how it relates to what you are saying. If you were writing an essay about how race affects college admissions, for instance, here's something you might quote-and how you'd explain it. Educators are now beginning to understand the degree to which schools operate on the basis of contradictory principles."
"Professor Carmen Kynard has pointed out that American colleges and universities have often practiced exclusionary policies while claiming to do the opposite, a move Kynard's grandmother referred to as runnin with the rabbits but huntin with the dogs (19). Such contradictions, in other words, are anything but accidental. Glossary MLA STYLE, 305-56 A system of DOCUMENTATION established by the Modern Language Association and used in the humanities."
"APA STYLE, 357-403 A system of DOCUMENTATION used in the social sciences. APA stands for the American Psychological Association. BLOCK QUOTATION, 286, 287 In a written work, long QUOTATIONS are indented and set without quotation marks: in MLA STYLE , set off text of more than four typed lines, indented five spaces (or one-half inch) from the left margin; in APA STYLE , set off quotes of forty or more words, indented five spaces (or one-half inch) from the left margin."
"See also QUOTE BLOCK QUOTATION, 286, 287 In a written work, long QUOTATIONS are indented and set without quotation marks: in MLA STYLE , set off text of more than four typed lines, indented five spaces (or one-half inch) from the left margin; in APA STYLE , set off quotes of forty or more words, indented five spaces (or one-half inch) from the left margin. See also QUOTE MLA STYLE, 305-56 A system of DOCUMENTATION established by the Modern Language Association and used in the humanities."
"APA STYLE, 357-403 A system of DOCUMENTATION used in the social sciences. APA stands for the American Psychological Association. ELLIPSES, 288 Three spaced dots ( . . . ) that indicate an omission or a pause. PARAPHRASING When you paraphrase, you restate information from a source in your own words and your own sentence structures. Paraphrase when there are ideas you want to convey but the original wording is not important."
"Be careful not to use the same words or structures, which could be seen as plagiarism-and make sure that you represent the original text accurately. A good paraphrase demonstrates that you have read the source carefully-and that you understand what it means! And even though you're using your own words, be sure to acknowledge where the ideas came from by naming the author and including parenthetical documentation."
"Here's a paragraph from an article in The Atlantic , followed by two possible paraphrases: For 23 years starting in 1885, Belgium's King Leopold II was the proprietor, as he called himself, of the misnamed Congo Free State, the territory that today is the Democratic Republic of Congo. Exasperated by the declining power of European monarchs, Leopold wanted a place where he could reign supreme, unencumbered by voters or a parliament, and in the Congo he got it."
"He made a fortune from his privately owned colony-well over $1.1 billion in today's dollars-chiefly by enslaving much of its male population as laborers to tap wild rubber vines. The king's soldiers would march into village after village and hold the women hostage, in order to force the men to go deep into the rain forest for weeks at a time to gather wild rubber. Hunting, fishing, and the cultivation of crops were all disrupted, and the army seized much of what food was left."
"The birth rate plummeted and, weakened by hunger, people succumbed to diseases they might otherwise have survived. Demographers estimate that the Congo's population may have been slashed by as much as half, or some 10 million people. -ADAM HOCHSCHILD, When Museums Have Ugly Pasts UNACCEPTABLE PARAPHRASE In 1895, Belgium's King Leopold II was the owner of what he called the Congo Free State, the country that's now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo."
"Granting himself total power, he made a fortune by enslaving most of the male population, destroying the traditional way of life, decimating the birth rate, and leading to the death of some 10 million people."
"This paraphrase fails to acknowledge the author or document the source and borrows too much from the original syntax and wording, using some of it word for word and other parts barely changed: In 1895, Belgium's King Leopold II, by enslaving most of the male population. It also misrepresents the original, saying that 10 million people died; the original says that the population may have declined by that number, but some of that decline would have been likely because the birth rate plummeted. ACCEPTABLE PARAPHRASE According to historian Adam Hochschild, Belgium's King Leopold II was once the self-proclaimed owner of the Congo Free State (now the Democratic Republic of Congo)."
"From 1885 to 1908, he exercised total control over the Congolese people, amassing a personal fortune mostly by forcing most of the male population into the rain forest to harvest wild rubber. This policy disrupted the traditional means of food production, which led to hunger, disease, and a declining birthrate. All told, that resulted in a steep decline in the Congo's population-by 10 million people, according to some estimates (When Museums)."
"This paraphrase captures the main points of the passage without relying on the original wording or sentence structures-and it identifies the author and provides parenthetical documentation to the source. SUMMARIZING A summary captures a source's main ideas concisely, and in your own words. Unlike a paraphrase, it leaves out the details. Your goal is to provide just enough information to sum up the point you are summarizing."
"When you're summarizing a source to cite in your own writing, you'll want to make it as brief as possible-maybe only a sentence or two. As with a quotation or paraphrase, you'll need to credit the author and provide parenthetical documentation."
"Here's a summary of the Adam Hochschild paragraph from page 291 : From 1885 to 1908, Belgium's King Leopold II claimed ownership and total control of today's Democratic Republic of Congo, disrupting the people's traditional way of life and giving rise to hunger, disease, and the death of millions of people (Hochschild). REFLECT! Look at the passage on page 286 in which Jabari Mahiri quotes Coach LeRoy Crowe. Try your hand at summarizing and paraphrasing what Coach Crowe said."
"Then compare these with the direct quotation, and write a paragraph about why you think Mahiri chose to quote rather than summarize or paraphrase. INCORPORATING SOURCE MATERIALS Whether you quote, paraphrase, or summarize a source, you need to introduce it with a signal phrase and explain how the information you're citing contributes to your own ideas."
"Use SIGNAL PHRASES to introduce source materials, identifying the author and saying something about their credentials if need be: New Mexico writer and teacher Andrew Schmookler said he cringes when grammar rules are broken. Yet he also proposed het , hes , hem as a new gender-neutral pronoun, arguing , Language is ours to make. (This is not France!) . . . Power to the people (241)."
"Note the two signal verbs in this example: said to simply report what he said, but arguing to note something he was advocating. While you can always use a neutral verb like say or think , it's better to choose a verb that reflects the speaker's STANCE . For example: Erma Bombeck urges us to Seize the moment, reminding us to Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart ( Forever Emma 56)."
"We could have written that Bombeck says to seize the moment, but we think that urges is more dynamic, fun-and accurate. And while signal phrases often come first in a sentence, putting them in the middle or at the end of a sentence works as well-and is a way of adding variety to our writing. How about those Chiefs! Andy Reid shouted from the podium after the Kansas City Chiefs won the 2020 Superbowl. Pat Mahomes and all of his boys, our defense taking care of business."
"The coaches, man, a great job of keeping things right at the right time. It was a beautiful thing. Knowing what you don't know is more useful than being brilliant, advised Berkshire Hathaway vice chair Charlie Munger (101)."
SOME USEFUL SIGNAL VERBS a c k n o w l e d g e c o n c l u d e o b s e r v e a d d c o n t e n d p o i n t o u t a d v o c a t e d e c l a r e r e f u t e a g r e e d e m a n d r e p o r t a r g u e d i s a g r e e r e s p o n d a s s e r t d i s p u t e s a y b e l i i m p s u g g e v e l y e s t c l a i m i n s i s t t h i n k c o m m e n t n o t e u r g e Verb tenses .
MLA style requires the present tense ( Beyonc asserts ) or present perfect ( Jay-Z has said ) in signal phrases that introduce source material-but the past tense ( in 2013 Pharrell urged us to clap along ) when you give the date when the source was written. APA recommends the past tense ( asserted ) or the present perfect ( has or have asserted )-but the present tense ( asserts ) when you're citing the implications of an experiment or findings that are generally agreed on. REFLECT!
"Look over something you've written with an eye for how you've incorporated the words or ideas of others. Whether you've quoted, paraphrased, or summarized, think about why you chose that way-and then, try it a different way. Then look at your signal phrases: are there any more accurate or interesting verbs you might use? And where have you put the signal phrases? If they're all at the beginning of a sentence, try some in the middle or at the end."
"Glossary STANCE, 17-19, 26-27 A writer's attitude toward the subject-for example, reasonable, neutral, angry, curious. Stance is conveyed through TONE and word choice. MLA STYLE, 305-56 A system of DOCUMENTATION established by the Modern Language Association and used in the humanities. APA STYLE, 357-403 A system of DOCUMENTATION used in the social sciences. APA stands for the American Psychological Association."
"SIGNAL PHRASES, 293-94 Words used to attribute QUOTED, SUMMARIZED, or PARAPHRASED material to a source, as in according to X or Z claims . PART 4 RESEARCH / FIND OUT Chapter 19 Giving Credit, Using Sources Ethically THERE'S NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN. -ECCLESIASTES 1:9 IF I HAVE SEEN FURTHER, IT IS BY STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS."
"-SIR ISAAC NEWTON Today, when new and new and improved scream at us from every direction, it's worth wondering whether King Solomon got it wrong when he said there's nothing new under the sun. But if you stop and think about every new technology, every new idea, even every new story, you will soon find that they all build on earlier thinking, or earlier research. The iPhone was a new kind of phone, but it was by no means the first telephone."
"Frozen was a new film in 2013, but its story is based on The Snow Queen, a fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen that was first published in 1845. Just as Isaac Newton said, what's new is made possible only by standing on the shoulders of others. Think about how this applies to your own life: Can you even begin to trace all the ways you have been influenced by the words and ideas of others? Certainly you have already stood on the shoulders of a few giants."
"The same is true of just about anything you write, especially when you write something that is based on research. And that's just one reason that you need to give credit to anyone whose words or ideas have informed your own. This chapter will help you know which sources you need to acknowledge-and how to use them ethically and without accidentally plagiarizing. Who owns words and ideas, anyway? In some cultures, words and ideas are shared, not owned by individuals."
"In others, using another person's words or ideas is viewed as a compliment, a testimony to that person's wisdom that does not need to be acknowledged explicitly. Well into the Renaissance, in fact, you could own a pig or a cow or a bed-but you couldn't own words: Shakespeare borrowed right and left from prior sources without attribution and without restraint-indeed, that was part of his genius."
"These laws increasingly gave rights of ownership of both words and ideas, as long as they were expressed in some medium, such as in writing or speech-and these laws form the basis for the documentation systems developed by groups such as the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Psychological Association (APA) and used in schools and universities today. So what do intellectual property and copyright laws have to do with you?"
"It turns out that the answer is a lot-and not everyone is happy about this fact of academic life. Law professor Lawrence Lessig argues that such laws act as a deterrent to innovation by making it harder and harder for students and others today to use some words and images, especially those found on the internet."
"In particular, Lessig points to what he calls the remix culture (in which existing works are changed or combined to produce something new) as a source of great creativity that is being choked by traditional copyright laws."
"Lessig was, in fact, instrumental in expanding the notion of fair use and in creating an alternative system of attribution known as Creative Commons (CC), which offers copyright licenses anyone can use to mark their work with the freedoms they want it to carry. In 2019, this non-profit organization-whose motto is When we share, everyone wins-launched CC Search , a tool that lets you search for openly licensed and public domain works that anyone can use. Many but not all are available free of charge."
"Check out the Creative Commons site at search.creativecommons.org/ . While Creative Commons and other open-source organizations are expanding the notion of fair use and providing alternative systems of attribution, and while the conventions surrounding documentation of sources will surely continue to evolve, at this moment it's still important to cite all sources you do not create yourself. And that means paying attention!"
"Uploading and downloading files, patching things together from various sites, cutting and pasting, jumping from one site to another and another: these everyday activities call for you to put on the brakes long enough to identify every source you intend to use and record its author or sponsor, along with where you got it. Why it's important to credit your sources While we don't routinely credit others in everyday conversation, it's important to do so in academic contexts."
"Giving credit to others when it's due says a lot about your values, about your fairness and trustworthiness-in other words, it demonstrates your academic integrity. Acknowledging where some of your ideas come from also shows that you've done your homework, that you know what others have said about your topic and that you understand and have considered their points of view. In short, it helps to establish your own CREDIBILITY to write on the topic."
"More than that, it shows you to be openhanded, crediting others for what you've gotten from them-and sharing the credit for what you yourself have written. In everyday conversation and speeches, we don't often credit those whose ideas have influenced our own. What sources do you need to document? You need to DOCUMENT most ideas, texts, images, and sounds that you CITE from other sources. But there are exceptions."
"Sources you do not need to document  Materials you've created or collected , such as photos you took or data you collected from a survey you conducted.  Common knowledge : well-known events (the twin towers collapsed on 9/11), facts (nearly 3,000 people died on 9/11), uncontroversial information (many Americans were glued to their TVs on 9/11)."
" Well-known quotations : Yes we can, Houston, we have a problem.  Information from public documents such as the Bill of Rights, the US Constitution, and other such texts. Sources you do need to document  Any materials you did not create yourself , including charts, tables, graphs, infographics, and images. And if you've created a chart or graph using data from another source, you need to acknowledge that source.  Direct quotations, paraphrases, and summaries ."
"The only exception is famous or widely known quotations, which do not need to be documented.  Controversial information . If you cite something that's debatable, document it so that readers can check out the source for themselves.  Anything you have a question about! If you're in doubt about whether or not to document a source, err on the side of caution and include formal documentation."
"Asking for permission Fair use laws allow college students who are using material from copyrighted sources to use passages and images without getting permission from the author-as long as you are writing for educational purposes and provide full documentation. But here's the catch: if your writing will be posted online, where it can be seen by everyone, you need to have explicit permission from the copyright owner."
"One student I know learned this lesson the hard way when an award-winning essay she wrote was posted on the award website. Within weeks, she heard from the author of a cartoon she'd included in her essay asking her to remove the essay from the web immediately and threatening legal action if she did not comply."
"Another student whose essay was posted to a class website was shocked and embarrassed when his teacher received an angry email from a professor at another college, saying the student had used too much of her work in his essay-and that he had not documented it fully enough. So if in doubt, it's best to play it very safe and to get permission (in writing) for any source material that you post online."
Here is an example that will help you request permission: From: smoller@bankstreet.edu To: lunsford@stanford.edu Subject: Request for permission Dear Professor Lunsford: I am writing to request permission to quote from your essay Teaching Writing in an Age of Misinformation and Lies. I am working on a presentation for my writing class on the proliferation of fake news and would like to use your definition to help clarify the subject.
"My presentation will be posted to our class website and accessible to all. If you are willing to grant permission, I will give full credit to you and will provide complete documentation for the journal article in which it appeared, along with the URL of the site where I first discovered your work. Thank you very much for considering this request, Susanna Moller Remember to credit any collaborators!"
"If you have collaborated with others on your research or writing, be sure to credit and thank them either in a footnote at the bottom of a page or in an endnote on a separate page. See page 315 for how to format such notes in MLA style and pages 364-65 for how to do so in APA style. Avoiding plagiarism Presenting someone else's words or ideas as if they were your own and without giving credit is dishonest and unethical-and is considered plagiarism. It's a masquerade, with serious consequences."
"Every year, students receive failing grades or are suspended from college for plagiarizing. Journalists, professors, and public figures have lost their positions or damaged their reputations when they've been caught using someone else's words without giving credit. Plagiarism is often intentional-witness the many online paper mills that guarantee an A for a certain price. But it is also easy to detect: even a quick Google search will often reveal the source! Often, however, it is unintentional."
"Especially if you are writing about an unfamiliar topic, it can be tricky to incorporate the words or ideas of others (your sources) fairly and to acknowledge them sufficiently. Instead, you may do some of what Professor Rebecca Moore Howard calls PATCHWRITING , using material from sources in ways that stick too closely to the original wording or structure. In fact, I've made this kind of mistake myself, when I was in junior high and writing about my hero at the time, Albert Schweitzer."
"With no internet to search and a very small school library, I had written to my state library asking for resources and was thrilled when a package of printed articles about Schweitzer arrived. I patched pieces of those articles into what I was writing, sometimes remembering to credit a source but often not. I felt very proud of my work."
"Lucky for me, I had a teacher who took the time to show me how to integrate the sources into my writing, how to use quotation marks, and how to paraphrase without copying the original author's wording or syntax. Better yet, she explained why it was important to credit my sources-and how to do so. Lesson learned! As this example suggests, patchwriting can be a useful stage for learning how to work with sources: it certainly helped me learn a lot about Albert Schweitzer and his work."
"And it was a stepping-stone on the path to becoming a confident researcher and to citing sources ethically. But some instructors will see patchwriting as plagiarism, even if it's documented. So it's something you'll want to avoid. Let's take a look at how it happens, and how you can weave the ideas of others into your own writing by using your own words and sentence structure. Imagine that you want to summarize the ideas from the following passage: In some professions, early decline is inescapable."
"No one expects an Olympic athlete to remain competitive until age 60. But in many physically nondemanding occupations, we implicitly reject the inevitability of decline before very old age. Sure, our quads and hamstrings may weaken a little as we age. But as long as we retain our marbles, our quality of work as a writer, lawyer, executive, or entrepreneur should remain high up to the very end, right? Many people think so."
"I recently met a man a bit older than I am who told me he planned to push it until the wheels come off. In effect, he planned to stay at the very top of his game by any means necessary, and then keel over. But the odds are he won't be able to. The data are shockingly clear that for most people, in most fields, decline starts earlier than almost anyone thinks."
"According to research by Dean Keith Simonton, a professor emeritus of psychology at UC Davis and one of the world's leading experts on the trajectories of creative careers, success and productivity increase for the first 20 years after the inception of a career, on average. So if you start a career in earnest at 30, expect to do your best work around 50 and go into decline soon after that."
"-ARTHUR C. BROOKS, Your Professional Decline Is Coming (Much) Sooner Than You Think: Here's How to Make the Most of It Suppose you wanted to make sure you remember the key information in this passage for a class discussion you are going to lead. You might be tempted to patch together a summary like this: PATCHWRITTEN SUMMARY Arthur C. Brooks explains that while many people believe they can stay at the top of their game well into their 60s and 70s and beyond, the odds are that these people are wrong."
"Brooks refers to research conducted by Dean Keith Simonton, an expert on tracking creative careers who says that success usually occurs in the first 20 years after the beginning of a career, so at age 50 people who started out at 30 are hitting the time when they will start to decline. This summary captures the gist of Brooks's argument, but it uses far too much of Brooks's own language (stay at the top of their game, the odds are, in the first 20 years)."
"It's fine for studying, but not for writing a summary you'd submit to an instructor as your own work. Now take a look at another summary, one that captures the main idea in the student's own words and includes a direct quotation: ACCEPTABLE SUMMARY While some cling to the notion that their work level will remain high up to the very end, Arthur C. Brooks presents research that contradicts those beliefs (70)."
"In fact, this research reveals that high-level work performance begins to decline after about 20 years into a career. This summary relies on the writer's own language and sentence structure and uses quotation marks to enclose language taken directly from the source. It restates the main idea of the passage clearly and simply-and leaves out any details that won't be necessary for the writer's purposes."
"For instance, it omits information about Brooks's sources, which won't be used in the essay the student is writing on attitudes toward aging in the workplace. Finally, he documents the page where he found the original passage. Avoiding plagiarism starts with taking meticulous notes and being very, very careful as you incorporate the words or ideas of others into your own writing."
"For sources you intend to use, take down all the information you'll need for a list of works cited or references, make sure that paraphrases or summaries do not use any wording or sentence structures from the original, and enclose any words you may want to include in quotation marks. And if you have concerns about how to incorporate sources into your text, get advice from your instructor or a consultant in your school's writing center."
"Joining the conversation ethically Remember: your words are the ones that count the most in what you say-they are your way of getting in on the conversation about subjects you care about, sharing what you have learned with others and listening hard to learn from them. You'll be citing sources for sure, but those sources should play second fiddle to you and the point you are making. Nevertheless, you want to give them all the credit they deserve."
"That's how you become part of the larger conversation-ethically! REFLECT! Look at something you've written that relies on outside sources. Read it carefully, paying attention to how well you've integrated words or ideas from sources into your writing: how you introduced and explained them, how you credited their authors, and how they support what you say. How successfully have you used your sources, and what might you do differently next time?"
"Glossary CREDIBILITY, 164-66, 297-98 The sense of trustworthiness that a writer conveys through the text. DOCUMENTATION, 309-44, 360-86 Publication information about the sources cited in a text. IN-TEXT DOCUMENTATION usually appears in parentheses at the point where it's cited or in an endnote or a footnote. Complete documentation usually appears as a list of WORKS CITED or REFERENCES at the end of the text. Documentation styles vary by discipline."
"See also APA STYLE ; MLA STYLE CITATION, 283-94 In a text, the act of giving information from a source, for example, by QUOTING , PARAPHRASING , or SUMMARIZING . A citation and its corresponding parenthetical DOCUMENTATION , footnote, or endnote provide minimal information about the source; complete information appears in a list of WORKS CITED or REFERENCES at the end of the text. MLA STYLE, 305-56 A system of DOCUMENTATION established by the Modern Language Association and used in the humanities."
"APA STYLE, 357-403 A system of DOCUMENTATION used in the social sciences. APA stands for the American Psychological Association. PATCHWRITING, 301-3 PARAPHRASES that lean too heavily on the words or sentence structure of the original, adding or deleting some words, replacing words with SYNONYMS , altering the syntax slightly-in other words, not restating the passage in fresh language and structure."
"PART 4 RESEARCH / FIND OUT Chapter 20 MLA Style DOCUMENTATION IS THE MEANS [OF RECORDING] SCHOLARLY CONVERSATIONS, AND THE SPECIFICS OF THOSE CONVERSATIONS MATTER. -KATHLEEN FITZPATRICK, MLA HANDBOOK What started out in 1951 as a 31-page style sheet for scholars submitting articles to the Modern Language Association's journal soon evolved into the MLA Handbook , now in its ninth edition."
"MLA style, recommended or required by some disciplines in the humanities, calls for brief IN-TEXT DOCUMENTATION and complete documentation in a list of WORKS CITED at the end of the text. Such documentation is important: it gives credit where credit is due, enables your readers to find sources you have used, and shows that you have done your homework. This chapter provides templates and examples to help you document the many different sources you're likely to cite."
"Glossary IN-TEXT DOCUMENTATION Brief documentation in a text that tells readers what the writer has taken from a source and where in the source they found that information. WORKS CITED, 315-44 The list of full bibliographic information for all the sources cited in the text, which appears at the end of a researched text prepared in MLA STYLE. A DIRECTORY TO MLA STYLE In-text documentation 309 1. Author named in a signal phrase 309 2. Author named in parentheses 310 3."
Two or more works by the same author 310 4. Authors with the same last name 310 5. Two or more authors 311 6. Organization or government as author 311 7. Author unknown 311 8. Literary works 311 9. Work in an anthology 312 10. Encyclopedia or dictionary 313 11. Legal documents 313 12. Sacred text 313 13. Multivolume work 313 14. Two or more works cited together 314 15. Source quoted in another source 314 16. Work without page numbers 314 17.
An entire work or a one-page article 315 Notes 315 List of works cited 316 CORE ELEMENTS 316 AUTHORS AND CONTRIBUTORS 322 1. One author 322 2. Two authors 322 3. Three or more authors 322 4. Two or more works by the same author 323 5. Author and editor or translator 323 6. No author or editor 323 7.
Organization or government as author 324 ARTICLES AND OTHER SHORT WORKS 324 Documentation Map: Article in a Print Journal 326 Documentation Map: Article in an Online Magazine 327 Documentation Map: Journal Article Accessed through a Database 329 8. Article in a journal 324 9. Article in a magazine 325 10. Article in a news publication 325 11. Article accessed through a database 328 12. Entry in a reference work 328 13. Editorial or op-ed 330 14. Letter to the editor 330 15. Review 331 16.
"Comment on an online article 331 BOOKS AND PARTS OF BOOKS 331 Documentation Map: Print Book 333 17. Basic entries for a book 332 18. Anthology or edited collection 332 19. Work in an anthology 332 20. Multivolume work 334 21. Book in a series 334 22. Graphic narrative or comic book 335 23. Sacred text 335 24. Edition other than the first 335 25. Foreword, introduction, preface, or afterword 335 26. Published letter 336 27. Dissertation 336 WEBSITES 336 Documentation Map: Work on a Website 338 28."
"Entire website 336 29. Work on a website 337 30. Blog entry 337 31. Wiki 337 PERSONAL COMMUNICATION AND SOCIAL MEDIA 339 32. Personal letter 339 33. Email or text message 339 34. Post to Twitter , Instagram , or other social media 339 AUDIO, VISUAL, AND other SOURCES 340 35. Advertisement 340 36. Art 340 37. Cartoon 341 38. Supreme Court case 341 39. Film 341 40. TV show episode 342 41. Online video 342 42. Presentation on Zoom or other virtual platform 343 43. Interview 343 44. Map 343 45."
"Oral presentation 344 46. Podcast 344 47. Sound recording 344 48. Video game 344 Formatting a research essay 345 Student essay, MLA style 347 Throughout this chapter, you'll find color-coded templates and examples to help you see how writers include source information in their texts and in their lists of works cited: orange for author, editor, translator, and other contributors; yellow for titles; blue for publication information-date of publication, page number(s), DOIs, and other location information."
"In-text documentation Whenever you quote, paraphrase, or summarize a source in your writing, you need to provide brief documentation that tells readers what you took from the source and where in the source you found that information. This brief documentation also refers readers to the full entry in your works-cited list, so begin with whatever comes first there: the author, the title, or a description of the source."
"You can mention the author or title either in a signal phrase-Toni Morrison writes, In Beowulf , According to the article Every Patient's Nightmare'-or in parentheses-(Morrison). If relevant, include pages or other details about where you found the information in the parenthetical reference: (Morrison 67)."
"Shorten any lengthy titles or descriptions in parentheses by including the first noun with any preceding adjectives and omitting any initial articles ( Norton Field Guide for The Norton Field Guide to Writing ). If the title doesn't start with a noun, use the first phrase or clause ( How to Be for How to Be an Antiracist ). Use the full title if it's short. The first two examples below show basic in-text documentation of a work by one author. Variations on those examples follow."
"The examples illustrate the MLA style of using quotation marks around titles of short works and italicizing titles of long works. 1. AUTHOR NAMED IN A SIGNAL PHRASE If you mention the author in a signal phrase, put only the page number(s) in parentheses. Do not write page or p . The first time you mention the author, use their first and last names. You can usually omit any middle initials. David McCullough describes John Adams's hands as those of someone used to manual labor (18). 2."
"AUTHOR NAMED IN PARENTHESES If you do not mention the author in a signal phrase, put the author's last name in parentheses along with any page number(s). Do not use punctuation between the name and the page number(s). Adams is said to have had the hands of a man accustomed to pruning his own trees, cutting his own hay, and splitting his own firewood (McCullough 18)."
"Whether you use a signal phrase and parentheses or parentheses only, try to put the parenthetical documentation at the end of the sentence or as close as possible to the material you've cited-without awkwardly interrupting the sentence. When a parenthetical reference comes at the end of the sentence, the period goes at the very end. 3. TWO OR MORE WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR If you cite multiple works by one author, include the title of the work you are citing either in the signal phrase or in parentheses."
"Robert Kaplan insists that understanding power in the Near East requires Western leaders who know when to intervene, and do so without illusions (Eastward to Tartary 330). Put a comma between author and title if both are in the parentheses. Understanding power in the Near East requires Western leaders who know when to intervene, and do so without illusions (Kaplan, Eastward to Tartary 330). 4."
"AUTHORS WITH THE SAME LAST NAME Give each author's first and last names in any signal phrase, or add the author's first initial in the parenthetical reference. Imaginative applies not only to modern literature but also to writing of all periods, whereas magical is often used in writing about Arthurian romances (A. Wilson 25). 5. TWO OR MORE AUTHORS For a work with two authors, name both. If you first mention them in a signal phrase, give their first and last names."
"Lori Carlson and Cynthia Ventura's stated goal is to introduce Julio Cortzar, Marjorie Agosn, and other Latin American writers to an audience of English-speaking adolescents (v). For a work by three or more authors that you mention in a signal phrase, you can either name them all or name the first author followed by and others or and colleagues . If you mention them in a parenthetical reference, name the first author followed by et al ."
"Phyllis Anderson and colleagues describe British literature thematically (A54-A67). One survey of British literature breaks the contents into thematic groupings (Anderson et al. A54-A67). 6. ORGANIZATION OR GOVERNMENT AS AUTHOR In a signal phrase, use the full name of the organization: American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In parentheses, use the shortest noun phrase, omitting any initial articles: American Academy. The US government can be direct when it wants to be."
"For example, it sternly warns, If you are overpaid, we will recover any payments not due you (Social Security Administration 12). 7. AUTHOR UNKNOWN If you don't know the author, use the work's title in a signal phrase or in a parenthetical reference. A powerful editorial in The New York Times asserts that healthy liver donor Mike Hurewitz died because of frightening faulty postoperative care (Every Patient's Nightmare). 8."
"LITERARY WORKS When referring to common literary works that are available in many different editions, give the page number from the edition you are using, followed by information that will let readers of any edition locate the text you are citing. NOVELS AND PROSE PLAYS. Give the page number followed by a semicolon and any chapter, section, or act numbers, separated by commas. In Pride and Prejudice , Mrs. Bennet shows no warmth toward Jane when she returns from Netherfield (Austen 105; ch. 12). VERSE PLAYS."
"Give act, scene, and line numbers, separated with periods. Shakespeare continues the vision theme when Macbeth says, Thou hast no speculation in those eyes / Which thou dost glare with ( Macbeth 3.3.96-97) . POEMS. Give part and line numbers, separated by periods. If a poem has only line numbers, use line or lines only in the first reference. Walt Whitman sets up opposing adjectives and nouns in Song of Myself when he says, I am of old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise, / . . ."
"a child as well as a man (16.330-32). One description of the mere in Beowulf is not a pleasant place (line 1372). Later, it is labeled the awful place (1378). 9. WORK IN AN ANTHOLOGY Name the author(s) of the work, not the editor of the anthology. It is the teapots that truly shock, according to Cynthia Ozick in her essay on teapots as metaphor (70)."
"In In Short: A Collection of Creative Nonfiction , readers will find both an essay on Scottish tea (Hiestand) and a piece on teapots as metaphors (Ozick). 10. ENCYCLOPEDIA OR DICTIONARY Acknowledge an entry in an encyclopedia or dictionary by giving the author's name, if available. For an entry without an author, give the entry's title."
"According to Funk &Wagnall's New World Encyclopedia , early in his career, most of Kubrick's income came from hustling chess games in Washington Square Park (Kubrick, Stanley). 11. LEGAL AND HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS For legal cases, give whatever comes first in the works-cited entry. If you are citing a government document in parentheses and multiple entries in your works-cited list start with the same government author, give as much of the name as you need to differentiate the sources."
"In 2015, for the first time, all states were required to license and recognize the marriages of same-sex couples (United States, Supreme Court). 12. SACRED TEXT When citing a sacred text such as the Bible or the Qur'an for the first time, give the title of the edition as well as the book, chapter, and verse (or their equivalent), separated by periods. MLA recommends abbreviating the names of the books of the Bible in parenthetical references."
"Later citations from the same edition do not have to repeat its title. The wording from The New English Bible follows: In the beginning of creation, when God made heaven and earth, the earth was without form and void . . . (Gen. 1.1-2). 13. MULTIVOLUME WORK If you cite more than one volume of a multivolume work, each time you cite one of the volumes, give the volume and the page number(s) in parentheses, separated by a colon and a space."
"Sandburg concludes with the following sentence about those paying last respects to Lincoln: All day long and through the night the unbroken line moved, the home town having its farewell (4: 413). If you cite an entire volume of a multivolume work in parentheses, give the author's last name followed by a comma and vol . before the volume number: (Sandburg, vol. 4). If your works-cited list includes only a single volume of a multivolume work, give just the page number in parentheses: (413). 14."
"TWO OR MORE WORKS CITED TOGETHER If you're citing two or more works closely together, you will sometimes need to provide a parenthetical reference for each one. Baron (182) and Dreyer (93) describe singular they from slightly different perspectives. If you are citing multiple sources for the same idea in parentheses, separate the references with a semicolon. Many critics have examined great works of literature from a cultural perspective (Tanner 7; Smith viii). 15."
"SOURCE QUOTED IN ANOTHER SOURCE When you are quoting text that you found quoted in another source, use the abbreviation qtd. in in the parenthetical reference. Charlotte Bront wrote to G. H. Lewes, Why do you like Miss Austen so very much? I am puzzled on that point (qtd. in Tanner 7). 16. WORK WITHOUT PAGE NUMBERS For works without page or part numbers, including many online sources, no number is needed in a parenthetical reference."
"Studies show that music training helps children to be better at multitasking later in life (Hearing the Music). If you mention the author in a signal phrase, or if you mention the title of a work with no author, no parenthetical reference is needed. Arthur Brooks argues that a switch to fully remote work would have a negative effect on mental and physical health. If the source has chapter, paragraph, or section numbers, use them with the abbreviations ch. , par. , or sec. : (Hearing the Music, par. 2)."
"Don't count lines or paragraphs on your own if they aren't numbered in the source. For an ebook, use chapter numbers. For an audio or video recording, give the hours, minutes, and seconds (separated by colons) as shown on the player: (00:05:21-31). 17. AN ENTIRE WORK OR A ONE-PAGE ARTICLE If you cite an entire work rather than a part of it, or if you cite a single-page article, there's no need to include page numbers. Throughout life, John Adams strove to succeed (McCullough)."
"Notes Sometimes you may need to give information that doesn't fit into the text itself-to thank people who helped you, to provide additional details, to refer readers to other sources, or to add comments about sources. Such information can be given in a footnote (at the bottom of the page) or an endnote (on a separate page with the heading Notes or Endnotes just before your works-cited list)."
"Put a superscript number at the appropriate point in your text, signaling to readers to look for the note with the corresponding number. If you have multiple notes, number them consecutively throughout your paper. TEXT This essay will argue that giving student athletes preferential treatment undermines educational goals. 1 NOTE 1 I want to thank those who contributed to my thinking on this topic, especially my teacher Vincent Yu."
List of Works Cited A works-cited list provides full bibliographic information for every source cited in your text. See page 347 for guidelines on formatting this list and page 356 for a sample works-cited list. Core Elements MLA style provides a list of core elements for documenting sources in a works-cited list. Not all sources will include each of these elements; include as much information as is available for any title you cite.
"For guidance about specific sources you need to document, see the templates and examples on pages 322-45 , but here are some general guidelines for how to treat each of the core elements."
"CORE ELEMENTS FOR ENTRIES IN A WORKS-CITED LIST  Author  Title of the source  Title of any container, a larger work in which the source is found-an anthology, a website, a journal or magazine, a database, a streaming service like Netflix , or a learning management system, among others  Editor, translator, director, or other contributors  Version  Number of volume and issue, episode and season  Publisher  Date of publication  Location of the source: page numbers, DOI , PERMALINK , URL, etc."
