Synopses & Reviews
Using her unique M-A-P approach (Model-Analysis-Practice), Susan Fawcett?s books have guided hundreds of thousands of students through the writing process, from foundations of grammar, mechanics, and spelling, through writing clear sentences and well-organized paragraphs. Her inductive approach; plentiful, high-interest student models and practices; and contemporary readings engage and motivate students. This edition of GRASSROOTS features improved grammar coverage and emphasizes proofreading, with a new Chapter 6 that teaches specific proofreading strategies and shows students how to recognize their personal ?error patterns,? track, and correct them. Every subsequent chapter offers a proofing strategy for the concept being taught. Full-color illustrations, including 45 photos, cartoons, and artworks, plus a new design, help students visualize and understand key concepts.
Synopsis
Motivating students with high-interest content and guiding them with a clear, functional approach, Susan Fawcett's Grassroots inspires students to succeed. With its excellent writing instruction, well-crafted exercises, and engaging writing activities, Grassroots teaches students how to write correct sentences and effective paragraphs. Fawcett introduces each topic with a boxed example and follows it up with clear, easy to read explanations. After the boxed example, Grassroots engages students with bulleted points and questions before defining the rule. Then, Grassroots inspires students and reinforces concepts with a wealth of interesting examples and practice that lead students from carefully controlled practice toward creating their own successful sentences and paragraphs.
Synopsis
A long-standing bestseller, Grassroots remains the preeminent worktext for developmental writers. With its excellent writing instruction, well-crafted and evenly paced exercises, and engaging writing activities, Grassroots has taught several generations of students how to write correct sentences and effective paragraphs.The four-color Eighth Edition offers proofreading practice, a focus on critical thinking, and practice exercises linked to high-interest topics. WriteSpace, an interactive online writing program and course management system, accompanies Grassroots to motivate students with carefully developed writing modules and exercises, innovative writing assignments, and online tutoring.
About the Author
Susan Fawcett is a former professor of English and director of the writing lab at Bronx Community College, CUNY. She is the author of two leading writing textbooks, EVERGREEN and GRASSROOTS. In 2000, EVERGREEN won the McGuffey Prize for sustained excellence in a language and literature text, awarded by the Text and Academic Authors Association. Ms. Fawcett?s poetry and nonfiction articles on education, health, and the environment have appeared in such magazines as _The Nation_, _Poetry_, _Ms._, _Woman?s Day_, and _Ploughshares_. Her formal education took place at Ohio University, the University of London, and Columbia University, with the support of Fulbright and Woodrow Wilson fellowships. Through presentations in the U.S. and South Africa, she has worked to improve college writing instruction, and recently, to promote textbook authorship of minority faculty.
Table of Contents
Note: Each Chapter in Units I-VIII includes Chapter Highlights and Exploring Online. Chapters in Units II-VIII also include a Writing Assignment and a Chapter Review. I. Writing Forceful Paragraphs 1. Exploring the Writing Process A. The Writing Process B. Subject, Audience, Purpose C. Guidelines for Submitting Written Work 2. Prewriting to Generate Ideas A. Freewriting B. Brainstorming C. Clustering D. Keeping a Journal 3. Developing Effective Paragraphs A. Defining the Paragraph and the Topic Sentence B. Narrowing the Topic and Writing the Topic Sentence C. Generating Ideas for the Body of the Paragraph D. Selecting and Dropping Ideas E. Arranging Ideas in a Plan or an Outline F. Writing and Revising the Paragraph G. Writing the Final Paragraph 4. Improving Your Paragraphs A. More Work on Support: Examples B. More Work on Arranging Ideas: Coherence C. More Work on Revising: Exact and Concise Language D. Turning Assignments into Paragraphs 5. Moving from Paragraph to Essay A. Defining the Essay and the Thesis Statement B. The Process of Writing an Essay Unit 1 Writing Assignments Unit 1 Review Unit 1 Writer's Workshop--Discuss Your Name II. Writing Complete Sentences 6. Subjects and Verbs A. Defining and Spotting Subjects B. Spotting Singular and Plural Subjects C. Spotting Prepositional Phrases D. Defining and Spotting Action Verbs E. Defining and Spotting Linking Verbs F. Spotting Verbs of More Than One Word 7. Avoiding Sentence Fragments A. Writing Sentences with Subjects and Verbs B. Writing Sentences with Complete Verbs C. Completing the Thought Unit 2 Writing Assignments Unit 2 Review Unit 2 Writers' Workshop--Discuss an Event That Influenced You III. Using Verbs Effectively 8. Present Tense (Agreement) A. Defining Agreement B. Troublesome Verb in the Present Tense: TO BE C. Troublesome Verb in the Present Tense: TO HAVE D. Troublesome Verb in the Present Tense: TO DO (+ NOT) E. Changing Subjects to Pronouns F. Practice in Agreement G. Special Problems in Agreement 9. Past Tense A. Regular Verbs in the Past Tense B. Irregular Verbs in the Past Tense