ENGL 200 - Expository Writing II - Salina Campus

The K-State Salina Library has created this guide to help you navigate research and academic writing resources that will be useful to you during this class and throughout your academic and professional careers.

If you need any assistance, please feel free to contact your Salina librarian, Dr. Mirtz, at mirtz@ksu.edu.

Use the Menu at left to access different portions of the guide.

Expository Writing II focuses on persuasive writing and revolves around themes focusing on understanding reader values, critical thinking and developing audience-centered arguments. There are 4 major assignments in this course that are designed to develop rhetorical strategies which serve to strengthen the fluency and delivery of your writing. Of particular note is the Argumentative Essay assignment which will be the first major assignment for which research is required.  If you look to the menu on the left hand side of the page and select Articles and Databases, you will find a list of databases that may be used to locate and argumentative or persuasive article for your analysis.

Quick Advice: Add keywords in your searches about the type of articles you are searching: opinion, editorial, issue, concern, debate, argument

Just as you did in Expository Writing I, you will have to consider a topic.  In this case you will have to choose a persuasive or argumentative essay, but again the topic of that argument is entirely your choice.  Take a moment and consider a topic that you might find interesting.  This can be an issue with which you are already familiar, or it can be an exploratory exercise.  The sky is the limit!  If you are feeling stumped, here's a list of ideas to help you along.  You can also use the ASK a Librarian chat interface for guidance.

Strategies for Choosing a Topic

• Consider your interests – any interest you like!
• Immerse yourself in the background information so that you understand the context.
• Talk to your professor.
• Talk with friends or classmates.
• Look at popular magazines and news.
• Consider Generalized Databases e.g., Academic Search Complete
• YouTube / Social Media – What subjects do you find interesting?
• Crawl Wikipedia.