Longman Writer Book

Preface

I. THE READING PROCESS

1. Becoming a Strong Reader

Stage 1: Get an Overview of the Selection

Stage 2: Deepen Your Sense of the Selection

Stage 3: Evaluate the Selection

Ellen Goodman, "Family Counterculture"

II. THE WRITING PROCESS

2. Getting Started Through Prewriting

Observations About the Writing Process

Use Prewriting to Get Started

Keep a Journal

The Pre-Reading Journal Entry

Understand the Boundaries of the Assignment

Determine Your Purpose, Audience, Tone, and Point of View

Discover Your Essay's Limited Subject

Generate Raw Material About Your Limited Subject

Organize the Raw Material

Activities: Getting Started Through Prewriting

3. Identifying a Thesis

What Is a Thesis?

Finding a Thesis

Writing an Effective Thesis

Tone and Point of View

Implied Pattern of Development

Including a Plan of Development

Don't Write a Highly Opinionated Statement

Don't Make an Announcement

Don't Make a Factual Statement

Don't Make a Broad Statement

Arriving at an Effective Thesis

Placing the Thesis in an Essay

Activities: Identifying a Thesis

4. Supporting the Thesis with Evidence

What Is Evidence?

How Do You Find Evidence?

How the Patterns of Development Help Generate Evidence

Characteristics of Evidence

The Evidence Is Relevant and Unified

The Evidence Is Specific

The Evidence Is Adequate

The Evidence Is Dramatic

The Evidence Is Accurate

The Evidence Is Representative

Borrowed Evidence Is Documented

Activities: Supporting the Thesis with Evidence

5. Organizing the Evidence

Use the Patterns of Development

Select an Organizational Approach

Chronological Approach

Spatial Approach

Emphatic Approach

Simple-to-Complex Approach

Prepare an Outline

Activities: Organizing the Evidence

6. Writing the Paragraphs in the First Draft

How to Move from Outline to First Draft

General Suggestions on How to Proceed

If You Get Bogged Down

A Suggested Sequence for Writing the First Draft

Write the Supporting Paragraphs

Write Other Paragraphs in the Essay's Body

Write the Introduction

Write the Conclusion

Write the Title

Pulling It All Together

Sample First Draft

Harriet Davids, "Challenges for Today's Parents"

Commentary

Activities: Writing the Paragraphs in the First Draft

7. Revising Overall Meaning, Structure, and Paragraph Development

Five Strategies to Make Revision Easier

Set Your First Draft Aside for a While

Work from Printed Text

Read the Draft Aloud

View Revision as a Series of Steps

Evaluate and Respond to Instructor Feedback

Peer Review: An Additional Revision Strategy

Evaluate and Respond to Peer Review

Revising Overall Meaning and Structure

Revising Paragraph Development

Sample Student Revision of Overall Meaning, Structure, and Paragraph Development

Activities: Revising Overall Meaning, Structure, and Paragraph Development

8. Revising Sentences and Words

Revising Sentences.

Make Sentences Consistent with Your Tone

Make Sentences Economical

Vary Sentence Type

Vary Sentence Length

Make Sentences Emphatic

Revising Words

Make Words Consistent with Your Tone

Use an Appropriate Level of Diction

Avoid Words That Overstate or Understate

Select Words with Appropriate Connotations

Use Specific Rather Than General Words

Use Strong Verbs

Delete Unnecessary Adverbs

Use Original Figures of Speech

Avoid Sexist Language

Sample Student Revision of Sentences and Words

Activities: Revising Sentences and Words

9. Editing and Proofreading

Edit Carefully

Use the Appropriate Manuscript Format

Proofread Closely

Student Essay: From Prewriting Through Proofreading

Harriet Davids, "Challenges for Today's Parents"

Commentary

Activities: Editing and Proofreading

III. THE PATTERNS OF DEVELOPMENT

10. Description

What Is Description?

How Description Fits Your Purpose and Audience

Prewriting Strategies

Strategies for Using Description in an Essay

Revision Strategies

Student Essay: From Prewriting Through Revision

Marie Martinez, "Salt Marsh"

Commentary

Activities: Description

Prewriting Activities

Revising Activities

Professional Selections: Description

Maya Angelou, "Sister Flowers"

*David Helvarg, "The Storm this Time"

Gordon Parks, "Flavio's Home"

Additional Writing Topics: Description

11. Narration

What Is Narration?

How Narration Fits Your Purpose and Audience

Prewriting Strategies

Strategies for Using Narration in an Essay

Revision Strategies

Student Essay: From Prewriting Through Revision

Paul Monahan, "If Only"

Commentary

Activities: Narration

Prewriting Activities

Revising Activities

Professional Selections: Narration

Audre Lorde, "The Fourth of July"

George Orwell, "Shooting an Elephant"

*Charmie Gholson, "Charity Display?"

