Good Writing

Connie Snyder Mick

Focuses on applying an ethical lens to every element of writing
Offers an interdisciplinary approach to composition informed by Future Studies, Performance Studies, Poverty Studies, and Peace Studies
Provides ample support for instructors teaching courses with service-learning requirements
Eight highly engaging and diverse readings with "Headnotes" sections, providing preliminary context, and "For Reflection" sections, offering concluding questions for discussion
"Critical Questions" give instructors opportunities to assess student understanding and engagement with the reading
"In Process" sections describe major writing assignments and offer detailed templates with student writing models
"Office Hours" help students pinpoint human help on campus (peers, professors, writing center consultants, and librarians)

Good Writing

Connie Snyder Mick

Description

Connie Snyder Mick's innovative textbook shows how good writing changes the world. Designed for first-year writing courses, Good Writing: An Argument Rhetoric provides a step-by-step approach to help students design scalable, supportable, and significant compositions. The book's rhetorical instruction and diverse readings advance the concept of writing for social change, providing a strong foundation for community-engaged writing.

Good Writing

Connie Snyder Mick

Front Matter
Preface

PART ONE: Foundations of Writing and Critical Reading
Chapter 1: Why Write?
WHY Write? Reasons for Writing
WHO Cares? Understanding Audience, Understanding Self
WHERE Are We? Rhetorical Domains: Scope and Limitations
HOW Should I Compose? Mode and Medium
WHEN Should I Speak Out? Kairos, Context, and Listening
WHAT Do I Think I Know? Message from Discernment

Chapter 2: Elements of Rhetoric
Rhetorical Situation
Audience and Stakeholders
Genres
Aims

Chapter 3: Reading and Listening for Writing
The Rhetorical Reading Process
The Rhetorical Listening Process

Chapter 4: Argument
Academic Arguments
Arguable Claims
Qualifying Claims
Evidence
Good Reasons: Aesthetic, Practical, and Ethical
The Rhetorical Appeals: Ethos, Pathos, Logos
Logical Fallacies
Student Reading: Karmela Dalisay's Researched Proposal Argument, "Motivating the Homeless"

Chapter 5: Writing Ethics, Responsibility, and Accountability
Guidelines for Writing with Integrity
Questions to Guide Ethical Writing
Office Hours: Understanding Common Knowledge

PART TWO: The Writing Process
Chapter 6 Analyze the Assignment
Rhetorical Analysis of Writing Prompts
Three Elements for Rhetorical Analysis of a Writing Prompt
Office Hours: Clarifying Cross-Cultural Assumptions
Critical Questions

Chapter 7: Plan: Organizing the Process
Scheduling Tasks and Resources for Writing
Writer's Rituals: Knowing What Works for You
Confronting Writer's Block
Office Hours: Resetting Your Writing Rituals

Chapter 8: Question: Exploring Issues
Finding a Topic: Who Decides?
Moving from a Topic to an Issue
Strategies for Finding Issues
Gathering Initial Resources
Office Hours: Engaging Libraries and Librarians to Find Topics and Issues

Chapter 9: Read: Strategies for Reading in Research
Active Reading for Research: Methods and Tools
Office Hours: Surprises in Reading for Research

Chapter 10: Invent: Take Note and Create
Strategies for Invention
Invention After Doing Preliminary Research
Office Hours: Inventing at the Writing Center

Chapter 11: Arrange: Prioritize, Organize, Outline
Strategies for Prioritizing Ideas
Strategies for Organizing Ideas
Strategies for Selecting a Structure
Strategies for Outlining Arguments
Office Hours: Taking Time to Test the Thesis

Chapter 12: Draft: Introduction, Body, Conclusion
Strategies for Drafting
Laying the Foundation
Office Hours: Writer's Block, Writer's Bloat, and Writer's Bleh

Chapter 13: Revise: Strategies for Re-seeing
Articulating Questions for Revision
Creating New Perspectives in Revision: Three Approaches
Doing Revision
Reviser's Block
Office Hours: Converting Comments into Acts of Revision

Chapter 14: Review: By Peers and Experts
Why? The Purpose of Reviews
When? Timing and Frequency of Reviews
Who? People Who Can Help
Where? Face-to-Face and Digital Exchanges
How? Ways of Receiving Review
Resisting Review
Office Hours: Instructor Writing Conferences

Chapter 15: Proofread and Submit
Aims of Proofreading
Strategies for Proofreading
Submitting Work with Care and Confidence
Office Hours: Proofreading for Non-Native Speakers of English

PART THREE: Arguing With Purpose
Chapter 16: Rhetorical Analysis: Getting the Message
Strategies for Rhetorical Analysis
Elements of Rhetorical Analysis
In Process: Rhetorical Analysis of a Speech
Published Reading: Ta-Nehisi Coates, "How the Obama Administration Talks to Black America"
Student Reading: Dan J, "'We shall overcome': Passion, Freedom, and Triumph as Americans"
The Writing Process
What Happens Next?
Office Hours: Honor Codes

