A core text designed for the university and college markets, The Empowered Writer gives students a detailed yet widely applicable and accessible guide for developing skills in writing and research, including personal and business communication. This 4-in-1 text covers rhetoric, research, and grammar, and provides integrated readings with annotations. Extensive pedagogy includes individual and collaborative exercises, in-text examples to illustrate key ideas, critical-thinking questions at the end of each reading, margin notes to define core concepts and provide targeted learning support, and sample student essays.

In this revised edition, 7 of the 18 essays are new (5 new professional essays; 2 new student essays) and are on topics relevant to students in Canada, including the experiences of immigrant students, poverty, environmental protection, and the legacy of residential schools. The text has also been updated to include more exercises and examples, with a particular focus on students whose first language is not English.