Reading rhetorically : a reader for writers /

Table Of Contents:
Thematic Contents xix
Preface xxv

Part One: Reading Rhetorically

Your Life as a Reader 3(10)

Exploring Your Reading Life 4(1)

Taking Stock of Why You Read 5(1)

For Writing and Discussion 5(2)

Summary 7(1)

Scenes of Reading 7(6)

A Brief Writing Project

Option 1: Memories

Option 2: Observations

Option 3: Interviews 7(2)

The Writing Life 9(1)

Gloria Naylor

Reading on the Fourth of July 10(2)

Virginia Chappell

A Lawyer and His Reading 12(1)

Melissa Martinie

The Special Demands of Academic Reading 13(14)

Reading as Conversation 14(2)

For Writing and Discussion 16(1)

Challenges Presented by Academic Reading 17(1)

Rhetorical Reading as an Academic Strategy 18(1)

Questions That Rhetorical Readers Ask 19(1)

Writers' Purposes Versus Readers' Purposes 20(1)

A Further Look at Writers' Purposes 21(5)

Expressing and Reflecting 22(1)

Inquiring and Exploring 22(1)

Informing and Explaining 22(1)

Analyzing and Interpreting 23(1)

Taking a Stand 23(1)

Evaluating and Judging 24(1)

Proposing Solutions 25(1)

Seeking Common Ground 25(1)

Summary 26(1)

Strategies for Reading Rhetorically 27(18)

Reading and Writing as Acts of Composing 27(2)

The Voice You Hear When You Read Silently 29(1)

Thomas Lux

For Writing and Discussion 29(2)

Texts and Their Rhetorical Contexts 31(1)

An Extended Example: Articles About Teenagers' Sleep Habits 31(1)

For Writing and Discussion 32(2)

Learning From the Practices of Experienced Readers 34(2)

Building a Context for Reading 35(1)

For Writing and Discussion 36(3)

Matching Strategies with a Text's Genre 37(1)

Matching Strategies with Purpose for Reading 38(1)

Taking Stock of How You Read 39(1)

For Writing and Discussion 39(1)

Summary 40(5)

Sources of the Article Excerpts About Teenagers' Sleep Patterns 41(4)

Part Two: Reading and Responding to Texts

Listening to a Text 45(24)

Writing as You Read 46(1)

Preparing to Read 47(4)

Identifying Your Purpose 47(1)

Recalling Background Knowledge 48(1)

Reconstructing Rhetorical Context 48(2)

Spot Reading 50(1)

For Writing and Discussion 51(1)

Listening as You Read Initially 52(4)

Noting Organizational Signals 53(1)

Marking Unfamiliar Terms and References 53(1)

Identifying Points of Difficulty 53(1)

Annotating 54(2)

For Writing and Discussion 56(1)

Listening as You Reread 56(3)

Mapping the Idea Structure 56(2)

Descriptive Outlining 58(1)

For Writing and Discussion 59(5)

Composing a Summary 59(2)

Jenny's Process Notes for Writing a Summary 61(1)

Jenny's Summary 61(1)

Checklist for Evaluating Summaries 62(1)

Writing a Rhetorical Precis 62(1)

Structure of a Rhetorical Precis 63(1)

Jenny's Rhetorical Precis 63(1)

Summary 64(1)

A Brief Writing Project 64(5)

Who Cares If Johnny Can't Read? 65(4)

Larissa MacFarquhar

Questioning a Text 69(22)

What It Means to Question a Text 69(1)

Strategies for Questioning a Text 70(1)

Examining a Writer's Credibility 70(1)

For Writing and Discussion 71(3)

Examining a Writer's Appeals to Reason 71(1)

Claims 72(1)

Reasons 72(1)

Evidence 73(1)

Assumptions 73(1)

Examining a Writer's Strategies for Engaging Readers 74(1)

For Writing and Discussion 74(2)

Examining a Writer's Language 75(1)

For Writing and Discussion 76(3)

Examining a Text's Ideology 77(2)

For Writing and Discussion 79(1)

Exploring Your Responses to a Text 80(1)

Before/ After Reflections 80(1)

For Writing and Discussion 81(2)

The Believing and Doubting Game 81(1)

Jenny's Believing-Doubting Game Freewrite 81(2)

Interviewing the Author 83(1)

Jenny's Interview Questions 83(1)

Applying Rhetorical Reading Strategies: An Example 83(4)

Jenny's Assignment to Examine Rhetorical Strategies 84(1)