Chapter 17: Narration: Composing from Personal Experience
Strategies for Narrative Arguments
Elements of Narrative Argument
In Process: Autoethnography
Published Reading: Phil Garrity, "Measuring the Immeasurable"
For Reflection
Student Reading: Geraldine M., "The Elephant Ear Memory"
The Writing Process
What Happens Next?
Office Hours: Setting Boundaries for Narrative Arguments with Personal Experience

Chapter 18: Causation: Making Connections
Strategies for Causal Arguments
Elements of Causation
In Process: Arguing Why Something Happened or What Will Happen
Published Reading: Michelle Alexander, "The New Jim Crow: How the War on Drugs Gave Birth to a Permanent Undercaste"
Student Reading: Kevin B., "Substance Abuse and Homelessness: Addressing a Complicated Relationship"
The Writing Process
What Happens Next?
Office Hours: Getting Past Correlation: Calling a Cause a Cause

Chapter 19: Definition: Explaining the Nature of Something
Definitions that Differentiate and Exemplify
Strategies for Definition Arguments
Elements of Definition
In Process: Differentiation
Published Reading: Mariah Blake, "'Crack Babies' Talk Back"
Student Reading: Ishmael A., "Social Justice: More Than Meeting an Immediate Need"
The Writing Process
What Happens Next?
Office Hours: Handling Controversial Topics

Chapter 20: Evaluation: Considering Criteria
Strategies for Evaluation Arguments
Elements of Evaluation
In Process: Evaluate Policies, Programs, or People in Public Office
Published Reading: Tressie McMillan Cottom, "A Middle-Class Anti-Poverty Solution"
Student Reading: Rebecca V., "So Efficient - Too Efficient: Evaluating SNAP"
The Writing Process
What Happens Next?
Office Hours: High Stakes Evaluations: When Claims on the Common Good Collide

Chapter 21: Rebuttal: Negotiating Opposing Viewpoints
Strategies for Rebuttal Arguments
Elements of Rebuttal Argument
In Process: Academic Counterarguments
Published Reading: Kai Wright, "Young, Black, and Buried in Debt"
Student Reading: Avani A., "Revisiting Moral Authority"
The Writing Process
Office Hours: Toning Down, Yet Dialing Up: Balancing How You Rebut

Chapter 22: Proposal: Advocating for Change
Strategies for Proposal Arguments
Elements of Proposal
In Process: Advocating for an Issue
Published Reading: Karen Howard, "End the School-to-Prison Pipeline by Addressing Racial Bias"
Student Reading: Fauvé L., "Providing Higher Education within the Prison System is Beneficial for All"
The Writing Process
Office Hours: Going Public: Writing an Op-Ed

PART FOUR: Writing Strategies
Chapter 23: Multimodal Composition
A Definition of Classical Modes
Types of Classical Modes
A Definition of Modern Modes
Types of Modern Modes
Strategies for Multimodal Composing
Office Hours: Moving Modes: Working with Reviewers to Select, Order, and Balance Modes

Chapter 24: Style
Four Core Elements of Style
Office Hours: Breaking the Rules with Style

Chapter 25: Inclusive Writing
Principles for Inclusive Writing
Beyond Words: Visual Inclusivity
Published Reading: John Franklin Stephens, "I Am the Person You Hurt When You Say the R-Word"
Office Hours: Learning Inclusive Language

Chapter 26: Design and Delivery: Print, Digital, and Oral Presentations
Why Design Matters
Types of Visuals
Elements of Design
Principles of Design
Delivery of Visuals
Delivering Oral Presentations
MLA Style: Formatting Delivery
Office Hours: The Color of Culture: Researching Visual Norms Across Contexts

PART FIVE: Doing Research
Chapter 27: Working with Published Sources
Finding Sources
Evaluating Sources
Arguing from Sources
Office Hours: Who Thought That? Claiming Claims While Citing Sources

Chapter 28: Working with Human Sources
Human Subjects Research: A Definition
Common Types of Human Subjects Research
Office Hours: When What You Hear is Heavy

Good Writing

Connie Snyder Mick

Author Information

Connie Snyder Mick is Academic Director of the Center for Social Concerns and Co-director of the Poverty Studies Interdisciplinary Minor at the University of Notre Dame.

Good Writing

Connie Snyder Mick

Reviews and Awards

"When students are exposed to a view of writing that includes ethics and social responsibility, they are better prepared to recognize the kind of writing they will do in their professions and also understand what it means to be a citizen and write for the community." --Kara Poe Alexander, Baylor University

"Good Writing excels in its logical organization, its attention to citizenship, its focus on rhetorical knowledge and application, and its audience awareness." --Aimee N. Taylor, Ball State University

"This is the kind of composition textbook that I could imagine students holding on to and referencing long after their freshman composition course is complete." --Theresa Conefrey, Santa Clara University

"Writing anything has responsibility attached to it, and I think that Connie Mick has absolutely found a way to make this argument compelling and interesting." --Kim Lacey, Saginaw Valley State University