Academic Publication · Chapter Contribution
Publication
Contribute a Verse: A Guide to First-Year Composition
Edited by Tanya Long Bennett, Ph.D. · University of North Georgia Press, 2015
Peer-reviewed open educational resource · Pages 44–54
About the Chapter
In "What's in Your Writing Tacklebox?", Donna Gessell draws on decades in the composition classroom to offer students a practical and memorable framework for approaching writing. Just as a seasoned angler selects the right lure for the conditions, a skilled writer learns to reach for the right tool at the right moment — whether that's a well-turned sentence, a vivid detail, a deliberate pause, or a change of register. The chapter guides first-year students toward thinking of their growing skill set not as rules to memorize but as a personal collection of techniques to build, refine, and deploy with increasing confidence.
About the Book
Contribute a Verse: A Guide to First-Year Composition was developed by Dr. Tanya Long Bennett and ten UNG faculty colleagues — including Donna Gessell as both contributor and assistant editor — in response to the Affordable Learning Georgia initiative. Published by the University of North Georgia Press, it is a peer-reviewed, open-access composition textbook combining rhetoric instruction, Standard English grammar, and documentation guidance with a curated essay reader designed for English 1101.
The book was one of the first open educational resources of its kind from a University System of Georgia institution, and it has been used by thousands of students. Its commitment to accessible, student-centered writing instruction reflects the same pedagogical values Donna brought to her classroom for more than three decades.
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