Ebook: The World Is a Text: Writing about Visual and Popular Culture: Updated Compact Edition

Wherever we look today, popular culture greets us with “texts” that make implicit arguments; this book helps students to think and write critically about these texts. The World Is a Text teaches critical reading, writing, and argument in the context of pop-culture and visual examples, showing students how to “read” everyday objects and visual texts with basic semiotics. The book shows how texts of all kinds, from a painting to a university building to a pair of sneakers, make complex arguments through their use of signs and symbols, and shows students how to make these arguments in their own essays. This new edition is rich with images, real-world examples, writing and discussion prompts, and examples of academic and student writing. The first part of the book is a rhetoric covering argumentation, research, the writing process, and adapting from high-school to college writing, while the second part explores writing about specific cultural topics. Notes, instruction, and advice about research are woven into the text, with research instruction closely tied to the topic being discussed. New to the updated compact edition are chapters on fashion, sports, and nature and the environment.

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A compact, writing-focused new edition of this popular guide to writing about visual and popular culture.

From the Back Cover

The World Is a Text is a popular composition textbook devoted to helping students to understand a variety of non-traditional texts and develop their skills as creators of texts. It teaches critical reading, writing, and argument in the context of pop-culture and visual examples, showing students how to “read” everyday objects and visual texts. The book shows show how texts of all kinds, from a painting to a university building to a pair of sneakers, make complex arguments through their use of semiotics, and shows students how to make these arguments in their own essays. This new compact edition is rich with images, real-world examples, writing and discussion prompts, and examples of student writing.

New to the edition are chapters on fashion, sports, and nature and the environment.

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