Jenny's Paper: Who Cares If the Value of Books Is Overstated? 84(3)

For Writing and Discussion 87(1)

Summary 87(4)

Part Three: The Rhetorical Reader as Writer

Writing About Reading: The Special Demands of Academic Writing 91(18)

Overview of Part Three 92(1)

Typical Reading-Based Writing Assignments Across the Curriculum 93(5)

Writing to Understand Course Content More Fully 93(1)

In-Class Freewriting 94(1)

Reading or Learning Logs 94(1)

Double-Entry Notebooks 94(1)

One-Page Response Papers or Thought Pieces 94(1)

Writing to Report Your Understanding of What a Text Says 95(1)

Writing to Practice the Conventions of a Particular Type of Text 96(1)

Writing to Make Claims About a Text 97(1)

Writing to Extend the Conversation 98(1)

Asserting Your Authority As a Reader and Writer 98(1)

Seeing Writing As a Process of ``Putting in Your Oar'' 99(8)

Strategies for Getting Started 100(1)

Strategies for Generating Ideas 101(1)

Strategies for Writing a First Draft 102(1)

Strategies for Evaluating Your Draft for Revision 103(1)

Strategies for Peer Response and Revision 103(1)

Tips for Offering Feedback to Others 104(1)

Tips for Using Feedback to Revise 105(1)

Strategies for Editing and Polishing Your Final Draft 105(2)

Summary 107(2)

Using Rhetorical Reading to Conduct Research 109(14)

Choosing Readings 110(7)

Jenny's Assignment to Extend the Conversation 111(1)

Formulating Questions: Know What You're Looking For 111(1)

Question Analysis 112(1)

Clarifying Your Purpose 113(1)

Prompts for Questions Analysis 113(1)

Excerpts from Jenny's Research Log 114(1)

Discerning Purpose in Potential Sources 115(2)

For Writing and Discussion 117(1)

Evaluating Potential Sources 117(4)

Library Databases and Web Search Engines 117(1)

Questions About Relevance 118(1)

Questions About Currency and Scope 119(1)

Questions About Authors and Experts 119(1)

Questions About Publishers and Sponsors 120(1)

More Excerpts from Jenny's Research Log 121(1)

Summary 122(1)

Making Knowledge: Incorporating Reading into Writing 123(24)

Summary, Paraphrase, and Direct Quotation 124(5)

Using Summary 124(1)

Using Paraphrase 125(2)

Using Direct Quotation 127(2)

For Writing and Discussion 129(1)

Avoiding Plagiarism 130(2)

Attributive Tags 132(2)

Citation Conventions 134(6)

Formats for In-Text Citations 136(1)

Placement Guidelines 136(1)

Page Number Guidelines 137(1)

Author and Title Guidelines 137(3)

Summary 140(1)

Incorporating Reading into Writing: An Example 140(7)

Part Four: An Anthology of Readings

Expressing and Reflecting 147(62)

Questions to Help You Read Expression and Reflection Rhetorically 149(57)

In Case You Ever Want to Go Home Again 151(1)

Barbara Kingsolver

``I've never gotten over high school, to the extent that I'm still a little surprised that my friends want to hang out with me.'' 151(8)

Language 159(10)

Kyoko Mori

``In Japanese, I don't have a voice for speaking my mind.''

Black Swans 169(15)

Lauren Slater

``When I'm living in moments of clarity, have I transcended disease, or has disease transformed me, taught me how to live in secret niches?''

keeping close to home: class and education 184(11)

bell hooks

``To a southern black girl from a working-class background who had never been on a city bus, who had never stepped on an escalator, who had never travelled by plane, leaving the comfortable confines of a small town Kentucky life to attend Stanford University was not just frightening; it was utterly painful.''

A Word with the Boy 195(6)

David Updike

``The whole thing evolved so quietly, so peaceably, that I wasn't prepared to put a stop to it.''

Reflection as Knowledge 201(5)

Heidi Steenburg

``I needed to find a way to tell the story, to tell what happened to the homeless people, to tell what happened to me.''

Writing to Express and Reflect 206(3)

Reflecting on Experience 206(1)

Examining Rhetorical Strategies 206(1)

Extending the Conversation 206(3)

Inquiring and Exploring 209(46)

Questions to Help You Read Explorations Rhetorically 210(43)

Singing with the Fundamentalists 212(9)

Annie Dillard

``What are they singing?... I want to join them....I want to take my stand with them, for I am drawn to their very absurdity, their innocent indifference to what people think.''

