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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.