Reading and Writing Skills

Reading Purpose

1. Critical Reading Purpose

This section justifies the overt study of reading and the acquisition of reading strategies.

2. The Function of Reading

This section defines academic reading and active or critical engagement in the reading process.

3. Reading Critically

This section delves into the student's role in critical reading, which requires active participation in the process.

4. Reading and Writing Connections

This section examines the intimate connections of critical reading to academic writing and learning outcomes.

Reading Stages

5. Reading Stages Overview

This section provides an overview of critical reading as part of three stages (pre, during, and post-reading).

6. Pre-Reading

This section looks at what students already know, guess, or can discern about a text they haven't yet read.

7. Modeling Pre-Reading

This section uses an example of an old German book to see what students might glean about the text without reading it.

8. During Reading

This section focuses on tasks to do during reading such as highlighting, annotating, etc.

9. Modeling During Reading

This section takes an academic article about the use of classical rhetoric in the modern world and shows with annotations how to read critically.

10. Post-Reading

This section discusses the activities one should engage in after reading (synthesizing notes, outlines, summaries, personal connections, etc).

11. Modeling Post-Reading

This section models the use of a reading log, a way to record information about a text, by using the classical rhetoric in the modern world piece.

Argument Fundamentals

12. Argument Essay Overview

This section recapitulates the main components of an argumentative essay in order to show how these go above and beyond the five-paragraph essay model.

13. Summary

This section includes information about the varying uses of summary and the parts of an effective summary.

14. Thesis

This section examines the parts of an effective thesis and the difference between thesis and claims.

15. Claims

This section scrutinizes the difference between thesis and claims, focusing on the role claims play as support reasoning as well as categorizing parts of effective claims.

16. Evidence

This section considers the parts of effective examples and the role of examples in supporting claims.

17. Conclusion

This section defines the parts of an effective conclusion and discusses their use in argument.

Writing Strategies

18. Writing Strategies Overview

This section recapitulates the importance of writing strategies as fundamental organizational building blocks of writing and thinking, their use in writing, and their types (Definition, Classification, Comparison/Contrast, Cause and Effect, Refutation, Example).

19. Definition

This section examines the properties of a good defintion, the purpose in textual context, and the types (Formal, Informal, and Extended).

20. Classification

This section looks at the properties of a good classification, the purpose in organizing information, and the types (Spatial, Chronological, Qualitative, and Quantitative).

21. Comparison and Contrast

This section reviews the properties of a good comparison and contrast, the purpose in identifying similarities and differences among things, and the types (Alternating, Block, Combination).

22. Cause and Effect

This section parses the properties of valid cause and effect, the purpose in creating connections among two or more things, and two main types (Direct and Contributory).

23. Refutation

This section provides a definition for refutation, examines its properties, provides a step-by-step guide to the process of a refutation, and looks at two types (Evidence and Logic).

24. Example

This section defines the components for a good example (Setup, Support, Significance), examines the role examples play as evidence, and provides four types (Allusion, Process, Data, Anecdote).

Rhetorical Strategies

25. Rhetorical Strategies Overview

This section defines rhetorical strategies, differentiates them from writing strategies, and provides an overview of the main types of rhetorical strategies (Strategic Use of Fragments, Rhetorical Questions, Figurative Language, Repetition).

26. Strategic Use of Fragments

This section defines what a fragment is and under what conditions they can be employed in writing contexts for emphasis (very rarely).

27. Rhetorical Questions

This section reviews the main elements and purpose of rhetorical questions, with a focus on the types of questions (Incredulity, Emotion, Interest, Organization/Transition).

28. Figurative Language

This section includes a description and definition of figurative language, ample examples, and parsing of nine different types (Allusion, Idiom, Hyperbole, Oxymoron, Metaphor, Onomatopoeia, Personification, Paradox, Simile, Synonym).

29. Repetition

This section examines how repetition of letters, sounds, words, phrases, or clauses provides a tool for emphasis and style. Specific types of repetition included (Anaphora, Epistrophe, Similar Sentence, Alliteration, Consonance, Assonance).

A Reader’s Guide to Writing