Testing the Limits of Tolerance as Cultures Mix 221(4)

Barbara Crossette

``How do democratic, pluralistic societies like the United States, based on religious and cultural tolerance, respond to customs and rituals that may be repellent to the majority?''

Witness to Rage 225(11)

Robert McGuire

``We know little about what happens to children who witness domestic violence. In fact, we know more about the effects violent television shows have on children.''

Bitch 236(9)

Beverly Gross

``What is the male equivalent of the word bitch, I asked the class. `Boss,' said Sabrina Sims.''

Mommy, What Does ``Nigger'' Mean? 245(4)

Gloria Naylor

``And building from the meanings of what we hear, we order reality.''

Seeking Answers to the Question of Divorce 249(4)

Joshua D. McColough

``I sink into the couch in our family room. Aunt Peggy and Uncle Max are separated. What about our traditional fondue dinner on New Year's Eve? The weekends up at the lake?''

Writing to Inquire and Explore 253(2)

Exploring a Question That Puzzles You 253(1)

Examining Rhetorical Strategies 253(1)

Extending the Conversation 253(2)

Informing and Explaining 255(82)

Questions to Help You Read Informative and Explanatory Texts Rhetorically 258(97)

How Come? 259(4)

Kathy Wollard

Mirage Isn't a Figment of Your Imagination

``Soon you realize you can chase that patch of water down the highway all day and never catch it.''

That Funny and Embarrasing Hiccup May Actually Be Helpful for Your Body

``...if they go on too long, hiccups are no fun. Which is why there are so many hiccup `cures' floating around.''

