The Curious Writer

by Bruce Ballenger

This paperback version ofThe Curious Writer includes all the rhetoric and research material of the hardcover, but does not include the handbook section. Offering a unique, entertaining, and personal author voice, The Curious Writer is sure to grab student's interest and motivate them to write. Also distinctive is The Curious Writer's emphasis on inquiry as both a driving force behind the writing process and a method of discovery and learning. The book operates on the principle that writers who begin with questions, rather than answers, achieve better results in their work. It treats research, revision, and critical reading skills (of both texts and visuals) as organic components of every writing process. Each of the eight writing assignment chapters offers integrated coverage of these three key activities and also provides special attention to the Web as a resource for invention and research.

Paperback

First published June 30, 2008

Reviews

[Erin McDonnell-Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Used this title in Composition I and II for undergraduates, and it's a good introduction to collegiate writing. It gradually builds to the formal research essay and the type of writing that will be expected of them at this level. It also pairs with Pearson Online "My Writing Lab" which creates weekly exercises for the students. Good for using with lower skill sets, but students with higher skill sets will find the work a bit mundane.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the essay structures taught in this book, from the profile to the proposal to my favorite of all, the ethnography. Still, the essays Ballenger includes in his superior The Curious Researcher have greater depth and interest for students, so I ended up heavily supplementing this text last semester in freshman composition.