The relationship between the presidency and the press has transformed-seemingly overnight-from one where reports and columns were filed, edited, and deliberated for hours before publication into a brave new world where texts, tweets, and sound bites race from composition to release within a matter of seconds. This change, which has ultimately made political journalism both more open and more difficult, brings about many questions, but perhaps the two most important are these: Are the hard questions still being asked? Are they still being answered? In Columns to Characters, Stephanie A. Martin and top scholars and journalists offer a fresh perspective on how the evolution of technology affects the way presidents interact with the public. From Bill Clinton's saxophone playing on the Arsenio Hall Show to Barack Obama's skillful use of YouTube, Twitter, and Reddit as the first "social media president," political communication appears to reflect the increasing fragmentation of the American public. The accessible essays here explore these implications in a variety of real-world circumstances: the "narcotizing" numbness of information overload and voter apathy; the concerns over privacy, security, and civil liberties; new methods of running political campaigns and mobilizing support for programs; and a future "post-rhetorical presidency" in which the press is all but irrelevant. Each section of the book concludes with a "reality check," a short reflection by a working journalist (or, in one case, a former White House insider) on the presidential beat.

In Authenticating Whiteness: Karens, Selfies, and Pop Stars, Rachel E. Dubrofsky explores the idea that popular media implicitly portrays whiteness as credible, trustworthy, familiar, and honest, and that this portrayal is normalized and ubiquitous. Whether on television, film, social media, or in the news, white people are constructed as believable and unrehearsed, from the way they talk to how they look and act. Dubrofsky argues that this way of making white people appear authentic is a strategy of whiteness, requiring attentiveness to the context of white supremacy in which the presentations unfold. The volume details how ideas about what is natural, good, and wholesome are reified in media, showing how these values are implicitly racialized. Additionally, the project details how white women are presented as particularly authentic when they seem to lose agency by expressing affect through emotional and bodily displays. The chapters examine a range of popular media-newspaper articles about Donald J. Trump, a selfie taken at Auschwitz, music videos by Miley Cyrus, the television series UnREAL, the infamous video of Amy Cooper calling the police on an innocent Black man, and the documentary Miss Americana-pinpointing patterns that cut across media to explore the implications for the larger culture in which they exist. At its heart, the book asks: Who gets to be authentic? And what are the implications?

In 1940, Hans Augusto Rey and Margret Rey built two bikes, packed what they could, and fled wartime Paris. Among the possessions they escaped with was a manuscript that would later become one of the most celebrated books in children's literature-Curious George. Since his debut in 1941, the mischievous icon has only grown in popularity. After being captured in Africa by the Man in the Yellow Hat and taken to live in the big city's zoo, Curious George became a symbol of curiosity, adventure, and exploration. In Curious about George: Curious George, Cultural Icons, Colonialism, and US Exceptionalism, author Rae Lynn Schwartz-DuPre argues that the beloved character also performs within a narrative of racism, colonialism, and heroism. Using theories of colonial and rhetorical studies to explain why cultural icons like Curious George are able to avoid criticism, Schwartz-DuPre investigates the ways these characters operate as capacious figures, embodying and circulating the narratives that construct them, and effectively argues that discourses about George provide a rich training ground for children to learn US citizenship and become innocent supporters of colonial American exceptionalism. By drawing on postcolonial theory, children's criticisms, science and technology studies, and nostalgia, Schwartz-DuPre's critical reading explains the dismissal of the monkey's 1941 abduction from Africa and enslavement in the US, described in the first book, by illuminating two powerful roles he currently holds: essential STEM ambassador at a time when science and technology is central to global competitiveness and as a World War II refugee who offers a "deficient" version of the Holocaust while performing model US immigrant. Curious George's twin heroic roles highlight racist science and an Americanized Holocaust narrative. By situating George as a representation of enslaved Africans and Holocaust refugees, Curious about George illuminates the danger of contemporary zero-sum identity politics, the colonization of marginalized identities, and racist knowledge production. Importantly, it demonstrates the ways in which popular culture can be harnessed both to promote colonial benevolence and to present possibilities for resistance.