"The above order is the general order MLA recommends, but there will be exceptions. To document a translated essay that you found in an anthology, for instance, you'd identify the translator after the title of the essay rather than after that of the anthology. You may sometimes need additional elements as well, either at the end of an entry or somewhere in the middle-for instance, a label to indicate that your source is a map, or an original year of publication."
"Remember that your goal is to tell readers what sources you've consulted and where they can find them. Providing this information is one way you can engage with readers-and enable them to join in the conversation with you and your sources. AUTHORS AND CONTRIBUTORS  An author can be any kind of creator-a writer, a musician, an artist, and so on.  If there is one author, put the last name first, followed by a comma and the first name: Morrison, Toni."
" If there are two authors, list the first author last name first and the second one first name first: Lunsford, Andrea, and Lisa Ede. Put their names in the order given in the work. For three or more authors, give the first author's name followed by et al. : Greenblatt, Stephen, et al.  Include any middle names or initials: Toklas, Alice B.  If the author is a group or organization, use the full name, omitting any initial article: United Nations."
" If an author uses a handle that is significantly different from their name, include the handle in square brackets after the name: Ocasio-Cortez, Alexandria [@AOC].  If there's no known author, start the entry with the title.  If you're citing someone in addition to an author-an editor, translator, director, or other contributors-specify their role. If there are multiple contributors, put the one whose work you wish to highlight before the title, and list any others you want to mention after the title."
"If you don't want to highlight one particular contributor, start with the title and include any contributors after the title. For contributors named before the title, specify their role after the name: Fincher, David, director. For those named after the title, specify their role first: Directed by David Fincher."
"TITLES  Include any subtitles and capitalize all the words except for articles ( a , an , the ), prepositions ( to , at , from , and so on), and coordinating conjunctions ( and , but , for , or , nor , so , yet )-unless they are the first or last word of a title or subtitle.  Italicize the titles of books, periodicals, websites, and other long works: Pride and Prejudice , Wired ."
" Put quotation marks around the titles of articles and other short works: Letter from Birmingham Jail.  To document a source that has no title, describe it without italics or quotation marks: Letter to the author, Photograph of a tree. For a short, untitled email, text message, tweet, or poem, you may want to include the text itself instead: Dickinson, Emily. Immortal is an ample word. American Poems , www.americanpoems.com/poets/emilydickinson/immortal-is-an-ample-word."
"VERSIONS  If you cite a source that's available in more than one version, specify the one you consulted in your works-cited entry. Write ordinal numbers with numerals, and abbreviate edition : 2nd ed. Write out names of specific versions, and capitalize following a period or if the name is a proper noun: King James Version, unabridged version, director's cut. NUMBERS  If you cite a book that's published in multiple volumes, indicate the volume number."
"Abbreviate volume , and write the number as a numeral: vol. 2.  Indicate volume and issue numbers of journals (if any), abbreviating both volume and number : vol. 123, no. 4.  If you cite a TV show or podcast episode, indicate the season and episode numbers: season 1, episode 4. PUBLISHERS  Write publishers', studios', and networks' names in full, but omit initial articles and business words like Inc . or Company ."
" For academic presses, use U for University and P for Press : Princeton UP, U of California P. Spell out Press if the name doesn't include University : MIT Press.  If the publisher is a division of an organization, list the organization and any divisions from largest to smallest: Stanford U, Center for the Study of Language and Information, Metaphysics Research Lab. DATES  Whether to give just the year or to include the month and day depends on the source."
"In general, give the full date that you find there. If the date is unknown, simply omit it.  Abbreviate the months except for May, June, and July: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.  For books, give the publication date on the copyright page. If there's more than one date, use the most recent one.  Periodicals may be published annually, monthly, seasonally, weekly, or daily. Give the full date that you find there: 2019, Apr. 2019, 16 Apr. 2019."
"Do not capitalize the names of seasons: spring 2021.  For online sources, use the copyright date or the full publication date you find there, or a date of revision. If the source does not give a date, use the date of access: Accessed 6 June 2020. Give a date of access as well for online sources you think are likely to change, or for websites that have disappeared. LOCATION  For most print articles and other short works, give a page number or range of pages: p. 24, pp. 24-35."
"For articles that are not on consecutive pages, give the first page number with a plus sign: pp. 24+.  If it's necessary to specify a section of a source, give the section name before the page numbers: Sunday Review sec., p. 3.  Indicate the location of an online source by giving a DOI if one is available; if not, give a URL-and use a PERMALINK if one is available. URLs are not always reliable, so ask your instructor if you should include them."
"DOIs should start with https://doi.org/- but no need to include https:// for a URL, unless you want the URL to be a hyperlink.  For a geographical location, give enough information to identify it: a city (Houston), a city and state (Portland, Maine), or a city and country (Manaus, Brazil).  For something seen in a museum, archive, or elsewhere, name the institution and its location: Maine Jewish Museum, Portland, Maine."
" For performances or other live presentations, name the venue and its location: Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles. PUNCTUATION  Use a period after the author name(s) that start an entry (Morrison, Toni.) and the title of the source you're documenting ( Beloved . ).  Use a comma between the author's last and first names: Ede, Lisa.  Some URLs will not fit on one line. MLA does not specify where to break a URL, but we recommend breaking it before a punctuation mark. Do not add a hyphen or a space."
" Sometimes you'll need to provide information about more than one work for a single source-for instance, when you cite an article from a periodical that you access through a database. MLA refers to the periodical and database (or any other entity that holds a source) as containers and specifies certain punctuation. Use commas between elements within each container, and put a period at the end of each container. For example: Semuels, Alana. The Future Will Be Quiet. The Atlantic , Apr. 2016, pp. 19-20."
"ProQuest , search.proquest.com/docview/1777443553?accountid+42654. The guidelines that follow will help you document the kinds of sources you're likely to use. The first section shows how to acknowledge authors and other contributors and applies to all kinds of sources-print, online, or others. Later sections show how to treat titles, publication information, location, and access information for many specific kinds of sources."
"In general, provide as much information as possible for each source-enough to tell readers how to find a source if they wish to access it themselves. SOURCES NOT COVERED These guidelines will help you document a variety of sources, but if you're citing a source that isn't covered, consult the MLA style blog at style.mla.org , or ask them a question at style.mla.org/ask-a-question ."
"Authors and Contributors When you name authors and other contributors in your citations, you are crediting them for their work and letting readers know who's in on the conversation. The following guidelines for citing authors and contributors apply to all sources you cite: in print, online, or in some other media. 1. ONE AUTHOR Author's Last Name, First Name. Title. Publisher, Date. Anderson, Chris. The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More. Hyperion, 2006. 2."
"TWO AUTHORS 1st Author's Last Name, First Name, and 2nd Author's First and Last Names. Title. Publisher, Date. Lunsford, Andrea, and Lisa Ede. Singular Texts/Plural Authors: Perspectives on Collaborative Writing . Southern Illinois UP, 1990. 3. THREE OR MORE AUTHORS 1st Author's Last Name, First Name, et al. Title. Publisher, Date. Sebranek, Patrick, et al. Writers INC: A Guide to Writing, Thinking, and Learning. Write Source, 1990. 4."
"TWO OR MORE WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR Give the author's name in the first entry, and then use three hyphens in the author slot for each of the subsequent works, listing them alphabetically by the first word of each title and ignoring any initial articles. Author's Last Name, First Name. Title That Comes First Alphabetically. Publisher, Date. - - -. Title That Comes Next Alphabetically. Publisher, Date. Kaplan, Robert D. The Coming Anarchy: Shattering the Dreams of the Post Cold War. Random House, 2000. - - -."
"Eastward to Tartary: Travels in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Caucasus. Random House, 2000. 5. AUTHOR AND EDITOR OR TRANSLATOR Author's Last Name, First Name. Title. Role by First and Last Names, Publisher, Date. Austen, Jane. Emma. Edited by Stephen M. Parrish, W. W. Norton, 2000. Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, Vintage Books, 1993. Start with the editor or translator if you are focusing on that contribution rather than the author's."
"If there is a translator but no author, start with the title. Pevear, Richard, and Larissa Volokhonsky, translators. Crime and Punishment. By Fyodor Dostoevsky, Vintage Books, 1993. Beowulf . Translated by Stephen Mitchell, Yale UP, 2017. 6. NO AUTHOR OR EDITOR When there's no known author or editor, start with the title. The Turner Collection in the Clore Gallery. Tate Publications, 1987. Being Invisible Closer to Reality. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution , 11 Aug. 2008, p. A3. 7."
"ORGANIZATION OR GOVERNMENT AS AUTHOR For a government publication, give the name that is shown in the source. When a nongovernment organization is both author and publisher, start with the title and list the organization only as the publisher. If a division of an organization is listed as the author, give the division as the author and the organization as the publisher. Organization Name. Title . Publisher, Date. Diagram Group. The Macmillan Visual Desk Reference . Macmillan, 1993."
"United States, Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Mental Health. Autism Spectrum Disorders . Government Printing Office, 2004. Stylebook on Religion 2000: A Reference Guide and Usage Manual. Catholic News Service, 2002. Center for Workforce Studies. 2005-13: Demographics of the U.S. Psychology Workforce. American Psychological Association, July 2015."
"Articles and other short works Articles, essays, reviews, and other shorts works are found in journals, magazines, newspapers, other periodicals, and books-all of which you may find in print, online, or in a database. For most short works, you'll need to provide information about the author, the titles of both the short work and the longer work where it's found, any page numbers, and various kinds of publication information. 8. ARTICLE IN A JOURNAL PRINT Author's Last Name, First Name."
"Title of Article. Name of Journal , Volume, Issue, Date, Pages. Cooney, Brian C. Considering Robinson Crusoe 's Liberty of Conscience' in an Age of Terror. College English, vol. 69, no. 3, Jan. 2007, pp. 197-215. ONLINE Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Article. Name of Journal , Volume, Issue, Date, DOI or URL. Schmidt, Desmond. A Model of Versions and Layers. Digital Humanities Quarterly , vol. 13, no. 3, 2019, www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/13/3/000430/000430.html . 9."
"ARTICLE IN A MAGAZINE PRINT Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Article. Name of Magazine , Volume (if any), Issue (if any), Date, Pages. Burt, Tequia. Legacy of Activism: Concerned Black Students' 50-Year History at Grinnell College. Grinnell Magazine , vol. 48, no. 4, summer 2016, pp. 32-38. ONLINE Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Article. Name of Magazine , Volume (if any), Issue (if any), Date, DOI or URL. Brooks, Arthur C. The Hidden Toll of Remote Work. The Atlantic , 1 Apr."
"2021, www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2021/04/zoom-remote-work-loneliness-happiness/618473. 10. ARTICLE IN A NEWS PUBLICATION PRINT Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Article. Name of Publication , Date, Pages. Saulny, Susan, and Jacques Steinberg. On College Forms, a Question of Race Can Perplex. The New York Times , 14 June 2011, p. A1. Documentation Map (MLA) Article in a Print Journal Neuhaus, Jessamyn."
"Marge Simpson, Blue-Haired Housewife: Defining Domesticity on The Simpsons . The Journal of Popular Culture , vol. 43, no. 4, 2010, pp. 761-81. Documentation Map (MLA) Article in an Online Magazine Segal, Michael. The Hit Book That Came from Mars. Nautilus , 8 Jan. 2015, nautil.us/issue/20/creativity/the-hit-book-that-came-from-mars . To document a particular edition of a newspaper, list the edition before the date."
"If a section name or number is needed to locate the article, put that detail after the date. Burns, John F., and Miguel Helft. Under Pressure, YouTube Withdraws Muslim Cleric's Videos. The New York Times , late ed., 4 Nov. 2010, sec. 1, p. 13. ONLINE Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Article. Name of Publication , Date, URL. Banerjee, Neela. Proposed Religion-Based Program for Federal Inmates Is Canceled. The New York Times , 28 Oct. 2006, www.nytimes.com/2006/10/28/us/28prison.html. 11."
"ARTICLE ACCESSED THROUGH A DATABASE Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Article. Name of Periodical , Volume, Issue, Date, Pages. Name of Database , DOI or URL. Stalter, Sunny. Subway Ride and Subway System in Hart Crane's The Tunnel.' Journal of Modern Literature, vol. 33, no. 2, Jan. 2010, pp. 70-91. JSTOR , https://doi: 10.2979/jml.2010.33.2.70. 12. ENTRY IN A REFERENCE WORK PRINT Author's Last Name, First Name (if any)."
"Title of Entry. Title of Reference Book , edited by First and Last Names (if any), Edition number, Volume (if any), Publisher, Date, Pages. Fritz, Jan Marie. Clinical Sociology. Encyclopedia of Sociology , edited by Edgar F. Borgatta and Rhonda J. V. Montgomery, 2nd ed., vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, 2000, pp. 323-29. California. The New Columbia Encyclopedia , edited by William H. Harris and Judith S. Levey, 4th ed., Columbia UP, 1975, pp. 423-24."
"Documentation Map (MLA) Journal Article Accessed through a Database Neuhaus, Jessamyn. Marge Simpson, Blue-Haired Housewife: Defining Domesticity on The Simpsons . Journal of Popular Culture , vol. 43, no. 4, Aug. 2010, pp. 761-81. EBSCOhost , https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5931.2010.00769.x. ONLINE Document online reference works the same as print ones, adding the URL after the date of publication."
"Baseball. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, edited by Paul Lagass, 6th ed., Columbia UP, 2012. www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia. 13. EDITORIAL OR OP-ED EDITORIAL Editorial Board. Title. Name of Periodical , Date, Page or URL. Editorial Board. A New Look for Local News Coverage. The Lakeville Journal , 13 Feb. 2020, p. A8. Editorial Board. Editorial: Protect Reporters at Protest Scenes. Los Angeles Times , 11 Mar. 2021, www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-03-11/reporters-protest-scenes."
"OP-ED Author's Last Name, First Name. Title. Name of Periodical , Date, Page or URL. Okafor, Kingsley. Opinion: The First Step to COVID Vaccine Equity Is Overall Health Equity. The Denver Post , 15 Apr. 2021, www.denverpost.com/2021/04/15/covid-vaccine-equity-kaiser. If it's not clear that it's an op-ed, add a label at the end. Balf, Todd. Falling in Love with Swimming. The New York Times , 17 Apr. 2021, p. A21. Op-ed. 14. LETTER TO THE EDITOR Author's Last Name, First Name."
"Title of Letter (if any). Name of Periodical , Date, Page or URL. Pinker, Steven. Language Arts. The New Yorker, 4 June 2012, p. 10. If the letter has no title, include Letter after the author's name. Fleischmann, W. B. Letter. The New York Review of Books , 1 June 1963, www.nybooks.com/articles/1963/06/01/letter-21. 15. REVIEW PRINT Reviewer's Last Name, First Name. Title of Review. Name of Periodical , Date, Pages. Frank, Jeffrey. Body Count. The New Yorker , 30 July 2007, pp. 86-87."
"ONLINE Reviewer's Last Name, First Name. Title of Review. Name of Periodical , Date, URL. Donadio, Rachel. Italy's Great, Mysterious Storyteller. The New York Review of Books , 18 Dec. 2014, www.nybooks.com/articles/2014/12/18/italys-great-mysterious-storyteller . If a review has no title, include the title and author of the work being reviewed after the reviewer's name. Lohier, Patrick. Review of Exhalation , by Ted Chiang."
"Harvard Review Online , 4 Oct. 2019, www.harvardreview.org/book-review/exhalation. 16. COMMENT ON AN ONLINE ARTICLE Commenter's Last Name, First Name or Username. Comment on Title of Article. Name of Periodical , Date posted, Time posted, URL. ZeikJT. Comment on The Post-Disaster Artist. Polygon , 6 May 2020, 4:33 a.m., www.polygon.com/2020/5/5/21246679/josh-trank-capone-interview-fantastic-four-chronicle."
"Books and parts of books For most books, you'll need to provide information about author, title, publisher, and year of publication. If you found the book in a larger volume, a database, or another work, be sure to specify that as well. 17. BASIC ENTRIES FOR A BOOK PRINT Author's Last Name, First Name. Title . Publisher, Year of publication. Watson, Brad. Miss Jane. W. W. Norton, 2016. EBOOK Author's Last Name, First Name. Title . Ebook ed., Publisher, Year of publication. Watson, Brad. Miss Jane."
"Ebook ed., W. W. Norton, 2016. ON A WEBSITE Author's Last Name, First Name. Title. Publisher, Year of publication, DOI or URL. Ball, Cheryl E., and Drew M. Loewe, editors. Bad Ideas about Writing . West Virginia U Libraries, 2017, textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas/badideasaboutwriting-book.pdf. 18. ANTHOLOGY OR EDITED COLLECTION Last Name, First Name, editor. Title. Publisher, Year of publication. Kitchen, Judith, and Mary Paumier Jones, editors. In Short: A Collection of Brief Nonfiction . W. W. Norton, 1996."
"19. WORK IN AN ANTHOLOGY Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Work. Title of Anthology , edited by First and Last Names, Publisher, Year of publication, Pages. Achebe, Chinua. Uncle Ben's Choice. The Seagull Reader: Literature , edited by Joseph Kelly, W. W. Norton, 2005, pp. 23-27. Documentation Map (MLA) Print Book Fontanella-Khan, Amana. Pink Sari Revolution: A Tale of Women and Power in India. W. W. Norton, 2013."
"TWO OR MORE WORKS FROM ONE ANTHOLOGY Prepare an entry for each selection by author and title, followed by the anthology editors' last names and the pages of the selection. Then include an entry for the anthology itself (see no. 18). Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Work. Anthology Editors' Last Names, Pages. Hiestand, Emily. Afternoon Tea. Kitchen and Jones, pp. 65-67. Ozick, Cynthia. The Shock of Teapots. Kitchen and Jones, pp. 68-71. 20."
"MULTIVOLUME WORK ALL VOLUMES Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Work. Publisher, Year(s) of publication. Number of vols. Churchill, Winston. The Second World War. Houghton Mifflin, 1948-53. 6 vols. SINGLE VOLUME Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Work. Vol. number, Publisher, Year of publication. Sandburg, Carl. Abraham Lincoln: The War Years. Vol. 2, Harcourt, Brace &World, 1939."
"If the volume has its own title, include it after the author's name, and indicate the volume number and series title after the year. Caro, Robert A. Means of Ascent . Vintage Books, 1990. Vol. 2 of The Years of Lyndon Johnson . 21. BOOK IN A SERIES Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Edited by First and Last Names, Publisher, Year of publication. Series Title. Walker, Alice. Everyday Use. Edited by Barbara T. Christian, Rutgers UP, 1994. Women Writers: Texts and Contexts. 22."
"GRAPHIC NARRATIVE OR COMIC BOOK Author's Last Name, First Name. Title. Publisher, Publication year. Barry, Lynda. One! Hundred! Demons! Drawn and Quarterly, 2005. If the work has both an author and an illustrator, start with the one you want to highlight, and label the role of the illustrator. Pekar, Harvey. Bob and Harv's Comics. Illustrated by R. Crumb, Running Press, 1996. Crumb, R., illustrator. Bob and Harv's Comics. By Harvey Pekar, Running Press, 1996."
"If you want to cite several contributors, you can also start with the title. Secret Invasion . By Brian Michael Bendis, illustrated by Leinil Yu, inked by Mark Morales, Marvel, 2009. 23. SACRED TEXT If you cite a specific edition of a religious text, you need to include it in your works-cited list. The New English Bible with the Apocrypha. Oxford UP, 1971. The Torah: A Modern Commentary. W. Gunther Plaut, general editor, Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1981. 24."
"EDITION OTHER THAN THE FIRST Author's Last Name, First Name. Title. Edition name or number, Publisher, Year of publication. Smart, Ninian. The World's Religions . 2nd ed., Cambridge UP, 1998. 25. FOREWORD, INTRODUCTION, PREFACE, OR AFTERWORD Part Author's Last Name, First Name. Name of Part. Title of Book , by Author's First and Last Names, Publisher, Year of publication, Pages. Tanner, Tony. Introduction. Pride and Prejudice , by Jane Austen, Penguin, 1972, pp. 7-46. 26."
"PUBLISHED LETTER Letter Writer's Last Name, First Name. Title of letter. Day Month Year. Title of Book , edited by First and Last Names, Publisher, Year of publication, Pages. White, E. B. To Carol Angell. 28 May 1970. Letters of E. B. White, edited by Dorothy Guth, Harper and Row, 1976, p. 600. 27. DISSERTATION Author's Last Name, First Name. Title. Year. Institution, PhD dissertation. Name of Database, URL. Simington, Maire Orav."
"Chasing the American Dream Post World War II: Perspectives from Literature and Advertising . 2003. Arizona State, PhD dissertation. ProQuest , search.proquest.com/docview/305340098. For an unpublished dissertation, end with the institution and a description of the work. Kim, Loel. Students Respond to Teacher Comments: A Comparison of Online Written and Voice Modalities . 1998. Carnegie Mellon U, PhD dissertation."
"Websites Many sources are available in multiple media-for example, a print periodical that is also on the web and contained in digital databases-but some are published only on websites. A website can have an author, an editor, or neither. Some have a publisher, and some do not. Include whatever information is available. If the publisher and title of the site are the same, omit the name of the publisher. 28. ENTIRE WEBSITE Editor's Last Name, First Name, role. Title of Site. Publisher, Date, URL."
"Proffitt, Michael, chief editor. The Oxford English Dictionary . Oxford UP, 2021, www.oed.com. PERSONAL WEBSITE Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Site. Date, URL. Park, Linda Sue. Linda Sue Park: Author and Educator . 2021, lindasuepark.com. If the site is likely to change, has no date, or no longer exists, include a date of access. Archive of Our Own . Organization for Transformative Works, archiveofourown.org. Accessed 23 Apr. 2021. 29. WORK ON A WEBSITE Author's Last Name, First Name (if any)."
"Title of Work. Title of Site , Publisher (if any), Date, URL. Cesareo, Kerry. Moving Closer to Tackling Deforestation at Scale. World Wildlife Fund , 20 Oct. 2020, www.worldwildlife.org/blogs/sustainability-works/posts/moving-closer-to-tackling-deforestation-at -scale. 30. BLOG ENTRY Author's Last Name, First Name. Title of Blog Entry. Title of Blog , Date, URL. Hollmichel, Stefanie. Bring Up the Bodies. So Many Books, 10 Feb. 2014, somanybooksblog.com/2014/02/10/bring-up-the-bodies. 31."
"WIKI Title of Entry. Title of Wiki , Publisher, Date, URL. Pi. Wikipedia , Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Aug. 2013, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi. Documentation Map (MLA) Work on a Website McIlwain, John, et al. Housing in America: Integrating Housing, Health, and Resilience in a Changing Environment. Urban Land Institute , 28 Aug. 2014,uli.org/report/housing-in-america-housing-health-resilience. Personal Communication and Social Media 32. PERSONAL LETTER Sender's Last Name, First Name. Letter to the author."
"Day Month Year. Quindlen, Anna. Letter to the author. 11 Apr. 2013. 33. EMAIL OR TEXT MESSAGE Include the text of a short email or text message, or a concise description. If it's not clear that it's a text message or email, add a label at the end: Text message, Email. If the email or text message was sent to you, indicate that: Email to the author, Text message to the author. Sender's Last Name, First Name. Email or Text Message to First Name Last Name or to the author. Day Month Year. Smith, William."
"Email to Richard Bullock. 19 Nov. 2013. Rombes, Maddy. Text message to Isaac Cohen. 4 May 2021. O'Malley, Kit. Text message to the author. 2 June 2020. 34. POST TO TWITTER , INSTAGRAM , OR OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA Author. Title. Title of Site , Day Month Year, URL. Oregon Zoo. Winter Wildlife Wonderland. Facebook , 8 Feb. 2019, www.facebook.com/80229441108/videos/2399570506799549. If there's no title, you can use a concise description or the text of a short post. Millman, Debbie. Photos of Roxane Gay."
"Instagram , 18 Feb. 2021, www.instagram.com/p/CLcT_EnhnWT. Obama, Barack [@POTUS44]. It's been the honor of my life to serve you. You made me a better leader and a better man. Twitter , 20 Jan. 2017, twitter.com/POTUS44/status/822445882247413761. Audio, visual, and other sources 35. ADVERTISEMENT PRINT Description of ad. Name of Periodical , Date, Page. Advertisement for Grey Goose. Wine Spectator , 18 Dec. 2020, p. 22. VIDEO Title. Title of Site , uploaded by Company, Date, URL."
"First Visitors. YouTube , uploaded by Snickers, 20 Aug. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=negeco0b1L0. 36. ART ORIGINAL Artist's Last Name, First Name. Title of Art. Year created, Location. Van Gogh, Vincent. The Potato Eaters. 1885, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. IN A BOOK Artist's Last Name, First Name. Title of Art. Year created, Location. Title of Book , by First and Last Names, Publisher, Year of publication, Page. Van Gogh, Vincent. The Potato Eaters. 1885, Scottish National Gallery."
"History of Art , by H. W. Janson, Prentice Hall / Harry N. Abrams, 1969, p. 508. ONLINE Artist's Last Name, First Name. Title of Art. Year created. Title of Site , URL. Warhol, Andy. Self-portrait. 1979. J. Paul Getty Museum , www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/106971/andy-warhol-self-portrait-american-1979. 37. CARTOON PRINT Author's Last Name, First Name. Cartoon or Title of Cartoon. Name of Periodical , Date, Page. Mankoff, Robert. Cartoon. The New Yorker , 3 May 1993, p. 50."
"ONLINE Author's Last Name, First Name. Cartoon or Title of Cartoon. Title of Site , Date, URL. Munroe, Randall. Up Goer Five. xkcd , 12 Nov. 2012, xkcd.com/1133. 38. SUPREME COURT CASE United States, Supreme Court. First Defendant v. Second Defendant. Date of decision. Title of Source Site, Publisher, URL. United States, Supreme Court. District of Columbia v. Heller . 26 June 2008. Legal Information Institute , Cornell Law School, www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/07-290. 39."
"FILM Name individuals based on the focus of your project-the director, the screenwriter, or someone else. If your essay focuses on one contributor, you may put their names before the title. Title of Film. Role by First and Last Names, Production Company, Date. Breakfast at Tiffany's . Directed by Blake Edwards, Paramount, 1961. Edwards, Blake, director. Breakfast at Tiffany's . Paramount, 1961. ONLINE Title of Film. Role by First and Last Names, Production Company, Date. Title of Site , URL. Interstellar ."
"Directed by Christopher Nolan, Paramount, 2014. Amazon Prime Video , www.amazon.com/Interstellar-Matthew-McConaughey/dp/B00TU9UFTS. 40. TV SHOW EPISODE Name contributors based on the focus of your project-director, creator, actors, or others. If you don't want to highlight anyone in particular, don't include any contributors. BROADCAST Title of Episode. Title of Program , role by First and Last Names (if any), season, episode, Production Company, Date."
"The Storm. Avatar: The Last Airbender , created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, season 1, episode 12, Nickelodeon Animation Studios, 3 June 2005. STREAMING ONLINE Title of Episode. Title of Program , role by First and Last Names (if any), season, episode, Production Company, Broadcast Date. Title of Site , URL. The Storm. Avatar: The Last Airbender , season 1, episode 12, Nickelodeon Animation Studios, 2005. Netflix , www.netflix.com. 41."
"ONLINE VIDEO Title of Video. Title of Site , uploaded by Uploader's Name, Day Month Year, URL. Everything Wrong with National Treasure in 13 Minutes or Less. YouTube , uploaded by CinemaSins, 21 Aug. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ul-_ZWvXTs. 42. PRESENTATION ON ZOOM OR OTHER VIRTUAL PLATFORM MLA doesn't give specific guidance on how to cite a virtual presentation, but this is what we recommend. Author's Last Name, First Name. Title. Sponsoring Institution, Day Month Year, Name of Platform ."
"Budhathoki, Thir. Cross-Cultural Perceptions of Literacies in Student Writing. Conference on College Composition and Communication, 9 Apr. 2021, Zoom . 43. INTERVIEW If it's not clear that it's an interview, add a label at the end. If you are citing a transcript of an interview, indicate that at the end as well. PUBLISHED Subject's Last Name, First Name. Title of Interview. Interview by First Name Last Name (if given). Title of Publication , Date, Pages or URL. Whitehead, Colson."
"Colson Whitehead: By the Book. The New York Times , 15 May 2014, www.nytimes.com/2014/05/18/books/review/colson-whitehead-by-the-book.html. Interview. PERSONAL Subject's Last Name, First Name. Concise description. Day Month Year. Bazelon, L. S. Telephone interview with the author. 4 Oct. 2020. 44. MAP If the title doesn't make clear it's a map, add a label at the end. Title of Map. Publisher, Date. Brooklyn . J. B. Beers, 1874. Map. 45. ORAL PRESENTATION Presenter's Last Name, First Name."
"Title of Presentation. Sponsoring Institution, Date, Location. Cassin, Michael. Nature in the Raw-The Art of Landscape Painting. Berkshire Institute for Lifelong Learning, 24 Mar. 2005, Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts. 46. PODCAST If you accessed a podcast on the web, give the URL; if you accessed it through an app, indicate that instead. Title of Episode. Title of Podcast , hosted by First Name Last Name, season, episode, Production Company, Date, URL or Name of app."
"DUSTWUN. Serial , hosted by Sarah Koenig, season 2, episode 1, WBEZ / Serial Productions, 10 Dec. 2015, serialpodcast.org/season-two/1/dustwun. DUSTWUN. Serial , hosted by Sarah Koenig, season 2, episode 1, WBEZ / Serial Productions, 10 Dec. 2015. Spotify app. 47. SOUND RECORDING Artist's Last Name, First Name. Title of Work. Title of Album , Label, Date, URL or Name of app or CD. Beyonc."
"Pray You Catch Me. Lemonade , Parkwood Entertainment / Columbia Records, 2016, www.beyonce.com/album/lemonade-visual-album/songs. Simone, Nina. To Be Young, Gifted and Black. Black Gold , RCA Records, 1969. Spotify app. Brown, Greg. Canned Goods. The Live One , Red House, 1995, CD. 48. VIDEO GAME Title of Game. Version, Distributor, Date of release. Animal Crossing: New Horizons . Version 1.1.4, Nintendo, 6 Apr. 2020. Formatting a Research Paper Name, course, title."
"MLA does not require a separate title page, unless your paper is a group project. In the upper left-hand corner of your first page, include your name, your instructor's name, the course name and number, and the date. Center the title of your paper on the line after the date; capitalize it as you would a book title. If your paper is a group project, include all of that information on a title page instead, listing all the authors. Page numbers."
"In the upper right-hand corner of each page, one-half inch below the top of the page, include your last name and the page number. If it's a group project and all the names don't fit, include only the page number. Number pages consecutively. Fonts, spacing, margins, and indents. Choose a font that is easy to read (such as Times New Roman) and that provides a clear contrast between regular text and italic text. Set the font size between 11 and 13 points."
"Double-space the entire paper, including your works-cited list and any notes. Set one-inch margins at the top, bottom, and sides of your text; do not justify your text. The first line of each paragraph should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. End punctuation should be followed by one space. Headings. Short essays do not generally need headings, but they can be useful in longer works."
"Use a large, bold font for the first level of heading, and smaller fonts and italics to signal lower-level headings. MLA requires that headings all be flush with the left margin. First-Level Heading Second-Level Heading Third-Level Heading Long quotations. When quoting more than three lines of poetry, more than four lines of prose, or dialogue between characters in a drama, set off the quotation from the rest of your text, indenting it one-half inch (or five spaces) from the left margin."
"Do not use quotation marks, and put any parenthetical documentation after the final punctuation. In Eastward to Tartary , Robert Kaplan captures ancient and contemporary Antioch for us: At the height of its glory in the Roman-Byzantine age, when it had an amphitheater, public baths, aqueducts, and sewage pipes, half a million people lived in Antioch. Today the population is only 125,000."
"With sour relations between Turkey and Syria, and unstable politics throughout the Middle East, Antioch is now a backwater-seedy and tumbledown, with relatively few tourists. I found it altogether charming. (123) In the first stanza of Matthew Arnold's Dover Beach, the exclamations make clear that the speaker is addressing someone who is also present in the scene: Come to the window, sweet is the night air! Only, from the long line of spray Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land, Listen!"
"You hear the grating roar Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling. (lines 6-10) Be careful to maintain the poet's line breaks. If a line does not fit on one line of your paper, put the extra words on the next line. Indent that line an additional quarter inch (or two spaces). If a citation doesn't fit, put it on the next line, flush with the right margin. Tables and illustrations."
"Insert illustrations and tables close to the text that discusses them, and be sure to make clear how they relate to your point. For tables, provide a number ( Table 1 ) and a title on separate lines above the table and a caption with source information and any notes below. Notes should be indicated with lowercase letters. For graphs, photos, and other figures, provide a figure number ( fig. 1 ) and caption, with source information below the figure."
"If you give full source information in the caption, you don't have to include the source in your list of works cited. Punctuate as you would in the works-cited list, but don't invert the author's name: Berenice Sydney. Fast Rhythm . 1972, Tate Britain, London. List of works cited. Start your list on a new page, following any notes. Center the title, Works Cited, and double-space the entire list. Begin each entry at the left margin, and indent subsequent lines one-half inch (or five spaces)."
"Alphabetize the list by authors' last names (or by editors' or translators' names, if appropriate). Alphabetize works with no author or editor by title, disregarding A , An , and The . To document more than one work by a single author, list them as in no. 4 on page 323 . Glossary PERMALINK, 316, 319 A URL that permanently links to a specific web page or BLOG post. PERMALINK, 316, 319 A URL that permanently links to a specific web page or BLOG post."
"DOI A digital object identifier, a stable number identifying the location of a source accessed through a database. DOI A digital object identifier, a stable number identifying the location of a source accessed through a database. Student essay, MLA style The following essay was written by Jackson Parell for a first-year writing course. It was awarded the Boothe Prize for outstanding expository and argumentative writing by first-year students at Stanford University in 2018."
"It's formatted according to the guidelines of the MLA Handbook ( style.mla.org ). A STUDENT RESEARCH ESSAY, MLA STYLE Parell 1 Jackson Parell Professor Hammann Writing and Rhetoric 1 21 May, 2018 1 margins on all sides. Title centered. Free at Last, Free at Last: Civil War Memory and Civil Rights Rhetoric Double-spaced throughout. Author named in signal phrase; page number in parentheses."