Once a Novelty, Now-Essential Credit Card Turns 50

Marcy Gordon

```Children, dogs, cats and moose are getting credit cards,' Federal Reserve Chariman Alan Greenspan recently told the Senate Banking Committee.'' 263(5)

UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, Why Do Those νm;*@! ``Experts'' Keep Changing Their Minds?

``Science is a process, not a product, a work in progress rather than a book of rules.'' 268(7)

Sleep Schedules and Daytime Functioning in Adolescents 275(24)

Amy R. Wolfson

Mary A. Carskadon

``Students with short school-night sleep reported increased levels of depressed mood, daytime sleepiness, and problematic sleep behaviors in comparison to longer sleepers.''

When a Wet Vac Counts More Than a Ph.D. 299(3)

Paul Irgang

``Those of us who work in academe inhabit an unofficial, yet undeniable, caste system.''

Body in Trouble 302(6)

Nancy Mairs

``Disability is at once a metaphorical and a material state, evocative of other conditions in time and space---childhood and imprisonment come to mind---yet `like' nothing but itself.''

Helping and Hating the Homeless 308(14)

Peter Marin

``The point is to try to illuminate some of the darker corners of homelessness, those we ordinarily ignore, and those in which the keys to much that is now going on may be hidden.''

America's Love Affair with Pizza: A Guilty Pleasure No More 322(4)

Thomas Roepsch

``Every pizza lover knows the guilt associated with devouring a greasy pizza straight out of the box...''

Consent (Fiction) 326(29)

C.J. Hribal

``This kid, though, nobody knows what happened to this kid. But edging over the ravine, conscious of where his feet meet the ravine's crumbling muddy edge and conscious, too, of the child's drowned body a few feet behind him, Porter can guess.''

Writing to Inform and Explain 355

Explaining What You Know 335(1)

Examining Rhetorical Strategies 335(1)

Extending the Conversation 336(1)

Analyzing and Interpreting 337(54)

Questions to Help You Read Analysis and Interpretation Rhetorically 339(50)

The Past in the Present: The Life of Memorials 340(9)

Kirk Savage

``Why lavish time and money on monuments, especially if `true' memory indeed resides elsewhere?''

I Shop, Ergo I Am: The Mall as Society's Mirror 349(5)

Sarah Boxer

``In certain academic circles, `shop till you drop' is considered a civic act.''

Toys 354(3)

Roland Barthes

``Current toys are made of a graceless material, the product of chemistry, not of nature.''

The Lesson (Fiction) 357(7)

Toni Cade Bambara

``Back in the days when everyone was old and stupid or young and foolish and me and Sugar were the only ones just right, this lady moved on our block with nappy hair and proper speech and no makeup.''

Waste Is Good 364(11)

Geoffrey Miller

``Why would evolution produce a species of anthropoid ape that feels it simply must have the Sennheisers, when the Vivancos would stimulate its ears just as well?''

Men, Women, Sex, and Darwin 375(10)

Natalie Angier

``[H]ard-core evolutionary psychologists have got a lot about women wrong.''

Rebellion Through Music 385(4)

Heather Wendtland

``Why did we love entertainers and songs we knew we should hate?''

Writing to Analyze and Interpret 389(2)

Offering an Interpretation 389(1)

Examining Rhetorical Strategies 389(1)

Extending the Conversation 390(1)

Taking a Stand 391(58)

Argument and Public Life 392(1)

Why Should You Agree? Claim, Reason, Evidence, and Assumption 393(3)

What's Really at Issue? 396(4)

What Kind of Question Is at Issue? Using Stasis Categories for Argument Analysis 397(3)

Questions to Help You Read Arguments Rhetorically 400(46)

Web Pages for the Million Mom March and Second Amendment Sisters Rally, May 2000, Marching For and Against Guns and Gun Controls 401(4)

About Face 405(1)

Kathleen Parker

For Starters, We Can Require Trigger Locks 405(1)

``Any adult who leaves a weapon around for a young child to take to school is negligent, no yes-buts.''

Revisiting the Issue of Trigger Locks 406(3)

``Quick, somebody sell me a bridge over the Sahara before I grow a brain.''

Is There Other Intelligent Life in the Universe? An Exchange of Letters 409(7)

Arnold Wolfendale

Seth Shostak

``No,'' says Wolfendale, a British physicist and former Astronomer Royal. ``Yes,'' says Shostak, who works for the SETI Institute in California

Statement by Alabama Clergymen and Letter from Birmingham Jail 416(1)

Martin Luther King Jr.

Statement 416(2)

Alabama Clergymen

``We are convinced that these demonstrations are unwise and untimely.''

Letter from Birmingham Jail 418(13)

``You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations.''

Let Gays Marry 431(3)

Andrew Sullivan

``People ask us why we want the right to marry, but the answer is obvious. It's the same reason anyone wants the right to marry.''

Should a Boy Be Expelled for Thought Crimes? 434(4)

Sallie Tisdale

``Why would anyone, especially an educator, be surprised to find out that an American high school boy thinks about murder?''

A Hanging (Fiction) 438(5)

George Orwell

``In some of [the cells] brown, silent men were squating at the inner bars, with their blankets draped round them. These were the condemned men, due to be hanged within the next week or two.''

Good Intentions in the Anti-Sweatshop Movement 443(3)

Sofia Collins

``Much of the denim and khaki I wear was probably sewn by outsourced workers in developing countries under conditions that violate most U.S. health and safety standards.''

Writing to Take a Stand 446(3)

Taking a Stand of Your Own 446(1)

Examining Rhetorical Strategies 446(1)

Extending the Conversation 447(2)

Evaluating and Judging 449(42)

Questions to Help You Read Evaluative Texts Rhetorically 453(36)

Invention Is the Mother of Necessity 454(5)

Jared Diamond

``[F]orget those stories about genius inventors who perceived a need of society, solved it single-handedly and transformed the world.''

A Perfect Set of Teeth 459(3)

Alison Lurie

``The zipper is probably the only clothes fastener to have been the star of a Broadway song.''

Words Go Right to the Brain, but Can They Stir the Heart? 462(5)

Laurence Zuckerman

``Powerpoint is so popular that in many offices it has entered the lexicon as a synonym for a presentation, as in `Did you send me the Powerpoint'.''

The Morality and Metaphysics of Email 467(3)

Michael Kinsley

``Historians looking back on our time, I suspect, will have no doubt that the arrival of email was a good thing.''

Web Sites Dedicated to Being Simple Without Giving Up Affluence 470(3)

Joe Queenan

``Simplicity has evolved into a secular religion for affluent Americans in recent years.''

The Addictive Spectacle of Maternal Reality 473(4)

Joyce Millman

```A Baby Story'... is like childbirth porn---complete with unflattering lighting, sometimes muddy sound, and decidedly nonprofessional stars.''

En Garde, Princess! 477(6)

M. G. Lord

``If I were Barbie, the 11-and-a-half-inch princess who has dominated the doll world since 1959, I would keep an eye on the newly formed SWAT team of action figures known as Get Real Girls...[And] I would watch my bony little back.''

