An innovative text on academic writing. Highly praised by instructors for how effectively and accessibly it synthesizes the most current thinking on academic writing, it concisely introduces students to the core intellectual and rhetorical moves of academic writers. Each carefully structured chapter reinforces its lessons with step-by-step checklists and skill-by-skill practice sequences.
- Introduces academic thinking. Chapter 1 presents the habits of mind and core skills of academic writing — from making inquiries, to appreciating complexities, to understanding that academic discourse is a conversation and writing is a process.
- Demonstrates academic reading. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 teach skills of critical reading, showing students how to annotate texts, analyze arguments, identify issues, and formulate research questions.
- Guides academic writing. Emphasizing the processes of developing a thesis, drafting, and revising, Chapters 5, 8, 9, and 10 help students craft a persuasive academic argument.
- Explains academic research. Chapters 6, 7, and 11 introduce varieties of research, and teach the skills — from summarizing to synthesizing to citing and documenting-that students will need to work responsibly with academic and other sources.
A thematic reader that presents important interdisciplinary and cultural conversations. The readings in Part Two (most of them documented) by academic writers, public intellectuals, and bestselling authors reveal that the topics and rhetorical moves of academia are as crucial and relevant outside the university as they are within. The six thematic chapters explore complex interdisciplinary issues: What does it mean to be educated, and who decides? What can we learn from what entertains us? How do we train and market to our youngest consumers? What are the challenges of globalization in the 21st century? How and why do we seek to amplify our bodies and minds? What effects do we have on the environment?
Editorial apparatus that reinforces academic habits of thinking, reading, and writing. Throughout, selection headnotes provide biographical and contextual information, and post-reading questions prompt students to “Read as Writers” and “Write as Readers.” Assignment sequences at the end of the book present opportunities to engage in lengthy multi-reading projects.