Additional Writing Topics: Narration

12. Illustration

What Is Illustration?

How Illustration Fits Your Purpose and Audience

Prewriting Strategies

Strategies for Using Illustration in an Essay

Revision Strategies

Student Essay: From Prewriting Through Revision

Michael Pagano, "Pursuit of Possessions"

Commentary

Activities: Illustration

Prewriting Activities

Revising Activities

Professional Selections: Illustration

Kay S. Hymowitz, "Tweens: Ten Going on Sixteen"

Beth Johnson, "Bombs Bursting in Air"

*Leslie Savan, "Black Talk and Pop Culture"

Additional Writing Topics: Illustration

13. Division-Classification

What Is Division-Classification?

How Division-Classification Fits Your Purpose and Audience

Prewriting Strategies

Strategies for Using Division-Classification in an Essay

Revision Strategies

Student Essay: From Prewriting Through Revision

Gail Oremland, "The Truth about College Teachers"

Commentary

Activities: Division-Classification

Prewriting Activities

Revising Activities

Professional Selections: Division-Classification

William Lutz, "Double Speak"

Scott Russell Sanders, "The Men We Carry in Our Minds"

*David Brooks, "Psst! 'Human Capital'"

Additional Writing Topics: Division-Classification

14. Process Analysis

What Is Process Analysis?

How Process Analysis Fits Your Purpose and Audience

Prewriting Strategies

Strategies for Using Process Analysis in an Essay

Revision Strategies

Student Essay: From Prewriting Through Revision

Robert Barry, "Becoming a Recordoholic"

Commentary

Activities: Process Analysis

Prewriting Activities

Revising Activities

Professional Selections: Process Analysis

Clifford Stoll, "Cyberschool"

Diane Cole, "Don't Just Stand There"

*David Shipley, "Talk About Editing"

Additional Writing Topics: Process Analysis

15. Comparison-Contrast

What Is Comparison-Contrast?

How Comparison-Contrast Fits Your Purpose and Audience

Prewriting Strategies

Strategies for Using Comparison-Contrast in an Essay

Revision Strategies

Student Essay: From Prewriting Through Revision

Carol Siskin, "The Virtues of Growing Older"

Commentary

Activities: Comparison-Contrast

Prewriting Activities

Revising Activities

Professional Selections: Comparison-Contrast

Toni Morrison, "A Slow Walk of Trees"

Patricia Cohen, "Reality TV: Surprising Throwback to the Past?"

*Eric Weiner, "Euromail and Amerimail"

Additional Writing Topics: Comparison-Contrast

16. Cause-Effect

What Is Cause-Effect?

How Cause-Effect Fits Your Purpose and Audience

Prewriting Strategies

Strategies for Using Cause-Effect in an Essay

Revision Strategies

Student Essay: From Prewriting Through Revision

Carl Novack, "Americans and Food"

Commentary

Activities: Cause-Effect

Prewriting Activities

Revising Activities

Professional Selections: Cause-Effect

Stephen King, "Why We Crave Horror Movies"

*Buzz Bissinger, "Innocents Afield"

Brent Staples, "Black Men and Public Space"

Additional Writing Topics: Cause-Effect

17. Definition

What Is Definition?

How Definition Fits Your Purpose and Audience

Prewriting Strategies

Strategies for Using Definition in an Essay

Revision Strategies

Student Essay: From Prewriting Through Revision

Laura Chen, "Physics in Everyday Life"

Commentary

Activities: Definition

Prewriting Activities

Revising Activities

Professional Selections: Definition

K. C. Cole, "Entropy"

James Gleick, "Life as Type A"

*Natalie Angier, "The Cute Factor"

Additional Writing Topics: Definition

18. Argumentation-Persuasion

What Is Argumentation-Persuasion?

How Argumentation-Persuasion Fits Your Purpose and Audience

Prewriting Strategies

Strategies for Using Argumentation-Persuasion in an Essay

Revision Strategies

Student Essay: From Prewriting Through Revision

Mark Simmons, "Compulsory National Service"

Commentary

Activities: Argumentation-Persuasion

Prewriting Activities

Revising Activities

Professional Selections: Argumentation-Persuasion

* Stanley Fish, "Free Speech Follies"

Mary Sherry, "In Praise of the 'F' Word"

Debating the Issues: Date Rape

Camille Paglia, "A Bigger Danger than Feminists Know"

Susan Jacoby, "Common Decency"

*Debating the Issues: Immigration

*Roberto Rodriguez, "The Border On Our Backs"

*Star Parker, "Se Habla Entitlement"

