Supplement traditional textbooks

Lindemann, on page 184, writes, "But we can also supplement traditional textbooks, handbooks, and dictionaries with other materials that stimulate an interest in style. Newspapers, magazines, advertisements, editorials, cartoons, memoranda, reports, and junk mail offer countless possibilities for discussing the purposeful word choices writers make." This really stood out to me as something I will definitely use in my classes because I love the idea of showing students how rhetoric is used in the so-called "real world." Nearly every day I get junk mail and ask myself why they are sending this to me (today I got one for a café that sold turkey sandwiches [I'm vegan] that didn't have an address listed). I think there's so much to be said and shown via newspapers and magazines, which I will use in class, but the junk mail is such a good idea. Now, instead of taking the pile of junk mail directly to the recycle bin, I can show them to my students and we can analyze which words are used and why and the thought process behind the text and images. Finally — a reason to appreciate junk mail!

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