I particularly thought it was interesting that Kroll spends so much time in his classes talking about how to ease the reader toward the writer’s view. My students have been talking about their paper questions/topics in terms of “my side and the other side,” and I’ve been trying to knock that type of thinking out of their heads for weeks now. I’ve been telling them that a more balanced approach to asserting their beliefs can show their audience that they respect them, so their readers will show them respect in return. (I actually said “fair and balanced” once. It just slipped out. I felt dirty.) I’m glad to see that I was right, at least according to Kroll, and I’m even happier to have suggestions for helping students understand what I’ve been telling them.

I also loved the fact that Kroll says “if you dig deep enough, both sides are concerned about some of the same things.” I think this is a great concept, and I will push this idea in my class until every student internalizes it. This may not work for every issue, but I think (I hope) that if there is a way to find common ground, my students will be able to find it. Of course, to do this, I would have to have my students identify their side and an opposing side of an issue, and that’s what I’ve been trying to avoid. Still, I think it could be a useful exercise.