Additional Writing Topics: Argumentation-Persuasion

IV. THE RESEARCH PAPER

19. Locating, Evaluating, and Integrating Online and Print Sources

Plan the Research

Understand the Paper's Boundaries

Understand Primary versus Secondary Research

Choose a General Subject

Prewrite to Limit the General Subject

Conduct Preliminary Research

Identify a Working Thesis

Make a Schedule

Find Sources in the Library

The Computerized Catalog

The Reference Section

Periodicals

Use the Internet

The Internet and the World Wide Web

What the Web Offers

The Advantages and Limitations of the Library and the Web

Using Online Time Efficiently

Using the Net to Find Materials on Your Topic

Using Discussion Groups and Blogs

Using Wikis

Evaluating Online Materials

Using Other Online Tools

Prepare a Working Bibliography

Take Notes to Support the Thesis with Evidence

Before Note-Taking: Evaluate Sources

Before Note-Taking: Refine Your Working Bibliography

Before Note-Taking: Read Your Sources

When Note-Taking: What to Select

When Note-Taking: How to Record Statistics

When Note-Taking: Recording Information

When Note-Taking: Photocopies and Printouts

Kinds of Notes

Plagiarism

Combining Notes

Activities: Locating, Evaluating, and Integrating Research Sources

20. Writing the Research Paper

Refine Your Working Thesis

Sort Your Notes

Organize the Evidence by Outlining

Write the First Draft

Presenting the Results of Primary Research

Document Borrowed Material to Avoid Plagiarism: MLA Format

Indicate Author and Page

Special Cases of Authorship

Special Cases of Pagination

Blending Quotations into Your Text

Presenting Statistics

Revise, Edit, and Proofread the First Draft

Prepare the Works Cited List: MLA Format

Citing Book Sources

Citing Periodical Sources

Citing Electronic Sources

Citing Other Nonprint Sources

Document Borrowed Material to Avoid Plagiarism: APA Format

Parenthetic Citations

References List

Citing Book Sources

Citing Periodical Sources

Citing Electronic Sources

Citing Other Nonprint Sources

A Note About Other Documentation Systems

Student Research Paper: MLA-Style Documentation

Brian Courtney, "America's Homeless: How the Government Can Help"

Commentary

Activities: Writing the Research Paper

V. THE LITERARY PAPER AND EXAM ESSAY

21. Writing About Literature

Elements of Literary Works

Literary Terms

How to Read a Literary Work

Read to Form a General Impression

Ask Questions About the Work

Reread and Annotate

Modify Your Annotations

Write the Literary Analysis

Prewrite

Identify Your Thesis

Support the Thesis with Evidence

Organize the Evidence

Write the First Draft

Revise Overall Meaning, Structure, and Paragraph Development

Edit and Proofread

Pulling It All Together

Read to Form a General Impression

Langston Hughes, "Early Autumn"

Ask Questions about the Work

Reread and Annotate

Student Essay

Karen Vais, "Stopping to Talk"

Commentary

Additional Selections and Writing Assignments

Robert Frost, "Out, Out-"

Kate Chopin, "The Story of an Hour"

22. Writing Exam Essays

Three Forms of Written Answers

Short Answers

Paragraph-Length Answers

Essay-Length Answers

How to Prepare for Exam Essays

At the Examination

Survey of the Entire Test

Understand the Essay Question

Write the Essay

Prewrite

Identify Your Thesis

Support the Thesis with Evidence

Organize the Evidence

Write the Draft

Revise, Edit, and Proofread

Sample Essay Answer

Commentary

Activity: Writing Exam Essays

VI. A CONCISE HANDBOOK

Opening Comments

Sentence Faults

Fragments

Phrase Fragments

Dependent Clause Fragments

Comma Splices and Run-On Sentences

Three Comma Pitfalls

Faulty Parallelism

Verbs

Problems with Subject-Verb Agreement

How to Correct Faulty Subject-Verb Agreement

Problems with Verb Tense

How to Correct Inappropriate Shifts in Verb Tense

How to Correct Faulty Use of Past Tense

Pronouns

Problems with Pronoun Use

Pronoun Case

How to Correct Faulty Pronoun Case

Pronoun Agreement

Pronoun Reference

Modifiers

Problems with Modification

Misplaced and Ambiguous Modifiers

Dangling Modifiers

Punctuation

Period

Question Mark

Exclamation Point

Comma

Semicolon

Colon

Quotation Marks

Ellipsis

Apostrophe

Parenthesis

Brackets

Hyphen

Dash

Mechanics

Capitalization

Underlining and Italics

Numbers

Abbreviations

Spelling

Appendix: A Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism

Acknowledgements

Index