Reading Rhetorically is an aims-based rhetoric-reader that teaches students how to read rhetorically and to write about what they have read with rhetorical insight. The collection, which organizes its selections by rhetorical aims or purposes, offers readings for rhetorical analysis so that students can apply rhetorical processes in their own writing. Two important features distinguish this reader from others: (1) emphasis on reading as an interactive process of composing meaning, and (2) emphasis on academic writing as a process in which writers engage with other texts. Reading Rhetorically teaches students how to see texts positioned in a conversation with other texts, how to recognize their bias or perspective, and how to analyze texts for both content and method.

Table of Contents:
I. READING RHETORICALLY. 1. Your Life as a Reader. An Overview of This Textbook. Exploring Your Reading Life. Taking Stock of Why You Read. Summary. Scenes Of Reading. A Brief Writing Project Three Samples to Read. 2. The Special Demands of Academic Reading. Reading as Conversation. Challenges Presented by Academic Reading. Rhetorical Reading as An Academic Strategy. Questions that Rhetorical Readers Ask. Writers' Purposes Versus Readers' Purposes. A Further Look at Writers' Purposes. Expressing and Reflecting (Chapter Nine). Inquiring and Exploring (Chapter Ten). Informing and Explaining (Chapter Eleven). Analyzing and Interpreting (Chapter Twelve). Taking a Stand (Chapter Thirteen). Evaluating and Judging (Chapter Fourteen). Proposing Solutions (Chapter Fifteen). Seeking Common Ground (Chapter Sixteen). Summary. Notes. 3. Strategies for Reading Rhetorically. Reading and Writing Are Acts of Composing. Thomas Lux, “The Voice You Hear When You Read Silently.” For Writing and Discussion. Authors Adapt Texts to Their Rhetorical Context. An Extended Example: Articles about Teenagers' Sleep Habits. For Writing and Discussion. Learning from the Practices of Experienced Readers. Building a Context for Reading. For Writing and Discussion. Matching Strategies with the Text's Genre. Matching Strategies with Purpose for Reading. Taking Stock of How You Read. For Writing and Discussion. Summary. Sources of the Article Excerpts about Teenagers' Sleep Patterns. Notes. II. READING AND RESPONDING TO TEXTS. 4. Listening to a Text. Overview of Part Two. Writing as You Read. Preparing to Read. Identifying Your Purpose. Recalling Background Knowledge. Reconstructing Rhetorical Context. Spot Reading. For Writing and Discussion. Listening as You Read Initially. Noting Organizational Signals. Marking Unfamiliar Terms and References. Identifying Points of Difficulty. Annotating. For Writing and Discussion. Listening as You Reread. Mapping the Idea Structure. Descriptive Outlining. For Writing and Discussion. Summarizing. Writing a Rhetorical Précis. Summary. Brief Writing Assignment. Larissa MacFarquhar, “Who Cares If Johnny Can't Read?”. Notes. 5. Questioning a Text. What It Means to Question a Text. Strategies for Questioning a Text. Examining a Writer's Credibility. For Writing and Discussion. Examining a Writer's Appeals to Reason. Examining a Writer's Strategies for Engaging Readers. For Writing and Discussion. Examining a Writer's Language. For Writing and Discussion. Examining a Text's Ideology. For Writing and Discussion. Exploring Your Responses to a Text. Before/After Reflections. For Writing and Discussion. The Believing and Doubting Game. Interviewing the Author. Applying Rhetorical Reading Strategies: An Example. Jenny's Assignment to Examine Rhetorical Strategies. Jenny's Paper: “Who Cares If the Value of Books is Overstated?” For Writing and Discussion. Summary. Notes. III. THE RHETORICAL READER AS WRITER. 6. Writing About Reading: The Special Demands of Academic Writing. Overview of Part Three. Typical Reading-Based Writing Assignments Across the Curriculum. Writing to Understand Course Content More Fully. Writing to Report Your Understanding of What a Text Says. Writing to Practice the Conventions of a Particular Type of Text. Writing to Make Claims about a Text. Writing to Extend the Conversation. Asserting Your Authority as a Reader and Writer. Seeing Writing as a Process of “Putting in Your Oar.” Strategies for Getting Started. Strategies for Generating Ideas. Strategies for Writing a First Draft. Strategies for Evaluating Your Draft for Revision. Strategies for Using Peer Response to Guide Revision. Strategies for Editing and Polishing Your Final Draft. Summary. Notes. 7. Using Rhetorical Reading to Conduct Research. Choosing Readings. Jenny's Assignment to Extend the Conversation. Formulating Questions: Know What You're Looking For. Question Analysis. For Writing and Discussion. Evaluating Potential Sources. Library Databases and Web Search Engines. Questions about Relevance. Questions about Currency and Scope. Questions about Authors and Experts. Questions about Publishers and Sponsors. More Excerpts from Jenny's Research Log. Summary. Note. 8. Making Knowledge: Incorporating Reading into Writing. Summary, Paraphrase, and Direct Quotation. Summary. Paraphrase. Direct Quotation. For Writing and Discussion. Avoiding Plagiarism. Attributive Tags. Citation Conventions. Guidelines for Internal Citations. Summary. An Example: Jenny's Paper on Romance Fiction. Notes. IV. AN ANTHOLOGY OF READINGS. 