English 103: Texts and Reviews Approved Texts: This list will grow. To nominate a text, please get me information (or loan me a copy). Note that reviews of texts are a site created at Arizona State University devoted to reviewing popular textbooks. I'd also appreciate a short written review of the books for the Comp Café Web site. To order textbooks, stop by the UR bookstore or order online. Textbook Reps: Great folks to provide you with review copies or instructors' materials Bedford / St. Martins: Bob Podstepny bpodstepny@bfwpub.com Longman / Allyn & Bacon: Pamela Brice Pam.Brice@ABLongman.com Thompson: Shelly Wright shelly.wright@thomson.com (800) 876-2350 ext. 7098 Textbook Choices: please adopt one of the following Alexander, John and Margaret M. Barber. Argument Now: A Brief Rhetoric. New York: Longman 2005. Visit the companion site to learn more about this short text (Joe Essid's pick for Fall 05). Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing. 3rd. ed. New York: Longman, 2003. Longman also provides a companion site for the text. I strongly recommend ordering the "Concise Edition." Rosenwasser, David, and Jill Stephen. Writing Analytically. 4th edition. Boston: Thompson-Wadsworth, 2005. Note that the 3rd edition is still available; the 4th is due to ship in May 2005. Visit Thompson's site to learn more about this book (Patrick Murray-John's favored text). This text is widely applauded for its excellent essay assignments. A Few Favorite Readers: the choice of a reader is up to the faculty member Hickey, Dona. Figures of Thought for College Writers. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999. Dona's reader focuses on the role that metaphor plays in language and thinking. A fine text that is advanced enough for Richmond students; it will never seem "high-schoolish" to them. It worked very well in previous sections of Eng. 103. Note that the currrent ISBN for this text is 1559346523. This ISBN has changed from that of the original Mayfield edition. Tribble, Evelyn B. and Anne Trubek. Writing Material: Readings from Plato to the Digital Age. New York, Longman, 2003. The readings here consider the technologies we use to communicate in writing--from pencils to pixels, to use the title of one essay. The text works well in a class focusng on the role of technology in writing, but it is much broader than that. Possible thematic clusters include spoken and written word, transitional moments in the history of writing, and the role of libraries. The Web site for this text provides even more information for instructors and writers. Bartholomae, David and Anthony Petrosky. Ways of Reading. 7th Ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2005. Note from Joe Essid: The readings are demanding enough for our students, and yet short enough to prevent 103 from becoming "Core Lite." As Comp. Director that's my only concern--Core focuses on critical reading, which this reader also does quite well. Teachers adopting it should be wary NOT to lose track of 103's focus on critical writing skills. That said, Ways is an outstanding reader rigorous enough for our goals in the 103 program. The Web Site provides much useful information for faculty. Or you might wish to design your own readers The Mercury Reader by Pearson Publishing. This allows faculty to custom-design a reader at low cost to students using a wide range of articles. Possible Handbooks: Faculty do not need to adopt a handbook if they plan to use our online handbook, Writer’s Web. Alternately, faculty may choose a favorite text handbook or try one of these recommended texts: Hacker, Diana. A Writer's Reference. 5th Edition. New York: Bedford Saint Martins, 2003. A fine text by the late Diana Hacker, who wrote dozens of excellent handbooks. This text, now in its 5th edition, has been the standard hanbook of all Continuing-Studies English classes at UR. Maimon, Elaine P. and Janice H. Peritz. A Writer’s Resource: A Handbook for And Research. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004. Joyce MacAllister reports"this text is organized for easy reference, and comes with a mind-boggling array of technological resources." Ruszkiewiecz, John, Maxine Hairston, and Daniel E. Seward. SF Writer. New York: Longman, 2002. Joe Essid's required handbook for Writing Fellows and tutors--a great CD with a plagiarism exercise accompanies this tab-formatted text. Other strengths are coverage of sentence-level issues & documentation. About Course-Packs in 103 We all like to supplement (or replace) standard texts with outside readings. Our campus copy shop will not touch professorial course packs. That's become a growing problem in the wake of the Kinko's law suit. A number of publishers now offer good course-pack readings at reasonable prices, but there is a free alternative on campus, UR's online reserve system. If you contact the online reserves' staff and Susan Opdycke is not available, ask for Andy Morton. I find that getting the best-quality original for the online reserves speeds up the process greatly! The library staff turn requests around quickly, but I would still advise giving them plenty of warning before handing in a stack of articles to put online. Remember this rule of thumb for Fair use, too: no more than 10% of a printed work can be placed on reserve (so 20 pages from a 200-page anthology would be fine). Reserves cannot be used in subsequent semesters without skipping a semester in between uses. 103 home | course goals | faculty policies | sample assignments | texts & reviews | teacher's quick links