Writing and Community Action: A Service-Learning Rhetoric with Readings

by Thomas Deans

Writing and Community A Service-Learning Rhetoric and Reader encourages inquiry into community and social action issues , supports community-based research , and shepherds students through a range of service-learning writing projects . Several chapters offer pragmatic advice for crafting personal, reflective, and analytical essays, while service-learning chapters present experience-tested strategies for doing collaborative writing projects at nonprofit agencies, conducting research on pressing social problems, writing proposals that respond to campus and community concerns, and composing oral histories. The assignments help students to see themselves as writers whose work really matters. Provocative readings spark critical reflection on community service and a range of social concerns (including economic justice, literacy, education, homelessness, race, and identity). Focusing on invention, audience analysis, and the social purposes of writing, Writing and Community Action encourages students to adopt a rhetorical frame of mind. Hopeful in tone, this book makes clear the ways that writing can serve as action in both academic and community contexts.

464 pages, Paperback

First published December 22, 2002

Reviews

[Megan Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book focuses on service learning projects and how to incorporate community literacy work thoughtfully into composition classrooms. A definite plus is the plethora of assignment examples and sample assignments Deans provides for his readers. Given such contexts, I would recommend using the text in an undergraduate or graduate classroom for those who are looking to incorporate community literacy/service learning projects.

Deans prose is accessible and I appreciate his attention to theoretical and pedagogical concepts.