C. Troublesome Verb in the Past Tense: TO BE D. Review 10. The Past Participle in Action A. Defining the Past Participle B. Past Participles of Regular Verbs C. Past Participles of Irregular Verbs D. Using the Present Perfect Tense E. Using the Past Perfect Tense F. Using the Passive Voice G. Using Past Participles as Adjectives 11. Progressive Tenses (TO BE + -ING Verb Form) A. Defining and Writing the Present Progressive Tense B. Defining and Writing the Past Progressive Tense C. Using the Progressive Tenses D. Avoiding Incomplete Progressives 12. Fixed-Form Helping Verbs and Verb Problems A. Defining and Spotting the Fixed-Form Helping Verbs B. Using the Fixed-Form Helping Verbs C. Using CAN and COULD D. Using WILL and WOULD E. Writing Infinitives F. Revising Double Negatives Unit 3 Writing Assignments Unit 3 Review Unit 3 Writers' Workshop--Tell a Family Story IV. Joining Ideas Together 13. Coordination 14. Subordination A. Defining and Using Subordinating Conjunctions B. Punctuating Subordinating Conjunctions 15. Avoiding Run-Ons and Comma Splices 16. Semicolons and Conjunctive Adverbs A. Defining and Using Semicolons B. Defining and Using Conjunctive Adverbs C. Punctuating Conjunctive Adverbs 17. Relative Pronouns A. Defining and Using Relative Pronouns B. Punctuating Ideas Introduced by WHO, WHICH, or THAT 18. -ING Modifiers A. Using -ING Modifiers B. Avoiding Confusing Modifiers Unit 4 Writing Assignments Unit 4 Review Unit 4 Writers' Workshop--Describe a Detour off the Main Highway V. Choosing the Right Noun, Pronoun, Adjective, Adverb, or Preposition 19. Nouns A. Defining Singular and Plural B. Signal Words: Singular and Plural C. Signal Words with OF 20. Pronouns A. Defining Pronouns and Antecedents B. Referring to Indefinite Pronouns C. Referring to Collective Nouns D. Referring to Special Singular Constructions E. Avoiding Vague and Repetitious Pronouns F. Using Pronouns as Subjects, Objects, and Possessives G. Choosing the Correct Case after AND or OR H. Choosing the Correct Case in Comparisons I. Using Pronouns with -SELF and -SELVES 21. Adjectives and Adverbs A. Defining and Writing Adjectives and Adverbs B. A Troublesome Pair: GOOD/WELL C. Writing Comparatives D. Writing Superlatives E. Troublesome Comparatives and Superlatives F. Demonstrative Adjectives: THIS/THAT and THESE/THOSE 22. Prepositions A. Defining and Working with Prepositional Phrases B. Troublesome Prepositions: IN, ON, and LIKE C. Prepositions in Common Expressions Unit 5 Writing Assignments Unit 5 Review Unit 5 Writers' Workshop--Tell How Someone Changed Your Life VI. Revising for Consistency and Parallelism 23. Consistent Tense 24. Consistent Person 25. Parallelism A. Writing Parallel Constructions B. Using Parallelism for Special Effects Unit 6 Writing Assignments Unit 6 Review Unit 6 Writers' Workshop--Shift Your Audience and Purpose VII. Mastering Mechanics 26. Capitalization 27. Commas A. Commas after Items in a Series B. Commas after Introductory Phrases C. Commas for Direct Address D. Commas to Set Off Appositives E. Commas for Parenthetical Expressions F. Commas for Dates G. Commas for Addresses H. Commas for Coordination and Subordination 28. Apostrophes A. Using the Apostrophe for Contractions B. Defining the Possessive C. Using the Apostrophe to Show Possession (in Words That Do Not AlreadyEnd in -S) D. Using the Apostrophe to Show Possession (in Words That Already End in-S) 29. Direct and Indirect Quotations A. Defining Direct and Indirect Quotations B. Punctuating Simple Direct Quotations C. Punctuation Split Quotations D. Ending Direct Quotations 30. Putting Your Proofreading Skills to Work Unit 7 Writing Assignments Unit 7 Review Unit 7 Writers' Workshop--Explain a Cause or an Effect VIII. Improving Your Spelling 31. Spelling A. Suggestions for Improving Your Spelling B. Computer Spell Checkers C. Spotting Vowels and Consonants D. Doubling the Final Consonant (in Words of One Syllable) E. Doubling the Final Consonant (in Words of More Than One Syllable) F. Dropping or Keeping the Final E G. Changing or Keeping the Final Y H. Choosing IE or EI I. Commonly Misspelled Words 32. Look-Alikes/Sound-Alikes Unit 8 Writing Assignments Unit 8 Review Unit 8 Writers' Workshop--Examine Positive (or Negative) Values IX. Reading Selections and Quotation Bank Reading Selections Effective Reading Strategies for the Writer Diane Sawyer, Daring to Dream Big Malcolm X, A Homemade Education Ellen Goodman, Don't Share Your Life with Me Maya Angelou, Mrs. Flowers Leonard Pitts Jr., Beauty Is Not Just Smaller Than Life Firoozeh Dumas, Hot Dogs and Wild Geese Julia Alvarez, My English Courtland Milloy, The Gift Rosa Parks, Montgomery, Alabama, 1955 Michaela angela Davis, Quitting Hip-Hop Ana Veciana-Suarez, You Can Take This Job and... Well, It Might Surprise You Leo Buscaglia, Papa, the Teacher Dave Barry, Another Road Hog with Too Much Oink Richard Rodriguez, Stuff Shoba Narayan, In This Arranged Marriage, Love Came Later Jack Riemer, Playing a Violin with Three Strings Daniel Meier, One Man's Kids Liza Gross, The Hidden Life of Bottled Water Amy Tan, Four Directions Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence Quotation Bank Appendix 1. Parts of Speech Review Appendix 2. Some Guidelines for Students of English as a Second Language Acknowledgments Index Index of Rhetorical Modes Index to the Readings Rhetorical Index to the Readings