On Purpose: A Writer''s Guide to Rhetorical Situation

On Purpose focuses on audience, purpose, genre, and other elements of rhetorical situation. Its goal is to prepare social science majors for future research-based academic and professional writing, including non-academic genres. The author, Martha Rowe Dolly, has taught social science advanced composition and English linguistics for more than 25 years; two student consultants, Karissa (social work) and Valerie (nursing), contribute their own insights and experience.

On Purpose first explores rhetorical situation; it then looks at key social science genres (research report and literature review) from a rhetorical angle and at re-purposing research writing for new situations. The dozens of realistic examples are based on genuine writing concerns of majors in psychology, social work, education, nursing, and other social sciences. The book includes a section addressing concerns of writers whose first language is not English as well as appendices to guide all writers in their decisions about rhetorical situation for a variety of genres.

Each section presents a question that a student has asked, might have asked, or should have asked. Among these questions are How can anyone write two or three documents on the same topic? and How can I determine how long a document should be? Every section includes one or two sticky situations that pose a rhetorical challenge, asking readers to analyze the issue and formulate suggestions. On Purpose addresses common misconceptions, emphasizing that writers cannot rely on instructors, supervisors, or citation programs and templates to determine all matters of length, style, formatting, and documentation. By considering rhetorical strengths and weaknesses of fellow undergraduates, social science writers can analyze their own writing situations more productively.
See more