Introduction
About this book
This book will provide you with the resources you need to be successful in English 102: Writing and Rhetoric II. It remixes material from Write What Matters, a modular textbook that I co-created with Joel Gladd and Amy Minervini as part of the 2020-2021 OPAL Fellowship for the Idaho State Board of Education. The text’s title is meant to provoke some thoughts about why and how we write. What will academic writing look like in the age of generative AI? Though we will undoubtedly see some changes to the writing process, research supports the development of durable skills that courses like this one promote.
More important, with the rapid advancement of generative artificial intelligence, our writing processes are changing in fundamental ways that we will explore throughout the course. LLMs can be incredibly helpful, and they were designed to be that way. They were not designed to be truthful though. Critical thinking skills are more important than ever in the age of generative AI.
Course Outcomes
In English 102: Writing and Rhetoric II, we will work on the following course outcomes:
- Use flexible writing process strategies to generate, develop, revise, edit, and proofread texts.
- Adopt strategies appropriate to the rhetorical situation.
- Locate, evaluate, organize, and use research material collected from a variety of sources appropriate to the rhetorical situation.
- Use rhetorically appropriate strategies to represent and respond to the ideas and research of others.
- Develop claims and stances that acknowledge nuance, are supported by well-developed evidence-based reasoning, and are shaped by multiple viewpoints.
- Use rhetorically appropriate conventions for citing and documenting source material.
- Participate in a respectful and inclusive community of writers and readers (Source: College of Western Idaho English 102 Curriculum Guide).
Culturally Relevant and Affirming Text
The rhetoric, lessons, examples, assignments, and readings include a range of perspectives and cultures in an effort to be inclusive. That said, if you come across a word, phrase, or sentiment that concerns you, please do not hesitate to contact me so that I can update our textbook.
As you read, you may notice that I use a variety of pronouns such as she/her, he/him, or they/them to refer to a person I’m discussing. My goal is to represent all people, regardless of gender, and to do so in a balanced way. Therefore, in some paragraphs, I may designate “she” as the pronoun, while in others “he” will stand in for the person being written about. However, you’ll also come across “they” being used as a singular pronoun, which may be confusing at first. The pronoun “they” allows a single person to represent any gender, including those genders that aren’t accurately represented by “he” and “she.” It’s important to consider gender-neutral language in your own writing, so I wanted to model what that looks like in this text.
Accessibility
This textbook has been written with accessibility in mind. The book can be read online or downloaded in multiple formats including PDF and EPUB or MOBI files. It can also be accessed through text-to-speech readers provided through your learning institutions or other common text to speech tools, such as Read Aloud and Dragon. All videos have subtitles/closed captioning.
A Note about Citations
This text relies on APA style citations because that is the citation style we will be learning in our class. APA is widely used in college majors including psychology, social work, education, business, and some health sciences programs.
About the Author
I am an author, educator, and mother of four children, one of whom has bipolar disorder. My book, The Price of Silence: A Mom’s Perspective on Mental Illness (Hudson Street Press, 2014), was a “Books for a Better Life” award winner. My essays have appeared in USA Today, the Huffington Post, Psychology Today, Time.com, The Mighty, MindBodyGreen, Good Men Project, and Boise State University’s The Blue Review, among others. Since my essay “I Am Adam Lanza’s Mother” went viral, I have appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, Erin Burnett Out Front, Anderson Cooper 360, Don Lemon, Dr. Oz, the Diane Rehm Show, NPR’s Weekend Edition, and other programs. I presented talks on children’s mental health and stigma at TEDx San Antonio in October 2013 and at the National Council for Behavioral Health in March 2016. I was featured in the Peabody award-winning HBO documentary A Dangerous Son in May 2018 and participated in the 2019 Columbine documentary, An American Tragedy. I blog about teaching and writing with generative artificial intelligence at Artisanal Intelligence.
I hold a B.A. in Classics from Brigham Young University (1994); an M.A. in Classics from the University of California, Los Angeles (1997), and an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership from Argosy University (2016). My dissertation research focused on mental health advocacy and leadership strengths. I am an associate professor of English at the College of Western Idaho and live in Eagle, Idaho. I am passionate about open education, inclusivity, and diversity and believe that education has the power to change lives for the better.
Creative Commons Licensing
Cyborgs and Centaurs: Academic Writing in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence is licensed under a Creative Commons as CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0. Individual chapters may have different licenses.
Note: All prompts in the “You Try It” sections are licensed CC0. You may use these prompts without attribution.
