Professional Writing and Rhetoric: Readings from the Field

Professional Writing and Rhetoric is a disciplinary reader that introduces students to professional writing by inviting them into conversations about the field by people in the field.

Intended for undergraduates and entry-level masters students who are majoring, minoring, or getting certificates in professional writing studies, Professional Writing and Rhetoric is an edited reader that makes the field's theoretical discussions accessible to these students. Addressing a growing need as the field expands “up” from service-oriented courses and “down” from advanced graduate programs, it fills an important gap in the books currently available within professional writing studies.

This text guides students into the discussions that continue to form this relatively young field by (1) organizing readings rhetorically, (2) including several readings that are regularly cited in the field's literatures, (3) selecting readings that are accessible to students, and (4) offering pedagogical devices that aid comprehension and encourage critical reflection. The aim is not to present a “greatest hits of the field,” nor to direct students' thinking and practice toward the hottest new theories, nor to challenge the thinking of those already comfortably in the field. Instead, older and newer selections are intermixed within a rhetorical framework to encourage students to make connections across readings, promote reflective rhetorical practice, stimulate discussion, and encourage students to become co-inquirers within the discipline.