"When Martin Luther King, Jr., addressed the huge crowd in Washington, DC, on August 28, 1963, he did so on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, in Lincoln's symbolic shadow (Sundquist 146). Using the words and legacy of the Great Emancipator, King intended to make an appeal to the moral conscience of America to rid itself of the vestiges of slavery and to realize Lincoln's new birth of freedom one hundred years after it was first proposed."
"On this day, and throughout the Civil War Centennial years (1961-65), African American leaders, including King, successfully accessed the language of the Civil War's promise of racial justice to shape a compelling message for future progress. As historian Robert Cook writes, The advent of the Centennial furnished [African Americans] with powerful leverage in their intensifying efforts to close the gap between the promise and the reality of American community life (96)."
"No signal phrase; author and page number in parentheses. However, the rhetoric of the Civil War could only serve as an appeal for racial equality if Americans commonly understood its history in the context of social justice and equal rights. Unfortunately, for many Americans in the 1960s, this was not the case (Blight 3)."
"Northerners and Southerners alike, looking to mend sectional strife after the war, were willing to adopt a memory of reconciliation that focused on the shared honor of battle as opposed to the racial issues over which those battles were fought. Civil War valor, bravery, and brotherhood shaped American wartime memory into a shared experience-one that would remain a potent source of nationalism well into the civil rights era (Cook 4)."
"For the majority, especially of white Americans, as historian David Blight writes, emancipation in Civil War memory was still an awkward kind of politeness at best and heresy at worst. . . . In 1963, the national temper and mythology still preferred a story of the mutual valor of the Blue and Gray to the disruptive problem of black and white (3). Therefore, civil rights leaders, including King, attempted to remind Americans of the war's cause and enduring racial legacies."
"Through pen and podium, he leveraged that history in a powerful appeal for racial justice one hundred years after Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Parell 2 In October 1961, President John F. Kennedy invited King to the White House for lunch. The meeting was unofficial-it was not recorded in the secretary's docket, nor was there any official business set to be discussed (Branch 27). After lunch, Kennedy led King on a tour of the residence."
"Hung outside the door of Lincoln's bedroom was a copy of the original Emancipation Proclamation. It gave King the opportunity to bring up, ever so gently, the issue of civil rights (27). Already, the Montgomery bus boycotts, the Greensboro sit-ins, and the Freedom Rides had brought racial tensions to the forefront of American culture. King believed he had a solution. Mr."
"President, he said, I would like to see you stand in this room and sign a [second] Emancipation Proclamation outlawing segregation 100 years after Lincoln's. You could base it on the Fourteenth Amendment (qtd. in Sundquist 34). In the summer of 1962, King and his associates delivered the first copy of this second Proclamation to the White House, bound in leather."
"This document serves as an important example of the ways in which King reshaped the memory of the Civil War and leveraged its rhetoric to advance claims for equality in civil rights. The proclamation directly engages in the battle between white reconciliationist memory and the memory of racial justice. In it, King pushes back on traditional narratives of mutual valor and bravery by instead placing emphasis on the guarantees of equality embodied in Civil War documents."
"But before King could make the revisions to Civil War history necessary to frame his plea for racial justice, he needed to provide Kennedy with a compelling reason for doing so. By 1962, racial tensions in the United States had come to a head."
"Politicians, including Kennedy, wished to deescalate the problem as fast as possible (Branch 52), so in his preamble, King cites increasing racial tensions as well as the Centennial of the Civil War as impetus to dive into the wellsprings of history from which the civil rights movement began (Appeal 3): 2 works cited within the same sentence. Uses block format for quotation longer than 4 lines. Indents  inch or 5 spaces."
"Parell 3 Mr. President, sometimes there occur moments in the history of our nation when it becomes necessary to pause and reflect upon the heritage of the past in order to determine the most meaningful course for the present and the future. America today in the field of race relations is such a moment. We believe the Centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation is a particularly important time for all our citizens to rededicate themselves to those early precepts and principles of equality before the law."
"(Appeal 1) With his first words, therefore, King encourages the president to think about Civil War history as a tool for addressing modern issues. After establishing the importance of looking to the past to resolve the racial tensions of the present, King proposes the version of Civil War history upon which he believes Kennedy should reflect. It is a version that promotes the war's promises of racial equality over the valor and bravery of its veterans."
"He references the Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation as the war's defining documents, both of which place the issue of slavery as the central cause of the Civil War and uphold concepts of equal justice for all (Appeal 1-2). King engages here with a larger historical movement to remind Americans of the documents and narratives from their past that support claims for racial equality."
"In the 1960s, historians and researchers alike looked to rewrite Civil War memory in a way that neither disregarded the importance of slavery as the agent of conflict in the Civil War nor portrayed African Americans as naturally inferior-a people without agency in the struggle for their own freedom (Snyder 1-2, 36)."
"By reshaping the narratives of the past to reflect a nuanced version of the Civil War, these historians attempted to break down the justifications for the racial hierarchy that structured the white status quo. Parell 4 Paragraphs indent  inch or 5 spaces. By reshaping Civil War memory to focus on its promises of equality, King develops a strong appeal for change on the grounds that those promises had not yet been fulfilled."
"He draws compelling parallels between the past and present, which framed the Civil War as a battle unfinished, one fought today by the civil rights movement: The struggle for freedom, Mr. President, of which our Civil War was but a bloody chapter, continues throughout our land today. The courage and heroism of Negro citizens . . . is only further effort to affirm the democratic heritage so painfully won, in part, upon the grassy battlefields of Antietam, Lookout Mountain, and Gettysburg."
"(Appeal 3) The metaphor of a modern Civil War presents Kennedy with the moral imperative to follow in the footsteps of Lincoln, his forebearer, and to help finally end the battle for equality begun one hundred years before. The time has come, Mr. President, to let those dawn-like rays of freedom, first glimpsed in 1863, fill the heavens with noonday sunlight of complete human decency (Appeal 4)."
"King believed that the present situation demanded more than legislative action-it demanded from Kennedy an executive order that appealed to the moral conscience of America. Parell 5 But Kennedy never responded, and King found his ambivalence very disheartening. Without Kennedy, King felt that the civil rights movement would stall."
"He needed to re-create the conditions under which a document like the first Emancipation Proclamation came about-to foster the same tensions that brought to light the deep moral flaws of racism and propelled them to a national stage (Ward and Badger 141) . Time was running out. The eyes of the world were focused on the civil rights movement, and King intended to capitalize."
"At midnight on June 1, he called his aides with an urgent message: in August, the civil rights movement would descend on the capital (Branch 53). If King could not convince the president to change the moral conscience of America, he would attempt to do it himself. Two months later, King began to outline the speech that would conclude the ceremonies of the March on Washington. In essence, it reflected the same historical appeal he had made to the president in the Second Emancipation Proclamation."
He intended to shift predominant public memory from one that highlighted the mutual sacrifice of the Blue and Gray to one that focused on the Civil War's guarantees of equality. These guarantees served as the grounds on which King would build his argument for modern civil rights progress.
"Evoking the language of past Republican leaders, including Lincoln, he appealed to the American public to adopt a policy of inclusion, one with a vision for the future that was, in many ways, shaped in stark contrast to America's oppressive past. Uses past tense (began) to describe the scene-and present tense (refers) to describe the text. Parell 6 On the morning of August 28, the turnout was slim, estimated at 25,000. Soon, however, protesters began arriving in swarms."
"At Union Station, trains pulled in first from Baltimore, then Georgia, the Carolinas, Maryland, and further north (Hansen 33-35) . By the time King took the podium, he spoke before a crowd of nearly 250,000. Five score years ago, King began, a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation (Dream 1)."
"This first sentence of King's Dream speech refers both to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and to the Emancipation Proclamation, placing both documents at the forefront of America's Civil War consciousness (Sundquist 145). As in the Second Emancipation Proclamation, King intended to divert the predominant reconciliationist memory of the Civil War to one that memorialized the guarantees of racial justice embodied in the war's documents."
"Although his remarks on those documents were brief, the broader, more inclusive historical narratives toward which they gesture-those in which slavery is accepted as the cause of the Civil War and African Americans are acknowledged for their strategic contributions to military efforts-gave further justification to uphold the guarantees of equality memorialized in the documents themselves. These guarantees served as the moral structure of King's national appeal for racial justice."
"If, as King argues, equality was a right ensured by the course of American history, then segregation was simply a breach of contract between the American government and its African American constituents. He employs the metaphor of a bad check to explain the chasm between historical promises of racial equality and the realities faced in 1960s culture: In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. . . ."
"This note was a promise that all men-yes, black men as well as white men-would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. (Dream 1) Parell 7 For a nation that claimed to uphold basic precepts of justice, the bad check metaphor was particularly compelling."
Americans were posed with a moral imperative to rid themselves of the modern vestiges of slavery or else risk contradicting the principles of equality upon which the nation was founded. King's powerful appeal to the moral conscience of America was only made possible by shaping a new narrative in Civil War memory that upheld equality as a basic right for all: Many of our white brothers . . . have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom (Dream 3).
"King begins here the process of linking the fulfillment of the civil rights cause to the betterment of the nation as a whole, a process necessary to garner the support of white moderates, partial to their own self-interest and thus indifferent to historical appeals for racial justice. The incentive for civil rights progress was only strengthened by King's final moments at the podium, from which his speech gains its name."
"The appeal of King's utopian dream serves as a powerful motive to pursue civil rights equality. He dreams that sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood (Dream 4). He dreams that freedom will ring from Stone Mountains of Georgia-where the faces of Confederate generals are etched in rock-to Lookout Mountain of Tennessee, the site of one of the Civil War's most famous battles (6)."
"In essence, King's dream is that America will finally live up to the principles of freedom espoused at the time of its origin and live out the true meaning of its creed (4). Only then, King believes, will the battle for freedom begun at Fort Sumter finally reach its conclusion. King's direct references to the issue of slavery and to the battlegrounds on which the Civil War was fought serve as anchors in history that shape a clearer vision of future progress for all Americans."
"The moral imperative that King presents to white individuals in order to tender the check of racial justice is thus only made more pressing by the collective will to realize King's dream-a dream rooted in the rhetoric of the Civil War. Parell 8 Ultimately, therefore, King's Dream speech promoted a memory that prioritized the war's promises of equality as opposed to the honor of its many battles."
"Historian David Blight explains: As Lincoln implied in that brief address at Gettysburg, the Civil War necessitated a redefinition of the United States, rooted somehow in the destruction of slavery and the . . . principle of human equality. In the Dream speech, King argued the same for his own era: the civil rights movement heralded yet another re-founding in the same principle, one hundred . . . years after Lincoln's promise."
"(2) Throughout the Centennial years, civil rights leaders, including King, waged war not only over modern policies and ideals, but over historical truth as well. African American activists pushed back on the predominant Civil War memory of the 1960s, promoting the war's guarantees of equality over those of reconciliation. Such guarantees became the grounds on which King and others shaped a compelling appeal for civil rights progress in the modern era."
"Just as abolitionists had sought to exploit the promises enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, historian Robert Cook writes, their intellectual successors had used the events of the Centennial to raise the conscience of the American public in the 1960s (qtd. in Ward and Badger 144) ."
"Ultimately, therefore, civil rights leaders molded the rhetoric of the Civil War to inspire a nation to throw off its shackles of oppression and to breathe new life into the old slave hymn: Free at last, Free at last, Great God a-mighty, We are free at last (King, Dream 6). Parell 9 Works Cited The list is alphabetized by authors' last names. Blight, David W. American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights Era . Belknap Press of Harvard UP, 2013. Branch, Taylor."
"A Second Emancipation. Washington Monthly , Jan.-Feb. 2013, pp. 27-52. Double-spaced. Cook, Robert. Troubled Commemoration: The American Civil War Centennial, 1961-1965 . Louisiana State UP, 2011. Each entry begins at the left margin; subsequent lines are indented  inch or 5 spaces. Hansen, Drew. The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Speech That Inspired a Nation . HarperCollins, 2003. Multiple works by a single author are listed alphabetically by title."
"After first entry, the author's name is replaced with three hyphens. King, Martin Luther, Jr. An Appeal to the Honorable John F. Kennedy President of the United States. 17 May 1962. Civil Rights Movement Archive , www.crmvet.org/info/emancip2.pdf - - -. I Have a Dream . . . Speech by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the March on Washington.' 28 Aug. 1963. National Archives , www.archives.gov/files/press/exhibits/dream-speech.pdf. Accessed 14 May 2019. Snyder, Jeffrey Aaron."
"Making Black History: The Color Line, Culture, and Race in the Age of Jim Crow . U of Georgia P, 2018. Every source used is in the Works Cited. Sundquist, Eric. King's Dream . Yale UP, 2009. Ward, Brian, and Tony Badger. The Making of Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement . Macmillan, 1996. Endnotes  Last name and page number set 1/2 from top of page. Return to text  Embeds signal phrase in the middle of the quotation."
Return to text  Brackets indicate the quotation has been altered for clarity. Return to text  Parenthetical documentation follows punctuation in a block quotation. Return to text  Includes short title because there's more than 1 source from that author. Return to text  Names both authors in a work with 2 authors. Return to text  Includes page range because the information cited spans multiple pages. Return to text  Ellipses indicate that some words are left out.
"Return to text  Source quoted in another source. Return to text  Heading centered. Return to text PART 4 RESEARCH / FIND OUT Chapter 21 APA Style WRITE WITH CLARITY, PRECISION, AND INCLUSION. - PUBLICATION MANUAL OF THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION In 1929, a group of anthropologists and psychologists and business writers got together to come up with guidelines that would standardize the way scholars documented sources, assuming that such standards would make articles easier to read and understand."
"That short guide expanded into the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , published in its 7th edition in 2020. Almost all the disciplines in the social sciences now recommend following this style. This chapter provides guidelines for formatting and documenting an essay in APA style, along with an essay written by a college student that demonstrates that style. A DIRECTORY TO APA STYLE In-text documentation 360 1. Author named in a signal phrase 361 2."
Author named in parentheses 361 3. Authors with the same last name 361 4. Two authors 362 5. Three or more authors 362 6. Organization or government as author 362 7. Author unknown 362 8. Two or more works together 363 9. Two or more works by one author in the same year 363 10. Source quoted in another source 363 11. Work without page numbers 363 12. An entire work 364 13. Personal communication 364 Notes 364 Reference list 365 KEY ELEMENTS FOR DOCUMENTING SOURCES 365 AUTHORS AND OTHER CONTRIBUTORS 368 1.
One author 368 2. Two authors 368 3. Three or more authors 369 4. Two or more works by the same author 369 5. Author and editor 369 6. Author and translator 370 7. Editor 370 8. Unknown or no author or editor 370 9. Organization or government as author 370 ARTICLES AND OTHER SHORT WORKS 371 Documentation Map: Article in a Journal with a DOI 373 Documentation Map: Webpage 375 10. Article in a journal 371 11. Article in a magazine 371 12. Article in a newspaper 371 13. Article on a news website 372 14.
"Journal article from a database 372 15. Editorial 372 16. Review 372 17. Comment on an online periodical article or blog post 374 18. Webpage 374 BOOKS, PARTS OF BOOKS, AND REPORTS 376 Documentation Map: Book 377 19. Basic entry for a book 376 20. Edition other than the first 376 21. Edited collection or anthology 378 22. Work in an edited collection or anthology 378 23. Chapter in an edited book 378 24. Entry in a reference work 379 25. Book in a language other than English 379 26."
"One volume of a multivolume work 379 27. Religious work 379 28. Report by an organization or government agency 380 29. Dissertation 380 30. Paper or poster presented at a conference 381 AUDIO, VISUAL, AND OTHER SOURCES 381 31. Wikipedia entry 381 32. Online forum post 381 33. Blog post 382 34. Online streaming video 382 35. Podcast 382 36. Podcast episode 382 37. Film 383 38. Television series 383 39. Television series episode 383 40. Music album 384 41. Song 384 42. PowerPoint slides 384 43."
"Recording of a speech or webinar 384 44. Map 384 45. Social media posts 385 46. Data set 386 47. Supreme Court case 386 SOURCES NOT COVERED BY APA 386 Formatting a research essay 386 Student research essay 389 This chapter provides models and examples that are color-coded to help you see how to include source information in a text: orange for author or editor, yellow for title, blue for publication information-publisher, date of publication, page number(s), DOI or URL, and so on."
"In-text documentation Brief documentation in your text makes clear to your reader precisely what you took from a source. If you are quoting, provide the page number(s) or other text that will help readers find the quotation in the source. You're not required to give the page number(s) with a paraphrase or summary, but you may want to do so if you are citing a long or complex work. PARAPHRASES and SUMMARIES are more common than QUOTATIONS in APA projects."
"As you cite each source, you will need to decide whether to name the author in a signal phrase-as Duffy (2020) wrote-or in parentheses-(Duffy, 2020). Note that APA requires the past tense when there's a date or present perfect tense when there's no date in SIGNAL PHRASES : Moss (2019) argued, Moss has argued. 1. AUTHOR NAMED IN A SIGNAL PHRASE Put the date in parentheses after the author's last name, unless the year is mentioned in the sentence."
"Put any page number(s) you're including in parentheses after the quotation, paraphrase, or summary. Parenthetical documentation should come before the period at the end of the sentence and after any quotation marks. McCullough (2020) described John Adams as having the hands of a man accustomed to pruning his own trees, cutting his own hay, and splitting his own firewood (p. 18). In 2020 , McCullough noted that John Adams's hands were those of a laborer (p. 18)."
"If the author is named after a quotation, put the page number(s) after the date. John Adams had the hands of a man accustomed to pruning his own trees, according to McCullough (2020, p. 18). 2. AUTHOR NAMED IN PARENTHESES If you do not mention an author in a signal phrase, put the name, the year of publication, and any page numbers in parentheses at the end of the sentence or right after the quotation, paraphrase, or summary."
"John Adams had the hands of a man accustomed to pruning his own trees, cutting his own hay, and splitting his own firewood (McCullough, 2020, p. 18). 3. AUTHORS WITH THE SAME LAST NAME If your reference list includes more than one first author with the same last name, include initials to distinguish the authors from one another. Eclecticism is common in modern criticism (J. M. Smith, 1992, p. vii). 4. TWO AUTHORS Always mention both authors."
"Use and in a signal phrase, but use an ampersand (&) in parentheses. Carlson and Ventura (1990) wanted to introduce Julio Cortzar, Marjorie Agosn, and other Latin American writers to an audience of English-speaking adolescents (p. v). According to the Peter Principle, In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence (Peter &Hull, 1969, p. 26). 5."
"THREE OR MORE AUTHORS When you refer to a work by three or more contributors, name only the first author followed by et al ., Latin for and others. Peilen et al. (1990) supported their claims about corporate corruption with startling anecdotal evidence (p. 75). 6. ORGANIZATION OR GOVERNMENT AS AUTHOR If an organization name has a familiar abbreviation, give the full name and the abbreviation in brackets the first time you cite the source. In subsequent references, use only the abbreviation."
"If the organization does not have a familiar abbreviation, always use its full name. FIRST REFERENCE (American Psychological Association [APA], 2020) SUBSEQUENT REFERENCES (APA, 2020) 7. AUTHOR UNKNOWN Use the complete title if it's short; if it's long, use the first few words of the title under which the work appears in the reference list. Italicize the title if it's italicized in the reference list; if it isn't italicized there, enclose the title in quotation marks."
"According to Feeding Habits of Rams (2000), a ram's diet often changes from one season to the next (p. 29). The article noted that one healthy liver donor died because of frightening postoperative care (Every Patient's Nightmare, 2007). 8. TWO OR MORE WORKS TOGETHER If you document multiple works in the same parentheses, place the source information in alphabetical order, separated by semicolons."
"Many researchers have argued that what counts as literacy is not necessarily learned at school (Heath, 1983; Moss, 2003). 9. TWO OR MORE WORKS BY ONE AUTHOR IN THE SAME YEAR If your list of references includes more than one work by the same author published in the same year, order them alphabetically by title, adding lowercase letters ( a , b , and so on) to the year. Kaplan (2000a) described orderly shantytowns in Turkey that did not resemble the other slums he visited. 10."
"SOURCE QUOTED IN ANOTHER SOURCE When you cite a source that was quoted in another source, add the words as cited in . Thus, Modern Standard Arabic was expected to serve as the moral glue holding the Arab world together (Choueri, 2000 , as cited in Walters, 2019, p. 475). 11. WORK WITHOUT PAGE NUMBERS Instead of page numbers, some works have paragraph numbers, which you should include (preceded by the abbreviation para .) if you are referring to a specific part of such a source."
"Russell's dismissals from Trinity College at Cambridge and from City College in New York City have been seen as examples of the controversy that marked his life (Irvine, 2006, para. 2). In sources with neither page nor paragraph numbers, refer readers to a particular part of the source if possible, perhaps indicating a heading: (Brody, 2020, Introduction, para. 2). 12. AN ENTIRE WORK You do not need to give a page number if you are directing readers' attention to an entire work."
"Kaplan (2000) considered Turkey and Central Asia explosive. When you're citing an entire website, give the URL in the text. You do not need to include the website in your reference list. To document a webpage, see number 18 on page 374. Beyond providing diagnostic information, the website for the Alzheimer's Association (http://www.alz.org ) includes a variety of resources for the families of patients. 13."
"PERSONAL COMMUNICATION Document emails, telephone conversations, interviews, personal letters, messages from nonarchived online discussion sources, and other personal texts as personal communication , along with the person's initial(s), last name, and the date. You do not need to include such personal communications in your reference list. L. Strauss (personal communication, December 6, 2013) told about visiting Yogi Berra when they both lived in Montclair, New Jersey."
"Notes You may need to use footnotes to give an explanation or information that doesn't fit into your text. To signal a content footnote, place a superscript numeral at the appropriate point in your text. Include this information as a footnote, either at the bottom of that page or on a separate page with the heading Footnotes centered and in bold, after your reference list. If you have multiple notes, number them consecutively throughout your text."
"Here is an example from In Search of Solutions: A New Direction in Psychotherapy (2003). TEXT WITH SUPERSCRIPT An important part of working with teams and one-way mirrors is taking the consultation break, as at Milan, BFTC, and MRI. 1 FOOTNOTE 1 It is crucial to note here that while working with a team is fun, stimulating, and revitalizing, it is not necessary for successful outcomes. Solution-oriented therapy works equally well solo."
"Reference list A reference list provides full bibliographic information for every source cited in your text with the exception of entire websites, common computer software and mobile apps, and personal communications. See page 388 for guidelines on preparing such a list; for a sample reference list, see page 402 ."
"Key elements for documenting sources To document a source in APA style, you need to provide information about the author, the date, the title of the work you're citing, and the source itself (who published it; volume, issue, and page numbers; any DOI or URL). The following guidelines explain how to handle each of these elements generally, but there will be exceptions."
"For that reason, you'll want to consult the entries for the specific kinds of sources you're documenting; these entries provide templates showing which details you need to include. Be aware, though, that sometimes the templates will show elements that your source doesn't have; if that's the case, just omit those elements. AUTHORS Most entries begin with the author's last name, followed by the first and any middle initials: Smith, Z. for Zadie Smith; Kinder, D. R. for Donald R. Kinder."
" If the author is a group or organization, use its full name: Black Lives Matter, American Historical Association.  If there is no author, put the title of the work first, followed by the date.  If the author uses a screen name, first give their real name, followed by the screen name in brackets: Scott, B. [@BostonScott2]. If only the screen name is known, leave off the brackets: AvalonGirl1990. DATES Include the date of publication, in parentheses right after the author."
"Some sources require only the year; others require the year, month, and day; and still others require something else. Consult the entry in this chapter for the specific source you're documenting.  For a book, use the copyright year, which you'll find on the copyright page. If more than one year is given, use the most recent one.  For most magazine or newspaper articles, use the full date that appears on the work, usually the year followed by the month and day."
" For a journal article, use the year of the volume.  Give the volume and issue for journals and magazines that include that information. No need to give that information for newspapers.  For a work you found on a website, use the date when the work was last updated. If that information is not available, use the date when the work was published.  If a work has no date, use n.d. for no date.  For online content that is likely to change, include the month, day, and year when you retrieved it."
"No need to do so for materials that are unlikely to change. TITLES Capitalize only the first word and any PROPER NOUNS and adjectives in the title and subtitle of the work you're citing. But sometimes you'll also need to provide the title of a periodical or website where a source was found, and those are done differently: capitalize all the principal words (excluding articles and prepositions)."
" For books, reports, webpages, podcasts , and other works that stand on their own, italicize the title- White fragility, Radiolab, The 9/11 report . Do not italicize the titles of the sources where you found them, however: NPR, ProQuest.  For journal articles, book chapters, TV series episodes , and other works that are part of a larger work, do not italicize the title: The snowball effect, Not your average Joe. But do italicize the title of the larger work: The Atlantic, Game of thrones ."
" If a work has no title , include a description in square brackets after the date: [Painting of sheep on a hill].  If the title includes another title , italicize it: Frog and Toad and the self. If the title you're documenting is itself in italics, do not italicize the title within it: Stay, illusion! : The Hamlet doctrine ."
" For untitled social media posts or comments, include the first twenty words as the title, in italics and followed by a bracketed description: TIL pigeons can fly up to 700 miles in one day [Tweet]. SOURCE INFORMATION This indicates where the work can be found (in a database or on a website, for example) and includes information about the publisher; any volume, issue, and page numbers; and, for some sources, a DOI or URL."
"For books, films, and other works that stand on their own, the source might be a publisher, a database, or a website. For articles, essays, and works that are part of larger works, the source might be a magazine, an anthology, or a TV series. DOIS OR URLS Include a DOI (digital object identifier, a string of letters and numbers that identifies an online document) for any work that has one, whether you accessed the source in print or online."
"For an online work with no DOI, include a URL unless the work is from an academic database. You can use a short DOI (which you can find at shortdoi.org ) or a short URL (using tinyURL.com or another URL shortener) as long as it leads to the right source. Please note that all the documentation templates include DOIs; if the work you are documenting does not have one, just leave it off. Authors and other contributors Most entries begin with authors-one author, two authors, or twenty-five."
"And some include editors, translators, or others who've contributed. The following nine templates show you how to document the various kinds of authors and other contributors. 1. ONE AUTHOR Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year of publication). Title . Publisher. DOI or URL Lewis, M. (2003). Moneyball: The art of winning an unfair game . W. W. Norton. 2. TWO AUTHORS First Author's Last Name, Initials, &Second Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year of publication). Title . Publisher."
"DOI or URL Montefiore, S., &Montefiore, S. S. (2016). The royal rabbits of London . Aladdin. 3. THREE OR MORE AUTHORS For three to twenty authors, include all names. First Author's Last Name, Initials, Next Author's Last Name, Initials, &Final Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year of publication). Title . Publisher. DOI or URL Greig, A., Taylor, J., &MacKay, T. (2013). Doing research with children: A practical guide . (3rd ed.). Sage."
"For a work by twenty-one or more authors, name the first nineteen, followed by three ellipsis points, and end with the final author. 4. TWO OR MORE WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR List works published in different years chronologically. Lewis, B. (1995). The Middle East: A brief history of the last 2,000 years . Scribner. Lewis, B. (2003). The crisis of Islam: Holy war and unholy terror . Modern Library."
"If the works were published in the same year, list them alphabetically by title, adding a , b , and so on to the year. Kaplan, R. D. (2000a). The coming anarchy: Shattering the dreams of the post Cold War . Random House. Kaplan, R. D. (2000b). Eastward to Tartary: Travels in the Balkans, the Middle East, and the Caucasus . Random House. 5. AUTHOR AND EDITOR If a book has an author and an editor who is credited on the cover, include the editor in parentheses after the title. Author's Last Name, Initials."
"(Year of publication). Title . (Editor's Initials Last Name, Ed.). Publisher. DOI or URL (Original work published Year) Dick, P. F. (2008). Five novels of the 1960s and 70s . (J. Lethem, Ed.). Library of America. (Original works published 1964-1977) 6. AUTHOR AND TRANSLATOR Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year of publication). Title (Translator's Initials Last Name, Trans.). Publisher. DOI or URL (Original work published Year) Hugo, V. (2008). Les misrables (J. Rose, Trans.). Modern Library."
"(Original work published 1862) 7. EDITOR Editor's Last Name, Initials (Ed.). (Year of publication). Title . Publisher. DOI or URL Jones, D. (Ed.). (2007). Modern love: 50 true and extraordinary tales of desire, deceit, and devotion . Three Rivers Press. 8. UNKNOWN OR NO AUTHOR OR EDITOR Title. (Year of Publication). Publisher. DOI or URL Feeding habits of rams . (2000). Land's Point Press. Clues in salmonella outbreak. (2008, June 21). The New York Times , A13."
"If the author is listed as Anonymous, use that as the author's name. 9. ORGANIZATION OR GOVERNMENT AS AUTHOR Sometimes an organization or a government agency is both author and publisher. If so, omit the publisher. Organization Name or Government Agency. (Year of publication). Title . DOI or URL Catholic News Service. (2002). Stylebook on religion 2000: A reference guide . National Institute of Mental Health. (2004). Autism spectrum disorders ."
"Articles and other short works Articles, essays, reviews, and other short works are found in periodicals and books-in print, online, or in a database. For most short works, provide information about the author, the date, the titles of both the short work and the longer work, plus any volume and issue numbers, page numbers, and DOI or URL if there is one. 10. ARTICLE IN A JOURNAL Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal , volume (issue), page(s)."
"DOI or URL Gremer, J. R., Sala, A., &Crone, E. E. (2010). Disappearing plants: Why they hide and how they return. Ecology, 91 (11), 3407-3413. https://doi.org/10.1890/09-1864.1 11. ARTICLE IN A MAGAZINE If a magazine is published weekly, include the year, month, and day. Put any volume number and issue number after the title. Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Title of article . Title of Magazine , volume (issue), page(s). DOI or URL Klump, B. (2019, November 22). Of crows and tools."
"Science, 366 (6468), 965. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaz7775 12. ARTICLE IN A NEWSPAPER If page numbers are consecutive, separate them with an en dash. If not, separate them with a comma. Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper , page(s). URL Spencer, A. (2021, February 15). Backlash for film about autism. The New York Times , C1-C2. Schneider, G. (2005, March 13). Fashion sense on wheels. The Washington Post , F1, F6. 13."
"ARTICLE ON A NEWS WEBSITE Italicize the titles of articles on CNN, HuffPost, Salon, Vox , and other news websites. Do not italicize the name of the website. Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Title of article . Name of Site. URL Travers, C. (2019, December 3). Here's why you keep waking up at the same time every night . HuffPost. https://bit.ly/3drSwAR 14. JOURNAL ARTICLE FROM A DATABASE Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume (issue), pages."
"DOI Simpson, M. (1972). Authoritarianism and education: A comparative approach. Sociometry, 35 (2), 223-234. https://doi.org/10.2307/2786619 15. EDITORIAL Editorials can appear in journals, magazines, and newspapers. If the editorial is unsigned, put the title in the author position. Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Title of editorial [Editorial]. Title of Periodical . DOI or URL The Guardian view on local theatres: The shows must go on [Editorial]. (2019, December 6). The Guardian ."
"https://bit.ly/2VZHIUg 16. REVIEW Reviewer's Last Name, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Title of review [Review of the work Title , by Author's Initials Last Name]. Name of Periodical or Blog . DOI or URL Johnson, S. (2017, December 15). Mysteries unfold in a land of minarets and magic carpets [Review of the book The city of brass , by S. A. Chakraborty]. The New York Times . https://nyti.ms/2kvwHFP Documentation Map (APA) Article in a Journal with a DOI Guthrie, C. F. (2013)."
"Smart technology and the moral life. Ethics &Behavior , 23 (4), 324-337. https://doi.org/10.1080 /10508422.2013.787359 17. COMMENT ON AN ONLINE PERIODICAL ARTICLE OR BLOG POST Writer's Last Name, Initials. [username]. (Year, Month Day). Text of comment up to 20 words [Comment on the work Title of work]. Title of Publication . DOI or URL PhyllisSpecial. (2020, May 10). How about we go all the way again? It's about time . . ."
"[Comment on the article 2020 Eagles schedule: Picking wins and losses for all 16 games]. The Philadelphia Inquirer . https://rb.gy/iduabz If the author of the comment does not provide a real name, use the username without brackets. Simon. (2019, August 28). I've never read him, maybe I should? [Comment on the blog post H. P. Lovecraft. What am I doing wrong?]. Reader Witch . https://readerwitch.com/2019/08/26/lovecraft/ 18. WEBPAGE Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Title of work ."
"Title of Site. URL Pleasant, B. (n.d.). Annual bluegrass . The National Gardening Association. https://garden.org/learn/articles/view/2936/ If the author and the website name are the same, use the website name as the author. If the content of the webpage is likely to change and no archived version exists, use n.d. as the date and include a retrieval date. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019, December 2). When and how to wash your hands ."
"https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/when-how-handwashing.html Worldometer. (n.d.). World population . Retrieved February 2, 2020, from https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/ Documentation Map (APA) Webpage Lazette, M. P. (2015, February 24). A hurricane's hit to households . Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. https://www.clevelandfed.org/en/newsroom-and-events/publications/forefront /ff-v6n01/ff-20150224-v6n0107-a-hurricanes-hit-to -households.aspx Books, parts of books, and reports 19."
"BASIC ENTRY FOR A BOOK Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year of publication). Title. Publisher. DOI or URL PRINT BOOK Penny, L. (2008). A rule against murder . Minotaur Books. EBOOK Jemisin, N. K. (2017). The stone sky . Orbit. https://amzn.com/B01N7EQOFA AUDIOBOOK Obama, M. (2018). Becoming (M. Obama, Narr.) [Audiobook]. Random House Audio. http://amzn.com/B07B3JQZCL Include the word Audiobook in brackets and the name of the narrator only if you've mentioned the format and the narrator in what you've written."
"20. EDITION OTHER THAN THE FIRST Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year). Title (Name or number ed.). Publisher. DOI or URL Rowling, J. K. (2015). Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone (Illustrated ed.). Arthur A. Levine Books. Burch, D. (2008). Emergency navigation: Find your position and shape your course at sea even if your instruments fail (2nd ed.). International Marine/McGraw-Hill. Documentation Map (APA) Book Stiglitz, J. E. (2015). The great divide: Unequal societies and what we can do about them."
"W. W. Norton. 21. EDITED COLLECTION OR ANTHOLOGY Editor's Last Name, Initials (Ed.). (Year). Title (Name or number ed., Vol. number). Publisher. DOI or URL Gilbert, S. M., &Gubar, S. (Eds.). (2003). The Norton anthology of literature by women: The traditions in English (3rd ed., Vol. 2). W. W. Norton. 22. WORK IN AN EDITED COLLECTION OR ANTHOLOGY Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year of edited edition). Title of work. In Editor's Initials Last Name (Ed. ), Title of collection (Name or number ed., Vol."
