Elements of Composition: Research, Rhetoric, and Writing
Edition: 2
Copyright: 2024
Pages: 192
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Elements of Composition: Research, Rhetoric, & Writing is a comprehensive first-year composition textbook that covers all aspects of formal academic writing. The first five chapters in part 1 focus on preparing students for all writing situations. Students will learn to navigate purpose and audience; to write effective introduction, body, and conclusion paragraphs; to create successful thesis statements; and to read and write rhetorically. Part 2’s chapters review essential grammar skills to enhance writing proficiency. Of particular note in this section are the rules for correct comma and semicolon usage, written in clear, easy to understand examples. Part 3 demonstrates the importance of incorporating research into academic writing by examining how to conduct original research, to incorporate research from others correctly, and to recognize the differences between MLA and APA format in order to create accurate works cited and reference pages. The final four chapters shift away from a more scientific approach to academic writing by drawing attention to literature and literary analysis. There are chapters for each genre of literature: fiction/nonfiction, poetry, and drama.
Part 1 THE WRITING PROCESS
1. Understanding Writing Situations
Subject
Purpose
Audience
Paper Categories and Styles
Resources
Requirements
Prewriting
Working Thesis
2. Building Effective Paragraphs: Introductions, Bodies, and Conclusions
Paragraph Conventions
Introductions
Body Development
Conclusions
3. Strategies for Thesis Success
What is a Thesis, and Why Is It so Important?
The Six Guidelines for Thesis Success
Evidence in Support of Your Thesis
How Do I Know I Have the Best Evidence?
4. Reading Rhetorically
Rhetoric: An Unfairly Maligned Tool Set
Information Bubbles and Confirmation Bias
Statis Theory
Evaluating Sources
5. Writing Rhetorically
Academic Context
Professional Context
Civic Context
PART 2 GRAMMAR
6. Practical English Grammar 1
Introduction to Parts of Speech
Beginning
Nouns
Verbs
Verb Tenses
Advanced Verb Tenses
Articles
7. Practical English Grammar 2
Major Punctuation
Commas
Semicolons
Other Punctuation
8. The Ten Comma Rules and Three Semicolon Rules
The Ten Comma Rules
The Three Semicolon Rules
9. Word Choice and Tone
Commonly Confused Words
PART 3 RESEARCH
10. Conducting Original Research
How to Prepare for and Conduct an Interview
How to Create and Conduct a Simple Survey
How to Do Naturalistic Observation
What Is Participant Observation?
What Is Ethnography?
11. How to Incorporate Research and Ideas from Others
Direct Quotes, Paraphrases, and Summaries
Here’s a summary of Townshend’s paragraph
PART 4 LITERATURE
12. Reading and Writing about Literature
Pre-reading Activities
Reading about Literature
Intensive Reading or Re-reading
Interpreting Literature – How to Get It Right
Double-Entry Notebook
A Demonstration Double-entry Notebook on “The Necklace” by Julianne Wheeler
Literary Criticism
Pre-writing and Invention Activities
Writing about Literature and the Process
Revising and Editing Activities about Writings about Literature
13. Reading and Writing about Fiction
Elements of Fiction
Reading and Analyzing Fiction
Writing about Fiction
Revising and Editing an Essay about Fiction
Editing and Proofreading about Writing about Fiction
14. Reading and Writing about Poetry
Poetic Devices
Figures of Speech
Types of Imagery
Reading and Analyzing Poetry
Poems for Reading and Discussions
Writing about Poetry
Revising and Editing about Writing about Poetry
Editing and Proofreading about Writing about Poetry
15. Reading and Writing about Drama
The Structure of a Play
Literary Devices
Reading, Watching, and Analyzing Drama
Writing about Drama
Revising and Editing Writing about Drama
Editing and Proofreading about Writing about Drama
Gregory M. Butler has taught English courses for the past 15 years, with five years in high schools and ten at Harford Community College and Towson University. He has earned five degrees, majoring in English, with a writing concentration; History, with a focus on Asian and African histories; and Education, with a focus in curriculum theory and development. Gregory has a passion for teaching grammar and formal writing for first-year students in college. He often incorporates diversity themes into every course he teaches by focusing on social justice for women, the economically disadvantaged, LGBT, and other minoritized groups in American society. He teaches at his alma maters, HCC and Towson, so that he can serve the same communities that helped him prosper into the accomplished professor he is today. It was during the fall 1996 semester, his freshman year in college, when he told his English professor, “I want to teach freshman composition too.” Gregory is well-known for telling his students, “If I can achieve my dreams, so can you!”
Michelle L. Conklin-Kusel has worked as a local newspaper reporter, secondary teacher of English and social studies, as well as an adjunct composition professor (Harford Community College) and graduate teaching assistant (George Mason University). During her five-and-a-half years as a community journalist and nearly 20 years teaching at the secondary and tertiary levels, she has advocated for civic engagement, information literacy, academic literacy, and rhetorical awareness. Michelle holds three degrees and is currently working towards her doctorate in writing and rhetoric at George Mason University. Her education consists of a Bachelor of Arts from Western Michigan University (majoring in both English and political science); a Master of Arts in Teaching Secondary English from Wayne State University (with additional teaching endorsements in social studies and political science); and a Master of Arts in English with a focus in Writing and Teaching Criticism from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. In addition, Michelle earned a secondary teaching endorsement from Michigan State University. Michelle is driven by a desire to decrease the spread of misinformation in all aspects of public life, increase rhetorical agency of all people regardless of educational background, and finish her espionage-crime thriller after earning her doctorate.