We write to learn as much as we do to express what we already know. In his remarkably personal and engaging voice, Bruce Ballenger makes that powerful concept central to The Curious Writer, Brief Edition.

The Curious Writer, Brief Edition doesn’t read like a textbook or provide a formula for composing essays. Instead, it encourages students to suspend judgment, to ask questions, and to seek answers much like academics do. Yet it covers a wide range of genres beyond the academic essay—narrative, profile, review, ethnography, argument, and more—all with a distinctive approach and “personality” that is lacking in other texts. It also reinforces the assumption that genres are malleable with a new chapter on repurposing or “re-genre-ing.”

Students love that this book helps them learn to write by pursuing their own curiosity. Teachers appreciate that Ballenger gives students ample opportunity to develop the habits of mind necessary to become critical thinkers and curious writers.

* 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.

About the Author

Bruce Ballenger, a professor of English at Boise State University, teaches courses in composition, composition theory, the essay tradition, and creative nonfiction. He’s the author of seven books, including the three texts in the Curious series: The Curious Researcher, The Curious Reader, and The Curious Writer, all from Pearson Education. His latest book is Crafting Truth: Short Studies in Creative Nonfiction, is also from the same publisher. Ballenger lives with his wife and two daughters in Boise, Idaho.

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