This collection grew out of my work as a librarian with English instructors at Northwestern Michigan College as they struggled to adapt their composition courses to use Open Educational Resources in order to save their students the cost of an expensive commercial textbook. Composition textbooks include samples of writing that are copyrighted and cannot be printed or shared. This collection is intended to provide instructors with a wide variety of nonfiction examples of good writing that they can use to teach composition. A smaller collection was my final project for the Creative Commons Librarian Certificate program which I completed in March of 2019. These essays were collected from online magazines that offer their articles under Creative Commons licenses. A few are from individual authors who generously agreed to give their work an open license in order to share it for this collection.

This book is organized into 9 parts, each based on a larger topic that students have chosen to study and write research papers on. Each part contains several short student papers, around 2,000 words each, exploring a different aspect of COVID-19 that relates to science, technology and society. Students were asked to examine their topics through research, gathering primary and secondary sources, both peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed to support their arguments. They were also encouraged to apply several theories often used in studies of Science, Technology and Society, including Actor-Network Theory, Path Dependence, Social Construction and Tragedy of the Commons to their topics. Students were given an introduction to these theories in the course, and they were asked to discuss how one or more of the theories applies and helps to better understand their paper topics. Some students also engaged in additional research on these theories to explore their applicability. Taking advantage of the e-book format, student also used Creative Commons and public domain images, which are not restricted by copyright limitations to help illustrate their points. In addition to their individual chapters, students also worked together to write introductions for different parts of the book. These part introductions contain a brief summary by the students on why they chose to write on a specific larger topic and how their individual chapters relate to the topic. They also give students an opportunity to reflect on how COVID-19 and its impact on the larger topic they are writing about has affected their personal lives.

This text, or resource, aims to help all students in English composition classes and reading understand the connections and the cohesive aspect of reading and writing. The authors used their own years of teaching both reading and writing for all levels in college to explain concepts in a straightforward and clear manner for students. The goal is that this becomes a FREE resource – students can return to time and time again when they have questions or need a refresher even after their English composition course ends.  

This open textbook is created to accompany the course ENGL114 - Critical Reading and Response at Bay Path University.

This open textbook is created to accompany the course ENGL124 - Research and Writing in the University at Bay Path University.

This open textbook is created to accompany the course ENGL134 - Literary Genres at Bay Path University.

English 100 is designed to emphasize writing as a process of discovery and to give you many opportunities for the kind of practice that builds self-knowledge. Some of the readings you’ll do for this course will provide examples of effective writing. Others will focus on “writing practices” that provide ideas for approaching any writing project, though especially writing in this course. Invention, drafting, research, revision, and editing can be considered stages of the writing process, but this process is rarely linear. Most writers move between these stages as they discover new ideas and information, come up with fresh ways to say things, and adjust their lines of reasoning. You’ll move through this recursive process several times during the semester as you explore and develop ideas; sharpen and clarify descriptions, narratives, and arguments; and, finally, present your work in clear, organized, and effective ways.

This textbook is an English 101 text that includes rhetoric and approaches to research.

This course will focus on essay writing, including such issues as development using specific support, coherence (making sure everything supports a thesis) organizational skills and correct grammatical form. It is an overview of the writing process – how you get from an idea to a complete, thorough essay. It will also include a detailed look at researched writing: how to find sources, cite sources and incorporate sources into text.

English 101 focuses on the analysis of basic human issues as presented in literature with an emphasis on analytic reading, writing and discussion, and on development of argumentative essays based on textual analysis, with attention to style, audience and documentation. By writing several analytical, thesis-driven essays which show engagement with and understanding of a variety of texts, students will practice the critical thinking, reading and writing skills which comprise an important component of college and university studies as well as clear, audience-appropriate communications in other professional settings.This class is comprised of a series of three units, each of which is centered around an essay assignment. For each unit, in addition to the essay itself, you‰ŰŞll be asked to respond to reading assignments and to complete exploratory writing assignments. You‰ŰŞll do a lot of reading and writing, and your instructor will ask you to respond to ideas from our texts, from specific assignments, and from each other. Login: guest_oclPassword: ocl

This textbook focuses on principles of writing, critical reading and essay composition using rhetorical styles common in college-level writing (narrative, example/illustration, compare/contrast, cause-and-effect, argument).

From the OER Commons Description: Welcome to composition and rhetoric! While most of you are taking this course because it is required, we hope that all of you will leave with more confidence in your reading, writing, researching, and speaking abilities as these are all elements of freshman composition. Many times, these elements are presented in excellent textbooks written by top scholars. While the collaborators of this particular textbook respect and value those textbooks available from publishers, we have been concerned with disenfranchising students who do not have the resources to purchase textbooks. Therefore, we decided to put together this Open Educational Resource (OER) explicitly for use in freshman composition courses at Texas A&M University. Thanks to a generous grant from Dean David Carlson of the Texas A&M University Libraries, this project became a reality. It is a collaborative endeavor undertaken by faculty in the libraries and English Department as part of the Provost’s Student Success Initiatives at Texas A&M and continues to be a work in progress. Combined, Dr. Terri Pantuso, Dr. Kathy Anders, and Prof. Sarah LeMire have over 30 years of experience in writing and research instruction. Our goal is for students to leave this course as critical thinkers, polished writers, and informed citizens who can engage in civil public discourse.

From the source: "Who Teaches Writing is an open teaching and learning resource being used in English Composition classes at Oklahoma State University. It was authored by contributors from Oklahoma State University and also includes invited chapters from faculty and staff at institutions both inside and outside of Oklahoma. Contributors include faculty from various departments, contingent faculty and staff, and graduate instructors. One purpose of the resource is to provide short, relatively jargon-free chapters geared toward undergraduate students taking First-Year Composition. Support for this project was provided in part by OpenOKState and Oklahoma State University Libraries."

This text is meant to be used in any first year College Composition class or as a general guide to college writing. The book focuses on writing as a process, not a product. The goal is to help students discover their own writing process, trying out different methods and strategies to find what works best for them.