Synopses & Reviews
The informal, student-friendly tone of these rhetorically-organized rhetoric/reader/handbooks provides step-by-step instructions on writing a variety of 500 to 800 word essays.
Features
-- Available with or without readings, the text gives instructors flexibility in structuring the class and can easily accommodate all teaching styles.
-- Precise and clear instruction in each chapter facilitates student learning.
-- Meaningful exercises and writing assignments throughout the text help students practice what they have learned.
-- Fifteen student and fourteen professional samples provide models of good writing.
-- A brief handbook shows students how to correct the most common errors in grammar, punctuation, and mechanics.
-- Steps to Writing Well with Additional Readings provides 33 extra readings, making it unnecessary for students to purchase an additional reader.
New to these Editions
-- Chapter 5, "Drafting and Revising, " contains an expanded discussion of using a computer and now offers students a system for revising drafts in stages.
-- Chapter 8, "The Reading-Writing Connection, " provides students with advice on how to write a summary.
-- A new pair of professional essays with opposing views in Chapter 10, "Argumentation, " helps students analyze rhetorical appeals and supporting evidence.
-- Coverage of electronic sources, including advice and warnings for Internet users has been included in Chapter 14, "Writing a Paper Using Research."
-- A new section on summary and response, including a sample paper, has been added to Chapter 16, "Writing in Class."
-- An entirely new Chapter 17, "Writing in the World of Work, " allows students to practice composingbusiness letters, office memos, e-mail, and resumes.
-- Part 4, "A Concise Handbook, " has a new numbered navigational system, making it easier to quickly access information.
-- A new workbook contains activities and exercises for every chapter of the main text, providing students with an additional way to help them improve their writing skills.
About the Author
Jean Wyrick is Professor Emerita of English at Colorado State University, where she was Director of Composition for 11 years. She has over 25 years' experience teaching writing, training writing teachers, and designing writing/writing-across-the-curriculum programs. Her other textbooks include THE RINEHART READER and DISCOVERING IDEAS. She has presented over two dozen papers on the teaching of writing and on American literature. Her research and teaching are now focused on late-nineteenth-and twentieth-century American fiction, American Studies, and Women's Studies.
Table of Contents
Part 1: THE BASICS OF THE SHORT ESSAY. 1. Prewriting. Getting Started. Selecting a Subject. Finding Your Essays Purpose and Focus. Pump-Primer Techniques. After Youve Found Your Focus. Discovering your Audience. How to Identify Your Readers. Keeping a Journal (Talking to Yourself Does Help). Chapter 1 Summary. 2. The Thesis Statement. What Is a Thesis? What Does a "Working Thesis" Do? Can a "Working Thesis" Change? Guidelines for Writing a Good Thesis. Avoiding Common Errors in Thesis Statements. Using the Essay Map. Chapter 2 Summary. 3. The Body Paragraphs. Planning the Body of Your Essay. Composing the Body Paragraphs. The Topic Sentence. Paragraph Development. Paragraph Length. Paragraph Unity. Paragraph Coherence. Paragraph Sequence. Transitions between Paragraphs. Chapter 3 Summary. 4. Beginnings and Endings. How to Write a Good Lead-In. Avoiding Errors in Lead-Ins. How to Write a Good Concluding Paragraph. Avoiding Errors in Conclusions. How to Write a Good Title. Chapter 4 Summary. 5. Drafting and Revising: Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking. What Is Revision? When Does Revision Occur? Myths about Revision. Preparing to Draft: Some Time-Saving Hints. A Revision Process for Your Drafts. What is Critical Thinking? Thinking Critically as a Writer. A Final Checklist for Your Essay. Benefiting from Revision Workshops. Some Last Advise: How to Play with Your Mental Blocks. Chapter 5 Summary. 6. Effective Sentences. Developing a Clear Style. Developing a Concise Style. Developing a Lively Style. Developing an Emphatic Style. Chapter 6 Summary. 7. Word Logic. Selecting the Correct Words. Selecting the Best Words. Chapter 7 Summary. 8. The Reading-Writing Connection. How Can Reading Well Help Me Become a Better Writer? How Can I Become an Analytical Reader? Writing a Summary. Chapter 8 Summary. The Basics of the Short Essay: Part One Summary. Part 2: PURPOSES, MODES, AND STRATEGIES. 