This inquiry-based rhetoric provides students with a thorough grounding in writing, reading, researching, and visual literacy. This progressive guide helps students understand the processes of reading and writing as a dialogue between the writer and the audience—"a meeting of minds." It teaches students how to analyze rhetorical situations—the ways reader, writer, subject and purpose influence the writer's work—and how to choose effective rhetorical strategies, structures, reasons, and appeals to fit the writing situation. While focusing primarily on academic writing, A Meeting of Minds also connects academic ways of understanding to personal writing and writing about community concerns. Research is presented as extended inquiry, rather than as a separate genre. Visual texts and document design are treated as rhetorical considerations and are linked together in discussions of the rhetoric of web pages. Sample student works, as well as professional readings from a variety of sources, appear in every chapter.

To provide realistic models of inquiry, the text closes with three casebooks of multi-sided readings on provocative issues: "The Vote" on declining voter participation, "English Only" on language policy, and "He said/She said" on gender and communication style. A complete composition resource, A Meeting of Minds offers a rhetoric, readings, and guides to revision and editing—all in one brief paperback.

Features:

• Chapters on academic writing address summarizing, responding, analyzing, synthesizing, interpreting, evaluating, and taking a position.
• Covers different kinds of writing for different audiences, including personal, public, and academic writing, and different types of inquiry that are suited for each purpose.
• Handbook chapters guide students through the revision and editing process (Chapter 12, A Brief Guide to Effective Revision, and Chapter 13, A Brief Guide to Effective Editing).
• Three casebooks on high-interest topics—"The Vote," "English Only," and "He Said/She Said" provide a variety of perspectives on a complex topic, rather than simplistic pro/con arguments.
• "Key Concept" boxes help students increase their rhetorical awareness and "Strategy" boxes help students visualize each step in the composing.
• "Writing Invitations" in every chapter provide ideas for short writing projects; each chapter also includes a suggestion for a longer writing project, called "Developing the Writing Project."
• Illustrations, including photographs, ads, and screenshots, help students acquire visual literacy, and learn to use visuals in effective document design.
• Chapter 11, "Visual Rhetoric and Document Design," covers the processes of reading and writing in cyberspace, including suggested web resources for writers.

Copyright © 1995-2008, Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Longman Legal and Privacy Terms