Envision, MLA Update (5th Edition)

For courses in Argument.

This version of Envision: Writing and Researching Arguments has been updated to reflect the 8th Edition of the MLA Handbook (April 2016)*

Explores writing, rhetoric, and research by considering the different modes of argument in contemporary culture

A concise and practical guide, Envision: Writing and Researching Arguments, Fifth Edition is ideal for composition courses focusing on argumentation and research-based writing. Each chapter uses interactive and engaging lessons, and focuses both on analyzing and producing words (print materials, articles, blog posts, and even tweets) as well as on writing about images and other contemporary media (cartoons, ads, photographs, films, video games, websites, and more). In this way, it teaches critical literacy about all kinds of texts.

Additionally, numerous student writing examples and professional, published readings–both with annotations–are provided to reinforce the writing lessons in each chapter and to demonstrate how students might successfully implement such strategies in their own texts. Students using Envision will learn how to analyze and compose arguments, design and conduct research projects, and produce persuasive visual and oral presentations.

* The 8th Edition introduces sweeping changes to the philosophy and details of MLA works cited entries. Responding to the “increasing mobility of texts,” MLA now encourages writers to focus on the process of crafting the citation, beginning with the same questions for any source. These changes, then, align with current best practices in the teaching of writing which privilege inquiry and critical thinking over rote recall and rule-following.

Christine Alfano is the Associate Director of Stanford's Program in Writing and Rhetoric. She holds a BA from Brown University and PhD from Stanford and specializes in digital rhetoric, visual rhetoric, technology and pedagogy, and writing program administration. In her recent  courses, “The Rhetoric of Gaming,” "Gender and Technology," “Networked Rhetoric,” and "Cultural Interfaces," Christine challenges students to explore how writing in different technological modes (from docs, to blogs, threaded discussions, social media platforms, memes, vlogs, wikis, etc.) transforms the modern practices of communication and how we represent ourselves online and off. 

Dr. Alyssa J. O'Brien is a Lecturer in the Program and Writing and Rhetoric at Stanford University, where she directs the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric initiative and publishes scholarship and textbooks on visual rhetoric, writing pedagogy, and global learning. She has been an invited speaker in Asia and Europe on subjects such as global learning, communication for leadership, visual rhetoric, and “mapping a change in writing.” In 2006, Alyssa won the Phi Beta Kappa Outstanding Teaching Award, and what she enjoys most is helping people discover their voices in writing of all kinds. Her current first- and second-year writing courses focus on visual rhetoric, cross-cultural rhetoric, globalization, and communication for leadership. Before coming to Stanford in 2001, she taught composition, creative writing, literature, and business writing at Cornell University, the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Rochester.