Synopses & Reviews
Combining streamlined, nuts-and-bolts writing instruction with outstanding accessibility and visual appeal, The College Writer Brief breaks new ground in brief rhetorics. While most first-year writing texts fail to appeal to today's visual learners, this rhetoric with readings and research guide has four-color line drawings, color-coded headings, easy-to-grasp graphic organizers, and other design elements on nearly every two-page spread, targeting the needs of less-prepared students. From dynamic visuals to engaging essays and examples, the authors have made both content and presentation optimally exciting and useful for the student. The brief edition is identical to the full edition of The College Writer (2004)--less the handbook section--making this version useful for those who prefer a separate handbook.
Review
"I like the summary points at the end of each chapter, the ease with which information is presented, the presentation of points, and the topics covered. . . . [T]he text is written in a manner that students can grasp, and material tends to be presented in manageable portions and in a logical order."
Review
"Overall, students like the text, and they can find more of the information that they are looking for. After the course is over, students often respond that they want to keep the text because they think it will be useful in other classes--and they are right. Students find most of the essays engaging and interesting."
Review
"Ultimately, a textbook MUST be something my students want to use and use willingly. If they find it difficult, disorganized or unfriendly in any way, the textbook will be useless to me. The text must augment and support my classroom discussions. The College Writer was very helpful to me. . . . I like the variety of the text and the way it presents the material. I need to have a text that covers instruction in both writing about literature and research. . . . I like most of it and, most importantly, find it reader friendly. My students utilized the text and were not intimidated by it. The material is easy to absorb and the layout of the information is pleasing. Most of the material appeals to all our students, both young and old and multicultural, as we have quite a range of ages and ethnicities represented in our classes."
Synopsis
Combining streamlined, basic writing instruction with outstanding accessibility, THE COLLEGE WRITER is an all-in-one writing resource for students at any skill level. The clear visual format helps students grasp larger concepts by linking them to pertinent examples. Throughout the text, numerous student and professional writing samples highlight important features of academic writing, from voice to documentation, and offer students models for their own papers. This edition also features new Cross-Curricular Connections that explain how particular modes of writing or types of research relate to a specific discipline in the college curriculum, preparing students for success across the academic spectrum.
About the Author
Randall VanderMey (PhD, University of Iowa; MFA, Iowa Writers' Workshop; MA, University of Pennsylvania) is a full professor of English at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, where he teaches composition, creative writing, theory, British literature, and world literature. He also has taught at Iowa State University, Dordt College, and the University of Iowa.Verne Meyer (PhD, University of Minnesota) has taught English for 25 years, most recently at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. He is considered an authority on writing across the curriculum and on workplace writing.John Van Rys (PhD, Dalhousie University; MA/BA, University of Western Ontario) previously taught at Dordt College and now teaches at Redeemer University College in Ontario, Canada. After earning his undergraduate and master's degrees from the University of Western Ontario, he completed his doctoral work in Canadian literature at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.Pat Sebranek, (MA, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater) editorial director of Write Source, has taught English, speech, and multimedia for 16 years at the high school level and has studied the work of Nancie Atwell and other contemporary educators.
Table of Contents
Part I: A RHETORIC: COLLEGE STUDENT'S GUIDE TO WRITING. 1. Critical Thinking Through Reading, Viewing, and Writing. 2. Beginning the Writing Process. 3. Planning. 4. Drafting. 5. Revising. 6. Editing and Proofreading. 7. Submitting Your Writing and Creating Portfolios. 8. One Writer's Process. Part II. A READER: STRATEGIES AND MODELS. 9. Forms of College Writing. 10. Narration and Description. "Mzee Owitti" by Jacqui Nyangi Owitti. "That Morning on the Prairie" by James C. Schaap. "A Hanging" by George Orwell. "Sunday in the Park" by Bel Kaufman. 11. Description and Reflection. "The Stream in the Ravine" by Nicole Suurdt. "Scab!" by Randall VanderMey. "Call Me Crazy But I Have to Be Myself" by Mary Seymour. "American Dream Boat" by K. Oanh Ha. 12. Cause and Effect. "Life-Threatening Stress" by Tiffany Boyett. "If You Let Me Play . . ." by Mary Brophy Marcus. "The Legacy of Generation N" by Christy Haubegger. "Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Kids" by Anna Quindlen. 13. Comparison and Contrast. "Beyond Control" by Janae Sebranek. "Two Views of the River" by Mark Twain. "Shrouded in Contradiction" by Gelareh Asayesh. "Like Mexicans" by Gary Soto. 14. Classification. "Three Family Cancers" by Kim Brouwer. "Four Ways to Talk About Literature" by John Van Rys. "No Wonder They Call Me a Bitch" by Ann Hodgman. 15. Process Writing. "Wayward Cells" by Kerri Mertz. "Downloading Photographs from the MC-150 Digital Camera" (from WFB). "Campus Racism 101" by Nikki Giovonni. "Love and Race" by Nicholas D. Kristof. 16. Definition. "Economic Disparities Fuel Human Trafficking" by Shon Bogar. "Understanding Dementia" by Sarah Anne Morelos. "Deft or Daft" by David Schelhaas. "On Excellence" by Cynthia Ozick. 17. Strategies for Argumentation. 18. Taking a Position. "An Apology for the Life of Ms. Barbie D. Doll" by Rita Isakson. "Apostles of Hatred Find It Easy to Spread Their Message" by Leonard Pitts Jr. "Pornography" by Margaret Atwood. "Fatherless America" by David Blankenhorn. 19. Persuading Readers to Act. "To Drill or Not to Drill" by Rebecca Pasok. "I Have a Dream" by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "The Media's Image of Arabs" by Jack G. Shaheen. "In Africa, AIDS Has a Woman's Face" by Kofi A. Annan. 20. Proposing a Solution. "Preparing for Agroterror" by Brian Ley. "Uncle Sam and Aunt Samantha" by Anna Quindlen. "The Media and the Ethics of Cloning" by Leigh Turner. 21. Interview Report. "The Dead Business" by Benjamin Meyer. 22. Lab, Experiment, and Field Reports. "Working with Hydrochloric Acid" by Coby Williams. "The Effects of Temperature and Inhibitors on the Fermentation Process for Ethanol" by Andrea Pizano. 23. Writing About Literature and the Arts. " 'Good Country People': Broken Body, Broken Soul," by Anya Terekhina. " 'Let Evening Come': An Invitation to the Inevitable" by Sherry Van Egdom. "Sigur Ros Agaetis Byrjun" by Annie Moore. "Terror on the Silver Screen: Who Are the Aliens?" by David Schaap. 24. Taking Essay Tests. 25. Writing for the Workplace. 26. Writing and Designing for the Web. 27. Preparing Oral Presentations. Part III. RESEARCH AND WRITING. 28. Getting Started: From Planning Research to Evaluating Sources. 29. Conducting Primary and Library Research. 30. Conducting Research on the Internet. 31. Drafting a Paper with Documented Research. 32. MLA Documentation Format. 33. APA Documentation Format.