Envision in Depth Reading, Writing, and Researching Arguments, MLA Update

For courses in Writing.

This version of Envision in Depth Reading, Writing, and Researching Arguments has been updated to reflect the 8th Edition of the MLA Handbook (April 2016)*

Research-based writing through practical examples

Envision in Depth: Reading, Writing, and Researching Arguments encourages students to look at an issue or idea from a new perspective through the process of analysis, argument, source evaluation, and research-based essay writing. This compact, colorful text for argument and research employs visual culture as an intuitive way into rhetoric and writing. Because of its authentic examples, fresh readings, and thorough instruction, students will enjoy learning to read, analyze, and argue about a range of written and visual texts relevant to our contemporary culture.

* 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.

Christine Alfano has been a lecturer in the Program in Writing and Rhetoric since 1998. She holds a BA from Brown University and PhD from Stanford and specializes in digital rhetoric. In her recent PWR courses, “The Rhetoric of Gaming,” “Networked Rhetoric,” "Technologies of iDentity" and "Cultural Interfaces," Christine challenges students to explore how writing in different technological modes (from traditional Microsoft Word documents, to blogs, threaded discussions, social network profiles, video blogs, and wikis) transforms the modern practice of communication and how we represent ourselves online and off. In addition, Christine is the technology specialist for the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Project, a project that allows Stanford PWR students to engage in intercultural collaboration with students from other universities around the world using video conferencing and other modes of communication technologies.

Dr. Alyssa J. O'Brien is a Lecturer in the Program and Writing and Rhetoric at Stanford University, where she directs the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric initiative and publishes scholarship and textbooks on visual rhetoric, writing pedagogy, and global learning. She has been an invited speaker in Asia and Europe on subjects such as global learning, communication for leadership, visual rhetoric, and “mapping a change in writing.” In 2006, Alyssa won the Phi Beta Kappa Outstanding Teaching Award, and what she enjoys most is helping people discover their voices in writing of all kinds. Her current first- and second-year writing courses focus on visual rhetoric, cross-cultural rhetoric, globalization, and communication for leadership. Before coming to Stanford in 2001, she taught composition, creative writing, literature, and business writing at Cornell University, the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Rochester.  

I: ANALYSIS AND ARGUMENT

1. Analyzing Texts and Writing Thesis Statements

2. Understanding Strategies of Persuasion

3. Composing Arguments

II: PLANNING AND CONDUCTING RESEARCH

4. Planning and Proposing Research Arguments

5. Finding and Evaluating Research Sources

III: DRAFTING AND DESIGNING ARGUMENTS

6. Organizing and Writing Research Arguments

7. Avoiding Plagiarism and Documenting Sources

8. Designing Arguments

IV: READINGS

9. You Are What You Eat

10. Life Online

11. Playing Against Stereotypes

12. Crisis and Resilience

13. Claiming Citizenship

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