Core and Supplemental Readings

Core and Supplemental Readings

A distinguishing feature of the College-Ready Writers Program is the emphasis on the skillful use of nonfiction sources in argument writing. This emphasis emerged from several sources: teachers’ observations of students being inundated with information through social media and other digital sources, teachers’ assessment that using sources was a determining skill in the quality of argument writing, and from research and professional literature. This page sets out the research that plays a pivotal role in CRWP resources.

Core Readings

On Learning:

Garcia, Antero and Cindy O’Donnell-Allen. Pose, Wobble, Flow.

For many teachers, argument writing is new and often intimidating (sometimes reminiscent of a bad experience with college writing). Teaching argument writing is a significant departure from the teaching of literature as well. When we read Antero Garcia and Cindy O’Donnell-Allen’s Pose, Wobble, Flow, we immediately found the introduction of “wobble” to be helpful in reframing the sense of disequilibrium that many teachers experienced into a positive stage of learning. “Wobble” then reframes struggle as a routine stage of learning, rather than a deficit on the part of the teacher/learner.

Academic Writing as a Conversation

Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say/I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing. New York: Norton, 2006.

They Say/I Say describes academic writing as a “conversation.” This idea was originally set forth by Kenneth Burke in his famous description of the never-ending parlour conversation (from The Philosophy of the Literary Form and cited in Graff and Birkenstein’s book).

We recommend reading Graff and Birkenstein’s clear description of the conversation of sources in academic writing found in the preface, the introduction, and chapter one.

Note: They Say/I Say has gone through many editions since 2006, even evolving into an anthology with readings that are designed for a college first-year writing course, so we are not giving exact page numbers.The three sections above have remained the same in all editions.

Focus on Using Sources

Harris, Joseph. Rewriting: How to Do Things with Texts, 2nd Edition. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press. 2017.

Joseph Harris’s Rewriting: How to do Things With Texts is, in many ways, the backbone of the College-Ready Writers Program. CRWP has adopted Harris’s understanding of academic writing as a conversation (complementary to Graff and Birkenstein), especially his focus on using “other people’s words.”

Harris has also contributed to a stance towards sources in argument writing (one supported by Gage and Lynch et al in the supplementary readings), one of generosity and inquiry towards sources. Like Gage and Lynch et al, Harris does not subscribe to the point/counterpoint oppositional view of argument, but to a view that there are shades of agreement and difference among sources. The introduction and Chapter 1 set this tone and could be usefully paired with Graff and Birkenstein near the beginning of the Advanced Institute.

Harris’s book makes a direct contribution to CRWP by naming the “moves” that writers make when they use sources. By doing so, Harris expands the purposes of citing other people’s texts. In chapters 2 and 3, Harris names and defines the moves writers make with texts under the categories “forwarding” and “countering.” Some of these moves (“illustrating,” “authorizing,” extending” and “countering”) are used in CRWP mini-units and in the Using Sources Tool. Reading and discussing this text together provides an important entry point into CRWP resources.

The Role of Inquiry in Argument Writing

McCann, Thomas M. Transforming Talk into Text. New York: Teachers College Press, Berkeley: National Writing Project, 2014.

When students dive into a set of nonfiction sources and understand the ways that they are in conversation with one another, there is a stage of learning that precedes (and accompanies) that actual building of an argument. The inquiry into the subject matter is most powerful when enjoyed with an open mind and with the possibility that each reading could play a part in creating or altering a writer’s claim. The rich classroom practice and theory described in chapters 1-2 of Thomas McCann’s Transforming Talk into Text: Argument Writing, Inquiry, and Discussion, Grades 6-12 describes an approach to teaching argument writing fits beautifully with CRWP.

Supplemental Readings

We recommend the next six books for participants in the Advanced Institute who want to read more broadly about argument writing.

Troy Turner, Kristen Hawley and Toy Hicks. Argument in the Real World. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 2016.

Kristen and Troy draw from real world texts and samples of student work to share a wealth of insights and practical strategies in teaching students the logic of argument. Whether arguments are streaming in through Twitter, Facebook, or links to other blogs or websites, Kristen and Troy will guide you—and your students—in how to engage with and create digital arguments.

Newell, George and David Bloome. Teaching and Learning Argument in High School English Language Arts Classrooms. New York: Routledge. 2015.

Newell and Bloome’s book is an excellent research study of argument writing instruction. The teachers were TCs from the Columbus Area Writing Project and the book is grounded in respect for teachers’ practice. Their understanding of argument is coherent with CRWP, though their approach does not focus as much on using nonfiction sources. NWP teacher-leaders will find this book very helpful for those who want to read more about argumentation.

Smith, Michael, Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, and James Fredericksen. Oh, Yeah?! Putting Argument to Work Both in School and Out. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 2012.

Smith, Wilhelm, and Fredericksen’s book is packed full of information on teaching argument. It is teacher-friendly and about learning and writing.

Fletcher, Jennifer. Teaching Arguments: Rhetorical Comprehension, Critique, and Response. Portland, ME: Stenhouse. 2015.

Fletcher’s book is another excellent professional book on teaching argument writing. Like Newell and Bloome, teacher-leaders who want to expand their understanding of argument writing will find Fletcher’s book helpful. Geared toward high school.

Lazere, Donald. Reading and Writing for Civic Literacy: The Critical Citizen’s Guide to Argumentative Rhetoric. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, 2006. Chapters 2 and 6.

Lazere’s book makes the case for writing arguments as a means of democratic participation. His chapters on counterarguments complement Harris’s nicely and influenced the “Coming to Terms with Opposing Viewpoints” mini-unit.

Hillocks, George, Jr. Teaching Argument Writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2006. Chapters 3-6.

The classic professional text that helped teachers with argument writing. We like chapters 3-6 best.

Fisher, Douglas and Nancy Frye. Close Reading and Writing From Sources. Newark, DE: International Reading Association, 2104.

This book is stronger on reading nonfiction than on writing from it. Helpful strategies for reading nonfiction.

Useful Articles and a List of Principles

Lynch, Dennis A., Diana George and Marilyn Cooper. “Moments of Argument: Agonistic Inquiry and Confrontational Cooperation.” College Composition and Communication 48:1 (February 1997) 61-85.

This article sets out the theory behind much of CRWP’s work with argument and then usefully shows teaching strategies that follow. College context.

Skantz-Hodgson, Leslie and Jamilla Jones.Why Argument Writing Is Important to Teach. Middleweb. 20 August 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2016.

This is short description of a writing project professional reading group discussing They Say, I Say.

Seven Principles of Argument in the CRWP

Tom Fox rewrote John Gage’s “Decalogue” into seven principles of argument. Useful for discussion.