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Writing about Writing by Elizabeth Wardle; Douglas Downs - Fifth Edition, 2023 from Macmillan Student Store
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Writing about Writing

Fifth Edition| ©2023 Elizabeth Wardle; Douglas Downs

Since its initial publication, Writing about Writing has empowered tens of thousands of students to investigate assumptions about writing and to explore how writing works.  It does so by making writing itself the subject of inquiry. Unique to Wardle and Downs’ approach, the text pre...

Since its initial publication, Writing about Writing has empowered tens of thousands of students to investigate assumptions about writing and to explore how writing works.  It does so by making writing itself the subject of inquiry. Unique to Wardle and Downs’ approach, the text presents “threshold concepts” about writing—central ideas that writers need to understand in order to progress. As they come to a deeper understanding of these threshold concepts, students are able to transfer their understanding to any writing situation they encounter.

Students are prepared in Part One to engage with the readings in Part Two. The Part One chapters explain the value of investigating writing, introduce threshold concepts and the notion of transfer, detail the elements of genre and rhetorical reading, and offer a guide for conducting writing studies research at a level appropriate for undergraduates. A new threshold concept, “Rhetorical choices shape worlds,” is supported by a new, more diverse and inclusive set of readings in Part Two. 

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Writing about Writing by Elizabeth Wardle; Douglas Downs - Fifth Edition, 2023 from Macmillan Student Store

Join the movement that is transforming First-Year Composition

Since its initial publication, Writing about Writing has empowered tens of thousands of students to investigate assumptions about writing and to explore how writing works.  It does so by making writing itself the subject of inquiry. Unique to Wardle and Downs’ approach, the text presents “threshold concepts” about writing—central ideas that writers need to understand in order to progress. As they come to a deeper understanding of these threshold concepts, students are able to transfer their understanding to any writing situation they encounter.

Students are prepared in Part One to engage with the readings in Part Two. The Part One chapters explain the value of investigating writing, introduce threshold concepts and the notion of transfer, detail the elements of genre and rhetorical reading, and offer a guide for conducting writing studies research at a level appropriate for undergraduates. A new threshold concept, “Rhetorical choices shape worlds,” is supported by a new, more diverse and inclusive set of readings in Part Two. 

Features

Focuses on threshold concepts — central ideas that students need to understand in order to progress as writers. Chapter 1 explains what threshold concepts are; Chapters 4-7 each take up a threshold concept for students to explore through readings, journal and discussion questions, and writing assignments.

Readings introduce transformative ideas in Rhetoric and Writing Studies, with scaffolded support for students.  Through pre- and post-reading questions, students are shown how to see texts as springboards to explore their own experiences with writing, discourse, and literacy.  Student essays within the readings illustrate students’ ability to contribute to the conversation about writing.

Writing assignments encourage students to formulate their own questions about writing and pursue answers through reflection and research.  Chapter 3 guides students through the research process. Major Writing Assignment options in every chapter provide scaffolded instruction for engaging in writing studies research at an appropriate level for first-year students.

New to This Edition

In Part One (Chapters 1-3), Wardle and Downs empower students to enter the conversation about writing and value the diversity of their language use and experiences. In these chapters, Wardle and Downs lay the foundation for students to engage with the readings and frame their work as inquiry. Using a conversational style and accessible examples, the authors cover such topics as the diversity of language and writing practices, what genres are and how writers depend on them, principles of rhetorical reading, and guidelines for conducting primary research on writing.

A new threshold concept, “rhetorical choices shape worlds,” focuses on how rhetorical practices have significant impacts on inclusion, equity, and justice (Chapter 6). An entirely new set of readings for Chapter 6 helps students understand and consider the implications of rhetorical theory.

New readings throughout Part Two reflect contemporary uses of writing in the world. Among them are new pieces on the nature of audience in online commenting, the daily literacy practices of multilingual writers, online advocacy for people with autism, and language use in reporting about different communities.

"Writing About Writing helps my students understand how their writing-related beliefs have been formed and gives them agency to transform their writing practices." - Jennifer Wells, New College of Florida
Writing about Writing by Elizabeth Wardle; Douglas Downs - Fifth Edition, 2023 from Macmillan Student Store

Writing about Writing

Fifth Edition| ©2023

Elizabeth Wardle; Douglas Downs

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Writing about Writing by Elizabeth Wardle; Douglas Downs - Fifth Edition, 2023 from Macmillan Student Store

Writing about Writing

Fifth Edition| 2023

Elizabeth Wardle; Douglas Downs

Table of Contents

Part One. Exploring Threshold Concepts of Writing through Inquiry
 
Chapter 1. Investigating Writing: Threshold Concepts and Transfer

Chapter 2. Readers, Writers, and Texts: Understanding Genre and Rhetorical Reading

Chapter 3. Research: Participating in Conversational Inquiry about Writing

 
Part Two. Joining Conversations about Writing
     
Chapter 4. Composing
Threshold Concept: Writing Is a Process and All Writers Have More to Learn
 
Chapter 5. Literacies
Threshold Concept: Writing Is Impacted by Identities and Prior Experiences

Chapter 6. Rhetoric
* Threshold Concept: Rhetorical Choices Shape Worlds

Chapter 7. Communities
Threshold Concept: People Collaborate to Get Things Done with Writing

Writing about Writing by Elizabeth Wardle; Douglas Downs - Fifth Edition, 2023 from Macmillan Student Store

Writing about Writing

Fifth Edition| 2023

Elizabeth Wardle; Douglas Downs

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Authors

Elizabeth Wardle

Elizabeth Wardle is Professor and Director of the Roger and Joyce Howe Center for Writing Excellence at Miami University (OH). She was Chair of the Department of Writing and Rhetoric at the University of Central Florida (UCF), and Director of Writing Programs at UCF and University of Dayton. These experiences fed her interest in how students learn and repurpose what they know in new settings.  With Linda Adler-Kassner, she is co-editor of Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies, winner of the WPA Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Discipline (2016).


Douglas Downs

Doug Downs is an associate professor of rhetoric and composition in the Department of English at Montana State University.  His research interests center on research-writing pedagogy both in first-year composition and across the undergraduate curriculum.  He continues to work extensively with Elizabeth Wardle on writing-about-writing pedagogies and is currently studying problems of researcher authority in undergraduate research in the humanities.

Writing about Writing by Elizabeth Wardle; Douglas Downs - Fifth Edition, 2023 from Macmillan Student Store

Writing about Writing

Fifth Edition| 2023

Elizabeth Wardle; Douglas Downs

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Writing about Writing by Elizabeth Wardle; Douglas Downs - Fifth Edition, 2023 from Macmillan Student Store

Writing about Writing

Fifth Edition| 2023

Elizabeth Wardle; Douglas Downs

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