Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing Vol. II
It's important to stress that this is volume two in a series that, ostensibly, is not yet finished (though the first two volumes were published in 2010 and 2011, and the planned third and fourth have not yet appeared). In other words, neither volume claims to be comprehensive -- but collectively they are compiling an impressive collection of common or likely topics in first-year composition (FYC) classes. TOPICS: Volume two, like its predecessor, focuses on helping first-year students make the transition to college and college writing (E.S. Reid, DasBender), and echoes or complements several of vol. 1's topics, notably invention strategies across a variety of situations (Savini, Charlton, Krause, Boyd), information literacy and working with secondary sources (Haller, Rosenberg, McClure, Stedman, Walker, Krause), and collaboration (Ingalls, Burton & Klint). It also expands into other topics, including reading rhetorically (Bunn, Rosenberg); writing particular genres like narrative (Ramsdell), blogs (A. Reid), ethnography (Kahn), and the essay (Lynch); primary research methods (Driscoll); multimodal design and formatting (Klein & Shackelford); and, though I'd like to see more of this, transfer of knowledge beyond FYC (Singh-Corcoran). In addition, these two volumes don't devote much attention to structure and style (especially in terms of patterns and variations across genres), discourse communities, multimodal composition, visual rhetoric, peer review, or the rhetorical nature of grammar and punctuation choices. It is worth noting, however, that in their CFP for vol. 4 (dated 2011), the editors invited submissions on most of these topics, plus others. INDEXING: Because these are self-contained essays that only rarely cross-reference one another, and because there are multiple volumes, the indexes do become especially important for instructors -- and students. Volume 2 does have an index, but I find much more helpful the online index at writingspaces.org/essays, which codes each chapter with several keywords. It's also worth noting, especially in the absence of an introduction or overview in vol. 2, that writingspaces.org also provides abstracts of each chapter, something the printed versions do not.
I don't want to claim more authority or expertise than I have, but as noted elsewhere, I have appreciated the "rhetorical" orientation of the text -- not something I take for granted, even today, in first-year composition textbooks. While I don't always find the presentation of an idea agreeable -- more because of emphasis or angle than substance -- I do trust these contributors and, in some cases, know their scholarly work outside of this text. I won't say there are no errors (who am I to say?) nor that there are no biases, but then I don't believe that's possible. These writers do have a bias: they think that FYC classes matter, that students can grow as writers, and that a rhetorical perspective on language and inquiry and information can help us engage more productively and empathetically with one another. Even that's not to say that I agree with everything they've said, but then I don't expect my students to embrace wholesale and uncritically everything they read, either. These essays represent genuine efforts by committed scholars and teachers to engage with student writers.
What I most appreciate about these essays is also, ironically, what has at times complicated their usefulness. In short, they're addressed, explicitly and directly, to FYC students. They're meant to be accessible. Initially, I also thought they would be helpful in modeling the "they say / I say" idea of academic argument as an ongoing, Burkean conversation. However, the more I have leaned into "writing about writing" and "teaching for transfer" pedagogies, the less helpful these essays have become: they are neither target genres nor exemplars of scholarly research. I love that they are open-access, and that they are written by a great variety of my colleagues in the field: I deeply appreciate their currency with research and theory in Writing Studies and their relative accessibility to first-year students. I love that the essays are self-contained and can be linked individually from writingspaces.org. I love that they each model MLA-style citation practices. I can imagine that these volumes may be difficult for new teachers to use because there's no clear through-line, no unifying theme or question, no suggestions about how to sequence or structure a course around them. At the same time, some of the essays may prove more helpful for (experienced) instructors than students -- and yet also too specific or idiosyncratic in their angles or examples to be adaptable in all courses. Nevertheless, I do continue to assign certain essays regularly (especially, from vol. 2, Mike Bunn's "How to Read Like a Writer," Randall McClure's "Googlepedia: Turning Information Behaviors into Research Skills," and Kyle Stedman's "Annoying Ways People Use Sources") and fully expect to continue to recommend both volumes to my students. And I look forward to seeing new volumes as they (I hope) continue to appear.
As noted already, I do find most of the essays to be accessible for my students. The writers have all clearly endeavored to write for first-year students.
While I've not read every single word here -- nor have my students -- my overall impression is that the Writing Spaces project doesn't intend to speak with only one voice: that's why there's a different author for each chapter. In that sense, the book might even model the communal, interactive, and collaborative nature of scholarly discourse. I will say, though, that the writers all share a commitment to teaching -- to *reaching* -- first-year writers. And they are also all scholars in rhetoric and composition, with a particular (if not precisely equivalent) commitment to fostering rhetorical thinking.
This volume, and indeed the whole Writing Spaces project, is exemplary for its adaptability and selective usability, precisely because it consists of individual, self-contained (and mostly non-self-referential) essays on a variety of topics. This modularity is, however, best achievable by using the searchable online index at writingspaces.org.
There's no explicit rationale provided to the ordering of the essays in this volume, though a sensitive reader of the table of contents might begin to imagine a sort of logic: what makes college writing distinctive (and FYC classes worthwhile); how to get started with thinking, reading, and writing rhetorically; how to engage effectively and ethically in research; how to work in a variety of genres and technologies. Still, as other reviewers have pointed out, it might have been helpful to include sub-headings, an editorial introduction, and some teacher resources. As noted earlier, the searchable online index (at writingspaces.org/essays) is the most helpful way to navigate the range of topics covered here.
The PDF of the entire book is basic -- there are no links to chapters from the table of contents, for example -- but there are no problems with navigating or reading the file. The website, writingspaces.org, is especially helpful, with options to search on keywords and to open or download individual chapters.
I have found no egregious or troubling grammatical issues.
I agree with another reviewer who noted that, while there are no obvious or egregious cultural insensitivities here, it would be a welcome addition in subsequent volumes to address more directly and explicitly the ways that language (generally) and writing (specifically) interact with social constructions of race, ethnicity, gender, and other cultural and political markers of identity.