9. Expressing and Reflecting. Questions to Help You Read Expression and Reflection Rhetorically. Barbara Kingsolver, In Case You Ever Want to Go Home Again. Kyoko Mori, Language. Lauren Slater, Black Swans. bell hooks, Keeping Close to Home: Class and Education. David Updike, A Word With the Boy. Heidi Steenberg (student), Reflection as Knowledge. Writing To Express And Reflect. 10. Inquiring and Exploring. Questions to Help You Read Explorations Rhetorically. Annie Dillard, Singing with the Fundamentalists. Barbara Crossette, Testing the Limits of Tolerance as Cultures Mix. Robert Mcguire, Witness to Rage. Beverly Gross, Bitch. Gloria Naylor, “Mommy, What Does `Nigger' Mean?” Joshua D. Mccolough (student), Seeking Answers to the Question of Divorce. Writing to Inquire And Explore. Exploring a Question that Puzzles You. Examining Rhetorical Strategies. Extending the Conversation. 11. Informing and Explaining. Questions to Help You Read Informative and Explanatory Texts Rhetorically. Kathy Wollard, How Come? Marcy Gordon, Once a Novelty, Now-essential Credit Card Turns 50. UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, Why Do Those #&*?@! “Experts” Keep Changing Their Minds? Amy R. Wolfson and Mary A. Carskadon, Sleep Schedules and Daytime Functioning In Adolescents. Paul Irgang, When a Wet Vac Counts More than a Ph.D. Nancy Mairs, Body in Trouble. Peter Marin, Helping and Hating the Homeless. Thomas Roepsch (student), America's Love Affair with Pizza: A Guilty Pleasure No More. C.J. Hribal, Consent (Fiction). Writing to Inform and Explain. Explaining What You Know. Examining Rhetorical Strategies. Extending the Conversation. 12. Analyzing and Interpreting. Questions to Help You Read Analysis and Interpretation Rhetorically. Kirk Savage, The Past in the Present: The Life of Memorials. Sarah Boxer, I Shop, Ergo I Am: The Mall as Society's Mirror. Roland Barthes, Toys. Toni Cade Bambara, The Lesson (Fiction). Geoffrey Miller, Waste Is Good. Natalie Angier, Women, Sex, and Darwin. Heather Wendtland (student), Rebellion through Music. Writing to Analyze and Interpret. Offering an Interpretation. Examining Rhetorical Strategies. Extending the Conversation. 13. Taking a Stand. Argument and Public Life. Why Should You Agree? Claims, Reasons, Evidence and Assumptions. What's Really at Issue?. What Kind of Question Is at Issue? Six Stases for Analysis. Questions to Help You Read Arguments Rhetorically. Marching for and Against Guns and Gun Controls, May 2000. Web Page for the Million Mom March. Web Page for Second Amendment Sisters. Kathleen Parker, About Face. For Starters, We Can Require Trigger Locks. Revisiting the Issue of Trigger Locks. Arnold Wolfendale and Seth Shostak, Is There Other Intelligent Life in the Universe?(An Exchange of Letters). Statement by Alabama Clergymen. Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail. Andrew Sullivan, Let Gays Marry. Sallie Tisdale, Should a Boy Be Expelled for Thought Crimes? George Orwell, A Hanging (Fiction). Sofia Collins (student), OOD Intentions in the Anti-Sweatshop Movement. Writing to Take a Stand. Taking a Stand of Your Own. Examining Rhetorical Strategies. Extending the Conversation. 14. Evaluating and Judging. Questions to Help You Read Evaluation Arguments Rhetorically. Jared Diamond, Invention Is the Mother of Necessity. Alison Lurie, A Perfect Set of Teeth. Laurence Zuckerman, Words Go Right to the Brain, but Can They Stir the Heart? Michael Kinsley, The Morality and Metaphysics of email. Joe Queenan, Web Sites Dedicated to Being Simple Without Giving Up Affluence. Joyce Millman, The Addictive Spectacle of Maternal Reality. M.G. Lord, En Garde, Princess. Sandra Cisneros, Barbie-q (Fiction). Rhonda Downey (student), Through the Looking Glass. Writing to Evaluate and Judge. Making an Evaluation. Examining Rhetorical Strategies. Extending the Conversation. 15. Proposing Solutions. Questions to Help You Read Proposals Rhetorically. Anthony Weston, The Need for Environmental Ethics. John F. Oates, Why a Prime Model for Saving Rain Forests Is a Failure. Peter Singer, The Singer Solution to World Poverty. Marcia Angell & Jerome P. Kassirer, Clinical Research: What Should the Public Believe? J. Radcliffe-Eichards et al, The Case for Allowing Kidney Sales. Kenneth Bruffee, Binge Drinking as a Substitute for a “Community of Learning”. Katie Sipiorski (student), Consider the Study of Peace. Writing To Propose A Solution. 1. Proposing a Solution. 2. Examining Rhetorical Strategies. 3. Extending the Conversation. 16. Seeking Common Ground. Questions to Help You Read Rhetorically about Common Ground. Deborah Tannen, The Triumph of the Yell. Sydney Callahan, Fight Fierce but Fair: And Practice at Home. Aida A. Michlowski, From Conflict to Congruence. Faye Ginsburg, The Anthropology of Abortion Activism. Michael X. Delli Carpini And Scott Keeter, What Should Be Learned through Service Learning? Mel White, Open Letter from Mel White yo Jerry Falwell. Salim Muwakill, Aaron the “Wiggah.” Jenny Trinitapoli (student), Public Libraries and Internet Filters: Protection vs. Access. Writing To Seek Common Ground. Moving Toward Common Ground. Examining Rhetorical Strategies. Extending the Conversation. Appendix A: Building a Citation. Basic Rules for Works Cited Lists. Citation Formats for Books. Citation Formats for Articles in Periodicals. Citation Formats for World Wide Web Sources. Citation Formats for Other Materials & Media.