Writing in the Digital Age (WITDA)
Getting Started with Your Research
Browse in the Library for Inspiration
Walk through our stacks and thumb through magazines. Search OwlCat, the library catalog, to find items about different creators, professions, and topics.It includes thousands of ebooks, such as:
- We Are Here: Visionaries of Color Transforming the Art World - Profiles and portraits of 50 artists and art entrepreneurs, each answering the same set of interview questions.
- Future Practice - Conversations with 15 different architects and designers
Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints
Get information on various sides of trending topics and social issues.
Featured Viewpoints collect 4-20 articles that represent different sides or points of view on a topic.
eLibrary
Get an encyclopedic view on historic events, persons, and topics.
Also covers many international newspapers.
Wikipedia
Use Wikipedia to get biographical information on influential people as well as general overviews of millions of topics.
Identify relevant search words and phrases for use in other databases.
New York Times
The American newspaper of record for over 150 years, It contains many different types of articles, including opinion pieces, reviews, news reporting, announcements, and letters to the editors.
Many, many different people have been interviewed and profiled within its pages. You can see how coverage of a person or cultural topic has changed over time.
We have a site license; visit this guide for more information on signing up for an account.
Search Additional Research Databases
Once you have a name or issue that interest you, look them up in our research databases. Find specific articles on your research topic.
These online resources cover a variety of sources and media. For instance, the ProQuest Research Library is multidisciplinary and covers many different newspapers.
Popular Culture
Find specialized academic sources for comics, fan culture, memes, transformative works, and more
Citation Guide (MLA 8th Edition)
Learn how to cite all of the sources in your paper, including books, articles, images, videos, tweets, blogs, and more.
Video: Develop a Research Question
Required Text
Writing about Art by
Writing About Art walks students through every step of the writing process--from looking critically at art, to researching, to developing a thesis, to revising and polishing a final draft. Questions and examples prompt readers as they study artworks, develop a thesis, structure an argument, and cite research.
Call Number: N345 A33 2019ISBN: 9780500841815Publication Date: 2019-10-01
Getting Help With Rhetoric
An Introduction to Rhetorical Terms by
This study guide gives students a handy reference to the background knowledge of rhetorical terms demanded of them by critical and theoretical texts in the humanities.
Call Number: E-bookISBN: 9781847600240Publication Date: 2007-01-01
Rhetoric: An Historical Introduction by
This introduction to the art of rhetoric analyzes rhetorical concepts, problems, and methods and teaches practical inquiry through a series of classic rhetorical texts. An introduction to the art of rhetoric for those who are unacquainted with it and an argument about invention and tradition suitable for specialists Texts range from Cicero's De oratore and Augustine's On Christian Doctrine to Jane Austen's Persuasion and Stephen Greenblatt's Marvellous Possessions.
Call Number: E-bookISBN: 9781405117739Publication Date: 2006-07-11
Figuratively Speaking by
Although rhetoric is a term often associated with lies, this book takes a polemical look at rhetoric as a purveyor of truth. Its purpose is to focus on one aspect of rhetoric, figurative speech, and to demonstrate how the treatment of figures of speech provides a common denominator among western cultures from Cicero to the present. The central idea is that, in the western tradition, figurative speech - using language to do more than name - provides the fundamental way for language to articulate concerns central to each cultural moment. In this study, Sarah Spence identifies the embedded tropes for four periods in Western culture: Roman antiquity, the High Middle Ages, the Age of Montaigne, and our present, post-9/11 moment. In so doing, she reasserts the fundamental importance of rhetoric, the art of speaking well.
Call Number: E-bookISBN: 9781849667555Publication Date: 2013-11-20
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy This link opens in a new window
Open source project by hundreds of philosophers, donating their labor to collaboratively write, referee, and maintain this reference work. (on the free web)
Essays
Essay #1 (1000 - 1250 words)
NOTE: You must submit 2 drafts + 2 revision statements in addition to your final paper on Week 13.
Pre-Writing Steps
- Select a piece of digital writing written by a public figure of your choice (e.g., an artist, journalist, politician, activist, singer, actor, chef, or scientist). If the piece of writing you select is fewer than 150 words, you must get instructor permission to use it, to be sure there is enough content.
- Compose an MLA format works cited page that lists your piece of digital writing.
- Be prepared to write an analytical essay about your selected piece of digital writing. You will write and submit the first draft of your essay during class on Draft Day (at least 750 words) and then have the opportunity to revise it after peer + instructor feedback. Plan to bring your piece of digital writing with you to class on Draft Day.
Essay #2 (1000 - 1250 words)
NOTE: You must submit 2 drafts + 2 revision statements in addition to your final paper on Week 13.
Pre-Writing Steps
- Select a visual object (such as a film, an advertisement, or an artwork) that addresses a cultural issue you have a strong opinion about.
- Locate 4 quality sources related to your visual object and/or cultural issue. List them on an MLA format works cited page. Annotate 2 of the sources.
- Be prepared to write an argumentative essay about your selected visual object. You will write and submit the first draft of your essay during class on Draft Day (at least 750 words) and then have the opportunity to revise it after peer + instructor feedback. Plan to bring links to your visual object and sources with you to class on Draft Day.
Complete Foundation Rubric
- LAS: Foundation level Core Compentency Rubric3-Outcome Rubric, 2020 version
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