Curious Writer, The, MLA Update, Concise Edition

For courses in First-Year Composition - Rhetoric.

This version of   The Curious Writer, Concise Edition has been updated to reflect the 8th Edition of the MLA Handbook (April 2016)*

Puts inquiry at the heart of good writing

We write to learn as much as we do to express what we already know. In his remarkably personal and engaging voice, Bruce Ballenger makes that powerful concept central to  The Curious Writer, Concise Edition.

The Curious Writer, Concise Edition  doesn’t read like a textbook or provide a formula for composing essays. Instead, it encourages students to suspend judgment, to ask questions, and to seek answers much like academics do. Yet it covers a wide range of genres beyond the academic essay—narrative, profile, review, ethnography, argument, and more—all with a distinctive approach and “personality” that is lacking in other texts. It also reinforces the assumption that genres are malleable with a new chapter on repurposing or “re-genre-ing.”

Students love that this book helps them learn to write by pursuing their own curiosity. Teachers appreciate that Ballenger gives students ample opportunity to develop the habits of mind necessary to become critical thinkers and curious writers.

* The 8th Edition introduces sweeping changes to the philosophy and details of MLA works cited entries. Responding to the “increasing mobility of texts,” MLA now encourages writers to focus on the process of crafting the citation, beginning with the same questions for any source. These changes, then, align with current best practices in the teaching of writing which privilege inquiry and critical thinking over rote recall and rule-following.

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.