"number, pp. pages). Publisher. DOI or URL (Original work published Year) Choi, Y. (2018). The art of losing. In H. Pitlor &R. Gay (Eds. ), The best American short stories 2018 (pp. 38-61). Houghton Mifflin. (Original work published 2017) Baldwin, J. (2018). Notes of a native son. In M. Puchner, S. Akbari, W. Denecke, B. Fuchs, C. Levine, P. Lewis, &E. Wilson (Eds. ), The Norton anthology of world literature (4th ed., Vol. F, pp. 728-743). W. W. Norton. (Original work published 1955) 23."
"CHAPTER IN AN EDITED BOOK Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year). Title of chapter. In Editor's Initials Last Name (Ed. ), Title of book (pp. pages). Publisher. DOI or URL Amarnick, S. (2009). Trollope at fuller length: Lord Silverbridge and the manuscript of The duke's children . In M. Markwick, D. Denenholz Morse, &R. Gagnier (Eds. ), The politics of gender in Anthony Trollope's novels: New readings for the twenty-first century (pp. 193-206). Routledge. 24."
"ENTRY IN A REFERENCE WORK If the entry has no author, use the name of the publisher as the author. If the reference work has an editor, include their name after the title of the entry. If the entry is archived or is not likely to change, use the publication date and do not include a retrieval date. Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year). Title of entry. In Editor's Initials Last Name (Ed. ), Title of reference work (Name or number ed., Vol. number, pp. pages). Publisher. URL Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Epoxy."
"In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary . Retrieved January 29, 2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epoxy 25. BOOK IN A LANGUAGE OTHER THAN ENGLISH Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year). Title of book [English translation of title]. Publisher. DOI or URL Ferrante, E. (2011). L ' amica geniale [My brilliant friend]. Edizione E/O. 26. ONE VOLUME OF A MULTIVOLUME WORK Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year). Title of entire work (Vol. number). Publisher. DOI or URL Spiegelman, A. (1986). Maus (Vol. 1)."
"Random House. If the volume has a separate title, include the volume number and title in italics after the main title. 27. RELIGIOUS WORK If the date of the original publication is known, include it at the end. Title . (Year of publication). Publisher. URL (Original work published Year) New American Bible . (2002). United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/_INDEX.HTM (Original work published 1970) 28."
"REPORT BY AN ORGANIZATION OR GOVERNMENT AGENCY Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year). Title (Report No. if there is one). Publisher. DOI or URL Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2009). Fourth national report on human exposure to environmental chemicals . US Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport/pdf/fourthreport.pdf Include the year, month, and day if the report you're documenting includes that information."
"If more than one government department is listed as the publisher, list the most specific department as the author and the larger department as the publisher. 29. DISSERTATION Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year). Title (Publication No. if there is one) [Doctoral dissertation, Name of School]. Database or Archive Name. URL Martin-Brualla, R. (2016). Exploring the world's visual history [Doctoral dissertation, University of Washington]. ResearchWorks."
"https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/handle/1773/37075 If the dissertation is in a database, do not include a URL. Solomon, M. (2016). Social media and self-examination: The examination of social media use on identity, social comparison, and self-esteem in young female adults (Publication No. 10188962) [Doctoral dissertation, William James College]. ProQuest Dissertations &Theses Global. 30. PAPER OR POSTER PRESENTED AT A CONFERENCE Presenter's Last Name, Initials."
"(Year, Month First Day-Last Day). Title [Paper or Poster presentation]. Name of Conference, City, State, Country. URL Dolatian, H., &Heinz, J. (2018, May 25-27). Reduplication and finite-state technology [Paper presentation]. The 53rd Annual Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society, Chicago, United States."
"http://chicagolinguisticsociety.org/public/CLS53_Booklet.pdf Audio, visual, and other sources If you are citing an entire website, do not include it in your reference list; simply mention the website's name in the body of your paper and include the URL in parentheses. Email, personal communication, or other unarchived discussions also do not need to be included in your list of references. 31."
"WIKIPEDIA ENTRY Wikipedia archives its pages so give the date when you accessed the page and the URL of the version you're citing. Title of entry. (Year, Month Day). In Wikipedia . URL List of sheep breeds. (2019, September 9). In Wikipedia . https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_sheep_breeds &oldid=914884262 32. ONLINE FORUM POST Author's Last Name, Initials [username]. (Year, Month Day). Content of the post up to 20 words [Online forum post]. Name of Site. URL Hanzus, D. [DanHanzus]."
"(2019, October 23). GETCHA DAN HANZUS. ASK ME ANYTHING! [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://bit.ly/38WgmSF 33. BLOG POST Author's Last Name, Initials [username]. (Year, Month Day). Title of post. Name of Blog. URL gcrepps. (2017, March 28). Shania Sanders. Women@NASA . https://blogs.nasa.gov/womenatnasa/2017/03/28/shania-sanders/ If only the username is known, use it without brackets. 34. ONLINE STREAMING VIDEO Uploader's Last Name, Initials [username]. (Year, Month Day). Title [Video]."
"Name of Video Platform. URL CinemaSins. (2014, August 21). Everything wrong with National Treasure in 13 minutes or less [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ul-_ZWvXTs Whoever uploaded the video is considered the author, even if someone else created the content. If only a username is known, use it without brackets. 35. PODCAST Host's Last Name, Initials (Host). (First Year-Last Year). Podcast name [Audio podcast]. Production Company. URL Poor, N., Woods, E., &Thomas, R. (Hosts)."
"(2017-present). Ear hustle [Audio podcast). PRX. https://www.earhustlesq.com/ 36. PODCAST EPISODE Host's Last Name, Initials (Host). (Year, Month Day). Episode title (No. episode number if any) [Audio podcast episode]. In Podcast name . Production Company. URL Tamposi, E., &Samocki, E. (Hosts). (2020, January 8). The year of the broads [Audio podcast episode]. In The broadcast podcast . Podcast One. https://podcastone.com/episode/the-year-of-the-broads 37. FILM Director's Last Name, Initials (Director)."
"(Year). Title [Film]. Production Company. URL Cuarn, A. (Director). (2016). Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban [Film; two-disc special ed. on DVD]. Warner Brothers. Jenkins, B. (Director). (2016). Moonlight [Film]. A24; Plan B; PASTEL. Indicate how you watched the film only if the format is relevant to what you've written. 38. TELEVISION SERIES Executive Producer's Last Name, Initials (Executive Producer). (First Year-Last Year). Title of series [TV series]. Production Company."
"URL Iungerich, L., Gonzalez, E., &Haft, J. (Executive Producers). (2018-present). On my block [TV series]. Crazy Cat Lady Productions. Indicate how you watched the TV series (2-disc DVD set, for example) only if the format is relevant to what you've written. 39. TELEVISION SERIES EPISODE Last Name, Initials (Writer), &Last Name, Initials (Director). (Year, Month Day). Title of episode (Season number, Episode number) [TV series episode]. In Initials Last Name (Executive Producer), Title of series ."
"Production Company. URL Siegal, J. (Writer), Morgan, D. (Writer), &Sackett, M. (Director). (2018, December 6). Janet(s) (Season 3, Episode 10) [TV series episode]. In M. Schur, D. Miner, M. Sackett, &D. Goddard (Executive Producers), The good place . Fremulon; 3 Arts Entertainment; Universal Television. 40. MUSIC ALBUM Artist's Last Name, Initials. (Year). Title of album [Album]. Label. Lennox, A. (1995). Medusa [Album]. Arista. 41. SONG Artist's Last Name, Initials. (Year). Name of song [Song]."
"On Title of album . Label. Giddens, R. (2015). Shake sugaree [Song]. On Tomorrow is my turn . Nonesuch. 42. POWERPOINT SLIDES Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Title of presentation [PowerPoint slides]. Publisher. URL Pavliscak, P. (2016, February 21). Finding our happy place in the internet of things [PowerPoint slides]. Slideshare. https://bit.ly/3aOcfs7 43. RECORDING OF A SPEECH OR WEBINAR Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Title [Speech audio recording or Webinar]. Publisher."
"URL Kennedy, J. F. (1961, January 20). Inaugural address [Speech audio recording]. American Rhetoric. https://bit.ly/339Gc3e Rodrigo, S. (2020, March 19). Keep calm (and compassionate) &move everything online [Webinar]. W. W. Norton. https://seagull.wwnorton.com/CompositionTeachingOnline 44. MAP Mapmaker's Last Name, Initials. (Year). Title of map [Map]. Publisher. URL Daniels, M. (2018). Human terrain: Visualizing the world's population, in 3D [Map]. The Pudding. https://pudding.cool/2018/10/city_3d/ 45."
"SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS If only the username or organization is known, provide it without brackets. List any attachments (e.g., videos, images, or links) in brackets. Replicate any emoji or include a bracketed description. Do not change spelling or capitalization in a social media reference, even if it looks wrong. Author's Last Name, Initials [@username]. (Year, Month Day). Content of post up to 20 words [Description of any attachments] [Type of post]. Platform. URL TWEET Baron, D. [@DrGrammar]."
"(2019, November 11). Gender conceal: Did you know that pronouns can also hide someone's gender? [Thumbnail with link attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://bit.ly/2vaCcDc INSTAGRAM PHOTOGRAPH OR VIDEO Jamil, J. [@jameelajamilofficial]. (2018, July 18). Happy Birthday to our leader. I steal all my acting faces from you . @kristenanniebell [Face with smile and sunglasses emoji] [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/BlYX5F9FuGL/ FACEBOOK POST Black Lives Matter. (2015, October 23). Rise and grind!"
"Did you sign this petition yet? We now have a sign on for ORGANIZATIONS to lend their [Image attached]. Facebook. www.facebook.com/BlackLivesMatter/photos/a.294807204023865.1073741829.180212755483 311/504711973033386/?type=3 &theater 46. DATA SET Author's Last Name, Initials. (Year). Title of data set (Version number if there is one) [Data set]. Publisher. DOI or URL Pew Research Center. (2019). Core trends survey [Data set]."
"https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/dataset/core-trends-survey/ If the publisher is the author, no need to list it twice. 47. SUPREME COURT CASE Name of Case, volume US pages (year). URL Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 US 537 (1896). https://www.oyez.org/cases/1850-1900/163us537 Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 US ___ (2015). https://www.oyez.org/cases/2014/14-556 The source for most Supreme Court cases is United States Reports, which is abbreviated US in the reference list entry."
"If the case does not yet have a page number, use three underscores instead. Sources not covered by APA To document a source for which APA does not provide guidelines, look at models similar to the source you have cited. Give any information readers will need in order to find the source themselves-author; date of publication; title; and information about the source itself (including who published it; volume, issue, and page numbers; and a DOI or URL)."
"You might want to check your reference note to be sure it will lead others to your source. Formatting a research essay Title page . APA generally requires a title page. The page number should go in the upper right-hand corner. Center the full title of the paper in bold in the top half of the page. Center your name, the name of your department and school, the course number and name, the instructor's name, and the due date on separate lines below the title. Leave one line between the title and your name."
"Page numbers . Place the page number in the upper right-hand corner. Number pages consecutively throughout. Fonts, spacing, margins, and indents . Use a legible font that will be accessible to everyone, either a serif font (such as Times New Roman or Bookman) or a sans serif font (such as Calibri or Verdana). Use a sans serif font within figure images."
"Double-space the entire paper, including any notes and your list of references; the only exception is footnotes at the bottom of a page, which should be single-spaced, and tables and images, where the spacing will vary. Leave one-inch margins at the top, bottom, and sides of your text; do not justify the text. The first line of each paragraph should be indented one-half inch (or five to seven spaces) from the left margin. APA recommends using one space after end-of-sentence punctuation. Headings ."
"Though they are not required in APA style, headings can help readers follow your text. The first level of heading should be bold and centered; the second level should be bold and flush with the left margin; the third level should be bold, italicized, and flush left. Capitalize the first word and all other important words; do not capitalize a, an, the , or PREPOSITIONS . First Level Heading Second Level Heading Third Level Heading. Abstract ."
"An abstract is a concise summary of your paper that introduces readers to your topic and main points. Most scholarly journals require an abstract; an abstract is not typically required for student papers, so check your instructor's preference. Put your abstract on the second page, with the word Abstract centered and in bold at the top. Unless your instructor specifies a length, limit your abstract to 250 words or fewer. Long quotations ."
"Indent quotations of forty or more words one-half inch (or five to seven spaces) from the left margin. Do not use quotation marks, and place the page number(s) or documentation information in parentheses after the end punctuation. If there are paragraphs in the quotation, indent the first line of each paragraph another one-half inch."
"Kaplan (2000) captured ancient and contemporary Antioch: At the height of its glory in the Roman-Byzantine age, when it had an amphitheater, public baths, aqueducts, and sewage pipes, half a million people lived in Antioch. Today the population is only 125,000. With sour relations between Turkey and Syria, and unstable politics throughout the Middle East, Antioch is now a backwater-seedy and tumbledown, with relatively few tourists."
"(p. 123) Antioch's decline serves as a reminder that the fortunes of cities can change drastically over time. List of references . Start your list on a new page after the text but before any endnotes. Title the page References , centered and in bold, and double-space the entire list. Each entry should begin at the left margin, and subsequent lines should be indented one-half inch (or five to seven spaces). Alphabetize the list by authors' last names (or by editors' names, if appropriate)."
"Alphabetize works that have no author or editor by title, disregarding a , an , and the . Be sure every source listed is cited in the text; do not include sources that you consulted but did not cite. Tables and figures . Above each table or figure (charts, diagrams, graphs, photos, and so on), write Table or Figure and a number, flush left and in bold (e.g., Table 1 ). On the following line, give a descriptive title, flush left and italicized."
"Below the table or figure, include a note with any necessary explanation and source information. Number tables and figures separately, and be sure to discuss them in your text so that readers know how they relate. Table 1 Hours of Instruction Delivered per Week American classrooms Japanese classrooms Chinese classrooms First grade Language arts 10.5 8.7 10.4 Mathematics 2.7 5.8 4.0 Fifth grade Language arts 7.9 8.0 11.1 Mathematics 3.4 7.8 11.7 Note."
"Adapted from Peeking Out from Under the Blinders: Some Factors We Shouldn't Forget in Studying Writing , by J. R. Hayes, 1991, National Center for the Study of Writing and Literacy (https://archive.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/720 ). Glossary PARAPHRASE, 284-85, 290-92 To reword a text in about the same number of words but without using the word order or sentence structure of the original."
"Paraphrasing is generally called for when you want to include the details of a passage but do not need to QUOTE it word for word. Paraphrasing a source in academic writing requires DOCUMENTATION . See also PATCHWRITING SUMMARIZE To use your own words and sentence structure to condense someone else's text into a version that gives the main ideas of the original. In academic writing, summarizing requires DOCUMENTATION ."
"See PATCHWRITING QUOTE, 285-90 To cite someone else's words exactly as they were said or written. Quotation is most effective when the wording is worth repeating or makes a point so well that no rewording will do it justice or when you want to cite someone's exact words. Quotations in academic writing need to be acknowledged with DOCUMENTATION . SIGNAL PHRASES, 293-94 Words used to attribute QUOTED , SUMMARIZED , or PARAPHRASED material to a source, as in according to X or Z claims ."
"DOI A digital object identifier, a stable number identifying the location of a source accessed through a database. PREPOSITION A word or group of words that tells about the relationship of a NOUN or a PRONOUN to another word in the sentence. Some common prepositions are after, at, before, behind, between, by, for, from, in, of, on, to, under, until, with , and without . PROPER NOUN A NOUN that names a specific person, place, or thing ( Steph Curry, Brazil, Google )."
"Student research essay, APA style Eli Vale is a student at Texas A &M University, San Antonio, where he is majoring in kinesiology. He wrote this essay for his Composition 2 course, one in which students spent the entire semester researching and writing about a topic of their choice."
"Vale wrote about the challenges that nurses in San Antonio face-and he then revised the essay for this book in order to address how a situation that did not exist when he first wrote it affected those nurses: the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to being a full-time student, Vale works as a rehab aide at a hospital in San Antonio, so his essay is based in part on his own firsthand observations and interviews. Student Research Essay, APA Style Page number appears in upper right corner."
"1 The Causes of Burnout in San Antonio Nurses- And Some Possible Solutions Name is centered below the title, with 1 double-spaced line in between. Eli Nicholas Vale Department of Language, Literature, and Arts Texas A &M University, San Antonio English 1302: Composition 2 Professor Sarah Dwyer May 22, 2020 Abstract begins a new page. Heading is bold and centered. Abstract text does not need a paragraph indent."
"2 Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has led to widespread recognition of the heroic actions that nurses take every day. It has also shed light on the many stressors that nurses face even under the best circumstances-stressors that can lead to burnout. Nurses experience burnout due to problematic nurse-to-patient ratios, intense physical and mental demands, and a lack of necessary breaks. This paper explores these causes of burnout in nurses and suggests solutions based on leading research in the field."
"The demands of caring for many patients at one time affects the physical and emotional health of nurses, long shifts with few breaks even to sit and eat can cause other physical strain including musculoskeletal disorders, and the nature of the medical field can leave nurses in complicated and stressful legal situations without clear legal protection. Burnout can appear as exhaustion, depersonalization, and frequent illness."
"Once burnout is recognized and acknowledged, a crucial first step, hospitals can start to consider solutions. These solutions include mandatory breaks from work, better staffing regulation, discounted therapy, and an increase in physical and legal protection. A damaged healthcare system has created the burnout experienced routinely by nurses, which is harmful to the nurses themselves and to their patients, and contributes to high turnover rates."
"Implementing solutions to nurse burnout is key in providing the best possible care for both patients and hospital employees. 3 The Causes of Burnout in San Antonio Nurses- And Some Possible Solutions Hospitals today are facing challenges never seen prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. Of all medical personnel, nurses are at the forefront of the battle against this virus. Consider the experiences, for example, of one nurse working in the coronavirus unit at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, Texas."
"Here's how this nurse (who wished to remain anonymous and will be referred to as Nurse A) described her work with COVID-19 patients: As a COVID nurse, you become everything the patient could possibly need. You are the phlebotomist, physical therapist, respiratory therapist, patient care tech, and housekeeper. But most importantly, you become their family in this time of need (personal communication, May 12, 2020) ."
"This is because family members are not allowed to visit loved ones who are in isolation, even if they are dying; as a result, a nurse is their last comforter, holding their hand as they pass away. Such experiences take a large emotional toll on COVID nurses. In fact, Nurse A (personal communication, May 12, 2020) said that the mental stress is greater than the physical stress."
"Even the process of gowning up and making sure all personal protective equipment (PPE) is clean and worn securely can be nerve wracking. Changing out of her clothes and then putting on the gown, mask, face shield, and gloves takes time and mental energy, even before she enters the patient's room. And when she leaves the room, she has to make sure all PPE are taken off in a way that does not contaminate other surfaces. And then she must repeat this process each time she enters and exits a patient's room."
"Because of the increased responsibilities and stressful conditions, however, Nurse A (personal communication, May 12, 2020) reported that the nurses in her unit are being treated better than they were before the pandemic. COVID nurses have meals provided throughout the day and have ready access to bathrooms, both hard to come by in regular shifts."
"She pointed out that it took a global pandemic to recognize the need for safer nurse-to-patient ratios, lunch breaks, and bathroom breaks-and to finally recognize the heroic work being done by nurses, work they have always done every single day. 4 1 margins on all sides."
"These improved conditions have diminished since the virus surged, and in later communication Nurse A (personal communication, August 4, 2020) said the situation in the COVID unit was vastly different than it had been prior to the surge, with nurses responsible for as many as five patients at a time. A single nurse caring for so many patients in serious condition creates a dangerous amount of stress. However, stress is something these nurses are familiar with: they have dealt with exhaustion for a long time."
"In fact, while nurses are finally being recognized as heroes during this pandemic, they have always played an essential though often unappreciated role in the Bexar County healthcare system. According to the Texas Board of Nursing (2018) , there are 11,161 registered nurses employed at inpatient and outpatient facilities in Bexar County. Nurses who work in hospital settings are likely to deal with many more daily stressors than nurses at other facilities."
"Many of these nurses are employed at some of the most well-known healthcare systems in San Antonio, including Methodist Hospital, Baptist Medical Center, University Hospital, and Christus Santa Rosa Medical Center (Hernandez, 2018). Unfortunately, in spite of some improvements like those described by Nurse A, the working conditions at these well-known hospitals continue to undermine their nurses' ability to provide optimal care to patients."
"5 In San Antonio, a damaged healthcare system has created an epidemic of dangerous nursing conditions. In many cases, the ratio of nurses to patients is problematic, and nurses have to take on more patients than they should. This can affect patient care, and the demands of caring for too many patients at one time can also impact nurses' own physical, emotional, and mental health. Together, these conditions put nurses at risk of experiencing burnout."
"Signs of such burnout include exhaustion, a lack of interest in personal interaction with others, and frequent illness (Nursing.org, n.d.). In sum, problematic nurse-to-patient ratios, intense physical demands, insufficient breaks, and mental health issues create dangerous stress, which can lead to burnout. The city of San Antonio needs to recognize these issues and come up with solutions to prevent them."
"Potential solutions include a permanently lowered nurse-to-patient ratio, mandatory lunch breaks, increased security, and discounted physical and mental health therapy for nurses. For a closer look at how damaging such burnout can be, Nursing.org (n.d.) provided a succinct description of its signs and symptoms: Nurse burnout is caused by many different work-related issues."
"Nurses deal with death on a regular basis, and the emotional strain of losing patients and assisting grieving family members may become overwhelming. In addition, long shifts of 12 or more hours often lead to exhaustion and stress. (Causes of Nursing Burnout) Nursing.org (n.d.) went on to suggest the need to recognize those symptoms: The most important thing is to recognize symptoms as early as possible before they become overwhelming."
"No matter how minute warning signs may seem at the time, it's crucial to listen to your body and mind. All healthcare professionals should be familiar with potential burnout symptoms and should be prepared to deal with them as quickly as possible. (Warning Signs and Symptoms of Nursing Burnout) 6 Year follows authors' names, and page number follows direct quote."
"The first step toward solving the issue of nurse burnout, as Nursing.org (n.d.) pointed out, is to recognize the signs of burnout and start to combat their causes in the workplace. As Reineck and Furino (2005) concluded in a study on nursing careers: Not only does workload take a toll on the nurse, but also affects the quality of care (p. 30). Recognizing and reducing nurse burnout is crucial for the well-being of both the nurses and their patients."
"Insufficient Staffing Insufficient staffing is one of the primary causes of burnout, including shortages of registered nurses on overnight shifts and of supporting staff such as certified nursing assistants and patient care assistants in all shifts (Reineck &Furino, 2005) . To provide some context for the situation in San Antonio, consider how many nurses there are (20,972) relative to the overall population (1,988,364). Keep in mind that the entire population of nurses-20,972-is not employed at hospitals."
"This total includes nurses who work in schools, home health agencies, and other settings that are less strenuous than hospitals. Table 1 compares the nurse-to-patient ratio in Bexar County (all of it in San Antonio) with that in another county in Texas and calculates how many nurses there are per 100,000 people. Table 1 shows that nurses in Bexar County have to care for many more patients than those in Bastrop County."
"In other words, Bastrop County is more equipped to give patients the care they need; if 100,000 people were to become ill in Bastrop County, each nurse would need to care for 2.369% of those patients. On the other hand, if 100,000 people were to fall ill in Bexar County (San Antonio), each nurse would have to care for 10.54% of them, creating a dangerous ratio of nurses to population in San Antonio."
"7 Table 1 Ratio of Nurses to Population in Bastrop and Bexar Counties 2018 Population 2018 RN Total Ratio of RNs to 100,000 Population Bastrop 94,545 citizens 224 nurses 224 nurses caring for 94,545 citizens 224 nurses = 236.9 nurses = 2.369% 94,545 citizens Bastrop Ratio 100,000 citizens Comparison Ratio Based on the number of nurses in Bastrop County, each nurse would have to care for 2.369% of a population of 100,000. The higher the percentage, the more patients each nurse needs to care for."
"Therefore, as the percentage increases, there is a lower number of nurses available to sufficiently care for the population. 2018 Population 2018 RN Total Ratio of RNs to 100,000 Population Bexar 1,988,364 citizens 20,972 nurses 20,972 nurses caring for 1,988,364 citizens 20,972 nurses = 1,054 nurses = 10.54% 1,988,364 citizens Bexar Ratio 100,000 citizens Comparison Ratio Based on the number of nurses in Bastrop County, each nurse would have to care for 10.54% of a population of 100,000."
"These statistics indicate that Bexar County, which San Antonio encompasses, faces dangerous nurse-to-patient ratios due to a high population and a proportionately low number of nurses. Note . Data from the Texas Department of State Health Services (2018). 8 Potential staffing solutions could include a set nurse-to-patient ratio of 1:3. Hospitals could also have a staff of on-call nurses, which would help maintain the nurse-to-patient ratio even when patient admissions increase. Notes what others might think."
"When presented with evidence of insufficient staffing, people outside the nursing profession might argue that measuring the nursing population relative to the general population is misleading, given that not every person in Bexar County seeks treatment at the same time. Others might note that most nurses chose to pursue a career in a fast-paced work environment despite the risks and challenges."
"The shortage of nurses in San Antonio could also be attributed to factors outside of a hospital administration's control, such as a lack of younger nurses to take the place of the many older nurses in San Antonio who regularly go into retirement (Pelayo, 2013). We might address the need for more young nurses by encouraging students to go into hospital nursing as a way to gain hands-on experience, rather than going straight into non-clinical nursing roles."
"But many potential nurses may look at the job description and feel that the paycheck is not worth the intense work demands. And increasing the base pay might then impact the number of nurses hired, as the hospital would have to distribute costs. Another option is to promote bridge programs, in which student nurses take classes at a community college or university while completing their clinical work at an affiliated hospital, which then hires the nurses upon graduation."
"This would offer young nurses guaranteed employment once they graduate while also helping to solve the hospital's staffing shortage. 9 Intense Physical and Mental Demands Another major cause of burnout is the intense physical and mental demands of nursing. A significant part of a nurse's everyday regimen includes standing for prolonged periods, lifting patients, and pushing wheelchairs and gurneys, all of which can harm a nurse's physical health."
"The most common nursing injury is a strained back, but other physical stress points include sore shoulders from pushing wheelchairs and gurneys and injuries from falling while they work (Fohn, 2014). Nurses typically stand for most of their shift, leading to foot and knee complications and foot pain. Regardless of their fitness level, they are required to lift and transport immobile patients."
"As a result of this continuous lifting and bending, nurses are at a high risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders (Fohn, 2014). While hospitals cannot eliminate the heavy physical demands of the job, they can help nurses manage such complications by providing discounted physical therapy sessions. A physical therapist can treat the aches, strains, and injuries that accumulate over long shifts, helping alleviate the fatigue and pain and other physical symptoms of burnout."
"Providing this kind of help would increase nurses' productivity. Mental health issues also contribute to burnout. While many nurses in San Antonio are passionate about the care they provide to patients, that care sometimes presents life-and-death choices. As a result, nurses can become excessively worried and anxious about their work. Across the country, the nursing profession has been shown to be incredibly taxing on the mental well-being of employees."
"In a study conducted on 332 hospital nurses in Colorado, 86% showed symptoms of burnout (Mealer et al., 2009). And burnout was not the only mental health concern found; other psychological conditions included PTSD, depression, and anxiety (Mealer et al., 2009). 10 Hospital administrators also need to respond to the psychological effects this profession can have. To ensure the mental health of nursing staff, hospitals should offer a healthcare-worker hotline."
"Nurses struggling with the death of a patient would be able to call this hotline for support. As with physical therapy, nurses should be offered discounted psychiatric therapy sessions. Helping nurses take care of their mental health would help prevent psychological symptoms of burnout such as irritability, dissociation, or depression. Some of the most stressful situations are when patients become violent."
"And nurses who are threatened or assaulted by a patient cannot engage in self-defense without risk of losing their licenses. It wasn't until 2013 that a nurse assaulted by a patient could expect any legal defense at all. In that year, Governor Rick Perry signed a bill stating that assaulting a nurse will result in punishment ranging from a Class A misdemeanor to a third-degree felony (Emergency Nurses Association, 2013) -a welcome, if somewhat late, protection for nurses."
"Especially when life-and-death choices are on the line, emotions take over, leading to a patient confronting the caregiver or the patient's family expressing anger toward hospital staff. Some of those observing such confrontations may point out that it is reasonable for people to become aggressive when there are serious choices to be made. Families might feel worried or scared for their loved one. Or the patient might be very frightened and exhausted from treatment."
"However, not every such confrontation is fueled by legitimate emotions, and sometimes nurses are confronted by irrational verbal and even physical violence. 11 Preventing such dangerous confrontations calls for increased security in hospital units, which should be based on patient capacity. Using the same strategy as for nurse-to-patient ratios to maintain optimum patient care, hospitals should adopt a reasonable security-to-patient ratio in each hospital unit of 1:50."
"Having one officer present for every 50 patients in a hospital unit would provide nurses with increased safety in the event of an assault. Additional officers should also be present in any unit housing hostile patients. For example, once any patients have threatened to harm themselves or others, an officer should remain in their rooms so that nurses can continue providing care without risking their own safety. Hospitals also need to regulate visitors. First, patients must approve all visitors."
"This requirement will help prevent abusive family members from assaulting patients or staff. In addition, no one with a record of violence, assault, or abuse should be allowed to visit. Not admitting visitors who have a history of confrontation and aggression will help decrease the frequency of violence in hospitals. Nurses in San Antonio will then be able to trust that they are safe and can put all their focus on patient care."
"Skipping Necessary Breaks Skipping meals and even bathroom breaks is a third cause of burnout among nurses. To alleviate the stress of long shifts, hospitals should require nurses to take a lunch break. An uninterrupted lunch break would not only enable nurses to take care of their own basic needs, but would also help prevent fatigue and low blood sugar levels by allowing them to rehydrate. Depending on the patient load, a nurse should have a minimum break of 30 minutes and a maximum of one hour."
"Nurses working 12-hour shifts should have an hour break. Unfortunately, nurses in Texas are not legally entitled to take lunch breaks (Texas Workforce Commission, n.d.). Medical employers take advantage of the fine print, which is why many nurses go without any breaks at all and administrators face few if any penalties. 12 We all know that in this time of pandemic, COVID nurses in San Antonio (and everywhere) are working heroically in unbelievably stressful conditions."
"But all nurses, even those working in non-COVID units, are experiencing burnout due to problematic nurse-to-patient ratios, intense physical and mental demands, and the lack of necessary breaks. To help prevent nurse burnout, hospital administrators need to consider more staffing, discounted therapy sessions, and mandatory lunch breaks. San Antonio's nurses are taking on more patients than they can handle, which affects the quality of care they can provide."
"In order to deliver the best care to patients in the Bexar County area, we need to deliver the best care to those who look after them-remembering that they are our lifelines, the heroes we cannot do without. 13 References List of references begins a new page. Entries are arranged alphabetically by author's last name. Entries flush left; subsequent lines indent  or 5 spaces. Emergency Nurses Association. (2013)."
"Emergency Nurses Association applauds Texas legislation that raises assaults against emergency department personnel to third degree felony . https://prnewswire.com/news-releases/emergency-nurses-association-applauds-texas-legislatio n-that-raises-assaults-against-emergency-department-personnel-to-third-degree-felony-212198 351.html Fohn, R. (2014, December 4). Stress test: Researchers studying soaring stress levels among nurses. Mission ."
"uthscsa.edu/mission/stress-test-researchers-studying-soaring-stress-levels-among-nurses/ Hernandez, K. (2018, July 27). Largest San Antonio hospitals by beds. San Antonio Business Journal . https://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/subscriber-only/2018/07/27/hospitals-by-beds.html Mealer, M., Burnham, E. L., Goode, C. J., Rothbaum, B., &Moss, M. (2009). The prevalence and impact of post traumatic stress disorder and burnout syndrome in nurses."
"Depression &Anxiety, 26 (12), 1118-1126. http://doi.org.10.1002/da.20631 Nursing.org. (n.d.). Nurse burnout . Retrieved April 18, 2019, from https://www.nursing.org/resources/nurse-burnout/ Pelayo, L. W. (2013). Responding to the nursing shortage: Collaborations in an innovative paradigm for nursing education. Nursing Education Perspectives, 34 (5), 351-352. Reineck, C., &Furino, A. (2005, January-February). Nursing career fulfillment: Statistics and statements from registered nurses."
"Nursing Economic$, 23 (1). Texas Board of Nursing. (2018). Practice-Peer review: Incident-based or safe harbor . Retrieved January 24, 2019, from https://www.bon.texas.gov/practice_peer_review.asp 14 Texas Department of State Health Services. (2018, November 29). Registered nurses, 2018 . Texas Health and Human Services. https://www.dshs.texas.gov/chs/hprc/tables/2018/RN18.aspx Texas Workforce Commission. (n.d.). Fair Labor Standards Act-What it does and does not do ."
"Retrieved April 18, 2019, from https://twc.texas.gov/news/efte/flsa_does_and_ doesnt_do.html Endnotes  Title is bold and centered. Return to text  Title is bold and centered. Return to text  Personal communications are documented in-text but are not included on the references list. Return to text  In-text documentation that includes only the date goes right after the author. Return to text  Signal phrases are in past tense."
Return to text  Parenthetical documentation follows the punctuation in a block quote. Return to text  2 authors in parenthetical documentation are linked with ampersand. Return to text  Table number is bold and left justified. Descriptive title is italicized and appears below table number. Return to text  Source information is given in table note. Return to text  Headings help organize the essay. Return to text  Past tense is used to discuss the results of a study.
"Return to text  Parenthetical documentation goes right after the information cited, so it is not always at the end of a sentence. Return to text  DOI is provided when one is available. Return to text  Retrieval date is included when the content of an online source may change. Return to text PART 5 LANGUAGE &STYLE / GET ATTENTION Chapter 22 Getting &Keeping Attention GOOD WRITING IS . . . STILL ONE OF THE BEST TOOLS WE HAVE TO GET AND CAPTURE PEOPLE'S ATTENTION."
"-ROBIN SLOAN Once upon a time-and for a very long time, too-style in writing meant ornamentation, dressing up your language the way you might dress up for a fancy party. In fact, ancient images often show rhetoric as a woman, Dame Rhetorica, in a gaudy, flowing gown covered with figures of speech-metaphors, similes, alliteration, hyperbole, and so on: her stylish ornaments. This view eventually led many writers to view style as mere decoration. But not today."
