Highlights of the DIGITAL UPDATE (available for spring 2022 classes) NEW - The Edge is a series of workshops integrated into Revel Writing Today and offered at no extra cost to students. Designed to work seamlessly with Writing Today, The Edge provides scaffolded learning to first-year composition students, which is especially beneficial for students in corequisite courses. The Edge consists of 9 workshops targeting challenging topics for first-year writing students -- from grammar and sentence structure, to critical reading and research. Each workshop module contains several activities -- 66 in total across the product -- including nearly 40 assignable Shared Writing prompts. 30 additional interactives include fill-in-the-blank and multiple-choice questions, plus user-controlled animations, flashcards, and drag-and-drop activities. Each workshop module contains an end-of-chapter 5-question quiz to measure mastery of key concepts. The Instructor''s Resource Manual has been expanded to include extra help integrating The Edge into your instruction with Writing Today. Dynamic content designed for the way today''s students read, think, and learn Videos and interactives integrated directly into the author-created narrative keep students engaged as they read through each chapter.

Thanks to this media-rich presentation of content, students are more likely to complete their assigned reading and retain what they''ve read. Embedded assessments such as quizzes and concept checks afford students opportunities to check their understanding at regular intervals before moving on. Assessments in Revel let instructors gauge student comprehension frequently, provide timely feedback, and address learning gaps along the way. The Revel mobile app lets students read, practice, and study - anywhere, anytime, on any device. Content is available both online and offline, and the app syncs work across all registered devices automatically, giving students great flexibility to toggle between phone, tablet, and laptop as they move through their day. The app also lets students set assignment notifications to stay on top of all due dates. The writing functionality in Revel enables educators to integrate writing - among the best ways to foster and assess critical thinking - into the course without significantly impacting their grading burden. Self-paced Journaling Prompts throughout the narrative encourage students to express their thoughts without breaking stride in their reading.

Exploratory Writing Prompts are embedded invention exercises, giving students the opportunity to produce real writing that can be incorporated into their drafts and larger works. In many cases, these prompts are scaffolded across the chapter to help familiarize students with a structured writing process. Assignable Shared Writing Activities direct students to share written responses with classmates, fostering peer discussion. And Essays, integrated directly within Revel, allow instructors to assign the precise writing tasks they need for the course. A library of 500 pre-built writing assignments helps students grow and hone their academic, professional, and civic writing skills. Three hundred Writing Assignments and 200 Multimodal Assignments cover everything from argument, to research, to modes and genres - across mediums like traditional type, video, audio, and graphic text - while encouraging literacy, critical thought, and invention. Highlighting, note taking, and a glossary let students read and study however they like. Educators can add notes for students, too, including reminders or study tips.

A new focus on reflection as a pillar of the writing experience New - Critical reflection as a mainstay of the process: Almost all chapters in the book introduce reflection as an important component of the writing process. This way students can step back and look at their work critically, while reflecting on how their writing embodies their own motives, values, and cultures. New - New chapter on critical reflection: Chapter 5, "Reflecting Critically, Starting Your Portfolio," offers strategies that will help students "look backward," "look inward," and "look forward" so they can be successful in college, career, and civic life. Current coverage of genres, rhetorical strategies, and technology trends New - New microgenres: Based on instructor feedback, several new microgenres - the "portrait" in Chapter 7, the "slam" in Chapter 8, and the "online comment" in Chapter 11 - have been added to this edition to reflect the current types of writing that students will see online. New - New examples of microgenres: Virtually all of the microgenre examples have been replaced with new ones that students will enjoy reading, discussing, and modeling. Readings and prompts: Chapter readings offer several models of each genre. Question sets that follow encourage critical engagement. One Student''s Work, a student-written example in each writing project chapter, shows the kinds of issues students might explore in a specific genre of writing - as well as the angles they might take.

Annotations highlight the writer''s key rhetorical decisions, so the reading can be used either for discussion or as a model. A Closer Lookquestions facilitate analytical reading. Ideas for Writingquestions prompt responses, analyses, and discovery of the genres. A Few Ideas for Composingactivities (in the anthology) encourage writing that further explores each genre''s possibilities. A multimodal approach: Today''s writers regularly compose electronic texts, work with visual and audio tools, insert graphics, and collaborate with others online. Writing Today includes strategies, assignments, and posting tips in each chapter to help students navigate this multimodal environment. New - Enhanced coverage of citations: The Internet has created many new challenges with properly citing sources and avoiding plagiarism. As a result, greater attention is given to this important topic in Chapter 27 and elsewhere throughout the text.

Accessibility for students and flexibility for instructors An engaging presentation: The highly visual layout and interactive writing style appeal to the way today''s students read and learn. New- Eye-catching new design: The inviting new design is brighter and more open, colorful, and accessible than ever before. At-a-Glance diagrams: Opening each chapter in Part 2 are one or two common ways to organize a genre''s key elements. This gives an immediate visual orientation to the genre, as well as a working model that can be adapted as students read on. Interactive writing style: This brief and to-the-point style helps students skim, ask questions, and access information when they are ready for it - putting them in control of their learning. New - Engaging and effective new readings: Over 25 new readings - covering topics such as racial equality, video games, the Second Amendment, fast food, depression, and more - keep class discussions lively and suggest a range of topics students might consider for their own writing. New - Additional focus on assessment: Terminology that is consistent with the WPA Outcomes is seamlessly built into the fabric of the text, so instructors and students can respond successfully to assessment rubrics and evaluation tools required by university stakeholders. Superior assignability and tracking tools that help educators make sure students are completing their reading and understanding core concepts The assignment calendar allows educators to indicate precisely which readings must be completed on which dates.

This clear, detailed schedule helps students stay on task by eliminating any ambiguity as to which material will be covered during each class. When they understand exactly what is expected of them, students are better motivated to keep up. The performance dashboard empowers educators to monitor class assignment completion as well as individual student achievement. Actionable information, such as points earned on quizzes and tests and time on task, helps educators intersect with their students in meaningful ways. For example, the trending column reveals whether students'' grades are improving or declining, helping educators to identify students who might need help to stay on track. LMS integration provides institutions, instructors, and students easy access to their Revel courses via Blackboard Learn(tm) and Canvas(tm). With single sign-on, students can be ready to access an interactive blend of authors'' narrative, media, and assessment on their first day. Flexible, on-demand grade synchronization capabilities allow educators to control exactly which grades should be transferred to the Blackboard or Canvas Gradebook.

Check out the preface for a complete list of features and what''s new in this edition.