Good Books
Kia Jane Richmond, Professor and Director of English Education, Northern Michigan University teaches a course called “Good Books” as part of the general education program. She has taught this multi-genre course in-person, virtually, and in an asynchronous web-based course during the summer.
English 110 as an “exploration of a variety of books from the past and present for the general reader. Richmond says.” I have chosen to use mental health as an overarching theme to help students meet the “Human Expression” goal of demonstrating “analysis and evaluation of artistic, literary or rhetorical expression” in texts. Thus, whether we read fiction, nonfiction, or graphic novels, each book has a focus on mental illness in some way.
Among the options offered in the class are works like
- The Quiet Room by Lori Schiller with Amanda Bennett (1996) – adult, nonfiction (memoir)
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie (2009)– young adult, fiction
- Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett Krosoczka (2018)– young adult, graphic nonfiction (memoir)
- She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb (1998) – adult, fiction
In this Good Books course, Professor Richmond has students complete a rhetorical analysis of at least one book. In doing a rhetorical analysis, Haas and Flower (1988) note, readers are “concerned with constructing a rhetorical situation for the text, trying to account for author’s purpose, context, and effect on the audience” (p. 170). Readers also employ textual cues and their own understanding of discourse to “recreate or infer the rhetorical situation of the text they are reading” (p. 170). During a rhetorical analysis, readers are asked to explore questions such as the following:
- What is the author’s purpose for the text, and how do you know?
- What can you determine about the author’s ethos, credibility, or experiences, and how might those help you in understanding his/her/their positioning in relation to the subject matter?
- What is the author’s main argument, and how do you know? What kinds of evidence does he/she/they provide to support claims (e.g., examples, reasoning, data, narratives)?
- Who does the author lean on to give credence to arguments (e.g., experts in the field, scholars, laypersons, medical staff, etc.)?
- How is the text organized, and what features does it include to help readers move through it (e.g., chapter titles, chapter summaries, headings, images/charts, bolded words, glossary)?
- What are some of the assumptions that the author makes about the audience? Who is the book written for, and how do you know?
- How is the text similar to (or different from) other texts you have read (fiction, nonfiction, graphic novel, academic, biography, persuasive, etc.)?
Using rhetorical analysis can help nonfiction readers to examine underlying assumptions, positionalities, and values that are a part of a text’s messages. By asking students to engage in this process, we facilitate their critical thinking and improve their ability to read nonfiction successfully.
References
Haas, C., & Flower, L. (1988). Rhetorical reading strategies and the construction of meaning. College Composition and Communication, 39(2), 167-183. http://www.jstor.org/stable/358026.