"Not in a time of instantaneous communication, of being inundated with messages of all kinds-news, posts, notifications, ads-all of them coming at us with the force of a fire hose. In such a time, how can we get others to pay attention to what we say or write? I believe the best answer to this question is by attending carefully to our use of language and style. And by style I mean how a message is presented, not simply what it says. In this view, style isn't just the use of pretty language."
"Rather, it is a crucial element in making a message effective, memorable, compelling-and heard. Dame Rhetorica, from Gregor Reisch's Margarita Philosophica (1504). Today, then, style and substance are inseparable, and style is more important than ever before for getting and holding an audience's attention."
"Rhetorician Richard Lanham argues that the most important task facing writers and speakers today is not learning as much as possible about a subject or presenting the most convincing evidence to support a claim about that subject. Rather, the most important task today is getting the attention of those we want to address!"
"For a dramatic example, think of CLICKBAIT , those provocative headlines or subject lines that are intended solely to grab readers' attention and pull them into an article, regardless of whether they are accurate or not: Man tries to hug mountain lion: guess what happens next! She changed her name for a horrible reason."
"Now she tells why. Was Amelia Earhart eaten by coconut crabs? These headlines fairly shout click on me! Marketers tell us that shocking readers is an effective way of getting their attention, though perhaps not always in holding it. And these days, getting and holding attention is sometimes a pretty desperate business. Lady Gaga recalls a time before she was well known and was singing in jazz bars in New York."
"One evening she faced a crowd of loud college students who would not be quiet; she just couldn't seem to get their attention. What did she do? Undressed down to her underwear, singing all the time-and getting, in short order, a very attentive audience. Later she said that night marked a kind of turning point for her, when she learned the importance of being able to command attention. Commanding attention is definitely a challenge in a time when we are so frequently drowning in information."
"This chapter provides some time-tested strategies for doing so-without taking your clothes off! Glossary CLICKBAIT, 408 On the internet, headlines or links designed to get readers to read something or to increase page views. GETTING ATTENTION In ancient Rome, orators often spoke in large outdoor amphitheaters, without the aid of microphones or visual aids. The technology they used was the human voice, which they trained to perfection so that they could project and be heard by thousands of people."
"Researchers are still trying to figure out how they did it, but we can assume that these speakers commanded attention through the sounds and rhythms of their voices as well as of the words they chose to use. So it's important to remember that these words count: getting attention will usually backfire if you don't have anything important, meaningful, or entertaining to say. Fortunately, speakers and writers today have many more tools available for drawing an audience's attention."
"Here are some that you may want to take advantage of. Attention-getting titles While you'll want to avoid the kind of exaggerated titles that are not followed up with substance, choosing provocative and memorable titles is a good way to command attention. One student writing about the architecture of her hometown began with a title that was less than inspired: A Brief Look at Chicago's Architecture. That title was certainly clear, but it didn't do much to attract attention."
"After some thought and response from friends, she came up with a revision: Sweet Home Chicago: Preserving the Past and Protecting the Future of the Windy City. This title refers to the blues song Sweet Home Chicago, as well as to the well-known saying home sweet home. And the subtitle fills in details of what the essay will be about. See pp. 92-93 for more examples of effective titles."
"Here are several other ways that titles can get an audience's attention:  A puzzling statement can interest readers in finding out what it means. A science student writing about the need for additional research on Lyme disease chose The Mystery of Post-Lyme Disease Syndrome, thinking that readers might be attracted to the mysterious aspect of her topic.  A provocative question can call out to readers."
"One student writing about clubs at her university chose Minority Clubs: Integration or Segregation? Here the title states the subject, while the subtitle poses an unexpected question.  An intriguing allusion can make readers want to read on. The title of an article in Wired caught my attention with an allusion: Dr. Elon and Mr. Musk recalls Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and made me want to find out how the author would connect the two."
"Start strong, get readers interested The OPENING sentences in your writing carry big responsibilities when it comes to drawing your readers in by arousing their interest and curiosity. Whether you're writing a college essay or a business report, the way it begins has a lot to do with whether your audience will stay with you."
"Georgina Kleege opens the introduction to a collection of essays entitled Sight Unseen with this enigmatic and arresting statement: Writing this book made me blind. Readers immediately want to ask why? Kleege goes on to explain that while she is just as blind as she was before writing these essays, the process of composing them brought her to accept the label blind. Since she began these essays, she says, I have learned to use braille and started to carry a white cane. The way you begin an essay can grab an audience's attention, or not."
"Here are some ways of making them interested in what you've got to say-and wanting to read on. WITH A DECEPTIVELY SIMPLE STATEMENT I was 7 years old the first time I snuck out of the house in the dark. -LYNDA BARRY, The Sanctuary of School WITH A PROVOCATIVE QUESTION Have you ever thought about whether to have a child?"
"-PETER SINGER, Should This Be the Last Generation? WITH A SURPRISING STATEMENT I was transported recently to a place that is as enchanting to me as any winter wonderland: my local post office. -ZEYNEP TUFEKCI, Why the Post Office Makes America Great WITH AN AMUSING IMAGE The seven deadly sins-avarice, sloth, envy, lust, gluttony, pride, and wrath-were all committed Sunday during the twice-annual bake sale at St. Mary's of the Immaculate Conception Church."
"- THE ONION , All Seven Deadly Sins Committed at Church Bake Sale Each of these sentences is startling, prompting us to read on in order to find out more. And each is brief, leaving us waiting for what is to come. And of course they all make powerful statements, ones that get readers' attention. It usually takes more than a single sentence to open an essay."
"Consider, for example, this opening paragraph of an essay on animal rights: The first time I opened Peter Singer's Animal Liberation , I was dining alone at the Palm, trying to enjoy a rib-eye steak cooked medium-rare. If this sounds like a good recipe for cognitive dissonance (if not indigestion), that was sort of the idea. Preposterous as it might seem to supporters of animal rights, what I was doing was tantamount to reading Uncle Tom's Cabin on a plantation in the Deep South in 1852."
"-MICHAEL POLLAN, An Animal's Place The first sentence presents an incongruous image that holds our attention: he's eating a steak while reading about animal liberation. Then the rest of the paragraph makes this incongruity even more pronounced, comparing the situation to reading an antislavery novel while on a slave-owning plantation. It's an opening that makes us want to read on. For more on opening sentences see p. 85 ."
"Since the title and opening lines are the first things your audience will see or hear, it's well worth the effort to make sure they'll draw readers in. And it might be good to keep in mind the admonition of one reader who doesn't have a lot of patience: I give the writer one paragraph, maybe two; if I'm not hooked by then, I stop reading. Your goal is to write openings so compelling that even impatient readers will want to keep going."
"Glossary OPENING, 146, 410-12 The way a text begins, which plays an important role in drawing an AUDIENCE in. Some ways of beginning an essay: with a dramatic or deceptively simple statement, with something others have said about your topic, with a provocative question or a startling CLAIM , or with an ANECDOTE . KEEPING ATTENTION Once you've gotten your audience's attention, you need to think about how you can keep them with you."
"Fortunately, there are a number of strategies and techniques that will help you to do so. Take a look at how writers use some of these techniques. Tell a story Just as a story or ANECDOTE can draw an audience in, they can enliven much of what you write and keep them with you. Surgeon and author Atul Gawande is well known for his use of stories in the articles and books he has written about how to improve medical care in this country."
"In speaking about his special interest in improving end-of-life care, matching it more closely to what patients really want than to keep alive at all cost policies and procedures, Gawande paused to tell a story about one particular patient who, when asked his preferences for end-of-life care, said that he wanted to stay alive as long as he could enjoy chocolate ice cream and watch football on television. This brief narrative brought home the point Gawande was making in concrete, human terms-and kept his audience interested in what he was saying."
"See pp. 87-89 for more on narrative. Offer good examples A single good example is often worth a dozen lengthy explanations, says English professor Thomas Cooley. That's for sure: there's no better way to support a generalization or to bring an abstraction to life. It's also a good way to help readers understand and be interested in what you're saying. In a fairly critical review of the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody ( Bohemian Rhapsody is a bad movie."
"But-boy is it entertaining.), Ann Hornaday details the ways in which the film is bad. But then she uses one memorable example to show why, in spite of it being trite and unforgivably conventional, Rami Malek, the actor who plays Freddie, makes it captivating: If anyone doubted that cinema is an actor's medium, Bohemian Rhapsody arrives as indisputable proof."
"Even behind a set of distracting prosthetic teeth simulating Freddie's famous overbite, Malek delivers a committed, thoroughly inhabited performance, which winds up transcending the regrettably thin material at hand. Somewhat shorter than his character, Malek nonetheless masters the muscular swagger and captivating stage presence of a man who, when he sings in front of his first big crowd, announces that he's finally discovered his life's calling."
"Even at his most fey and alien-looking, Malek makes that statement utterly credible. -ANN HORNADAY, Review of Bohemian Rhapsody Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury. The vivid language in this passage (muscular swagger, captivating stage presence, alien-looking) makes it a persuasive example that holds the reader's attention just as Malek's performance held the attention of filmgoers. See pp. 88-90 for more on examples."
"Use an analogy You can use ANALOGIES to help explain an unfamiliar subject by comparing it to a more familiar one. They're one more way to make abstract ideas more concrete, and even to help an audience visualize what you're saying. As such, they're a good way to hold readers' attention when you're writing about something abstract or complicated."
"See how Warren Buffett uses an analogy in his annual letter to stockholders to keep their attention on the point he is making: Investors who evaluate Berkshire sometimes obsess on the details of our many and diverse businesses-our economic trees, so to speak. Analysis of that type can be mind-numbing, given that we own a vast array of specimens, from twigs to redwoods. A few of our trees are diseased and unlikely to be around a decade from now. Many others, though, are destined to grow in size and beauty."
"Fortunately, it's not necessary to evaluate each tree individually to make a rough estimate of Berkshire's intrinsic business value. That's because our forest contains five groves of major importance, each of which can be appraised, with reasonable accuracy, in its entirety. Four of these groves are differentiated clusters of businesses and financial assets that are easy to understand."
"The fifth-our huge and diverse insurance operation-delivers great value to Berkshire in a less obvious manner, one I will explain later in this letter. -WARREN BUFFETT, Letter to Stockholders Here Buffett uses a simple analogy between a forest and his very large company, introducing readers to the groves and individual trees that make it up."
The analogy helps readers visualize the company in a concrete way and paves the way for data that will support Buffett's claim that the fifth grove delivers great value to Berkshire. Appeal to emotion Appealing to an audience's emotions can be a very effective way to both get and keep attention.
"Here's Joe Biden in a speech he delivered in 2020 making an appeal that reaches across party lines, noting that despite our differences, we all share certain truths, such as the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness: All of us. The moms and dads in Scranton, where I grew up, who have worked and scraped for everything they've ever gotten in life."
"The auto worker in Michigan, who still makes the best automobile in the world, the single mom in Ohio, working three jobs just to stay afloat who'll do anything for her child. Retired veteran in Florida who gave everything he had to this country. . . . White, Black, Latino, Asian American, Native American, everybody. I'm in this campaign for you. No matter your color, no matter your zip code, no matter your politics."
"-JOE BIDEN, Speech in Pittsburgh Biden begins this summation with three words: all of us. The examples that follow draw his audience in to the everyday stories of people across many different states and professions and backgrounds. Then, in the last two sentences, he shifts to you and your , speaking directly to his audience, demonstrating that he understands and cares about them. In short, he makes them feel like they matter."
"As a writer and speaker, you will need to determine how much you want to stir people's emotions, remembering that too much of a good thing is-too much. So think about your audience and their expectations as you decide when and where to appeal to their emotions. Use a startling contrast Contrasts, especially sharp or startling ones, can create images in readers' minds that capture and hold attention. Consider how columnist Frank Bruni uses such a contrast in a headline-She Went Blind."
"Then She Danced.-and then builds on that contrast as he introduces readers to Marion Sheppard: She pitied herself. . . . She raged. . . . She trembled. . . . She spent months wrestling with those emotions, until she realized that they had pinned her in place. Time was marching on and she wasn't moving at all. Her choice was clear: She could surrender to the darkness, or she could dance. She danced. -FRANK BRUNI, She Went Blind. Then She Danced. Marion Sheppard may be blind, but she can dance!"
"Use reiteration A kind of repetition, reiteration provides emphasis: like a drumbeat, the repetition of a keyword, phrase, or image can help drive home a point. And it's a good way to command attention."
"REITERATION is especially powerful in spoken texts-think I Have a Dream and Yes we can! At the March for Our Lives rally in Washington, DC, following the killing of students and staff members at a Florida high school, student Emma Gonzlez provided a powerful example of how reiteration can command an audience's attention."
"Telling her audience that among the students and staff at school that day, no one understood what had happened, no one could comprehend the devastating aftermath, or where it would go. Here's the beginning of Gonzlez's answer to that question; note the chillingly effective use of repetition: Six minutes and 20 seconds with an AR-15, and my friend Carmen would never complain to me about piano practice. Aaron Feis would never call Kyra miss sunshine . . ."
"Alyssa Alhadeff would never, Jamie Guttenberg would never, Meadow Pollack would never. -EMMA GONZLEZ, March for Our Lives Consider the power of silence Sometimes silence can be extremely powerful, startling an audience and helping them focus on you and your lack of words. Emma Gonzlez provides an example of the power of silence."
"Once her riveting repetitions of would never came to a halt, she stood there, silently, for six minutes and twenty seconds: the amount of time it had taken a killer to take the lives of seventeen innocent people. That silence held the crowd captivated, stunned, and very, very attentive. Conclude strong, leave readers thinking Your CONCLUSION is a chance to leave readers thinking about what you've said."
"You might simply restate your main point, but here are some other ways to conclude: WITH A WITTY STATEMENT THAT MAKES YOUR POINT Anyone who believes emoji are having even the slightest effect on English syntax is an utter . -GEOFFREY PULLUM, Emoji Are Ruining English, Says Dumbest Story of the Week WITH A STARTLING IMAGE The next time we go to war, we should truly understand the sacrifices that our service members will have to make."
"Which is why, when my colleagues start beating the drums of war, I want to be there, standing on my artificial legs under the great Capitol dome, to remind them what the true costs of war are. -TAMMY DUCKWORTH, What I Learned at War WITH A STATEMENT THAT SHOWS WHY THEY SHOULD CARE The closer we get to mass incarceration and extreme levels of punishment, the more I believe it is necessary to recognize that we all need mercy, we all need justice, and-perhaps-we all need some measure of unmerited grace."
"-BRYAN STEVENSON, Just Mercy WITH A CALL FOR ACTION It's time, it's past time, to pay our Black citizens what they are owed. -JANE SEARLE, On Reparations You can probably think of several other very effective strategies for getting and holding the attention of your audience. It's worth taking the time to do so-and to study the examples we've offered here: we don't see any let-up in the oceans of information and data washing over us 24/7."
"In such an atmosphere, the one who can command attention is the one whose words will count. See p. 92 for more ways of concluding. REFLECT! Think about something you've read or seen recently that really held your attention: a book you couldn't put down, an op-ed piece you're still thinking about, something you saw on Facebook or YouTube . Study it now to see if you can figure out how it did that, and then write a short paragraph about how you can do that yourself in your own writing."
"Glossary ANECDOTE, 85, 412 A brief NARRATIVE used to illustrate a point. REITERATION Repeating a word, a phrase, or an image in a way that drives home a point. CONCLUSION, 92, 211, 417-18 The way a text ends, a chance to leave an AUDIENCE thinking about what's been said. Some ways of concluding an essay: REITERATING your point, discussing the implications of your ARGUMENT , proposing some kind of action, inviting response."
"ANALOGY, 414 A STRATEGY for COMPARISON by explaining something unfamiliar in terms of something that is more familiar. See also FALSE ANALOGY PART 5 LANGUAGE &STYLE / GET ATTENTION Chapter 23 Writing Great Sentences A LOT OF CRITICS THINK I'M STUPID BECAUSE MY SENTENCES ARE SO SIMPLE . . . THEY THINK THESE ARE DEFECTS. NO. -KURT VONNEGUT I LIKE SENTENCES THAT DON'T BUDGE THOUGH ARMIES CROSS THEM."
"-VIRGINIA WOOLF When a student asked author Annie Dillard, Do you think I could become a writer? Dillard replied with a question of her own: Do you like sentences? Liking or not liking sentences might not be something you've ever thought about-but we're willing to bet that you know something about how important sentences are."
"Anyone who has ever tried to write the perfect tweet or, better yet, the perfect love letter knows about choosing just the right words for each sentence and about the power of the three-word sentence I love you-or the even shorter sentence that sometimes follows from such declarations: I do. In his book How to Write a Sentence , English professor Stanley Fish declares himself to be a connoisseur of sentences and offers some particularly noteworthy examples."
"Here's one, written by a fourth grader in response to an assignment to write something about a mysterious large box that had been delivered to a school: I was already on the second floor when I heard about the box. This sentence reminded my of a favorite sentence of my own, this one the beginning of a story written by a third grader: Today, the monster goes where no monster has gone before: Cincinnati."
"Here the student manages to allude to the famous line from Star Trek -to boldly go where no man has gone before-while suggesting that Cincinnati is the most exotic place on earth and even using a colon effectively. It's quite a sentence. Finally, here's a sentence that opens a chapter from a PhD dissertation on literacy among young people today: Hazel Hernandez struck me as an honest thief. Such sentences are memorable: They startle us a bit and demand attention. They make us want to read more."
"Who's Hazel Hernandez? What's an honest thief, and what makes her one? As these examples suggest, you don't have to be a famous author to write a great sentence. In fact, crafting effective and memorable sentences is a skill everyone can master with careful attention and practice. Sometimes a brilliant sentence comes to you like a bolt of lightning, and all you have to do is type it out. More often, though, the perfect sentence is a result of tweaking and tinkering during your revision stages."
"Either way, crafting good sentences is worth the effort it may take. You may not come up with a zinger like the famous sentence John Updike wrote about Ted Williams's fabled home run in his last at bat at Fenway Park-It was in the books while it was still in the sky.-but you can come close. Just as certain effects in film-music, close-ups-enhance the story, a well-crafted sentence can bring power to a piece of writing."
"So think about the kind of effect you want to create in what you're writing-and then look for the type of sentence that will fit the bill. Though much of the power of the examples above comes from being short and simple, remember that some rhetorical situations call for longer, complex sentences-and that the kind of sentence you write also depends on its context, such as whether it's opening an essay, summing up what's already been said, or something else."
This chapter looks at some common English sentence patterns and provides some good examples for producing them in your own work. FOUR COMMON SENTENCE PATTERNS We make sentences with words-and we arrange those words into patterns.
"If a sentence is defined as a group of words that expresses a complete thought, then we can identify four basic sentence structures: a SIMPLE SENTENCE (expressing one idea); a COMPOUND SENTENCE (expressing more than one idea, with the ideas being of equal importance); a COMPLEX SENTENCE (expressing more than one idea, with one of the ideas more important than the others); and a COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE (with more than one idea of equal importance and at least one idea of less importance)."
Simple sentences: one main idea Let's take a look at some simple sentences:  Resist!  Consumers revolted.  Angry consumers revolted against new debit-card fees.  Protests from angry consumers forced banks to rescind the new fees.  The internet's capacity to mobilize people instantly all over the world has done everything from forcing companies to rescind debit-card fees in the United States to bringing down oppressive governments in the Middle East.
"As these examples illustrate, simple sentences can be as short as a single word-or they can be much longer. Each is a simple sentence, however, because it contains a single main idea or thought; in grammatical terms, each contains one and only one MAIN CLAUSE . As the name suggests, a simple sentence is often the simplest, most direct way of saying what you want to say-but not always. And often you want a sentence to include more than one idea."
"In that case, you need to use a compound sentence, a complex sentence, or a compound-complex sentence. Compound sentences: joining ideas that are equally important Sometimes you'll want to write a sentence that joins two or more ideas that are equally important, like this one attributed to former president Bill Clinton: You can put wings on a pig, but you don't make it an eagle."
"In grammatical terms, this is a compound sentence with two MAIN CLAUSES , each of which expresses one of two independent and equally important ideas. In this case, Clinton joined the ideas with a comma and the COORDINATING CONJUNCTION but . But he had several other options for joining these ideas. For example, he could have joined them with only a semicolon: You can put wings on a pig; you don't make it an eagle."
"Or he could have joined them with a semicolon, a TRANSITION like however , and a comma: You can put wings on a pig; however, you don't make it an eagle. All of these compound sentences are perfectly acceptable-but which one seems most effective?"
"In this case, I think Clinton's choice is: it is clear and very direct, and if you read it aloud you'll hear that the words on each side of but have the same number of syllables, creating a pleasing, balanced rhythm-and one that balances the two equally important ideas. It also makes the logical relationship between the two ideas explicit: but indicates a contrast. The version with only a semicolon, by contrast, indicates that the ideas are somehow related but doesn't show how."
"Using and , but , and other coordinating conjunctions In writing a compound sentence, keep in mind that different coordinating conjunctions carry meanings that signal different logical relationships between the main ideas in the sentence. There are only seven coordinating conjunctions. COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS China's one-child policy slowed population growth, but it helped create a serious gender imbalance in the country's population."
"Most of us bike to the office, so many of us stop at the gym to shower before work. The first two batters struck out, yet the Cubs went on to win the game on back-to-back homers. See how the following sentences express different meanings depending on which coordinating conjunction is used: You could apply to graduate school, or you could start looking for a job. You could apply to graduate school, and you could start looking for a job."
Using a semicolon Joining clauses with a semicolon only is a way of signaling that they are closely related without saying explicitly how. Often the second clause will expand on an idea expressed in the first clause. My first year of college was a little bumpy; it took me a few months to get comfortable at a large university far from home.
"The Wassaic Project is an arts organization in Dutchess County, New York; artists go there to engage in art, music, and everything else. Adding a TRANSITION can make the logical relationship between the ideas more explicit: My first year of college was a little bumpy; indeed , it took me a few months to get comfortable at a large university far from home. Note that the transition in this sentence, indeed , cannot join the two main clauses on its own-it requires a semicolon before it."
"If you use a transition between two clauses with only a comma before it, you've made a mistake called a COMMA SPLICE . SOME COMMON TRANSITIONS a l s o i n d e e d o t h e r w i s e c e r t a i n l y l i k e w i s e s i m i l a r l y f u r t h e r m o r e n e v e r t h e l e s s t h e r e f o r e h o w e v e r n e x t t h u s REFLECT! Look over something you've written to see if there are any compound sentences joined by and ."
"If so, does and express the relationship between the two parts of the sentence that you intend? Would but , or , so , nor , or yet work better? Complex sentences: when one idea is more important than another Many of the sentences you write will contain two or more ideas, with one that you want to emphasize more than the other(s). You can do so by putting the idea you wish to emphasize in the MAIN CLAUSE , and those that are less important in SUBORDINATE CLAUSES ."
"Mendocino County is a place in California where you can dive for abalone . Because the species has become scarce , abalone diving is strictly regulated. Fish and Wildlife Department agents who patrol the coast use sophisticated methods to catch poachers. As these examples show, the ideas in the subordinate clauses (italicized here) can't stand alone as sentences: when we read where you can dive for abalone or who patrol the coast, we know that something's missing."
"Subordinate clauses begin with words such as if or because , SUBORDINATING WORDS that signal the logical relationship between the subordinate clause and the rest of the sentence. Some Subordinating Words a f t e r e v e n t h o u g h u n t i l a l t h o u i f w h e n g h a s s i n c e w h e r e b e c a u s e t h a t w h i l e b e f o r e t h o u g h w h o Notice that a subordinate clause can come at the beginning of a sentence, in the middle, or at the end."
"When it comes at the beginning, it is usually followed by a comma, as in the second example. If the opening clause in that sentence were moved to the end, a comma would not be necessary: Abalone diving is strictly regulated because the species has become scarce. Grammatically, each of the three examples above is a complex sentence, with one main idea and one other idea of less importance."
"In writing you will often have to decide whether to combine ideas in a compound sentence, which gives the ideas equal importance, or in a complex sentence, which makes one idea more important than the other(s). Looking once more at our sentence about the pig and the eagle, for example, Bill Clinton could also have made it a complex sentence: Even though you can put wings on a pig, you don't make it an eagle."
"Looking at this sentence, though, I think Clinton made a good choice in giving the two ideas equal weight because doing so balances the sentence perfectly-and tells us that both parts are equally important. In fact, neither part of this sentence is very interesting in itself: it's the balancing and the contrast that make it interesting and memorable."
"Compound-complex sentences: multiple ideas-some more important, some less When you are expressing three or more ideas in a single sentence, you'll sometimes want to use a compound-complex sentence, which gives some of the ideas more prominence and others less. Grammatically, such sentences have at least two MAIN CLAUSES and one SUBORDINATE CLAUSE ."
" We have experienced unparalleled natural disasters that have devastated entire countries, yet identifying global warming as the cause of these disasters is difficult.  Even after distinguished scientists issued a series of reports, critics continued to question the findings because they claimed results were falsified; nothing would convince them."
"As these examples show, English sentence structure is flexible, allowing you to combine groups of words in different ways in order to get your ideas across to your audience most appropriately and effectively. There's seldom only one way to write a sentence to get an idea across: as the author, you must decide which way works best for your RHETORICAL SITUATION . Glossary SIMPLE SENTENCE, 421-22 A single MAIN CLAUSE , which contains at least a subject and a VERB ."
"The main clause may stand alone: Citizens vote. The United States holds a presidential election every four years . For sentences with more than a single main clause, see COMPOUND SENTENCE ; COMPOUND -COMPLEX SENTENCE ; COMPLEX SENTENCE . COMPOUND SENTENCE, 421-24 Two or more MAIN CLAUSES joined by a comma and a COORDINATING CONJUNCTION or by a semicolon: The United States holds a presidential election once every four years, but voter turnout is often disappointing ."
"COMPLEX SENTENCE, 421, 424-26 A single MAIN CLAUSE plus one or more SUBORDINATE CLAUSES : When the United States holds a presidential election once every four years, citizens should vote . COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE, 421, 426-27 Two or more MAIN CLAUSES plus one or more DEPENDENT CLAUSES : When the United States holds a presidential election, citizens should vote, but voter turnout is often disappointing ."
"MAIN CLAUSE 422, 424-28 A CLAUSE , containing a subject and a VERB , that can stand alone as a sentence: She sang. The world-famous soprano sang several arias . MAIN CLAUSE 422, 424-28 A CLAUSE , containing a subject and a VERB , that can stand alone as a sentence: She sang. The world-famous soprano sang several arias ."
"COORDINATING CONJUNCTION, 422, 423 One of these words- and, but, or, nor, so, for , or yet -used to join two elements in a way that gives equal weight to each one ( bacon and eggs; pay up or get out ). TRANSITIONS, 424 Words or phrases that help to connect sentences and paragraphs and to guide readers through a text."
"Transitions can signal COMPARISONS ( also, similarly, likewise, in the same way ); CONTRASTS ( but, instead, although, however, nonetheless ); examples ( for instance, in fact, such as ); place or position ( above, beyond, near, elsewhere ); sequence ( finally, next, again, also ); SUMMARIES or CONCLUSIONS ( on the whole, as we have seen, in brief ); time ( at first, meanwhile, so far, later ); and more. COMMA SPLICE, 424 Two or more MAIN CLAUSES joined with only a comma: I came, I saw, I conquered ."
"MAIN CLAUSE 422, 424-28 A CLAUSE , containing a subject and a VERB , that can stand alone as a sentence: She sang. The world-famous soprano sang several arias . SUBORDINATE CLAUSE, 424-27 A clause that begins with a SUBORDINATING WORD and therefore cannot stand alone as a sentence: They feel good when they exercise . My roommate, who was a physics major , tutors students in science ."
"SUBORDINATING WORDS, 425 Words that introduce a SUBORDINATE CLAUSE and indicate how it relates logically to the rest of the sentence: The ice sculpture melted because the ballroom was too hot . Common subordinating words include although, as, because, if, since, that, which , and why . MAIN CLAUSE 422, 424-28 A CLAUSE , containing a subject and a VERB , that can stand alone as a sentence: She sang. The world-famous soprano sang several arias ."
"SUBORDINATE CLAUSE, 424-27 A clause that begins with a SUBORDINATING WORD and therefore cannot stand alone as a sentence: They feel good when they exercise . My roommate, who was a physics major , tutors students in science . RHETORICAL SITUATION, 25-28, 81-82 The circumstances that affect writing or other communication, including PURPOSE , AUDIENCE , GENRE , STANCE , CONTEXT , MEDIA , and DESIGN ."
"Transitions can signal COMPARISONS ( also, similarly, likewise, in the same way ); CONTRASTS ( but, instead, although, however, nonetheless ); examples ( for instance, in fact, such as ); place or position ( above, beyond, near, elsewhere ); sequence ( finally, next, again, also ); SUMMARIES or CONCLUSIONS ( on the whole, as we have seen, in brief ); time ( at first, meanwhile, so far, later ); and more."
"Endnotes  MAIN CLAUSE Return to text  SUBORDINATE CLAUSE Return to text  MAIN CLAUSE Return to text  SUBORDINATE CLAUSE Return to text  MAIN CLAUSE Return to text  SUBORDINATE CLAUSE Return to text  MAIN CLAUSE Return to text WAYS OF EMPHASIZING THE MAIN IDEA Sometimes you will want to lead off a sentence with the main point; at other times you might want to hold it in reserve until the end. CUMULATIVE SENTENCES start with a main clause and then add on to it, accumulating details."
"PERIODIC SENTENCES start with a series of phrases or subordinate clauses, saving the main clause for last. Cumulative sentences: starting with the main point This kind of sentence starts off with a MAIN CLAUSE and then adds details in phrases and SUBORDINATE CLAUSES , extending or explaining the thought. Cumulative sentences can be useful for describing a place or an event, operating almost like a camera panning across a room or a landscape."
"The sentences below create such an effect: The San Bernardino Valley lies only an hour east of Los Angeles by the San Bernardino Freeway but is in certain ways an alien place: not the coastal California of the subtropical twilights and the soft westerlies off the Pacific but a harsher California, haunted by the Mojave just beyond the mountains, devastated by the hot dry Santa Ana wind that comes down through the passes at 100 miles an hour and whines through the eucalyptus windbreaks and works on the nerves."
"-JOAN DIDION, Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream Public transportation in Cebu City was provided by jeepneys: refurbished military jeeps with metal roofs for shade, decorated with horns and mirrors and fenders and flaps; painted with names, dedications, quotations, religious icons, logos-and much, much more. She hit the brakes, swearing fiercely, as the deer leapt over the hood and crashed into the dark woods beyond."
"The celebrated Russian pianist gave his hands a shake, a quick shake, fingers pointed down at his sides, before taking his seat and lifting them imperiously above the keys. These cumulative sentences add details in a way that makes each sentence more emphatic. Keep this principle in mind as you write-and also when you revise. See if there are times when you might revise a sentence or sentences to add emphasis in the same way."
"Take a look at the following sentences, for instance: In 1979, China initiated free-market reforms that transformed its economy from a struggling one to an industrial powerhouse. As a result, it became the world's fastest-growing major economy. Its growth rates averaged almost 10 percent over the next four decades. These three sentences are clearly related, with each one adding detail about the growth of China's economy."
"Now look what happens when the writer eliminates a little bit of repetition, adds a memorable metaphor, and combines them as a cumulative-and more emphatic-sentence: China's free-market reforms led to almost 10 percent average growth from 1979 to 2018, transforming it from a paper tiger to an industrial dragon that is still one of the world's fastest-growing major economies."
"Periodic sentences: delaying the main point until the end In contrast to sentences that open with the main idea, periodic sentences delay the main idea until the very end. Periodic sentences are sometimes fairly long, and withholding the main point until the end is a way of adding emphasis. It can also create suspense or build up to a surprise or inspirational ending."
"In spite of everything, in spite of the dark and twisting path he saw stretching ahead for himself, in spite of the final meeting with Voldemort he knew must come, whether in a month, in a year, or in ten, he felt his heart lift at the thought that there was still one last golden day of peace left to enjoy with Ron and Hermione. -J."
"K. ROWLING, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Unprovided with original learning, uninformed in the habits of thinking, unskilled in the arts of composition, I resolved to write a book. -EDWARD GIBBON, Memoirs of My Life In the week before finals, when my studying and memorizing reached a fever pitch, came a sudden, comforting thought: I have never failed."
"Here are three periodic sentences in a row about Whitney Houston, each of which withholds the main point until the end: When her smiling brown face, complete with a close-cropped Afro, appeared on the cover of Seventeen in 1981, she was one of the first African-Americans to grace the cover, and the industry took notice. When she belted out a chilling and soulful version of the Star-Spangled Banner at the 1991 Super Bowl, the world sat back in awe of her poise and calm."
"And in an era when African-American actresses are often given film roles portraying them as destitute, unloving, unlovable, or just the help, Houston played the love interest of Kevin Costner, a white Hollywood superstar."
"-ALLISON SAMUELS, A Hard Climb for the Girl Next Door These three periodic sentences create a drumlike effect that builds in intensity as they move through the stages in Houston's career; in all, they suggest that Houston was, even more than Kevin Costner, a superstar. Samuels takes a chance when she uses three sentences in a row that withhold the main point until the end: readers may get tired of waiting for that point. And readers may also find the use of too many such sentences to be, well, too much."
"But as the example above shows, when used carefully a sentence that puts off the main idea just long enough can keep readers' interest, making them want to reach the ending with its payoff. You may find in your own work that periodic sentences can make your writing more emphatic."
"Take a look at the following sentence from an essay on the use of animals in circuses: The big cat took him down with one swat, just as the trainer, dressed in khakis and boots, his whip raised and his other arm extended in welcome to the cheering crowd, stepped into the ring. This sentence paints a vivid picture, but it gives away the main action in the first six words."
"By withholding that action until the end, the writer builds anticipation and adds emphasis: Just as the trainer stepped into the ring, dressed in khakis and boots, his whip raised and his other arm extended in welcome to the cheering crowd, the big cat took him down with one swat. Glossary CUMULATIVE SENTENCE, 427-28 A sentence that begins with a main idea expressed in a MAIN CLAUSE and then adds details in PHRASES and SUBORDINATE CLAUSES that follow the MAIN CLAUSE ."
"See also PERIODIC SENTENCE PERIODIC SENTENCE, 427-28 A sentence that delays the main idea, expressed in a MAIN CLAUSE , until after details given in phrases and SUBORDINATE CLAUSES . See also CUMULATIVE SENTENCE MAIN CLAUSE 422, 424-28 A CLAUSE , containing a subject and a VERB , that can stand alone as a sentence: She sang. The world-famous soprano sang several arias ."
