Contribute a Verse

Written by: Bell, Bennett, Brauer, Brehe, Dodson, Edelman-Young, Gessell, Gilstrap, Ng, Pearson, and Rifenburg (all of North Georgia University)

This free online rhetoric textbook was written by Chris Bell, Tanya Long Bennett, David Brauer, Steven Brehe, Karen Dodson, Diana Edelman-Young, Donna Gessell, Shannon Gilstrap, Laura Ng, J. Stephen Pearson, and J. Michael Rifenburg all of whom have taught first year composition at the university level. This textbook, which was inspired by the Affordable Learning Georgia initiative is available to all students freely online from the University of North Georgia Press.

The text is a blend of a composition rhetoric manual with grammar and documentation instruction and resources. Important terms are highlighted and are further explained in the glossary. When we last visited this free online rhetoric textbook, it had a copyright of 2015.

I haven’t read through the entire textbook but I found it quite well-done. The focus is clearly on writing and how to do it well. You’ll find sample text from modern and historically important authors, as well as other students and professionals.

I always wondered why our textbooks almost always had composition and rhetoric in the titles but were usually just another boring, and often very thick, text on grammar. This book is much more well-named. It is truly a rhetoric textbook which discusses the proper way of writing; or contributing a verse.

The authors take concepts like weaving quotations into your writing a step further by showing options on how to punctuate them properly. Seeing the different approaches allows students to see the different writing styles in action and help them decide which works best for them. I found myself getting dragged into reading more of the text because this free online rhetoric textbook is so well done.

Table of Contents for Contribute a Verse

Chapter 1 – Reading Critically/Engaging the Material
Chapter 2 – Rhetorical Situation(s)
2.1 Communication Models
2.2 Purpose and Genre
Chapter 3 – Effective Argument
3.1 Pathos, Logos, and Ethos

3.2 Determining and Articulating an Effective Thesis
3.3 Structuring an Argument
3.4 The Importance of Audience
3.5 Strategies for Paragraphing
3.6 Generating a Constructive Tone
Chapter 4 – What’s in Your Writing Tackle Box?
4.1 The Allure of Titles
4.2 Using a Lead to Hook Your Reader
4.3 Baiting: Utilizing the Logic of Assertion, Evidence, and Interpretation
4.4 Casting Cohesion and Coherence
4.5 Netting Your Reader with a Satisfying Ending
4.6 Essay Evaluation Checklist
4.7 Samples Essays by Professional Authors
4.8 Sample Student Essays
Chapter 5 – Integrating Sources into Your Writing
5.1 Gathering Your Sources
5.2 Knowing Your Sources
5.3 Evaluating Your Sources
5.4 Reading and Organizing Effectively
5.5 Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting
5.6 Avoiding Plagiarism
5.7 Using Signal or Tag Words and Phrases
Chapter 6 – Documenting Sources
6.1 The Purpose of Citing Sources
6.2 Collecting Sources
6.3 Documenting Sources
6.4 Sample Student Research Paper in MLA Style
Chapter 7 – Researched Writing
7.1 The Annotated Bibliography
7.2 The Critique
7.3 The Research Paper Prospectus
Chapter 8 – Communicating Outside the Box
8.1 Visual Rhetoric
8.2 Multi-Modal Communication
Chapter 9 – Writing About Literature
9.1 Why?
9.2 How To
Chapter 10 – Writing in the Social and Physical Sciences
10.1 The Experimental or “Lab Report”
10.2 Abstract
10.3 Introduction
10.4 Methods
10.5 Results
10.6 Discussion
10.7 Posters
Chapter 11 – Themes for Writing
11.1 Identity Stereotypes in the Media
11.2 Dystopia
Chapter 12 – Grammar Handbook
12.1 The Subject and the Predicate
12.2 Nouns and Verbs
12.3 Useful, Helpful, Descriptive—Adjectives
12.4 Inevitably, Adverbs
12.5 The Personal Pronouns
12.6 Prepositions
12.7 Conjunctions and Compounds
12.8 Verbs and Complements
12.9 Clauses and Sentences
12.10 Relative Clauses
12.11 More on Verbs
12.12 Interjections and the Parts of Speech
12.13 Nominal Clauses
12.14 Verbals
12.15 More on Nouns
12.16 A Brief Review of Punctuation
Appendix
Glossary
Endnotes
   

View this Free Online Material at the source:
 
Contribute a Verse

A few other textbooks which may help you with your studies:


Real Time Web Analytics