Anna Faktorovich
English research writing courses in colleges across the world have a tendency to be dull, and similar to each other. They typically review the elements of the research paper and ask students to draft formulaic papers that fit the set guidelines. There have been plenty of textbooks written for these classes that repeat nearly identical information. This market is definitely over-saturated. One alternative is a Research Writing class that focuses on audio-visual entertainment (such as film or music) and other cultural artifacts, as well as diversity-related topics. This class offers more engaging topics for research than the repeating political or social topics that fit the formula of a traditional college research writing class. Students are likely to be more interested in researching films they watch for fun than dusty topics they are not personally invested in. More colleges are likely to start teaching these types of classes especially with help from textbooks like this one that suits this curriculum. American students are reading less, and watching media more, a class that accepts this shift can embrace the students’ preferences, stimulating their imagination and desire to learn. This textbook combines the rigor of a Research Writing class with the imaginative and culturally significant realm of Cultural Studies. Concepts that are typically discussed in Research Writing textbooks, like close reading, thesis statement, and clichés, are covered in full. Complex rhetorical concepts are explained simply and fully. Additionally, the elements of a proper argument are not only digested for students, but are also assisted with discussions of political, economic, social and other types of cultural concepts such as communism or feminism. Teachers who are looking for ideas to inspire their plans, will find assignments across the book to utilize. This book is deliberately short and meant to be a cheap paperback, so that it can be utilized as a quick reference guide and idea book for cultural studies related topics (if not as the primary textbook for a course that entirely combines Research Writing with Cultural Studies).