"SUBORDINATE CLAUSE, 424-27 A clause that begins with a SUBORDINATING WORD and therefore cannot stand alone as a sentence: They feel good when they exercise . My roommate, who was a physics major , tutors students in science . VARYING YOUR SENTENCES Read a paragraph or two of your writing out loud, and listen for its rhythm. Is it quick and abrupt? slow and leisurely? singsong? stately? rolling? Whatever it is, does the rhythm you hear match what you had in mind when you were writing?"
And does it put the emphasis where you want it? One way to establish the emphasis you intend and a rhythm that will keep readers reading is by varying the length of your sentences and the way those sentences flow from one to the other. A string of sentences that are too much alike is almost certain to be boring.
"While you can create effective rhythms in many ways, one of the simplest and most effective is by breaking up a series of long sentences with a shorter one that gives your readers a chance to pause and absorb what you've written. Take a look at the following passage, from an article in the Atlantic about the finale of the Oprah Winfrey Show ."
"See how the author uses a mix of long and short sentences to describe one of the tributes to Oprah, this one highlighting her support of Black men: Oprah's friend Tyler Perry announced that some of the Morehouse Men, each a beneficiary of the $12 million endowment she has established at their university, had come to honor her for the scholarships she gave them."
"The lights were lowered, a Broadway star began singing an inspirational song, and a dozen or so black men began to walk slowly to the front of the stage. Then more came, and soon there were a score, then 100, then the huge stage was filled with men, 300 of them."
"They stood there, solemnly, in a tableau stage-managed in such a way that it might have robbed them of their dignity-the person serenading them (or, rather, serenading Oprah on their behalf) was Kristin Chenoweth, tiniest and whitest of all tiny white women; the song was from Wicked , most feminine of all musicals; and each man carried a white candle, an emblem that lent them the aspect of Norman Rockwell Christmas carolers. But they were not robbed of their dignity."
"They looked, all together, like a miracle. A video shown before the procession revealed that some of these men had been in gangs before going to Morehouse, some had fathers in prison, many had been living in poverty. Now they were doctors, lawyers, bankers, a Rhodes Scholar-and philanthropists, establishing their own Morehouse endowment. -CAITLIN FLANAGAN, The Glory of Oprah The passage begins with three medium-length sentences-and then one very long one (seventy-two words!)"
"Then come two little sentences (the first one eight words long and the second one, seven) that give readers a chance to pause and absorb what has been said while also making an important point: that the men looked, all together, like a miracle. The remainder of the passage moves back toward longer sentences, each of which explains just what this miracle is. Try reading this passage aloud, and listen for how the variation in sentences creates both emphasis and a pleasing and effective rhythm."
"Morehouse Men surprise Oprah. In addition to varying the lengths of your sentences, you can also improve your writing by making sure that they don't all use the same structure or begin in the same way. You can be pretty sure, for example, that a passage in which every sentence is a simple sentence that opens with the subject of a main clause will not read smoothly at all but rather will move along awkwardly. Take a look at this passage, for example: The sunset was especially beautiful today."
"I was on top of Table Mountain in Cape Town. I looked down and saw the sun touch the sea and sink into it. The evening shadows crept up the mountain. I got my backpack and walked over to the rest of my group. We started on the long hike down the mountain and back to the city. There's nothing wrong with these sentences as such. Each one is grammatically correct. But if you read the passage aloud, you'll hear how it moves abruptly from sentence to sentence, lurching along rather than flowing smoothly."
"The problem is that the sentences are all the same: each one is a simple sentence that begins with the subject of a main clause ( sunset, I, I, evening shadows, I, We ). In addition, the use of personal pronouns at the beginning of the sentences (three I 's in only six sentences!) makes for dull reading. Finally, these are all fairly short sentences, and the sameness of the sentence length adds to the abrupt rhythm of the passage-and doesn't keep readers reading."
"Now look at how this passage can be revised by working on sentence variation: From the top of Cape Town's Table Mountain, the sunset was especially beautiful. I looked down just as the fiery orb touched and then sank into the sea; shadows began to creep slowly up the mountain. Picking up my backpack, I joined the rest of my group, and we started the long hike down the mountain."
"This revision reduces the number of sentences in the passage from six to three (the first simple, the second compound-complex, the third compound) and varies their length. Equally important, the revision eliminates all but one of the subject openings. The first sentence now begins with the prepositional phrase (From the top); the second with the subject of a main clause (I); and the third with a participial phrase (Picking up my backpack)."
"Finally, the revision varies the diction a bit, replacing the repeated word sun with a vivid image (fiery orb). Read the revised passage aloud, and you'll hear how varying the sentences creates a stronger rhythm that makes it easier to read. This brief chapter has only scratched the surface of sentence style. But I hope it says enough to show how good sentences can be your allies, helping you get your ideas out there and connect with audiences as successfully as possible."
"Remember: authors are only as good as the sentences we write! REFLECT! Read an essay you've written aloud, listening for rhythm and emphasis. If you find a passage that doesn't read well or have the emphasis you want, analyze its sentences for length (count the words) and emphasis (how does each sentence begin?). Revise them using the strategies discussed in this chapter. PART 5 LANGUAGE &STYLE / GET ATTENTION Chapter 24 Mixing Languages &Dialects A LANGUAGE IS A DIALECT WITH AN ARMY AND NAVY."
"-MAX WEINREICH How many languages do you know well enough to speak or write? Which languages would you like to know? The United States is often said to be a monolingual country, one where English is the only language needed. In fact, that's never been accurate. Languages other than English have always been present here."
"Today the US Census Bureau estimates that 25 percent of Americans speak a language other than English at home-Spanish, Chinese, and Tagalog are the three most common; and American Sign Language is probably number four. So the United States is a country of many languages. It is also a nation of multiple dialects and registers."
"Dialects are varieties of language spoken by people in particular regions, ethnic groups, or social classes-like the English spoken in Appalachia, the Chicano English spoken primarily by Mexican Americans in the US Southwest, and the Queen's English spoken by the upper classes in the United Kingdom."
"Registers are the ways we speak in various situations-like the formal register used in much academic writing, the legalese used by lawyers, or the way certain words are used in tennis (where love means zero and deuce is a 40-40 score). No matter how many languages you speak, you probably use a number of different dialects and registers. Is the way you speak with close friends different from the way you speak in class or at work?"
"Is the way you text a friend different from the way you write an email to an instructor? We bet that it is. Notice all the languages, dialects, and registers you encounter in a day-on signs, in conversations, wherever. I also bet that you probably mix whatever varieties of languages you use, consciously or unconsciously. Language scholars have identified two ways that people do so."
"Code switching is the practice of shifting from one language or dialect to another, whereas code meshing is a way of weaving together languages and dialects. Both are ways of mixing varieties of language for various purposes-to reflect a particular STANCE , for example, or to establish a connection with a certain AUDIENCE . This chapter provides examples and guidelines to help you mix languages, dialects, and registers for various rhetorical situations. REFLECT!"
"Think about the varieties of language you speak-your home language(s), and the way you speak at school or at work. And do you belong to any teams or other groups that use special words? Write a paragraph describing what influences the way you speak; include specific examples. Using Englishes What some call standardized English has been taught prescriptively in schools and recognized as the language of power throughout US history."
"As the dominant mode of discourse, standardized English has privileged some while silencing others. Yet it is itself just one of many valid and powerful dialects and languages used in the United States. Today, many writers are pushing against the boundaries of standardized English, and against its claim to primary importance and power. In fact, throughout history many so-called standard languages have been challenged by other dialects and languages."
"English itself once edged out Latin as the language of power. So it's no surprise that in the United States, some have challenged or even rejected standardized English. This chapter provides a number of examples of writers mixing varieties of language in ways that speak powerfully. Such moves are increasingly common, but doing so well requires that you keep your RHETORICAL SITUATION front and center. What's your PURPOSE , and what's at stake?"
"Who's your AUDIENCE , and what languages and dialects will they understand and respond to? Using languages and dialects Some who are bilingual (or multilingual) mix languages or dialects routinely, especially when they're speaking with others who speak the same languages. But even those who are not bilingual will use one or more dialects on occasion. Sometimes doing so can help you connect with your audience, or simply get their attention."
"It can also be a way of illustrating a point or evoking a particular place or community. Following are some good examples demonstrating how to use different varieties of language for these purposes. To connect with an audience If you listen to popular music today, you can probably think of examples of lyricists mixing languages to powerful effect. Here are some lyrics from Kenyan rapper Bamboo's remix of the song Mama Africa, first written and sung by Jamaican reggae artist Peter Tosh."
"A love song to the African continent, which has in Bamboo's view too often been represented negatively, his remix connects to his international audience of hip-hop and pop music fans by moving back and forth between Swahili and English: tunaishi vizuri check out the way we be livin na tunakula vizuri we always eating the best poteza yako kwa nini why should you settle for less TV haiwezi kuambia they never show on your screen kwa hivyo mi ntawaambia so you can see what I mean Africa maridadi Africa's beautiful baby -BAMBOO, Mama Africa Bamboo uses hip-hop rhythms and dialects to connect with the audiences he wants to reach."
"By using both Swahili and English, he reaches more people than if he'd used just one language-and exposes those who speak just one of these languages to the other. Sandra Cisneros, a Mexican American writer who's fluent in both English and Spanish, makes similar choices in a collection of short stories inspired by her experience growing up in the United States surrounded by Mexican culture."
"See how she mixes languages to speak to an audience that's likely to include both English and Spanish speakers: Ay! The true test of a native Spanish speaker. Ay! To make love in Spanish, in a manner as intricate and devout as la Alhambra. To have a lover sigh mi vida, mi preciosa, mi chiquitita, and whisper things in that language crooned to babies, that language murmured by grandmothers, those words that smelled like your house, like flour tortillas."
"-SANDRA CISNEROS, Bien Pretty As writers and speakers, we have to think carefully about when mixing different varieties of language will help us connect with our audiences-and when it won't. In most cases, writers have a kind of informal contract with readers: while readers may need to work some to understand what a writer is saying, the writer in turn promises to consider the audience's expectations and abilities."
"The end goal is usually accessibility: Will your message be understood by those you are trying to reach? If some members of your audience aren't likely to understand, should you provide a translation? Unless you're choosing not to translate so that your readers experience what it's like not to understand, you'll usually want to be sure they understand what you've written. To illustrate a point Sometimes you'll want to insert words from a different variety of language in order to illustrate a point."
"Prompted by a baffled lady who seemed surprised to find that Lyiscott was articulate, Lyiscott says: Pay attention 'Cause I'm articulate So when my father asks, Wha' kinda ting is dis? My articulate answer never goes amiss I say Father, this is the impending problem at hand And when I'm on the block I switch it up just because I can So when my boy says, What's good with you son? I just say, I jus' fall out wit dem people but I done! And sometimes in class I might pause the intellectual sounding flow to ask Yo!"
"Why dese books neva be about my peoples Yes, I have decided to treat all three of my languages as equals Because I'm articulate -JAMILA LYISCOTT, Broken English Watch the video of Jamila Lyiscott's TED Talk at letstalklibrary.com ."
"In her performance, which has more than 4 million views online, Lyiscott uses what she calls three tongues-one each for home, school, and friends-to make the point that there are many different ways to be articulate. And she's articulate, all right, in three different dialects."
"And here is Buthainah, a Saudi Arabian student writing a literacy narrative for an education class at an American college:     ~~~      I don't want to was my response to my parents' request of enrolling me in a nearby preschool. I did not like school. I feared it. I feared the aspect of departing my comfort zone, my home, to an unknown and unpredictable zone. . . ."
"To encourage me, they recited a poetic line that I did not comprehend as a child but live by it as an adult. They said, Who fears climbing the mountains ~~~ Lives forever between the holes. As I grew up, knowledge became my key to freedom; freedom of thought, freedom of doing, and freedom of beliefs."
"-BUTHAINAH, Who Fears Climbing the Mountains Lives Forever between the Holes Reciting the Arabic proverb (which also serves as the title of her essay) draws readers' attention and illustrates the importance of Arabic in her journey to become the writer she is while also letting non-Arabic speakers feel a bit of what it's like to encounter a foreign language they don't understand."
"At the same time, she makes a point of translating the proverb for her readers as the essay progresses-They said, Who fears climbing the mountains ~~~ Lives forever between the holes.' Buthainah's essay illustrates how mixing languages can grab attention and show-instead of tell-your audience something that's important to you. To evoke a place or community Using the language of a specific community or group is a good way to evoke their character."
"In the following passage, journalist David Thompson is interviewing Lee Tonouchi, author of Living Pidgin: Contemplations on Pidgin Culture . Responding to a question about his work, Tonouchi uses Hawaiian Pidgin, now one of Hawaii's official languages, to evoke family relationships in his community: [This book is] about finding humor in tragedy. It's about da relationship between one son and his uncommunicative faddah in da wake of da maddah's early passing."
"An den, it's also about da son's relationship with his grandmas as he discovers what it means for be Okinawan in Hawaii. -DAVID THOMPSON, Lee Tonouchi: Pidgin Poet Notice that Tonouchi mixes more academic English and Hawaiian Pidgin within sentences and not just between them, bringing the two into even closer contact. When using the language of a community you don't belong to yourself, take care to do so with respect."
"When possible, ask someone who does speak the language to look over what you've drafted to ensure that it's accurate and respectful. Quoting people directly and respectfully If you're writing about someone you've interviewed, you will want to let them speak for themself. From 1927 to 1931, Zora Neale Hurston, the famed Black anthropologist, interviewed Cudjo Lewis, one of the last living slaves to have made the journey across the Atlantic."
"Lewis's story, told from Hurston's perspective, appears in Barracoon: The Story of the Last Black Cargo. Hurston takes care to let him speak his mind, and in his own words. She begins by telling us, I hailed him by his African name, Oluale Kossula, which she had learned from prior research. In the next paragraph, Lewis speaks: Oh Lor', I kno it you call my name. Nobody don't callee me my name from cross de water but you. You always callee me Kossula, jus' lak I in de Affica soil!"
"-ZORA NEALE HURSTON, Barracoon : The Story of the Last Black Cargo Notice how Hurston alternates between standardized English and the actual speech of the person whose words she quotes. Quoting him helps establish her credibility as a careful researcher. Finally, the use of quotations appeals to her audience's emotions; we can hear Lewis's surprise and delight."
"Readers familiar with the dialect Lewis speaks might sense kinship with him, while those who are not will be reminded that Hurston is writing about a context different from their experience. When you're quoting others, let them speak for themselves not only in their own words but also in their own language. And whenever possible, ask your subjects to review any quotations you use to ensure that they're accurate."
"Providing translation One way to stay true to a language or dialect you identify with while still reaching readers who may not understand is to provide a translation. Bamboo's example, which invites English speakers to think about Africa's rich culture in part by including Swahili, demonstrates how translation helps when you're mixing languages."
"When translating, you will usually want to introduce the term in its original language, followed by the translation, as is done on the poster on the following page announcing a conference taking place in the Navajo Nation. Note that the designer places the Navajo title first-and in slightly larger and bolder text-to underscore the importance of the Navajo language at this conference."
"See how linguist Guadalupe Valds uses translation in an ethnographic study of a family of Mexican origin: During his kindergarten year, . . . winning was important to Sal. Of all the cousins who played together, it was he who ran the fastest and pushed the hardest. Yo gan, yo gan (I won, I won), he would say enthusiastically. . . . Sal's mother, Velma, wished that he would win just a bit more quietly. . . . No seas peleonero (Don't be so quarrelsome), she would say."
"Es importante llevarse bien con todos (It's important to get along with everyone). -GUADALUPE VALDS,  Con Respeto : Bridging the Distances between Culturally Diverse Families and Schools Note especially that Valds always puts the Spanish words first, as they were spoken, and only then gives the English translation. She could have chosen to put the translation first, or to write only in English, but giving the Spanish first puts the spotlight on her subjects' voices and their own words."
"By including the English translation at all, Valds acknowledges readers who don't speak Spanish and makes sure they can understand what she's written. Like Bamboo and the Navajo conference poster, she translates to make sure her message is accessible to as many people as possible. Notice too that Valds italicizes words that are in a language other than English, which is a common academic convention when mixing languages."
"Conference poster announcing in both Navajo and English a gathering of writers in Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation. Thinking about your rhetorical situation Whether you're mixing standardized English with another dialect, from formal language to informal, or from one language to another, you need to think about how doing so suits your purpose and audience and the rest of your rhetorical situation. Purpose . What do you want to accomplish: to bring attention to something you're saying?"
"to let someone you're writing about speak for themself? to illustrate an important point? Audience . Will mixing different registers or dialects-or languages-help you connect with your audience? If you weave in a language they don't understand, will you need to translate? How likely are they to find your language choices engaging? Is anything at risk, like clarity? Stance . How do you want to come across to your audience, and how will mixing registers, dialects, or languages affect that?"
"How would it affect your credibility? Genre . If you're writing a NARRATIVE , quoting someone in their own dialect will let readers hear that person's voice; if you're making an ARGUMENT , mixing registers or dialects or languages can help to emphasize what you're saying. If you're making a serious PROPOSAL , however, will doing so detract from your goals? Context . If you're writing in response to an assignment, will it be appropriate to mix languages or dialects?"
Do you have the knowledge to do so accurately and respectfully? Are you writing or speaking in a field that is likely to welcome this kind of language use? Medium. Mixing dialects or registers can help get an audience's attention in a spoken presentation-provided that it fits well with the occasion and the audience. REFLECT! Have you ever used language in any of the ways this chapter demonstrates?
"If not, find something you've written, think about its intended audience, and see if mixing dialects, registers, or languages would help to get their attention or connect with them in some way. Try it! Glossary RHETORICAL SITUATION, 25-28, 81-82 The circumstances that affect writing or other communication, including PURPOSE , AUDIENCE , GENRE , STANCE , CONTEXT , MEDIA , and DESIGN ."
"PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION . AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION ."
"NARRATIVE, 186-202 A GENRE that tells a story for the PURPOSE of making a point. Key Features: a clearly defined event - a clearly described setting - vivid, descriptive details - a consistent POINT OF VIEW - a clear point. Also a strategy for presenting information as a story, for telling what happened. When used in an essay, narration is used to support a point-not merely to tell an interesting story for its own sake. Narration can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or an entire text."
Key Features: an explicit POSITION - a response to what others have said - appropriate background information - a clear indication of why the topic matters - good REASONS and EVIDENCE - attention to more than one POINT OF VIEW - an authoritative TONE - an appeal to readers' values PROPOSAL A GENRE that argues for a solution to a problem or suggests some kind of action.
"Key Features: a precise description of the problem - a clear and compelling solution - EVIDENCE that your solution will address the problem - acknowledgment of other possible solutions - a statement of what your proposal will accomplish. See also PROJECT PROPOSAL STANCE, 17-19, 26-27, 26-27 A writer's attitude toward the subject-for example, reasonable, neutral, angry, curious. Stance is conveyed through TONE and word choice."
"PART 6 DESIGN / MAKE AN IMPRESSION Chapter 25 Designing What You Write FONTS, COLORS, CONTRAST, CAPITALIZATION, SPACING, PROXIMITY-ALL THESE AFFECT WHETHER OR NOT PEOPLE READ YOUR WORDS. -JOHN SAITO, HOW TO DESIGN WORDS DESIGN IS ALL ABOUT STORYTELLING. . . . ABOUT COMMUNICATING WITH AN AUDIENCE THROUGH IMAGES AND LANGUAGE AND COLOR AND TYPE AND SCALE AND NUANCE AND SUBTLETY AND TEXTURE."
"-STEPHEN DOYLE Once upon a time writers had little control over the way their texts were designed: black type on white paper was pretty much it. But that was then. Today we can choose from hundreds of fonts, use color, add images of all kinds. So you need to know something about design."
"Whether you're drafting an essay, creating slides for a presentation, or writing up a lab report, you'll need to think about how you can design them so that readers will be able to follow, understand, and remember what you say. What fonts should you choose? Do you need headings? Is there anything you want to highlight? This chapter is here to help. THINKING RHETORICALLY ABOUT DESIGN The way you design a text plays a big role in how well you reach your audience and whether your text achieves its purpose."
"And the fact that you can design what you write gives you a lot of control over how effectively you present your message. In short, you have more than black ink and white paper at your disposal. Let's take a look at two McDonald's images to see the difference that design can make. The one on the left is an ad run in the United States in the 1950s; the one on the right is a sign seen recently in the Czech Republic."
"The ad provides information that might make someone think of McDonald's when they're looking for a quick meal: 15 cents, speedee service, over 100 million sold. The focus is on the words, especially the largest one: hamburgers . But nowadays the McDonald's brand is so well known that the recent sign consists simply of the famous golden arches with two words: M hlad -in English, are you hungry?-and an arrow pointing the way. The colors, image, and two-word message work to conjure up the brand."
"Of course, the designers' rhetorical situations were drastically different. Those designing the ad were probably limited to black and white and could assume an audience of readers, whereas those who designed the sign could use colors-and were able to be much more playful, knowing that the golden arches would be familiar to anyone passing by."
"You may not be called on to design a McDonald's ad, but you too will need to think carefully about how to design the texts you write so that they capture your audience's attention and deliver your message effectively. In short, you'll need to think rhetorically about how to design what you write. Think about your rhetorical situation Purpose . What are you trying to accomplish-provide information? persuade readers to do something? record a memory?-and what design elements will help you to do that?"
"If you're writing a NARRATIVE about a soccer match, you might include photos. But if you're creating a poster to publicize a concert, you'll need to make the name of the group large enough to be seen from a distance and put the time and place in one place on the poster. Audience . Are there any design elements they are likely to need, or expect? If you're writing a market ANALYSIS for a business class, will it include data that readers will expect to see in a graph or chart? Stance ."
"How do you want to come across to readers: as serious? objective? outraged? What fonts or might help establish such a stance? Bright red words might signal outrage on a poster for a protest, but that would not be appropriate on a rsum. Genre . Does your genre have any design requirements? A lengthy REPORT , for instance, may require headings to label its parts. Medium . For a print text, you might use black type on white paper and include headings in a bold font."
"But if you're planning a video for a VLOG , you'll need to think about what you'll wear and what you'll have in the background. Context . Does your assignment specify any design requirements? And when is it due? Do you have time to find or create visuals? What do you want readers to focus on, and how can design help? Your message may start with words, but it doesn't end there."
"Whether you write out your words by hand or put them in a certain font, whether you arrange them on a page or a screen, the way you design your text focuses your message in a certain way and gives it a certain look. It also affects how easy your message is to read-and sometimes whether it gets read at all. So give some thought to what you want readers to focus on, and how you can design your text to help them do that. What do you want them to look at first? What do you want them to look at next?"
"And after that? Is there anything you want to highlight? How do you want readers to move through the text-and how can you help them to do so? And what goes with what? Following are some principles from graphic designer Robin Williams that can help you design your texts so that they're easy to read and navigate. Glossary NARRATIVE, 186-202 A GENRE that tells a story for the PURPOSE of making a point."
"Key Features: a clearly defined event - a clearly described setting - vivid, descriptive details - a consistent POINT OF VIEW - a clear point. Also a strategy for presenting information as a story, for telling what happened. When used in an essay, narration is used to support a point-not merely to tell an interesting story for its own sake. Narration can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or an entire text."
"See also LITERACY NARRATIVE ANALYSIS, 132-56 A GENRE of writing in which you look at what a text says and how it says it. Key Features: a SUMMARY of a text or other subject - attention to CONTEXT - a clear INTERPRETATION or judgment - reasonable support for your conclusions REPORT, 157-85 A GENRE of writing that presents information to inform readers on a subject."
"Key Features: a topic carefully focused for a specific AUDIENCE - definitions of key terms - trustworthy information - appropriate organization and DESIGN - a confident TONE that informs rather than argues. See also IMRAD ; PROFILE VLOG, 499-503 A blog that's delivered in video, often on YouTube . FOUR BASIC PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN Contrast draws our eyes to certain parts of a page or screen. A contrasting color , a bold font , a larger type size : these are all ways of getting readers to focus on something."
"The first letter of each chapter in this book, for example, is gigantic, as if to say start here! The bold heading on this page does the same: it's larger and bolder than most of the words on this page, so it gets your attention. And later in this chapter you'll find a Reflect! prompt, highlighted with a pale blue background to make it easy to spot. Repetition of key words, images, fonts, and colors can help readers move through a text-as the bold italics do on this page."
"Alignment refers to where text and images are positioned on a page. Most of the text in this book is aligned flush with the left-hand margin; the examples and bulleted lists, however, are indented, making them easier to spot on the page. Proximity involves putting ideas, images, or text that are related close, or proximate, to one another. Images need to be near to where they're discussed in the text, and captions need to be next to the images they label."
"And of course closely related ideas need to be connected visually, as the four basic design principles are here. DESIGN ELEMENTS Fonts The fonts you use affect how easy your text is to read-and they also contribute to the look of what you write. You'll want to choose fonts that suit your genre and purpose, and that reflect your stance: academic, playful, businesslike, informal, whatever."
"There are two basic kinds of fonts: serif fonts such as Times New Roman, Garamond, and Century Schoolbook, which have short cross lines at the ends of letters; and sans serif fonts such as Calibri, Helvetica, and Futura, which do not have such cross lines. This book is set in three different fonts: what you're reading here is set in Freight Text Book, the examples in the book are set in Freight Sans , and the blue headings are set in Clarendon . Most fonts have bold , italic , and underlined versions."
"You might use bold for headings in an academic text or for getting attention on posters or other texts that will be read from a distance, and italic to emphasize or highlight certain words. Italics are also used for titles of books, magazines, movies, and other full-length works ( Don Quixote, The Atlantic, Mamma Mia! ). Sometimes you'll be required or expected to use certain fonts."
"MLA specifies only that you use a font that's easy to read, whereas APA recommends several specific fonts, including Calibri , Arial , Times New Roman , and others. Whatever fonts you decide to use, make sure that they are legible: depending on the font, anything smaller than 11 or 12 point will be difficult to read. Color and white space Color can help highlight certain things and guide your readers. You might use one color for all the headings, for example, which would make them easy for readers to spot."
"In digital texts, you might use color to signal that certain words are links. Notice the use of color in this book, for instance: the parts are color-coded (note the gold band at the top of this page), the main headings are blue and the secondary ones are black , and key terms are in red -all designed that way for the purpose of helping you find your way through the book. Choose colors that are easy to see, and remember that contrast is key."
"Dark type on a light background-or light type on a dark background-will provide the kind of contrast that makes the text easy to read and that can highlight something you want to emphasize. Remember, however, that some members of your audience may not be able to see certain colors (especially green and red), so it's best not to use these colors together. If you use more than one color in a text, be careful to choose colors that complement one another."
"Take a look at the color wheel on the next page, which shows colors that work well together. But remember that too many colors jousting for the reader's attention can be a distraction. And be sure as well that any color you use has a purpose-and is not there as mere decoration. A color wheel. Finally, don't forget white space. Leave a one-inch margin around your text, and add some space above headings, above and below lists, and around any visuals."
"Layout No matter how many different elements a text has, they all have to be arranged in some way-and elements that are related need to be near to one another. Paragraphs, lists, graphs, and charts If you're writing a print text that's organized in paragraphs, you'll generally want to double-space the text and indent each paragraph five spaces. Online, however, you should single-space your text, skip a line between paragraphs, and begin each paragraph flush left, without indenting."
"If there's anything that you want to set off as a list, use bullets to make it easy to see-or numbers if you want to put items in a certain sequence. If you're including numerical data, would it be easier for readers to understand if you presented it in a graph or chart? For more on creating graphs and charts, see Chapter 26 . Headings can help guide readers through a written text, and sometimes on slides with an oral presentation."
"You may not need them for very brief texts, but they can be very helpful in long or complex texts. Make sure that your headings are parallel in structure. They might be noun phrases: The Dangers of Vaping . They could also be gerund phrases: Assessing the Dangers of Vaping . Or even questions: Why Has Vaping Hooked So Many Teens? But whatever form you choose, use it consistently: all noun phrases, all gerunds, and so on."
"If you have both headings and subheadings, you can distinguish them by using bold, italics, underlining, or all caps. For example: FIRST-LEVEL HEADING Second-Level Heading Third-Level Heading If you're following a particular documentation style, check to see if it has any requirements about headings. Both MLA and APA require that you use the same font for headings that you do in the rest of the text-APA requires that headings be boldface."
"Visuals Putting them at the top or bottom of a print page will make it easy to lay out pages. If your text is online, however, you'll have more flexibility to put visuals wherever you wish. Be careful, though, that image files not be too large; save them as JPEGs or GIGs, compressed files that readers will be able to download. See Chapter 26 for more on creating visual texts. REFLECT! Look over this book's use of fonts, color, and headings. How do they help you follow the text?"
"Now look at something you've written that's fairly lengthy. How have you used those same elements? If you did not use headings or color or more than one font, how do you think doing so might help readers follow your text more easily? Glossary MLA STYLE, 305-56 A system of DOCUMENTATION established by the Modern Language Association and used in the humanities. APA STYLE, 357-403 A system of DOCUMENTATION used in the social sciences. APA stands for the American Psychological Association."
"MLA STYLE, 305-56 A system of DOCUMENTATION established by the Modern Language Association and used in the humanities. APA STYLE, 357-403 A system of DOCUMENTATION used in the social sciences. APA stands for the American Psychological Association. DESIGNING VISUAL TEXTS The basic design principles of contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity apply to all kinds of texts, visual ones included."
"Take a look at the two ads that follow, and consider how these principles are put to good use-and how they help us read each one. In this poster, the subtle color contrast draws our eyes to the large, all-caps word VOTE, which ripples out beneath the water's surface."
"In this case, the repeated rippling draws our eyes down, where the color smooths out to match the darker blue of VOTE and then further down, from cause (voting) to effect: Cause an effect. This phrase, presented in sharply contrasting white letters in the classic Century Schoolbook font, also plays on the familiar phrase cause and effect in ways that make readers stop and pay attention to the difference between a familiar three-word phrase and a somewhat unexpected three-word command!"
"This poster was created by award-winning designer Stephen Doyle for the American Institute of Graphic Arts, a professional design association, so we can assume it had two purposes: to persuade viewers to vote, and to demonstrate design at its very best. How well do you think he succeeded? Created by Lisa Congdon , an award-winning artist and author of books about drawing and art, this poster also urges viewers to cause an effect. The design choices, however, are very different from Stephen Doyle's."
"Here the large, sharply contrasting candy-stripe letters in all caps leap out at us. These colors are repeated-red, blue, red, blue-as our eyes are drawn down the poster, focusing on the central message: we need to show up. At first glance you may focus on the imperative-SHOW UP-since SHOW is in the middle, and ING is on the next line. Clustered at the bottom of the poster is the pertinent information inviting viewers to show up at a particular fund-raising event (No."
"9) sponsored by Still We Rise supporting the work of four specific groups. The quirky, hand-drawn font also gets our attention, suggesting that this is something out of the box and important, something viewers will want to show up for. Look at your design with a critical eye, get response-and revise It's a good idea to test-drive your design by asking classmates, friends, or family members to react to it."
"Whether it's a web page, an illustrated essay, or a formal report, your document will benefit from getting response to its design. Here are some questions that will help you or someone else look at your design with a critical eye.  Does the overall look suit your RHETORICAL SITUATION -and does it reflect your STANCE ?  Are the fonts you've used appropriate for your GENRE and PURPOSE ? If you're writing for an assignment, have you followed any design requirements?"
" Will your AUDIENCE find the text easy to navigate and read? If it's long or complex, have you included headings-and if not, would they help?  Is there enough white space? Check the margins and any spacing around lists and headings to be sure it's adequate.  If you've used color, does it suit your purpose, and have you used it to provide emphasis where it's needed?  Is there any information that would be easier to understand if it were set off in a list?"
" If you've included any statistics or other data, should it be presented in a chart or graph?  If your text includes any VISUALS , what do they contribute to your point? If they are mostly decorative, consider deleting them. Glossary RHETORICAL SITUATION, 25-28, 81-82 The circumstances that affect writing or other communication, including PURPOSE , AUDIENCE , GENRE , STANCE , CONTEXT , MEDIA , and DESIGN ."
"STANCE, 17-19, 26-27 A writer's attitude toward the subject-for example, reasonable, neutral, angry, curious. Stance is conveyed through TONE and word choice. GENRE, 27, 82, 245 A way of classifying things. The genres this book is concerned with are kinds of writing that writers can use to accomplish a certain goal and to reach a particular AUDIENCE ."
"As such, they have well-established features that help guide writers, but they are flexible and change over time, and can be adapted by writers to address their own RHETORICAL SITUATIONS . Genres covered in this book include ANALYSES , ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES , ARGUMENTS , NARRATIVES , REPORTS , SUMMARY/RESPONSE , and VISUAL ANALYSES . PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on."
"Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION . AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . VISUAL ANALYSIS, 63-65, 139 A GENRE of writing that examines an image, video, or some other visual text and how it communicates its message to an AUDIENCE ."
"Key Features: a description of the visual - some contextual information - attention to any words - close ANALYSIS of the message - insight into what the visual says PART 6 DESIGN / MAKE AN IMPRESSION Chapter 26 Using Visuals USE A PICTURE. IT'S WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS. -ARTHUR BRISBANE I'M A VISUAL THINKER. WITH ALMOST ALL MY WRITING, I START WITH SOMETHING VISUAL."
"-GERALD VIZENOR Many of the texts we write include visuals of various kinds-photos, maps, tables, charts and graphs, still or moving images-all of which can help draw readers in and support what we have to say. In some cases, visuals can make information much easier to understand than it would be with words alone."
"You'll likely have reason to include visuals in some of your academic writing: paintings or drawings in an art history essay, bar graphs or pie charts in a business proposal, historical documents and maps in a history presentation. Whatever visuals you include, make sure that they support what you're saying-and that you use them both carefully and ethically. KINDS OF VISUALS Photos can help readers visualize what you are describing or explaining."
"Imagine describing with words alone this scene from Akhnaten , an opera by Philip Glass, in which jugglers visually represent the rhythms of Glass's music. You could do it-but the photo lets readers see what you're describing. Maps can help orient readers to a place you refer to in your text. The map here is one you might include in a literary analysis of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Return of the King , showing Gondor, where much of the story takes place."
"Table 1 US College Degrees by Males and Females, 2020 Source: US Department of Education Tables are a way of presenting data in columns, which makes it easier to see than it would be in a paragraph-and are especially useful for comparing data. The table here compares college degree data for US college graduates in 2020. See page 346 on setting up tables MLA style, and pages 388-89 for APA style. Bar graphs are useful for comparing quantitative data."
"In this example, the bars make it easy to see at a glance what a sample of voters thought about the government's involvement in solving the economic fallout from the coronavirus. Line graphs are useful for showing changes in data that occur over time. One data set can be shown with a single line-as in the example here. Two or more data sets show how they compare over time."