9. Exposition. The Strategies of Exposition. Strategy One: Development by Example. Professional Essay: "So Whats So Bad about Being So-So?" Strategy 2: Development by Process Analysis. Professional Essays: "To Bid the World Farewell" and "How to Write a Personal Letter". Strategy Three: Development by Comparison and Contrast. Essay Topics. A Topic Proposal for Your Essay. Professional Essays: "Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts" and "Two Ways of Viewing the River". Strategy Four: Development by Definition. Professional Essay: "The Munchausen Mystery". Strategy Five: Development by Division and Classification. Professional Essay: "Mystery!" 10. Argumentation. Developing Your Essay. Pro/Con Professional Essays: "Grandparents Rights". Analyzing Advertisements. 11. Description. How to Write Effective Description. Professional Essay: "Still Learning from My Mother". 12. Narration. Writing the Effective Narrative Essay. Professional Essay: "Sister Flowers". 13. Writing Essays Using Multiple Strategies. Professional Essay: "Dont Let Stereotypes Warp Your Judgements". Part 3: SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS. 14. Writing a Paper Using Research. Focusing Your Topic. Beginning Your Library Research. Preparing a Working Bibliography. Choosing and Evaluating Your Sources. Preparing an Annotated Bibliography. Taking Notes. Incorporating Your Source Material. Avoiding Plagiarism. Choosing the Documentation Style for Your Essay. MLA / APA Styles. Using Supplementary Notes. 15. Writing about Literature. Using Literature in the Composition Classroom. Suggestions for Close Reading of Literature. Steps to Reading a Story. Annotated Story: "The Story of an Hour". Steps to Reading a Poem. Annotated Poem "When I Heard the Learnd Astronomer". Guidelines for Writing about Literature. 16. Writing In-Class: Exams and "Response" Essays. Steps to Writing Well Under Pressure. Writing the Summary-and-Response Essay. 17. Writing in the World of Work. Composing Business Letters. Sample Business Letter. Creating Memos. Sending Professional E-Mail. Designing Résumés. Sample Résumé. Part 4: A CONCISE HANDBOOK. 18. Major Errors in Grammar. Errors with Verbs. Errors with Nouns. Errors with Pronouns. Errors with Adverbs and Adjectives. Errors in Modifying Phrases. Errors in Sentences. 19. A Concise Guide to Punctuation. The Period. The Question Mark. The Exclamation Point. The Comma. The Semicolon. The Colon. The Apostrophe. Quotation Marks. Parentheses. Brackets. The Dash. The Hyphen. Underlining. The Ellipsis Mark. 20. A Concise Guide to Mechanics. Capitalization. Abbreviations. Numbers. Part 5: ADDITIONAL READINGS. 21. Exposition: Development by Example. "Darkness at Noon" by Harold Krents. "Black Men and Public Space" by Brent Staples. "Rambos of the Road" by Martin Gottfied. 22. Exposition: Process Analysis. "Ditch Diving" by Tom Bodett. "The Jeaning of America" by Carin C. Quinn. "Autumn Leaves" by Diane Ackerman. 23. Exposition: Comparison/Contrast. "Columbus and the Moon" by Tom Wolfe. " My Real Car" by Bailey White. "Still Connected to the Border" by Pat Mora. 24. Exposition: Definition. "The Heroes Among Us" by Stephen M. Wolf. "Insulting the French: Bistro-Style Airplane Food" by Dave Barry. " What Is Poverty?" by Jo Goodwin Parker. 25. Exposition: Division/Classification. "A Brush with Reality: Surprises in the Tube" by David Bodanis. "Party Manners" by Richard Grossman. "College Pressures" by William Zinsser. 26. Exposition: Causal Analysis. "Kids in the Mall" by William Severini Kowinski. "The Violence Is Fake, The Impact Is Real" by Ellen Goodman. "The Teacher Who Changed My Life" by Nicholas Gage. 27. Argumentation. Pro/Con Argument: The Extended School Year. "U.S. Kids Need More School Time" by Ellen Goodman. "The School Year Needs to Be Better, Not Longer" by Colman McCarthy. "A Scientist: I Am the Enemy" by Ron Kline. "Sack Athletic Scholarships" by Roger Rosenblatt. 28. Description. "A Day at the Theme Park" by W. Bruce Cameron. "Hush, Timmy-This Is Like a Church" by Kurt Anderson. "The Man in the Water" by Roger Rosenblatt. 29. Narration. "38 Who Saw Murder Didnt Call the Police" by Martin Gansberg. "Take the Plungeà" by Gloria Emerson. "The Talkies" by James Lileks. 30. Essays for Further Analysis: Multiple Strategies and Styles. " I Have a Dream" by Martin Luther King, Jr. " Once More to the Lake (August 1941)" by E.B. White. "Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self" by Alice Walker. 31. Literature. "We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks. "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley. "A Mystery of Heroism" by Stephen Crane.