Nexus + Mywritinglab With Etext Access Card: A Rhetorical Reader for Writers; Books a La Carte Edition

"Nexus" presents the traditional rhetorical modes as different ways of thinking about our contemporary world, no matter the medium. It builds on students' multimedia communication skills by using a mix of readings in contemporary and traditional genres to improve students' college writing skills. "Nexus" starts where students' interests lie--with engaging essays, interviews, blog conversations, Web sites, and YouTube videos. These "readings" are presented in a lively, highly visual format that draws on the daily environment in which students are immersed, including electronic and visual sources that are stimulating, energizing, and directly related to topics they are studying.While the format of "Nexus" is contemporary and stimulating, the content is substantive and pedagogically sound. Students are asked continually throughout this text to pull ideas from multiple media and respond to them first with critical thinking and writing and then by creating a project through a written, oral, visual, or electronic medium of their own choice.

In her own words, this is how Kim Flachmann describes her academic life story and devotion to students and teaching: ""I am a St. Louis kid who moved west and fell in love with California. My passion is teaching writing and helping people understand its importance in our society today."" " "I earned my B.A. in English at Washington University in my hometown and then started teaching at Morton College in Chicago, where I began a Developmental Writing program in 1969. Three years later, I came to California State University, Bakersfield, where I currently direct the Writing Program. I enjoy teaching writing through my books and my classes."" " "I can't imagine any mission more important to the success of a society than literacy. Teaching people who to understand words they encounter and how to express their most cherished ideas can relieve their personal frustration, rejuvenate their self-esteem, provide them with skills they need to succeed, and ultimately raise the quality of all our lives. I feel truly privileged to be involved in such a life-changing passion.""

School Affiliations: The author is a Professor of English at California State University, Bakersfield, where he is also Director of University Honors Programs, Head Judo and Self-Defense Instructor, and Assistant Coach of the Women's Tennis Team. For the past twenty summers, he's also been Company Dramaturg for the Tony-Award-winning Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City, Utah, where he's been on the design teams for over ninety professional productions of Shakespeare's plays. Since he has a doctorate in English literature from the University of Chicago, over thirty years' experience teaching the plays in the college classroom, many publications to his credit, and twenty years' service as a dramaturg in professional theatre, he has the expertise necessary to bring these plays to life for today's generation of students.

Honors and Awards: He's won a number of teaching awards, the most prestigious of which have been Carnegie Foundation United States Professor of the Year (1995), Outstanding Professor for the twenty-campus California State University System (1993), a $20,000 CSU Wang Family Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (1999), and a recent California Senate Resolution honoring him for "twenty-two years of excellence in teaching" (2004).