"Pie charts provide a broad overview of how parts of a whole relate to one another-for example, how much of a family's earnings go for food, housing, transportation, savings, charity, and so on. Each part needs to be clearly labeled, and it's best to have no more than six or seven parts, because if the slices are too small, they can be hard to see or interpret. Glossary MLA STYLE, 305-56 A system of DOCUMENTATION established by the Modern Language Association and used in the humanities."
"APA STYLE, 357-403 A system of DOCUMENTATION used in the social sciences. APA stands for the American Psychological Association. USING VISUALS ETHICALLY What you see is what you get. A picture is worth a thousand words. Maybe so, but maybe not. These familiar sayings rest on the assumption that what we see with our own eyes is real and true, unmediated, while words somehow come between us and reality, shaping and altering it, for better or worse."
"It's true that our brains process images much faster than words: in fact, our eyes will recognize a familiar image in 100 milliseconds, 60 times faster than they can process the words for that image. Perhaps it's the sheer speed with which images enter our consciousness that makes them seem more trustworthy: seeing is believing, as the saying goes. But speed doesn't equal accuracy, much less truth or fairness."
"And as contemporary technology has made achingly clear, pictures are just as constructed as sentences or paragraphs. Not only constructed: they can be manipulated, even falsified. Be aware of doctored photos In June 1994, both Time and Newsweek featured the same photo of O. J. Simpson on their covers. Sharp-eyed readers were quick to point out, however, that Simpson's skin color was decidedly darker on the Time cover."
"When questioned, the photo artist for Time said that he simply wanted to give the image a dramatic tone and that no deception or racial implication was intended. Maybe so, maybe not, but the altered image caused a huge public outcry against such practices. You can see these two magazine covers at letstalklibrary.com . So images and especially photographs can be problematic, to say the least."
"Over two decades ago, environmentalist Kenneth Brower raised an alarm in an essay titled Photography in the Age of Falsification, in which he pointed out that even well-established magazines like National Geographic had been known to doctor photographs to make them more appealing. Noting that while the wildlife images we see in movies and magazines are often stunning, they may well be fake, enhanced, or manufactured by . . ."
"digital technologies that have transformed-some say contaminated-the photography landscape. In Brower's view, such alterations raise serious ethical questions. A leopard can't change his spots, but the modern photographer can easily do it for him. -KENNETH BROWER Faking a sunset or moving animals around in a photo is deceptive, but some altered images go beyond deception and cause harm or embarrassment."
"This happened to President Trump in 2019, when he spoke at conference hosted by the conservative organization Turning Point USA. As he walked onto the stage, a large presidential seal went up on a screen. But the seal had been altered. The eagle had two heads, much like the one on the national emblem of Russia. And rather than arrows and olive branches, the bird was clutching a set of golf clubs and a wad of dollar bills."
"And then there was the banner: in place of E Pluribus Unum (Latin for Out of Many, One), it said 45 Es un Ttere: Spanish for 45 Is a Puppet. It turned out that someone from Turning Point had to find an image of the presidential seal in a hurry and found this one on the internet-and no one checked to be sure it was the actual seal rather than a fake seal aiming to criticize 45. President Trump addressing a Turning Point USA conference in 2019."
"Think before taking and sharing photos President Trump's experience is all too common today, as Photoshop and other tools make it easier than ever to alter images. So the warning Kenneth Brower sounded over two decades ago is more pertinent than ever. In fact, the easy manipulation of images has led to a new field of study, visual ethics, that explores the way in which images, altered or unaltered, always reflect a particular point of view and hence have ethical dimensions."
"Think for a moment of the highly unflattering photos of politicians used in ads against them-or of ones that have been enhanced to make them look flawless: Are those photos fair? And think of your own experience: Has a photo ever represented you in ways you felt were unfair, especially if it was taken without your knowledge?"
That's what leads scholars of visual ethics to argue that both the production and reception of images always have ethical dimensions and to ask that photographers especially consider when it is morally acceptable to photograph people who may be highly vulnerable. Take the case of an image of a father and daughter who drowned while trying to cross the Rio Grande that circulated widely in the summer of 2019.
"Some felt that it helped raise awareness of the dire circumstances leading refugees to seek asylum in the United States; others found it to be insensitive and demeaning-in short, unethical. What's your take? scar Martnez Ramrez and his daughter, Salvadoran migrants who drowned trying to cross the Rio Grande."
"Certainly, Paul Martin Lester wishes he had thought more carefully when as a young reporter he was sent to an airport on assignment to photograph the reunion of two brothers who'd been separated for forty years. A ho-hum assignment, he thought, but as he waited for the brothers to emerge, something unexpected happened: Faye Dunaway, a very big star back then, exited the plane-and when she saw Lester and all his cameras, she screamed and turned her face to the wall."
"Lester was frozen in place for a moment, realizing that he hadn't been sent there to photograph her. But when, still badly shaken, she pulled herself together enough to walk toward him, he automatically took a flash photo. He says that this was the most unethical photo he's ever taken, so much so that he now begins every photography class he teaches with this story and his realization that he had acted in a selfish, intrusive, and unethical way."
"In short, he made a bad choice he doesn't want his students to replicate! You may never have such challenging decisions to make, but even so you need to be aware of the issues involved in taking and sharing photos-and to think critically and carefully before you post or repost images, as well as when you yourself take photos. Consider this advice from one professional photographer: If you are taking a photograph, ask yourself why you are doing it. Try to imagine yourself on the other side of the camera."
"Would you want that picture taken, maybe published in blogs or magazines? Would you want this particular [image to represent you] or your community? If you can answer with an informed yes, then you are good to go. -GRAHAM MacINDOE Get permission, credit sources It's likely that you will use photos and other visuals drawn from other sources."
"In such cases, remember that the legal doctrine of fair use allows you to use images without explicit permission in your college writing-IF that writing is not going to be published. Today, some online works may be published under a CREATIVE COMMONS license, which grants permission to use the work as long as you credit the person who created the work."
"In such cases, you'll need to send an email asking for permission, explaining why you want to use the image, saying where it will appear, and saying that full credit will be given and documented. If it is for educational use and will not be for sale, you may receive permission. Add alt text Alt text is a way of describing images in digital texts for readers who are visually impaired or when computers do not load images."
"The goal is to describe the image in enough detail that readers who cannot see the image will be able to understand what it shows. That said, it needs to be succinct, generally no more than 125 characters. What detail you provide depends on the RHETORICAL SITUATION . If readers need to know only what or who is in the image, your description might be just what you'd see at a glance. Say you were writing about a specific couple and needed to describe a photo of them."
"You might write Susanna and Jeremy holding their dog Gus. If, however, you were writing about the gentrification of neighborhoods in Brooklyn, New York, you might describe the same photo differently: A young white couple in front of a modest wooden house in Brooklyn. She holds a little dog; he's holding boxes from Amazon. And some images need to be named but do not need to be described: a McDonald's hamburger, for instance, or the Nike swoosh."
"The way you provide alt text will depend on where the text will be read. Word has a built-in tool for inserting alt text, but any text that will be read on the internet needs to be embedded using HTML. Some social media programs allow you to include alt text with any images that you post. On Twitter , for example, you can add descriptions of up to 1,000 characters when posting a photo by clicking the alt button."
"Instagram uses object recognition technology to provide alt text for images posted there-and lets you write your own alt text if you prefer. Think about your own use of visuals  Consider whether any visuals you use will speak to your AUDIENCE . Will they understand any charts or graphs you want to use?  Be sure that any photos you take or use represent your subjects accurately and fairly. Avoid stereotyping; be aware of your own biases, and don't let them influence images you take or use."
" Provide any necessary visual CONTEXT . Editing out essential contextual detail can make a photo misleading or hard to understand.  Treat everything and everyone you photograph with RESPECT . Give special consideration to vulnerable subjects.  Be sure to include a CAPTION with every visual you include.  Remember that visuals do not speak for themselves; introduce every visual before it appears in your text, and explain how it supports your point (as the following pie chart demonstrates, . . .)."
" DOCUMENT any visuals you don't create yourself. See Chapter 20 on MLA style and Chapter 21 on APA style for advice on documenting sources and setting up figures and tables.  In academic writing, provide a number (Figure 1, Table 1) and a descriptive title above each visual, and an explanatory caption and source note below. REFLECT! Choose an essay or something else you've written for a class, and read it over with an eye for how visuals might help support your point."
"Is there something you describe where a photo would help? Do you include any numerical data that would be easier to understand in a line or bar graph? If so, give it a try. Ask a friend to read the before and after and tell you which version is more persuasive. Glossary CREATIVE COMMONS, 297, 466 A non-profit organization that licenses creative works in order to make them more accessible than they would be with traditional copyright."
"RHETORICAL SITUATION, 25-28, 81-82 The circumstances that affect writing or other communication, including PURPOSE , AUDIENCE , GENRE , STANCE , CONTEXT , MEDIA , and DESIGN . AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION ."
"CONTEXT, 17, 27-28, 59 Part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION , conditions affecting the text such as what else has been said about a topic; social, economic, and other factors; and any constants such as due date and length. RESPECT, 29-41 The act of giving someone or something your careful attention, listening with an open mind, being polite and considerate, and according someone else the same right to speak that you wish for yourself."
"CAPTION, 346, 467 A brief explanation accompanying a photograph, diagram, chart, and screen shot, or other visual that appears in a written document. DOCUMENTATION, 309-44, 360-86 Publication information about the sources cited in a text. IN-TEXT DOCUMENTATION usually appears in parentheses at the point where it's cited or in an endnote or a footnote. Complete documentation usually appears as a list of WORKS CITED or REFERENCES at the end of the text. Documentation styles vary by discipline."
"See also APA STYLE ; MLA STYLE MLA STYLE, 305-56 A system of DOCUMENTATION established by the Modern Language Association and used in the humanities. APA STYLE, 357-403 A system of DOCUMENTATION used in the social sciences. APA stands for the American Psychological Association. PART 7 MEDIA / A PORTFOLIO Chapter 27 Print ALL I NEED IS A SHEET OF PAPER AND SOMETHING TO WRITE WITH, AND I CAN TURN THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN."
"-FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE THE HUMBLE PRINT PIECE OFTEN DOES EXACTLY WHAT THE NEW TECHNOLOGIES AIM FOR, WITH FAR LESS COST AND EFFORT. -TONY AGUERO Have you seen the YouTube video of a medieval helpdesk, where a puzzled patron sits in front of a printed book and just stares at it, unable to imagine what to do with it since he has never seen one before? He doesn't even know to open it up! Today, when books and other print texts are everywhere, it's hard to imagine a time when they didn't exist."
"But when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press nearly 600 years ago, he set off a communication revolution that is still unfolding. Rather than the months and months it took for scribes to copy out a text onto goatskin or parchment, Gutenberg's press could turn out multiple copies of a page at one time, greatly increasing the availability of books and reducing their cost. The culture of the book was born-and it held sway for hundreds of years."
"Check out the medieval helpdesk video at letstalklibrary.com . Fast-forward to the twenty-first century, however, to a time when print texts are no longer the only ones we have available. Today's technologies enable readers to access digital texts with the click of a button-so much so that some pundits argue that print texts are going the way of the dodo bird and other extinct species. But not so fast. While digital texts offer many advantages, print texts are still holding their own."
"Some people say they're easier to read and that it's easier to find something you're looking for in a print text-and the fact is sometimes they're really needed. You'll surely have some assignments that require you to turn in hard copy. Think too of posters, handouts, grocery lists, letters to elderly grandparents who may not be on email. And even if you read and write on a computer, there's a reason that all computers include a Print function."
"Perhaps most important, you can count on good old paper to be there for you when the technology fails. Consider what happened last year when we were all working from home and Stephen Colbert was broadcasting The Late Show from his house in New Jersey. The guest one night was Daniel Radcliffe (yes, Harry Potter himself), who joined the show via video link from his home. We could see Radcliffe, but we couldn't hear him-and no one was able to fix the problem (even Harry didn't have his wand handy)."
"So what did he do? He reached for pen and paper, wrote out what he wanted to say, and held it up for viewers to read. In short, print text saved the day. Stephen Colbert and Daniel Radcliffe on The Late Show , March 31, 2020. So it seems likely that print texts will be with us for some time. Here are a few tips to get you thinking about how to make those that you create visually compelling and easy to read:  What kind of print text will serve your PURPOSE ?"
"To publicize a concert, it might be a poster, or maybe a postcard. To express an opinion, it could be an essay-or that too might be a poster: think Black Lives Matter.  But is a print text the best way to reach your AUDIENCE ? If they don't use email or social media, it will need to be print. But if it's time-sensitive, better to use email or Twitter .  How should your text be organized? Will it be all or mainly in paragraphs, or is there some detail that will be easier to present or understand in a list?"
"Would headings help you to organize the text-and also help readers to follow it?  Would VISUALS help you make or illustrate a point? If so, what kind: photos? charts or graphs? maps? Remember that you'll need to introduce any visual, add a caption, and explain how it relates to your point.  Think about what FONTS will be suitable for your purpose-and reflect your STANCE . For most academic writing, you can't go wrong with a serif font such as Times New Roman or Bookman."
"But you can be more adventurous with a poster or infographic.  And what about color? Will you need to use more than one color-and if so, what for? Following are three print texts that demonstrate some of these elements in an illustrated essay, an infographic, and a poster. Glossary PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION ."
"AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . FONTS, 472 Typefaces, such as Calibri or Times New Roman STANCE, 17-19, 26-27 A writer's attitude toward the subject-for example, reasonable, neutral, angry, curious. Stance is conveyed through TONE and word choice. VISUALS, 455-57, 459-67 Photos, graphs, maps, diagrams, pie charts, tables, videos, and other images."
Visuals can be used to support or illustrate a point and also to present information that is easier to understand in a chart or graph than it would be in a paragraph. AN ILLUSTRATED ESSAY Following is part of an essay that Henry Tsai wrote for a composition course on the rhetoric of the graphic narrative. He graduated from Stanford with a degree in comparative studies in race and ethnicity and is now a product manager at Facebook. Go to letstalklibrary.com to read the full essay.
"Imag(in)ed and Imposed Identities: Illustrated Representations of Chinese Immigrants in San Francisco, 1865-1900 In 1848, when newsman Sam Brannon ran into San Francisco shouting, Gold! Gold! From the American River! merchant Chum Ming wrote to his cousin in China (Gold Rush). Word spread quickly, and soon images of gam saan -Gold Mountain-entered the collective imagination of Chinese families impoverished by waves of famine, peasant uprisings, and rebellions (Joe)."
"Scraping together money for a trip to the land of opportunities, poor families sent their men to the United States to work in the mines, on the railroad, or as common laborers (Chinese Immigration). Starts with background information. However, life in America was harsher and more complicated than the men had imagined."
"Despite being welcomed as cheap laborers for the Central Pacific Railroad, Chinese immigrants became a threat when the American economy weakened (Joe) and sparked more jealousy when they discovered gold in mines that white Americans thought barren. Such anti-immigrant sentiments spread: from 1865 to 1900, negative newspaper editorials, congressional testimonies, and illustrations of Chinese immigrant men helped foster an atmosphere of fear and distrust."
"In this essay, I explore how these drawings imposed an identity upon Chinese immigrants, how some of these images still affect Asian Americans today, and how this historical context relates to today's immigration debate. *** Introduces a cartoon and describes it in detail. Discusses the implications of what the cartoon shows. The theme of Chinese immigrants monopolizing American industries is a prevalent one. In fig."
"3, a Harper's Weekly cartoon titled Another Field of American Industry Invaded by the Chinese, a Chinese man with a smirk on his face is playfully holding a baseball bat in a laundry shop. Next to him, a clothing iron weighs down a piece of paper that reads Wanted: Chinamen to Play Base-ball. $20.00 per week. The caption relays fear of appropriation of a beloved American tradition with an undertone of racist stereotyping: No more Washee! Playee Base-balee!"
"Sellee out Game, alee same Melican man! If letting the Chinese play baseball is selling out the American sport, then letting the Chinese work and live in this country is selling out the American dream. The threat to the economy is not only an influx of cheap labor, but also an invasion of the perceived Chinese immigrants' values intertwined with irreverence for American values. The caption also plays to the intolerant fear of foreigners."
"The Chinese cannot just participate in American society; they have to invade it. Fig. 3 . Another Field of American Industry Invaded by the Chinese, Harper's Weekly , cartoon, 1883, p. 27. Endnotes  Title announces a broad theme; subtitle states the specific focus. Return to text  States the thesis. Return to text  Caption includes a figure number and source information."
"Return to text AN INFOGRAPHIC This infographic was created by Giorgia Lupi and a team at Pentagram Design, a firm that does graphics, packaging, exhibitions, advertising, websites, and more. It's one of several works from the Happy Data Project, infographics containing small but mighty numbers that present hopeful views of the world."
"The project began in 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many other Black people; go to happy-data.co to see more examples. Bright heading pops visually. Bar graph shows the data; laptop makes it look like it's at home. Building in the background, pot of tea further emphasize the idea of working at home. A POSTER This poster is a call for auditions for Talisman, a student a capella group dedicated to sharing cross-cultural stories through song."
"Founded in 1990 at Stanford with the goal of bringing underrepresented music to campus, the group has now expanded its repertoire to include cross-cultural music from around the world. Go to stanfordtalisman.com to hear them sing. Large red font draws attention to 2 keywords: Talisman and Auditions. Smaller dark blue font gives information about when to audition and where to sign up. The yellow sun in the background is the Talisman logo. PART 7 MEDIA / A PORTFOLIO Chapter 28 Oral WORDS CAN INSPIRE."
"AND WORDS CAN DESTROY. CHOOSE YOURS WELL. -PETER ECONOMY YOU CAN'T REALLY NAME A MOVEMENT THAT DIDN'T START WITH THE SPOKEN WORD. -NANCY DUARTE Before the rise of print texts, the spoken word was king, and queen: orators worked long and hard to make their words unforgettable and their voices audible, even to very large crowds-and with no amplification."
"Then came the rise of writing, and of print texts, which, ironically, seemed to drown out speech: we began to say we wanted to see it in writing before accepting a message; written documentation became paramount in legal proceedings; and writing was more authoritative than just talk. Today, however, the spoken word is again of major importance in delivering information: from town halls devoted to speeches and conversation, to public lectures, to the rise of rap and spoken word poetry, to TED Talks, to the resurgence of radio, to televised newscasts, to countless podcasts-live human voices speak to us around the clock."
"Writing and speaking are both major ways to communicate, to deliver messages, and they are similar in some ways: both use language, both convey information, both address audiences. But there are significant differences too. In general, written texts are more precise, stable, and permanent than spoken texts; they are also often more formal. In addition, readers can exert some control over written texts, rereading, for instance, or going at a slower or faster pace."
"Spoken texts are considerably more dynamic, allowing for more immediacy and more interaction; they are often able to engage audiences more personally and quickly. Moreover, speakers can make use of many kinds of nonverbal communication: tone and volume, pacing and inflection, gestures, movement, and more. But unless the spoken text is digitized, listeners can't go back and check on something they hear in a speech, or slow it down."
"As speakers, then, we need to pay very careful attention to our audiences, and be on the lookout for cues that will tell us whether the audience is following along (or not). In other words, we need to learn to read an audience, to be aware of puzzled looks, nods, smiles, and eye contact. You will surely have opportunities to give oral presentations and work with other spoken texts during your college years."
"Whether it's a presentation in a class, a report to a group you belong to, or an oral history, you will want to make your words count. And while it's impossible to provide guidelines for every kind of spoken text you may need to produce, here are some tips that can help. Think about your AUDIENCE . What will they expect to hear from you? What will they need to know to follow your thoughts? How can you engage their interest? What's the CONTEXT ? If it's a presentation, you'll need to draft a script or notes."
"If you're hosting a podcast or conducting an interview for an oral history, you'll need to draft some questions. Work especially hard on your OPENING , and about how you can get your audience interested in what you're about to say. NARRATIVE is a tried and true way to engage listeners and to get your points across memorably, and you can use a story to frame an entire presentation or to support a point you are making. But be careful that any story you tell has a point. In speaking, less is often more."
"As one public-speaking coach says, trying to put too much in is the biggest mistake inexperienced speakers make. Keep it simple; keep it clear. Rely on relatively brief sentences whenever you can. Keep your overall structure simple and clear as well, with explicit TRANSITIONS to guide listeners from point to point. Pausing to sum up major points can also help keep them focused on your message. Use vivid language, ACTIVE VOICE , and concrete nouns."
"But keep in mind what Mark Twain once said: Don't use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent word will do.   If you're preparing a presentation, draft a script that is marked up for pauses and emphasis; a partial script that contains major points and keywords; or note cards. Think as well about how you can use gestures for emphasis. Your CONCLUSION is your chance to leave your audience thinking about what you've said. Think hard about what they will consider most memorable."
"Are there any VISUALS that might help get your message across-graphs or charts? Maps? Photographs or other images? If you use any visuals, make sure that every single one illustrates a point you are making. Remember the old saying that practice makes perfect. Practice until you are completely comfortable with your message-and with how you'll be delivering it! In the pages that follow, you'll find examples of three kinds of spoken texts: presentations, podcasts, and oral histories."
"In each case, there's no substitute for knowing your topic and knowing it well-so that you are comfortable enough to speak directly to an audience about it and to answer questions with ease and accuracy. Oral presentations Many oral presentations follow one common structure: beginning by describing what is and then suggesting what could (or should) be. Then in the middle of the speech, the presenter moves back and forth between discussing that status quo and what it could or should be."
"And the conclusion evokes what could be and calls for some kind of action. In fact, this is a classic storytelling technique, setting up a conflict that needs to be resolved. And presenting your main point as a story works well in a spoken presentation because stories are easy to follow-and to remember. As you'll see, this is the way Trey Connelly structured his presentation about modes of instruction in video games, reprinted here on pages 482-87 ."
"Podcasts Podcasts are spoken-word audio files that can be listened to on a digital device. Some focus on the news, others tell stories, still others feature people discussing or explaining a certain topic. You may be familiar with some of the most popular podcasts- Radiolab , The Daily , Stuff You Should Know -or some of the political ones- Pod Save America , Everything's Going to Be Alright ."
"And some colleges now produce podcasts, from Longwood University's Day after Graduation to the Stanford engineering school's The Future of Everything . So podcasts are a good way to stay informed about what's going on in the world-and to learn about things you know nothing about. And if you have a smartphone and a computer and a quiet place to record, it's something you can do."
"We won't say it's simple, and it's beyond the scope of this little book to teach you how, but we can offer a little advice about some basic features of a podcast. They usually have a host, who introduces the topic and interviews guests or leads discussion. Some podcasts are scripted in advance, but some are organized more like a Q &A, with questions prepared in advance that guests answer. Any questions should be open-ended, eliciting more than a yes or no."
"Most podcasts strike an informal, conversational TONE . Most of all, the best podcasts are both informative and entertaining. The best podcasters know their subject thoroughly and are at ease talking about it. And the better the guests, the better the podcast. In short, doing a podcast calls on you to come up with a topic that matters, to RESEARCH your topic and find knowledgeable, engaging guests-and to think hard about how you can make the discussion one that will interest and engage others."
"On pages 488-91 you'll find a transcript of Jack Long's podcast featuring two first-generation college students, along with a link to the podcast itself. Oral histories Oral histories are recorded interviews with people who have firsthand knowledge of significant events or places. Historians, anthropologists, and others collect oral histories as a way of recording the memories of many different people-and of learning about an event from many different perspectives."
"One oral history project you may be familiar with is StoryCorps , whose mission is to record, preserve, and share the stories of Americans from all backgrounds and beliefs. In interviewing someone for an oral history, then, your goal is to get them to tell their stories. Ask open-ended questions, ones that call for more than a yes or no; ask why, how, where, when. Don't interrupt: your goal is to capture your subject's memories and stories in their own words. Let them speak!"
"And if you transcribe the recording, be sure to show it to the person interviewed to be sure you've captured what they said accurately. You will find a partial transcript of an oral history of Levi Strauss &Co. on pages 492-93 , featuring its president reminiscing about the early days of the company and about one employee who became a hero to his fellow workers. Glossary AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text."
"Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . CONTEXT, 17, 27-28, 59 Part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION , conditions affecting the text such as what else has been said about a topic; social, economic, and other factors; and any constants such as due date and length. OPENING, 146, 410-12 The way a text begins, which plays an important role in drawing an AUDIENCE in."
"Some ways of beginning an essay: with a dramatic or deceptively simple statement, with something others have said about your topic, with a provocative question or a startling CLAIM , or with an ANECDOTE . NARRATIVE, 186-202 A GENRE that tells a story for the PURPOSE of making a point. Key Features: a clearly defined event - a clearly described setting - vivid, descriptive details - a consistent POINT OF VIEW - a clear point."
"Also a strategy for presenting information as a story, for telling what happened. When used in an essay, narration is used to support a point-not merely to tell an interesting story for its own sake. Narration can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or an entire text. See also LITERACY NARRATIVE TRANSITIONS, 424 Words or phrases that help to connect sentences and paragraphs and to guide readers through a text."
"Transitions can signal COMPARISONS ( also, similarly, likewise, in the same way ); CONTRASTS ( but, instead, although, however, nonetheless ); examples ( for instance, in fact, such as ); place or position ( above, beyond, near, elsewhere ); sequence ( finally, next, again, also ); SUMMARIES or CONCLUSIONS ( on the whole, as we have seen, in brief ); time ( at first, meanwhile, so far, later ); and more. ACTIVE VOICE When a verb is in the active voice, the subject performs the action: Gus tripped Bodie."
"See also PASSIVE VOICE CONCLUSION, 92, 211, 417-18 The way a text ends, a chance to leave an AUDIENCE thinking about what's been said. Some ways of concluding an essay: REITERATING your point, discussing the implications of your ARGUMENT , proposing some kind of action, inviting response. VISUAL ANALYSIS, 63-65, 139 A GENRE of writing that examines an image, video, or some other visual text and how it communicates its message to an AUDIENCE ."
"Key Features: a description of the visual - some contextual information - attention to any words - close ANALYSIS of the message - insight into what the visual says TONE, 27, 96 The way a writer's or speaker's STANCE is reflected in the text. RESEARCH, 83, 103, 159-60 A process of INQUIRY -of gathering information from reliable sources to learn about something, find an answer to a question that interests you, understand or support an ARGUMENT , and more."
"See also FIELD RESEARCH AN ORAL PRESENTATION Sign and Design: Modes of Instruction in Digital Games Trey Connelly gave this oral presentation for his sophomore writing class, one that focused on the theme of How We Got Schooled: The Rhetoric of Literacy and Education. Now a junior majoring in computer science, Connelly still enjoys the study of gaming. He will graduate from Stanford University in 2021."
"In the following pages, you will see the script that Connelly worked from in making this presentation, along with eight of the 158 slides he prepared to accompany it. Hi, I'm Trey Connelly, and I'm here to talk about games. Games are fun! We all know that. But what's not fun is not knowing how to play. Everyday language (gonna be) sets informal tone. Scrabble, baseball, karate, all of these activities can be very fun."
"But if you don't know how to play-if you don't know the rules-then you're just gonna be confused and frustrated, and not have a good time. Now normally, though, this isn't much of a problem, because these are all social activities, so there's bound to be someone around who can show you the ropes. Describes what is-the current state of gaming. Except when we get to video games."
"Video games are unique in that they're primarily solo activities, so the job of teaching the player falls not on another person but rather on the game itself. Combine that with the fact that games, systems, and controls have gotten more, and more, and more, complicated over time, and you'll see that the job of the game designer is not an easy one. Introduces his research project."
"So my research project was about Sign and Design: Modes of Instruction in Digital Games, and what that can tell us about instruction in other contexts. Simple, uncluttered slide announces the topic. For this presentation, we'll be stepping into the role of the game designer in order to answer one question: How do you teach players how to play your game? Use of questions helps keep audience's attention. Now you might think, why not just tell them how to play? What else would you do?"
"Well let's see how this works out with a case study, of Final Fantasy X , one of the most popular game franchises of all time. So it's gotta be good, right? And by the time you get to the tenth in the series, most fans are gonna buy it no matter what. But it introduces a few new mechanics, like this thing called a sphere grid. Explains how just telling how to play currently works."
"So let's see how the game teaches players how to use the sphere grid system: First, you select Sphere Grid from the main menu. The cursor appears at the selected character's current position. Use the d-pad to move the cursor. So far so good. Information on the upgrades is displayed at the top of the screen . . . defense upgrades . . . learn an ability . . . nodes . . . press X . . . <yawn, click through slides > Slide shows how one game explains how it works."
"Use of short direct sentences to show failure of explicit instruction. How are you all doing? Oh! Hey, we're done. Did you get all that? Because the game isn't gonna tell you that information ever again. Not great. So the problem with explicit instructions is that when someone who wants to play a game instead encounters a wall of text, they're not likely to pay attention."
"And even if they do, the chances they'd actually retain all that information by the time they get into the game part where it matters are essentially zero. <pause > And this has been verified by cognitive science."
"Learning theorist James Gee of Arizona State explains that Human beings are quite poor at using verbal information when given lots of it out of context and before they can see how it applies in actual situations. If this sounds like too much verbal information out of context for you, let me restate that: When it comes to games, words are bad. Or better yet, <slide > Slide underscores his main point with 3 words that will grab his audience's attention."
"All that is to say, it seems like just telling players how to play is not the way to go. So what if we just . . . don't tell them how to play? I mean, think about it. There's tons of things we do all the time without being explicitly told how to do so. Think of a toaster, for example. Sure, it comes with an instruction manual, but has anyone ever read it? We can just figure it out. Describes one alternative of what could be. So maybe that's what we should do with games too."
"One game that does this is Dwarf Fortress . It's a bit of a cult classic, but you may know it was the inspiration behind Minecraft . Here's a little taste of my first hour trying to figure out how to play Dwarf Fortress : Points out that this alternative is no better than explicit instruction. Um. Huh. Am I in a field? Is that blue thing a river? What do all these symbols mean? What should I do here? Maybe I'll just press these buttons? Oh no, am I in a cave? Is it night? I have no idea. Yeah."
"In fact, Dwarf Fortress is so hard to understand that people have written entire books on how to get started , which brings us right back where we started with that same verbal information out of context that Professor Gee warned us against. So going back to our main question, it seems like we can't just tell players how to play, but we can't not tell them either. But there's actually a third option. Think back to toasters. Yes, we can easily figure out how to use it-and that's no accident. It's by design."
"Here's what a toaster really looks like. If this was your toaster, you might need an instruction manual to figure out what to do with it. But the toaster we see hides all the stuff that we don't need to see in order to understand, and leaves us with this sleek model with two visual elements: slots at the top that are just the size and shape of a slice of bread, and a lever on the side that almost screams push me down. Toaster analogy shows the importance of intentional design to instruction."
"This use of intentional design to convey information without words is what game designers Anna Anthropy and Naomi Clark call a communicative visual vocabulary. And it can be incredibly effective. In games as in toasters, Anthropy and Clark argue that we shouldn't tell the player explicitly how to play using words they won't read or remember, but nor should we abandon them to their own devices in a way that makes things incredibly hard to figure out."
"Instead, they say, the best way to teach a player is to tell them how to play, but do so implicitly , using visual vocabulary and intentional design that makes it easy for them to figure out what to do. Use of vivid description language evokes the experience of the game. To see what I'm talking about here, let's look at one more game: The Witness , my personal favorite. Here's the opening segment of the game."
"The player starts off in a long, dark hallway that's got a brightly lit door at the other end that clearly indicates that they should move forward to get to it. Once there, there's a door with an orange panel. And actually . . . it kind of looks familiar. If we just . . . and then . . . yeah! It looks a little like a toaster! It's got the same knob and track."
"So let's see if this visual vocabulary matches what actually happens in the game: the player comes up to the door, grabs the knob, slides it across the track, lets go-and pop, the door opens! Returns to what explicit verbal instruction would look like."
"The designers of The Witness could have put a big block of instruction text next to the door saying, When you approach an orange panel, click the circle and navigate your mouse to the end of the track. Or they could have just thrown you right into one of the later puzzles like this one, and let you struggle to figure it out. But instead they went the way of the toaster, making it visually clear what to do without needing to be told. And the game is much better for it."
"Notes the implications of intentional design beyond video games. Now, as we wrap up here, you might be wondering, Who cares? We're just talking about video games . But really, we're talking about more than just games. The principles of instruction we've seen here are relevant in pretty much any instructional context. Sums up his argument."
"No matter the situation, one of the best ways to teach someone is not just to tell them what to do or what to know, but rather to let them figure it out for themselves in an environment designed to make that easy. Hmm. Makes you wonder, then, why so much of the instruction we get in school is still so tied to textbooks. That's a question for another time, but for now I want to leave you thinking like a game designer."
"So today, try to notice something in your life that uses a visual vocabulary to tell you what to do without telling you what to do. Appreciate the toasters in your life. Thank you. Go to letstalklibrary.com to watch a video of this presentation. Notice how he ad-libbed as he spoke, adapting on the spot to connect with his audience. Endnotes  Opening engages audience directly, including them with use of we. Return to text  Uses an analogy to make his point. Return to text  Returns to toaster analogy."
Return to text  Proposes a better alternative to explicit instruction: implicit instruction. Return to text  Points out intentional design-as easy as using a toaster! Return to text  Transition signals that the presentation is coming to a close. Return to text  Poses a provocative question. Return to text  Closes by asking his audience to take action.
"Return to text A PODCAST On Being First-Gen Students The podcast that follows was produced by Jack Long, a student who created a series of podcasts called The Third Chair as part of his work with The Lantern , Ohio State's student newspaper. The podcast here features two interviews with OSU students about their experiences as first-generation students. Jack Long is a second-year student at Ohio State majoring in journalism. Host introduces himself, the topic of this podcast, and his 2 guests."
"Jack Long : This week, you're going to hear a few stories from first-generation students. In fact, they're first-generation students who are in their first semester. I'm Jack Long, and you're listening to The Third Chair . First guest gives background information. Colin Flanagan : So I grew up in this suburb on the east side of Toledo called Oregon. Just, you know, a typical American residential suburb. Really not a whole lot to do unless you cross the river into the actual city of Toledo."
"We have this state park, Maumee Bay-it has a nice lodge if you're looking to stay there for, you know, a wedding or something, but other than that, you know, metro parks, but really you have to cross into Toledo. I'm Colin Flanagan, I'm a first-generation student at The Ohio State University studying political science, economics, and public policy. Colloquial language (yeah) establishes an informal tone. Yeah, so my family. . . . I live in a typical 1950s American household."