Barbie-Q (Fiction) 483(3)

Sandra Cisneros

``Every time the same story. Your Barbie is roommates with my Barbie, and my Barbie's boyfriend comes over and your Barbie steals him, okay? Kiss Kiss Kiss.''

Through the Looking Glass 486(3)

Rhonda Downey

``[T]hroughout America's history the media has often misconstrued the cultural images of its minorities, particularly African Americans.''

Writing to Evaluate and Judge 489(2)

Making an Evaluation 489(1)

Examining Rhetorical Strategies 489(1)

Extending the Conversation 489(2)

Proposing Solutions 491(40)

Questions to Help You Read Proposals Rhetorically 493(36)

The Need for Environmental Ethics 495(4)

Anthony Weston

``We are beginning to struggle with the intimation that something is seriously wrong with our relation to the natural world. It is a little like suspecting cancer but not wanting to know.''

Why a Prime Model for Saving Rain Forests Is a Failure 499(5)

John F Oates

``In the last 20 years, the size of tropical rain forests---and the number of animals in them---has declined drastically although money for conserving those forests has become more plentiful.''

The Singer Solution to Wrold Poverty 504(6)

Peter Singer

``I'm saying that you shouldn't buy that new car, take that cruise, redecorate the house or get that pricey new suit. After all, a 1,000 suit could save five children's lives.''

Clinical Research---What Should the Public Believe? 510(6)

Marcia Angell

Jerome P Kassirer

``Health-conscious Americans increasingly find themselves beset by contradictory advice.''

The Case for Allowing Kidney Sales 516(6)

Janet Radcliffe-Richards

``When the practice of buying kidneys from live vendors first came to light some years ago, it aroused such horror that all professional associations denounced it, and nearly all countries have now made it illegal.''

Binge Drinking as a Substitute for a ``Community of Learning'' 522(4)

Kenneth Bruffee

``To stem the tide of binge drinking, colleges have tried closing fraternities and sororities, punishing heavy drinkers, enlisting the help of liquor-store owners, and banning alcohol on their campuses. So far, those efforts have largely failed.''

Consider the Study of Peace 526(3)

Kathryn Sipiorski

``Peace is a passive force achieved only by active minds.''

Writing to Propose a Solution 529(2)

Proposing a Solution 529(1)

Examining Rhetorical Strategies 529(1)

Extending the Conversation 529(2)

Seeking Common Ground 531(48)

Questions to Help You Read Rhetorically About Common Ground 533(43)

The Triumph of the Yell 534(4)

Deborah Tannen

``I put the question...: `Why do you need to make others wrong for you to be right?' Her response: `It's an argument!' That's the problem.''

Fight Fierce but Fair: And Practice at Home 538(4)

Sydney Callahan

``Let's keep the home fires burning for the greater good of the body politic.''

From Conflict to Congruence 542(8)

Aida A. Michlowski

``As it continues to grow in acceptance, conflict resolution may yet become `the fourth R' in basic education.''

The Anthropology of Abortion Activism 550(5)

Faye Ginsburg

``I felt that the abortion debate needed the kind of research that anthropologists and other qualitative social scientists undertake: studies that try to understand people as part of a community, getting to know them over time and in context....''

What Should Be Learned Through Service Learning? 555(6)

Michael X. Delli Carpini

Scott Keeter

``At first blush, the learning of political facts would seem far removed from the goals and approaches most centrally identified with either the service learning movement or current thinking about effective classroom instruction.''

Open Letter from Mel White to Jerry Falwell 561(5)

Mel White

``Has it ever crossed your mind that you might be just as wrong about homosexuality as you were about segregation?''

Aaron the ``Wiggah'' 566(4)

Salim Muwakkil

``Aaron wasn't my first white student to display hip hop leanings....''

Public Libraries and Internet Filters: Protection Versus Access 570(6)

Jenny Trinitapoli

``At the heart of this controversy are serious values issues about decency, safety, and freedom of information---and the role of government in guaranteeing all of the above to its citizens.''

Writing to Seek Common Ground 576(3)

Moving Toward Common Ground 576(1)

Examining Rhetorical Strategies 576(1)

Extending the Conversation 577(2)

Appendix: Building a Citation 579(18)

Basic Guidelines for Works Cited Lists 579(1)

Citation Formats for Books 580(4)

Citation Formats for Articles in Periodicals 584(5)

Citation Formats for World Wide Web Sources 589(3)

Citation Formats for Other Materials and Media 592(5)
Credits 597(6)
Index 603