Speaking of Writing
Buy the Book:Amazon
Bookshop
Published by: Broadview Press
Release Date: August 8, 2019
Pages: 360
ISBN13: 978-1554814343
Overview
Can a writing textbook inform and entertain? Can a very brief rhetoric also function as a stand-alone guide to college writing? Yes and yes. Speaking of Writing is a concise yet comprehensive rhetoric with readings. Informed by scholarship in Writing Studies, this book follows four college students from diverse backgrounds as they face the challenges of reading, writing, and critical thinking in first-year writing and across the disciplines. Each chapter engages students in relatable, often humorous scenarios that focus on key challenges.
Through its story-based approach, Speaking of Writing enacts student-centered and process-based pedagogy, showing students learning to address fundamental questions: How can I apply my own strategies for success to new assignments? How can I maintain my own voice when asked to compose in an academic style? What do college professors mean by a “thesis,” and how is this different from what my high-school teachers meant? Why is this argument weak, and how can I make it stronger? The book’s narrative vividly dramatizes a draft-and-revision process that includes instructor feedback, peer review, and careful research.
Add on GoodreadsPraise
“A collaboration between a writing program director, a novelist, and a graphic artist, Speaking of Writing is unique in its ability both to engage students in first-year composition and to provide truly practical advice for multidisciplinary critical reading and writing situations. This lively textbook starts with what the students bring to the reading and/or writing task, guides them through examples, from the literacy narrative to the multimodal researched composition, and provides a variety of activities throughout to practice key skills.”
― Stacey Donohue, Central Oregon Community College
“Allegra Goodman and Michael Prince offer a fresh approach to the time-honored genre of the writing handbook. They have dispensed with musty clichés in favor of a conversational tone, and they use visuals that feel accessible and relatable. Illustrations representing a diverse array of students, each facing different writing challenges, feel almost like those of a graphic novel and are certain to engage today’s students.”
― Natalie J. Friedman, Barnard College
“In Speaking of Writing: A Brief Rhetoric, Allegra Goodman and Michael Prince provide an indispensable, engaging guide to basic rhetorical concepts and how to write well. Through a creative structure and engaging prose, they make dry and difficult-to-parse concepts come to life, allowing readers to discover what makes writing work and not work in chapters that mimic the process of learning when guided by cogent, thoughtful instructors. … readers looking for an introduction to or a primer on essential writing and rhetorical concepts will be hard-pressed to find another textbook as fun, educational, and interesting.”
― Dylan Schrader, Technical Communication