"It's me, my mom, my dad, and my younger brother, who is currently a sophomore in high school where I went to school, named Chase. My dad is . . . he was an auto mechanic for 23 years and now he works for the city of Oregon as a street department employee, so he, you know, he'll crack seal or fix potholes in the roads, he'll plow snow or cut the grass in public areas. And right now my mom is a waitress. Host does not interrupt, giving the guest time and space to speak."
"My family raised me to go to college, so I would say, yeah, it was expected of me to go to college. I know that various extended family members from, say, more rural areas didn't really care if I went to college, and they warned me about the debt that I was going to endure and encouraged me to go to trade school, but I didn't think twice about going to college. I feel like college provides the most opportunity to me."
"I want to go into politics and hopefully attend law school before doing that and I really wasn't going to do that unless I went to college, so that's why I'm here now. A touch of humor regarding college costs helps connect with his audience. I come from a lower-middle-class family, maybe you could have guessed that from my parents' occupations. The government seems to think [ laughter ] that we can fork out a lot of money to pay for my education and, well, I'm not getting any of that."
"My expected family contribution is upward of $8,000, so I knew we really couldn't afford that. My parents' interaction with me was, I think, not all that common, although it could be. They told me from the get-go, even before senior year of high school started-start looking for scholarships, start looking for scholarships. Points out one advantage of being a first-gen student. Being a first-generation student is just . . . a lot of the time, people are going to tell you that you don't know what to do . . ."
"and you know, maybe you don't have a really good direction about where you're going. But I think that people who aren't first-generation students fall into this category of certainty when they go away to school, go away to college or university, that they know exactly what's going to happen. And I think in some ways first-generation students have an advantage because they don't fall into that track, they don't fall into that."
"I think you run the line of, you really get to find things out for yourself and learn on your own. You know, you don't learn things unless you do it on your own. Like when you're a little kid and they say-clich example-when you're a little kid and they say don't touch the stove, and you touch the stove. Well you're really not going to touch it after you do that. Host chooses to have second guest introduce himself directly to audience."
"Brandon Hernandez : I believe my dad was fifteen when he first came to the United States, but he stayed in California and that's where he, you know, did the typical work, he worked on farms and stuff like that. He told me how he used to pick lettuce. My name's Brandon Hernandez. I'm studying political science and economics here at The Ohio State University. Tells something about his background and upbringing."
"My dad works for the city of Hamilton, he works in waste-water treatment, and my mom is a quality control specialist at a Tyson food factory. Both of my parents never finished high school, but they've always strongly emphasized and pushed for education because they believe education is kind of like a tool for success and it opens up so many doors and gives you so many opportunities that it's just necessary to have in today's day and age."
"Subject of college costs comes up again, something on the minds of many students. You know, I usually don't get like stressed out over things, but the whole aspect of the finances has taken a little bit of its toll, because I know at the end of the day it's an investment, like you're investing in your future. And as long as you find the career path that you know you'll make money, I mean it'll be worth it. But just seeing all those big numbers . . . I would say I went through a mini panic attack."
"If it wasn't for one of my high school teachers, whose name was Mr. Stebbins, he really helped me out throughout the process because I was really worried once I saw, you know, I didn't get a full ride. Shift to second-person (And you know) helps connect with his audience."
"And you know, growing up and things like that, you're predicting your path and you're like, All right, I'm going to do this, this and that, and it's just all going to work out. And then adulthood and reality hits you and you're just like, Well, okay, that didn't work out . . ."
"how am I going to go about this and solve it? And I was really worried for a time in my senior year, like that was like the main thing occupying my mind, and I would say I kind of lost sleep sometimes about it, just thinking about it. Advice helps him get beyond lost sleep. But Mr. Stebbins reassured me, you know: Don't worry about it too much."
"If you let it consume you, you're going to start slacking on your sleep, which will impact your grades, which will impact all that. And he just said, It's going to be a domino effect."
"It's going to affect you that way, so what you need to do is, you need to relax, don't be afraid too much about loans and the huge sums that there are, just, you go out there, you prove to them through your effort and your grades and all that that you belong here, and eventually you'll be able to pay it off. First guest sums up the message he wants to leave listeners with."
"Colin Flanagan : One more thing I want to add: I think a lot of people come in being a first-generation student and they're really afraid because they don't know what to expect. But there's a certain comfortableness in the chaos of it. Because it's just . . . you don't know what to expect. And so, with that, there's no expectations. And I think that's a lot better than having expectations not being met. Host returns to close the session, thank his guests, and note the podcast website."
Jack Long : The Third Chair is produced and written by Lantern reporters and myself. We're published by The Lantern at The Ohio State University. Special thanks to Brandon Hernandez and Colin Flanagan. You can find other great podcasts from The Lantern on thelantern.com. You can listen to the full podcast at letstalklibrary.com .
"Endnotes  Uses an analogy to underscore doing things on your own. Return to text AN ORAL HISTORY Milton G, and a Lesson The text that follows comes from the transcript of an oral history of Levi Strauss &Co., the fabled firm that invented Levi's jeans in 1873. It's an excerpt from an interview with Walter Haas Jr. about his years as president of the company."
"The interview was conducted in 1994 by Ann Lage, associate director of the Regional Oral History Office of the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley. In the following excerpt, Haas shares some stories about his first years with the firm. Stories help capture important memories. Haas : There are several stories: the first one didn't have to do with me, but it gave me a lesson. Milton G was an elevator operator on Battery Street."
"One day he went to my grandfather and said, This is a family business. I know that a member of the family is always going to be the head of it. I want to rise to the top, and I obviously can't do it here. I'd like to go out to the factory because maybe I can someday be the factory manager. He was just a little elevator operator. Lage : And young, I would presume. Haas : Very young. [But some years later] Milton G became the factory manager. It was wonderful."
"At the end of the year, my grandfather called this young man in and said that he had done a remarkable job and they had bonuses they gave to the executives in a good year, and they wanted to give Milton G a bonus. And he said, Mr. Stern, I am poor, I'm supporting my mother, I really need the money. But I can't take a bonus unless you give a bonus to all the factory employees as well. Use of dialogue makes the story more immediate and personal. Explains why this story matters: the lesson it teaches."
"This was an unheard of thing in those days. My grandfather said, I have to think about it overnight. The next day he said, All right, we'll do it. And Milton said, Well, you can only do it if you come out when I give out the checks. My grandfather did, and apparently it was a scene of utter chaos and elation, that these mostly foreign-born women, mostly of Italian extraction at that time, were recognized as human beings instead of numbers on a sewing machine."
"They cried, and they laughed, and they hugged everybody. . . . I think that's a wonderful lesson, and Milton G was a remarkable man. Note that the interviewer does not interrupt the speaker. Empathy for the Employees Another lesson I learned from Milton. They had a cafeteria in those days, and they had a couple of ex-sewing machine operators who were along in years who washed the dishes. One day I went to Milton, and I said, You know, I think it'd be better to buy a dishwasher."
"It'd save money, be more sanitary. Instead of discouraging me, he said, Well, that's a good idea. Why don't you make a little study of the costs. Contrasts (ironically?) what he learned at school with something he learned on the job. Well, I had gone to the Harvard Business School, so I made a very detailed little study and pointed out that it would save money and be more sanitary if we in fact got a dishwasher."
"And he said, Well, that's fine, but there are two ladies who've spent over thirty years in the company. What would I do with them? And I realized that there's more than just money involved in any decision. And that was a lesson that stuck with me. Milton G dancing with a colleague at a factory party-wearing Levi's, like most everyone there. Endnotes  Direct quotation lets Milton G speak for himself. Return to text  Question helps keep the narrative going."
"Return to text  More direct quotations bring Milton G to life. Return to text  Transition leads to a second story-and another lesson. Return to text  Concludes his story by reiterating the lesson learned. Return to text PART 7 MEDIA / A PORTFOLIO Chapter 29 Digital WE TEXT. WE ZOOM. WE SEND ONE ANOTHER LINKS ABOUT VIROLOGY. -DAVID REMNICK IF I COULD COME BACK AS ANYTHING, I'D BE A BIRD-BUT DEFINITELY THE COMMAND KEY IS MY SECOND CHOICE -NIKKI GIOVANNI Where do you do most of your work? Online."
"Where do you go for news or information? Online. Where do you go for meetings? Increasingly, online. Where do you go for entertainment? Especially during a pandemic-online! Anytime you visit a website, play a video game, open an app, read an ebook, write an email, or attend a video conference, you're doing so via digital media. In short, the world we know today is in large part a digital world, and we are its citizens."
"J. K. Rowling tapped into the magic of digital media in 2020 when many students were learning from home, launching Harry Potter at Home , a website that provides games, quizzes, chapters read by Daniel Ratcliffe and others-all based on the wizarding world of the Harry Potter books. It's not quite Hogwarts, but it's something that only digital media could pull off. You may not be assigned to create a digital Hufflepuff site, but chances are that much of the work you do in college will be done online."
"Providing guidelines for every kind of digital text you might want to create isn't possible in this small book-or in any book, since technology is constantly changing-but here are some tips that can help:  Whatever platform you're using, think about what features it offers that will help you achieve your PURPOSE and appeal to the AUDIENCE you wish to reach: images? visual data? audio? links to sources your readers are likely to trust?  Think about how you can attract readers and viewers."
"Titles are especially important in digital media, both for describing what your text is about and for making it one that someone doing a Google search will want to click on.  What's your STANCE toward your topic? How do you want to come across to readers? What TONE do you want to project: conversational? businesslike? earnest? something else? Be sure that the words you use convey that tone."
" Be sure to add CAPTIONS to any visuals that you include-and to credit the sources of any that you yourself have not created.  Whether you're creating a BLOG , a YouTube video, or a website, think about the look you want. What FONTS , colors, and VISUALS will produce that look? If you're filming yourself in a video, think about what you'll wear and what will be in the background. Whatever your text, its DESIGN will affect the way it comes across-and is received."
"Glossary PURPOSE, 25 In writing, your goal: to explore a topic, to express an opinion, to entertain, to report information, to persuade, and so on. Purpose is one element of the RHETORICAL SITUATION . AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . STANCE, 17-19, 26-27 A writer's attitude toward the subject-for example, reasonable, neutral, angry, curious. Stance is conveyed through TONE and word choice."
"TONE, 27, 96 The way a writer's or speaker's STANCE is reflected in the text. CAPTION, 346, 467 A brief explanation accompanying a photograph, diagram, chart, and screen shot, or other visual that appears in a written document. BLOG, 496-98 From web + log , blogs are sites that focus on topics of all kinds. Blogs are regularly updated, usually strike an informal TONE , and include a space where readers can respond."
"FONTS, 472 Typefaces, such as Calibri or Times New Roman VISUAL ANALYSIS, 63-65, 139 A GENRE of writing that examines an image, video, or some other visual text and how it communicates its message to an AUDIENCE . Key Features: a description of the visual - some contextual information - attention to any words - close ANALYSIS of the message - insight into what the visual says DESIGN, 96-97, 448-58 The way a text is arranged and presented visually."
"Elements of design include FONTS , colors, illustrations, LAYOUT , and white space. BLOGS Blogs (from web + log ) are sites that focus on topics of all kinds. Think food blogs. Tech blogs. Mom blogs. Fitness blogs. Grammar blogs! If there's something you're interested in, chances are there's a blog about that. And if not, you might want to start one. Most blogs follow a simple organization."
"A homepage describes what the site is about and lists its posts in reverse chronological order, the most recent one on top. Then comes the main content, which may include images and links. And almost always there's a place to comment. Like a lot of writing on the web, most blogs strike an informal tone and are written in conversational language. And at their best, blogs generate conversations."
"Write about something you care a lot about, creating a blog of your own about that topic-and if you work at it, you can build an audience who will join you in conversation. Here are some tips to get you started:  Come up with a good name. Make it one that's easy to remember and that gives some idea of what the blog is about. Serious Eats , TechCrunch , NASCARista , and Barefoot Nurse are a few of our favorites.  Follow other blogs on related topics, and make a point of responding to what they say."
"That's one way others will find you.  Tag those blogs in your blog, and make an effort to refer to them occasionally.  Include links to other info that may interest your readers.  Include a Comments section on your blog, and invite response. Simply posing a question can help prompt response. And be sure to respond to any comments. Keep the conversation going.  Update your blog regularly!"
"A BLOG POST Erin Hawley is the creator, writer, and editor of The Geeky Gimp , a blog that focuses on disability in comics, games, and TV shows. A graduate of East Carolina University, she is now an accessibility consultant for analog and digital gaming. She adores Star Trek , Spock, and Mariah Carey. Visit her blog at geekygimp.com . Writing While Disabled: The Damage of Ableism June 1, 2018 Share this post: Erin Hawley Opens with a question that announces the theme of the post."
"Are people telling me this thing I wrote is good because it's actually good, or are they praising it because they have such low expectations of me? Short paragraphs focus on the key points and make the post easy to read. Being a writer is hard. I'm a perfectionist, which makes me dislike everything I produce. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as my perfectionism makes me a decent writer and an even better editor. Boldface type highlights important points."
"But as a disabled writer , I question other people's reactions to my work. The opening quote is something I ask myself every time I share my writing with others. Words highlighted in blue link to definitions. Conversational language connects with readers. Some people name that thought process imposter syndrome , but that doesn't cover it. My insecurities around people's reactions stem from ableism, specifically the way abled folks assume so little of me."
"It stems from inspiration porn , where every action of a disabled person is praised , including mundane, ordinary things like going food shopping or having friends. I grew up defying expectations from an ableist society by simply existing. Anything beyond that, like graduating from college or being in a romantic relationship, blows people's minds-and it shouldn't."
"While much of my work is aimed at dismantling ableism, I understand this -ism, like all oppression, is far too ingrained in society to change overnight, or within my lifetime. That means I must learn to live within this structure. I value my writing-I need to make that clear. This isn't about my talents , but more about how abled and some disabled people view my talent, and how those views negatively impact my craft."
"I would write more if I felt secure that my work was valued and critiqued by others the same way I view and critique myself. I wouldn't hesitate to publish if I knew my writing was not seen as a miracle, or met with a patronizing good for you! So when I release a blog post into the wild and receive praise for it, I can't tell if it's genuine. And I'm certain some of it isn't genuine , but rather a manifestation of ableism-even if well-meaning and unrealized."
"I want abled people to read my work knowing I am a disabled woman because I am proud of who I am, but I also want them to read it without the framework of ableism . That isn't possible, though, so I internalize and dissect my writing to an unhealthy degree. I can't accept praise even if I also think my blog post or poem or marketing pitch for work is good. Specifies a particular audience she's addressing. I've thought about ways to dismantle this thought process."
"What I'm trying to do is write for a small audience. I don't mean the number of people who read my posts; what I mean is, when I write, I only have myself in mind. Or I only have other disabled people in mind if I'm writing specifically about disability. I am telling myself that abled people's opinions of my writing do not affect or control my writing. Some people will view everything I do through the lens of ableism, and I can't let that hinder my words ."
"Disassociating is not an easy process, but it's a necessary one to keep my powerful voice intact. Concludes by inviting comments and response-in italics to emphasize the request. I am curious if other disabled writers experience similar thoughts, or have any tips on how to keep writing while disabled. Please let me know in the comments! Endnotes  The title makes a provocative claim that draws readers in. Return to text  Date the blog was posted."
"Return to text VLOGS Vlogs (from video + log ) are blogs that are delivered in video. There are thousands of them on YouTube , and like blogs, they are about any number of things: travel, family reunions, how to make face masks. Many of them are by college students-and many of those are about being college students. Some of these provide information: how to find the best classes, how to juggle work and school."
"Many others simply tell about the vlogger's everyday routines: a day in their life at college, a stroll across campus, writing an essay at midnight that's due the next day. In fact, it's now an option in some composition classes to produce a short vlog. Students have composed NARRATIVES about their first (or last!) day at college, REPORTS on something they're researching, ARGUMENTS for candidates they support. Even if it's not an assignment, maybe there's just something you want to tell others about."
"Planning a vlog is not all that different from anything else you write, but usually you'll want to keep it casual. Start by jotting down the main points you want to cover. Some vloggers write out a script; others just make a list of keywords to keep them on track as they speak. But think about how you'll begin: you'll need to introduce yourself as well as your topic, and in a way that will make your audience want to listen to what you have to say."
"And keep it conversational-you'll be doing the talking, but remember that you'll have an audience, so speak directly to them and acknowledge them in some way. It's possible to film a vlog on a simple smartphone. In fact, many of the best vlogs are appealing because they keep it simple. Here are some tips to help you get started:   Watch a few vlogs to see how it's done. You could start with Brandon Hayden's vlog on page 501 . Create a YouTube channel."
"If you've not done this before, take advantage of the QuickStart guidelines that YouTube provides. Decide on a background, but make sure it doesn't distract from YOU: you're the star of this show! If you'll be walking around, decide on your route. Try out your options for lighting. It's best to use natural light, with the light on you and not behind you. But avoid filming in direct sunlight."
"Get comfortable with whatever camera you use-and remember that the quality of the camera is not as important as the content of what you say. Consider getting an inexpensive tripod, and if you'll be seated in the vlog, position the camera at eye level. Remember to look directly at the camera. Practice, practice, practice. Press Record and start talking. Be yourself! Say what you have to say! Glossary NARRATIVE, 186-202 A GENRE that tells a story for the PURPOSE of making a point."
"Key Features: a clearly defined event - a clearly described setting - vivid, descriptive details - a consistent POINT OF VIEW - a clear point. Also a strategy for presenting information as a story, for telling what happened. When used in an essay, narration is used to support a point-not merely to tell an interesting story for its own sake. Narration can serve as the organizing principle for a paragraph or an entire text."
"See also LITERACY NARRATIVE REPORT, 157-85 A GENRE of writing that presents information to inform readers on a subject. Key Features: a topic carefully focused for a specific AUDIENCE - definitions of key terms - trustworthy information - appropriate organization and DESIGN - a confident TONE that informs rather than argues. See also IMRAD ; PROFILE ARGUMENT, 99-131 Any text that makes a CLAIM supported by REASONS and EVIDENCE . A GENRE that uses REASONS and EVIDENCE to support a CLAIM ."
"Key Features: an explicit POSITION - a response to what others have said - appropriate background information - a clear indication of why the topic matters - good REASONS and EVIDENCE - attention to more than one POINT OF VIEW - an authoritative TONE - an appeal to readers' values BRANDON HAYDEN College101: Choosing a Major! Brandon Hayden is a student at Georgia State, where he's majoring in sociology."
"The piece on the following pages comes from a vlog he runs on YouTube called College 101: A Helpful College Series! He has another YouTube channel called Happily Dressed , a name he also uses for his Instagram account, @happilydressed. It's a label that reflects his belief that being ourselves is effortless and 100% worth it-and that trying to fit in is old news. It's a message with an audience: Hayden now has 2.8K YouTube subscribers!"
"We cannot include an actual vlog on the pages of this book, but as you'll see on the following pages, we've included several screenshots along with a partial transcript of Hayden's spirited and wise advice about choosing a major. The transcript shows his introduction and conclusion-but go to letstalklibrary.com to see the full vlog. If you haven't yet chosen your major, Brandon Hayden is here to help. A YouTube Vlog Clear title of series attracts intended audience. List of episodes."
"Simple, uncluttered background doesn't distract from the speaker. Title of episode, number of views, date posted. Makes eye contact and crosses fingers for good luck-connecting to viewers. Here's a transcript of the start of Hayden's vlog. Introduction explains the glitch and introduces a current topic. Hello guys! So, we are back. I fixed my microphone, I got a new battery for it, so we're back on the nice camera."
"But, I'm here for another installment of the College 101 series, and today we are talking about choosing a major. Uses his own experience to connect to the audience. Now this can be extremely difficult, and sometimes you just don't get it-actually, most of the time, people don't get it right on the first try."
"I know when I applied to Georgia State, I went under a marketing major, then I got here, changed to a communications major, then added a journalism minor, and then now I've just changed completely to sociology. Conversational tone and everyday vocabulary are used throughout. So basically, it's hard to get what you want to do right the first time. You have assumptions, you take the classes, and then you realize, you know what, maybe this is not for me-I think I have a passion somewhere else."
"So then you just change it. And it's okay to change majors between freshman and sophomore year. Once you get to junior and senior year, you get kind of like uugh if you change your major again-you kind of have to stay an extra year or extra two years, so definitely try to make a decision before sophomore year is over. But hopefully, with this video, I can help you kind of dissect what you really want to do. To do this, I'm going to go through the process of me choosing my own major."
"And here is the conclusion to Brandon Hayden's vlog. I hope you guys enjoyed this video. I did a lot of talking like I always do in all of my videos so I shouldn't be surprised. If you want more of me and this college series and the college vlogs and just the random videos here and there, you can subscribe down below. I post every Monday. And yeah, don't take picking a major so, so seriously."
"Because once you get here, you might decide you don't want to do it anymore, you'll choose maybe two different other ones, you can even pick a minor. So yeah, you have time, so please, don't stress out about picking a major. Pick what you think you want to do now, you'll get here, and if you don't like it you can switch. And if you do, then great on you! You're ahead of the game. But you don't necessarily have to be."
"I hope this helped you in any way, shape, or form, and if it did, and any of your other friends are worried about picking a major, please send them this video. And I'll see you guys next Monday! See you guys later. Endnotes  Explains what is to come in the rest of the vlog."
"Return to text WEBSITES Chances are, when you're online, you're on a website: looking something up on wikipedia.org , checking news on politico.com or foxnews .com , reading reviews of a new film on rottentomatoes.com , ordering takeout from a local diner, doing schoolwork on one of your college's many sites. And that's just for starters: if you take time to jot down every website you visit in a day, you'll see just how much a part of our everyday lives these digital conveyors of information are."
"The links are a key component, one that affects the way you write something on the web. For example, you can link to the definition of a term rather than defining it yourself in your text-and you can quote from a source and link to the full text rather than summarizing or paraphrasing it. If there's a chart or graph you'd like to include in your text, you can cut and paste it into your text-or you can simply link to it. Same goes for videos."
"The links also work for readers, letting them decide what they want to see, and not. Whether you're creating links or clicking on them, you are using websites all the time. As former President Bill Clinton has said, Twenty years ago only astrophysicists knew about websites. Today my cat has a website. Maybe so, but I bet the cat had some help building its site. Fortunately, free website builders like Wix or GoDaddy provide templates to help you get started."
"In the meantime, it's likely that you'll be posting a project or presentation to a site that already exists, much like the article on the following pages. ROSA GUEVARA Jailene M.: The Future of Tech, with Enthusiasm Rosa Guevara wrote the following article when she was at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, New York, and was a staff writer for The Bridge , LaGuardia's student newspaper."
"She's now at Baruch College, majoring in business communication-and reporting on social justice issues for The Ticker , their student newspaper. AN ARTICLE ON A WEBSITE Newspaper banner includes a photo of the Queensboro Bridge between Manhattan and Queens, home of LaGuardia Community College. Search bar allows readers to search the site. Main menu includes links to 6 parts of the site."
"Jailene M.: The Future of Tech, with Enthusiasm by Rosa Guevara on October 9, 2019 in Features, Home Short paragraphs make newspaper articles easier to read. Learning various English skills along with the principles of journalism to become the next great reporter providing truth and facts to citizens takes a toll on many journalism students. Jailene M. is working on all that and more, studying both journalism and digital technology."
"She has already closed the tech gender gap in various ways-and she hopes to empower the next generation of tech leadership by succeeding in school while also learning the basics of the digital era. Everyday language strikes a pleasing, conversational tone. It was 5:30 pm on a Sunday when I met Jailene for a cup of coffee in Elmhurst, Queens. She was on her laptop, drinking coffee and rubbing her eyes, probably because of the brightness of the screen."
"I tapped on the door while she looked and enthusiastically waved at me-I opened it, and in an instant, she gave me a hug. She mentioned how she had already ordered exactly what I wanted, and as I sat down, she was already telling me how grateful she was about being interviewed-this was her first time. Born in Queens of Mexican descent, Jailene is not only an aspiring journalist, but also a technology enthusiast, a coder, a babysitter, a first-generation and full-time college student at LaGuardia."
She is proud of her roots and where they're leading her and for what the future looks like it has in store for her. She's been studying the basics of coding with an eye toward creating her own website and publishing articles along with other first-generation students. Her main goal is to close the gender gap and become the next tech leader.
"Jailene is majoring in New Media Technology with a concentration in Digital Journalism, and she says another major goal is to become as digitally adept as possible while also providing truthful information to citizens on apps or websites. In her free time, Jailene enjoys coding and teaching others, one of her strongest skills."
"I like seeing how just typing codes can turn into beautiful websites-and seeing what that can turn into has attracted me more to it, and made me want to learn more, she told me while sipping her large hot latte. Surrounded by video games when she was growing up, Jailene developed her interest in technology at a young age. She now has the chance of making something virtual into her own masterpiece, a website that can get the recognition she hopes to attain."
"While learning the ways of coding, she has noticed that she is the only Hispanic woman in her class. I thought this only happened in Mexico! she said, I guess this stereotype will continuously follow me even in the United States! When she realized that, she decided to go against the stereotype where men are usually the only ones involved in technology, to familiarize herself with coding and break the misconception about women not being able to master this computer language."
"During this time, she has also practiced blogging, reporting, and interviewing-in addition to attending web design classes. The many direct quotations let Jailene speak for herself-and let readers hear her voice. Look, I'm more focused on learning HTML coding, JavaScript, jQuery, CSS, Bootstrap and so much more. I would show you, but I think I'd confuse you so much. Maybe we can stop! She laughed while closing her laptop and again sipping her latte."
"Jailene is a shy woman who is very passionate about her studies. But more than that, she cares about the people who want her to pursue her dreams, particularly her little brother. Her everyday motivation is to become part of the next generation of top talent in technology, to promote diversity, and to support innovation. Links in this column take readers to other recent feature stories and to archives of previous issues of the newspaper."
"She also gets her inspiration from her little brother, who has been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a neurological disorder that causes those who develop it to have difficulty paying attention and to become excessively active. My brother is 10 years old and has ADHD, Jailene said. This really does motivate me to accomplish my academic and personal goals because I want him to know that he can accomplish anything he wants no matter what his condition."
"I want him to know that his disorder does not define him and does not limit what he can do. Her family back in Mexico wants the best for her, especially since she is the first granddaughter and is seen as an example. Many first-generation college students say they must go to college to help their families because they are viewed as saviors, family representatives, and a way out of poverty. She is dedicated to doing well this term while also remembering to take care of herself."
"Link takes readers to information about the author. Another link takes readers to other articles by Guevara. Part of the graduating class of 2019, she hopes to see the day when gender stereotypes no longer exist, in technology or any field. Sometimes it is women competing against women or men against men. I just do not understand it-and it continues to frustrate me. We can all just help each other succeed."
"But that's not how it works here in America. Digital Journalism , Laguardia student feature , Slider ABOUT ROSA GUEVARA View all posts by Rosa Guevara Endnotes  The title uses a key word- tech -that makes this article searchable. Return to text  This powerful quotation lets Jailene have the last word. Return to text PART 7 MEDIA / A PORTFOLIO Chapter 30 Social IT'S A DIALOGUE, NOT A MONOLOGUE. . . . SOCIAL MEDIA IS MORE LIKE A TELEPHONE THAN A TELEVISION."
"-AMY JO MARTIN ANYONE CAN BE A REPORTER OR A CULTURAL CRITIC ON TWITTER , AND THAT'S LED TO A UNIVERSE OF DIVERSE VIEWPOINTS, ALL AMPLIFIED ORGANICALLY. -WIRED ONLY CONNECT. . . . LIVE IN FRAGMENTS NO LONGER. -E. M. FORSTER Where do you most often get news or information these days? And how do you most often communicate with others? If you're like most people now, your answer will involve social media."
"A 2019 Pew Research study reports that 74 percent of adults in the United States turn to Facebook daily, while 63 percent turn to Instagram and 40 percent to Twitter . Again, that's daily . And it very likely includes you. So this chapter is not going to tell you how to log on to Facebook or post a photo on Instagram . But it will get you thinking about how you can use social media to connect with others-and to do so carefully, effectively, and ethically."
"It might be useful to stop and think about what makes social media social. In short, it enables us to meet up with others. To talk and to listen. To think about what they say, and why. To engage with others, and with their ideas. In other words, social media is about dialogue and conversation,more like a telephone than a television. They help us connect. With people. With ideas. With the world. But how exactly do social media help us connect? They're interactive ."
"Social media sites are designed to invite response. As a writer, you can respond to what someone else posts, join a conversation, or initiate one yourself. They help us find audiences-and communities . Social media sites give you some control over who sees what you write, and they even provide ways for you to build an audience. You can use privacy settings to decide who can see your posts, and you can @mention people you want to see them. You can also choose who to follow."
"They enable us to share and follow ideas-and discover new ones . You can add tag (#) keywords to add your own thoughts to conversations on a certain topic-and to make your own posts searchable by others. Say you post something about social distancing, for instance: adding #stayhome, #sixfeet, and #washyourhands will help others interested in that topic find your posts. They're driven by algorithms , which amplify the spread of information -actual information, misinformation, and totally false information."
"Algorithms are designed to track clicks and likes and then to feed us content that's in line with our preferences; the fact that shocking, disturbing, and angry content is apparently most engaging drives the spread of such information. Because they're online and instantly accessible, social media messages are amplified -for both good and ill. Like a giant megaphone or microphone, social media blast out messages: some are truthful and fact based; others are exactly the opposite."
"That's why ethical users of social media take special care with the messages they send-and do not retweet or repost messages they cannot verify. FACEBOOK Created in 2004, Facebook began as an online directory of the first-year class at Harvard. It included nothing but each student's name, photo, dorm, and high school. The content was nothing new."
"But something else was new: students could edit their profiles, adding details about their relationships, their classes, their favorite bands or movies or teams, whatever. And they could then see who else was in their classes, who else was in Expos 20, or rooted for the Celtics. In other words, it prompted students to think about how to present themselves, and it made it easy to find communities who shared their interests. The rest is history."
"Today, more than 1.5 billion people log in to Facebook each day: primarily to stay in touch with friends and family, but also to get the news, show off vacation photos, watch videos, and more. As a college student, you may well use Facebook to learn about school events, collaborate with classmates, write to your grandparents. Remember that your Facebook profile is one way that you present yourself to the world, so you'll want to think hard about what you put there."
"Unless you make your account private, it could reach a pretty wide audience, including future employers-who have been known to cancel interviews or reject job candidates after looking at their Facebook pages. Be careful not to post anything you wouldn't want a future employer to see. INSTAGRAM A free photo-sharing app, Instagram allows you to upload photos and videos, and to write something about them."
"It will feed you posts based on what you yourself post, and you can like or comment on them if you wish, follow anyone whose work interests you, and forward them to others. These are all ways that Instagram 's algorithms will then send you other posts tailored to your interests. You can respond to what they post, and they can respond to what you post; you can follow them, they can follow you. In other words, Instagram can connect you with others who share your interests."
"Twitter A social networking service where you can post tweets and share links, photos, GIFs, and videos, Twitter is a site for following news and ideas-and for connecting with others who follow the same things. Unlike Facebook and Instagram , it limits what you write to 280 characters. In fact, the average tweet is around 28 characters-a challenge, but one that can really help you focus what you say, literally making every word count."
"You can follow topics that interest you- The Iliad , the Supreme Court, women's soccer, whatever. Say you're a fan of Ohio State football; doing a search for #ohiostatefootball will lead you to tweets on that topic-and a number of different perspectives on it as well. And if you yourself tweet about the team-and tag your tweets #ohiostatefootball-they will pop up whenever someone else does a search for Ohio State football or clicks on #ohiostatefootball."
"That's how Twitter lets you find conversations on topics you want to learn about, add your own opinions, and build an audience for what you have to say. And once you specify what you're interested in, Twitter will suggest other accounts you might want to follow. As with all social media, Twitter can be misused to spread misinformation, or worse. Be careful about retweeting unless you can verify that the information is truthful. Brevity is the soul of wit."
"-WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter are all places where you can find many different perspectives-and where you can seek ideas different from your own. As such, they're places where you need to practice RHETORICAL LISTENING , working to understand and really engage with people whose lives and viewpoints are not the same as yours."
"But because these are also sites where you can actually choose those you interact with, there's also a real danger of building an information silo-that is, following and attracting only like-minded people, whose ideas and opinions are similar to yours. Be careful not to do that. You are what you share. -CHARLES LEADBEATER At their best, social media can help people connect across time and space like never before."
"As this book goes to press, we're all working at home in order to curb the spread of COVID-19, and we're using Zoom , and other social platforms to attend meetings, classes, and even happy hours. But as you know, social media sites are not always at their best, and all too often they have been used not to connect but to divide, to confuse, to deceive-and to spread misinformation or lies."
"As an ethical user of social media, your job is to make sure that anything you post or share is honest, based on verifiable information, and offered in the best interests of your audience. Writing effectively and ethically on social media  Think carefully about the AUDIENCE who will see what you write-and whom you want to reach. Tag (#) KEYWORDS to share a post with people who are likely to be interested (#kingjames, #washyourhands); and @mention people you want to see your post (@epeters, @scolbert)."
"Speak directly to your audience, using a friendly, conversational tone.  Consider your PURPOSE . What do you want to happen as a result of what you write? Are you voicing an opinion?  What's the larger CONTEXT ? Are you writing for an assignment? If you're responding to a conversation that's already begun, what's being said about the topic?  Make sure that any sources you link to or forward are reliable and that any information you share is accurate.  Credit anything that you did not create yourself."
"On Facebook , clicking the Share button gives credit and makes a link. On Instagram , use an @ tag to credit the creator (@sdunn). On Twitter , give an HT, short for hat tip (HT@sdunn).  It's usually best to keep posts short and to the point. Link to any longer text you wish to include.  What TONE do you want to convey? Think about how you want to come across: serious? playful? frustrated? something else? You can probably be pretty casual if you're sure your readers are friends."
"But if you're writing about a serious topic, you'll want to establish a serious tone.  Remember to add CAPTIONS to any images. And if you haven't created the image yourself, be sure to credit whoever did.  If you want readers to engage with what you post, try to be direct: ask a question, or issue an explicit call for action.  Don't forget that you're interacting with real people. Don't say anything on social media that you wouldn't say to them in person."
"Glossary RHETORICAL LISTENING, 7-11 A way of listening that is open-minded, accepting, and respectful-of listening to what others say as a way of understanding their PERSPECTIVES and demonstrating respect for their views. AUDIENCE, 25-26 Those to whom a text is directed-the people who read, listen to, or view the text. Audience is a key part of any RHETORICAL SITUATION . KEYWORD, 83, 253, 258 A term that a researcher inputs when searching for information in databases and elsewhere on the internet."