This latest collection of essays by columnist and tlak show host, Father Jim Lisante, provides lively discussion material for individuals and groups searching for a Catholic response to contemporary issues.

This book argues that the personal voice, which is often disparaged in journalism teaching, is and always has been a prevalent form of journalism. Paradoxically, the aim of 'objective' reporters is often to be known for a distinctive 'voice'. This personal voice is becoming increasingly visible in the context of 'the confessional society'.

Responding to contemporary discussion about using personal accounts in academic writing, Personally Speaking: Experience as Evidence in Academic Discourse draws on classical and current rhetorical theory, feminist theory, and relevant examples from both published writers and first-year writing students to illustrate the advantages of blending experiential and academic perspectives. Candace Spigelman examines how merging personal and scholarly worldviews produces useful contradictions and contributes to a more a complex understanding in academic writing. This rhetorical move allows for greater insights than the reading or writing of experiential or academic modes separately does. Personally Speaking foregrounds the semi-fictitious nature of personal stories and the rhetorical possibilities of evidence as Spigelman provides strategies for writing instructors who want to teach personal academic argument while supplying practical mechanisms for evaluating experiential claims. The volume seeks to complicate and intensify disciplinary debates about how compositionists should write for publication and what kinds of writing should be taught to composition students. Spigelman not only supplies evidence as to why the personal can count as evidence but also relates how to use it effectively by including student samples that reflect particular features of personal writing. Finally, she lays the groundwork to move narrative from its current site as confessional writing to the domain of academic discourse.

Responding to contemporary discussion about using personal accounts in academic writing, Personally Speaking: Experience as Evidence in Academic Discourse draws on classical and current rhetorical theory, feminist theory, and relevant examples from both published writers and first-year writing students to illustrate the advantages of blending experiential and academic perspectives. Candace Spigelman examines how merging personal and scholarly worldviews produces useful contradictions and contributes to a more a complex understanding in academic writing. This rhetorical move allows for greater insights than the reading or writing of experiential or academic modes separately does. Personally Speaking foregrounds the semi-fictitious nature of personal stories and the rhetorical possibilities of evidence as Spigelman provides strategies for writing instructors who want to teach personal academic argument while supplying practical mechanisms for evaluating experiential claims. The volume seeks to complicate and intensify disciplinary debates about how compositionists should write for publication and what kinds of writing should be taught to composition students. Spigelman not only supplies evidence as to why the personal can count as evidence but also relates how to use it effectively by including student samples that reflect particular features of personal writing. Finally, she lays the groundwork to move narrative from its current site as confessional writing to the domain of academic discourse.

Learn the secrets of effective communication from the most popular book in the world for teaching conversation skills – almost one million copies sold! Fully updated for the 2020s, Conversationally Speaking provides proven communication strategies, based on hundreds of research studies, as well as the authors' own experience teaching conversation workshops. Now you can use this expertise to get more out of your everyday interactions with family, friends, and coworkers. Everybody thinks that some people are born with the "gift of gab" and some people aren't. But the truth is there is no "gift of gab." People who are good at conversation just know a few simple skills that anyone can learn. This book will teach you those skills. With Conversationally Speaking, you will learn how to: Ask the kind of questions that promote conversation Interest people in what you have to say Achieve deeper levels of understanding and intimacy Handle criticism constructively Overcome shyness and become more confident Listen so others will be encouraged to talk to you Find out why Toastmaster Magazine calls Conversationally Speaking "the classic how-to book in social communication" and why Dr. Aaron Beck, whose work has had a major influence on thousands of psychologists, calls it "of great value for people who want to sharpen their skills in interpersonal relations."

Deepening our understanding of the social context of interpersonal interaction, this book examines the communication practices through which members of a particular culture construct and maintain their relationships. The author presents an ethnographic case study of urban, largely middle-class Colombians, taking a close look at interactional practices and speech patterns in a range of everyday settings--from schools, workplaces, and social service agencies, to gatherings of family and friends. In focusing on a context outside of North America and Europe, the book sheds light on cultural assumptions about personhood, relationships, and communication that often remain unexamined in the literature. A compelling epilogue offers a more personal glimpse of Colombian culture and probes both the rewards and the limitations of the ethnographic approach.