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