Olly's top-notch language-learning insights are right in line with the best of what we know from neuroscience and cognitive psychology about how to learn effectively. I love his work - and you will too! - Barbara Oakley, PhD, Author of New York Times bestseller A Mind for Numbers This second volume of the bestselling Teach Yourself Graded Readers series features 8 compelling new stories in a variety of genres, from science fiction and crime to history and thriller, so you'll have fun reading, while learning a wide range of new vocabulary and rapidly improving your Spanish comprehension! Short Stories in Spanish for Beginners, Volume 2 is written for students from high-beginner to intermediate level. The eight captivating stories are designed to give you a sense of achievement and a feeling of progress when reading. You'll enjoy reading in Spanish, grow your vocabulary in a natural way, and improve your comprehension at the same time. Based on extensive research into how people most enjoy and benefit from reading in a new language, this book eliminates the frustrations you experience when trying to read in Spanish. Stories are broken down into manageable chapters, so you make progress with the story and feel a sense of achievement. Realistic amounts of new vocabulary are introduced so that you're not deterred by complex words. Instead of pausing to look up every word, you'll absorb new vocabulary from the context of the story, and have the satisfaction of that moment when you say: "I totally understood that sentence!" This book includes: - Accessible grammar for high-beginner and low-intermediate level learners (CEFR A2-B2) - Natural dialogues in each story, so that you can learn conversational Spanish and improve your speaking ability! - Controlled language at your level, including the most frequent words, to help you progress confidently - Pleasure! It's much easier to learn a new language when you're having fun. Carefully curated to make learning a new language easy, these stories include key features that will support and consolidate your progress, including: * A glossary for bolded words in each text * A bilingual word list * Full plot summary * Comprehension questions after each chapter. As a result, you will be able to focus on enjoying reading, delighting in your improved range of vocabulary and grasp of the language, without ever feeling overwhelmed or frustrated. The stories are levelled from A2-B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference and from Novice High to Low-Mid Intermediate ACTFL Receptive Proficiency. Use the code inside the book and ebook to access the free bonus story and the discounted audiobook edition on our Language Readers Library site (readers.teachyourself.com) or from the Readers app.

Writing Centers have traditionally been viewed as marginalized facilities within their institutions. At the same time, faculty in all disciplines have come to stress the importance of good writing, and institutions have created Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) Programs to address this concern. Often, the interests of Writing Centers conflict with those of WAC programs, and the theoretical foundations of the two may not necessarily be the same. Nonetheless, Writing Centers--whether voluntarily or involuntarily--have become more involved with efforts to promote Writing Across the Curriculum and have formed fruitful partnerships with WAC Programs. While journal articles have begun to discuss these partnerships, this book offers an extended treatment of the topic. By examining the relationships between Writing Centers and WAC programs, this volume challenges the view that Writing Centers are marginalized and demonstrates how they are aggressively moving toward the curricular center of education.

Each chapter examines the evolving theoretical, practical, and institutional relationships between Writing Centers and Writing Across the Curriculum programs. By drawing from institutionally specific experiences, expert contributors present a variety of approaches for establishing and developing effective Writing Center/WAC partnerships. Included are perspectives from established and emerging theorists from all levels, including high schools, community colleges, small four-year colleges and universities, and major research institutions. The contributors accurately portray the true diversity of Writing Center/WAC partnerships and assess the compatibility of these partnerships with larger institutional missions. The volume touches on such topics as the use of computers in writing instruction, the use of student writing tutors, and the problems inherent in discipline-specific language. By deepening our knowledge of the merging of Writing Centers and WAC Programs, this book sets the foundation for more advanced future research.

Allez! Foundations in Beginning French uses a simple, innovative, and completely interactive method to teach elementary French. The goal is for students to become comfortable speaking and understanding the target language through a personal, highly engaged learning experience. Based on the premise that students learn a language best through direct communication with others, the book steers students away from audio recordings, videos, and online learning. Instead, it provides numerous opportunities for students to converse with each other through a variety of activities, such as dialogues, stories, cultural readings, tongue-twisters, word games, and famous quotes. Each chapter features Les Conversations Francaises, a series of student-directed, easy-to-evaluate, in-class skits that encourage students to have fun and experiment with the language without feeling intimidated by the need to be grammatically perfect. The second edition includes new content and improved pacing throughout, based on extensive class testing. More cultural material helps acquaint students with the French language as encountered in French-speaking countries other than France, and a completely refreshed layout highlights updated, enhanced images as well as a reorganization of content and topics. Allez! provides students with the information and practice they need to successfully master written and spoken beginning French. The text is ideal for introductory French classes at the community college or undergraduate level.

This volume presents effective instructional programs focused on two perspectives on writing: the teaching and learning of writing as a skill and the use of writing as a learning activity in various school subjects or skills acquisition. It is focused on analysing micro-design features of the programs (such as learning activities, supporting materials, specific strategies, instructional techniques) but also, macro-design rules of intervention programs (such as, instructional sequence, instructional stages) based on research evidence provided for previous studies. This volume goes beyond a practical volume because it provides additional reflection and discussion about theoretical background and empirically based evidence which support the specific intervention programs described. Several chapters in this book include links to an Open Access e-book where teacher and student materials for the authors' instructional approaches can be found (see ToC).