Seeing the Pattern: Readings for Successful Writing Book

Introduction: Using Seeing the Pattern to Improve Your Writing

PART ONE: SKILLS FOR SUCCESS IN READING AND WRITING
1. A Guide to Active Reading
Changing Some Misconceptionsabout Reading How to Read Actively
Strategies for Reading
Etta Kralovec, No More Pep Rallies!
Understanding Difficult Text and Visuals
How to Use a Graphic Organizer
Using a Summary to Check Your Understanding
How to Read Visuals
Expanding Your Vocabulary through Reading
Four Ways to Improve Your Vocabulary
Pay Attention to Allusions and Other Language Features

2. Planning Your Essay
Prewriting to Start the Assignment
How to Choose and Narrow a Topic
Keeping a Journal
What You Need to Know about Purpose, Audience, and Point of View
Six Ways to Find Ideas to Write About
Developing and Supporting Your Thesis Statement
What Is a Thesis Statement?
How to Develop Your Thesis Statement
How to Support Your Thesis Statement with Evidence
Students Write
Julie Bohet, Sample Questioning and Freewriting

3. Drafting Your Essay
The Structure of an Essay Organizing Your Supporting Details
How to Select a Method of Organization
How to Prepare an Outline or Graphic Organizer
Writing Effective Paragraphs
What Well-Focused Topic Sentences Must Do
How to Achieve Unity and Provide Specific Supporting Details
How to Connect Supporting Details with Transitions and Repetition
Writing Your Introduction, Conclusion, and Title
Writing a Strong Introduction
Writing an Effective Conclusion
How to Write a Good Title
Students Write
Julie Bohet, The Language of Music: First Draft

4. Revising and Editing Your Essay
Revising Content and Organization
Guidelines for Making Revision Easier
Determining What to Revise
How to Work with Classmates as You Revise
Editing and Proofreading
How to Improve Your Sentences and Word Choice
Seven Common Errors to Avoid
Proofreading Your Essay
Students Write
Julie Bohet, The Language of Music: Revised Essay

PART TWO: READINGS FOR WRITERS
5. Narration: Recounting Events
What Is Narration?
Alton Fitzgerald White, Right Place, Wrong Face
Characteristics of Narrative Essays
Visualizing a Narrative Essay
Writing a Narrative Essay
Planning a Narrative Essay
Drafting a Narrative Essay
Analyzing and Revising
Editing Tips and Troublespots
Students Write
Aphonetip Vasavong, You Can Count on Miracles (student essay)
Reading a Narrative Essay
What to Look for, Highlight, and Annotate
How to Find Ideas to Write About
Readings
Sherry Amatenstein, Talking a Stranger through the Night
Amy Tan, Fish Cheeks
Langston Hughes, Salvation
Cherokee Paul McDonald, A View from the Bridge
Toni Cade Bambara, The Lesson (short story)

6. Description: Portraying People, Places, and Things
What Is Description?
Jeremy MacClancy, Eating Chilli Peppers
Characteristics of Descriptive Essays
Visualizing a Descriptive Essay
Writing a Descriptive Essay
Planning a Descriptive Essay
Drafting a Descriptive Essay
Analyzing and Revising
Editing Tips and Troublespots
Students Write
Danielle Cruz, I Survived theBlackout of 2003 (student essay)
Reading a Descriptive Essay
What to Look for, Highlight, and Annotate
How to Find Ideas to Write About
Readings
Richard Selzer, The Discus Thrower
Mary Brave Bird, The Sweat Bath Ritual
Eric Liu, Po-Po in Chinatown
Gary Soto, Piedra
Maya Angelou, Sister Flowers

7. Illustration: Explaining withExamples
What Is Illustration?
Bill Bryson, Snoopers at Work
Characteristics of Illustration Essays
Visualizing an Illustration Essay
Writing an Illustration Essay
Planning an Illustration Essay
Drafting an Illustration Essay
Analyzing and Revising
Editing Tips and Troublespots
Students Write
Melissa Parker, Internet Hoaxes: A Multiplying Problem (student essay)
Reading an Illustration Essay
What to Look for, Highlight, and Annotate
How to Find Ideas to Write About
Readings
Brent Staples, Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space
Rita Kempley, Abs and the Adolescent
Geeta Kothari, If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?
Nell Bernstein, Goin' Gangsta, Choosin' Cholita: Claiming Identity
Dorianne Laux, What I Wouldn't Do [poem]

8. Process Analysis: Explaining How Something Works or Is Done
What Is Process Analysis?
Melissa Russell-Ausley and Tom Harris, How the Oscars Work
Characteristics of Process Analysis Essays
Visualizing a Process Analysis Essay
Writing a Process Analysis Essay
Planning a Process Analysis Essay
Drafting a Process Analysis Essay
Analyzing and Revising
Editing Tips and Troublespots
Students Write
Kyle Mares, Creating Your Own Web Site (student essay)
Reading a Process Analysis Essay
What to Look for, Highlight, and Annotate
How to Find Ideas to Write About
Readings
Matthew Gilbert, You and Improved
Nikki Giovanni, Campus Racism 101
Cindy Chupack, Dater's Remorse
David Feige, How to Defend Someone You Know Is Guilty
Tom and Ray Magliozzi, Inside the Engine

9. Comparison and Contrast: Showing Similarities andDifferences
What Are Comparison and Contrast?
Joseph Sobran, Patriotism or Nationalism?
Characteristics of Comparison and Contrast Essays
Visualizing a Comparison and Contrast Essay
Writing a Comparison and Contrast Essay
Planning a Comparison and Contrast Essay
Drafting a Comparison and Contrast Essay
Analyzing and Revising
Editing Tips and Troublespots
Students Write
Heather Gianakos, Border Bites (student essay)
Reading a Comparison and Contrast Essay
What to Look for, Highlight, and Annotate
How to Find Ideas to Write About
Readings
Dave Barry, We've Got the Dirt on Guy Brains
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, A Taste of Snow
Sharon Begley, East vs. West: One Sees the Big Picture, the Other Is Focused
Patricia Raybon, A Case of "Severe Bias"
Deborah Tannen, Sex, Lies, and Conversation

10. Classification and Division: Explaining Categories and Parts
What Are Classification and Division?
Judith Viorst, Friends, Good Friends - Such Good Friends
Characteristics of Classification and Division Essays
Visualizing a Classification or Division Essay
Writing a Classification or Division Essay
Planning a Classification or Division Essay
Drafting a Classification or Division Essay
Analyzing and Revising
Editing Tips and Troublespots
Students Write
Ryan Porter, Motor Heads (student essay)
Reading a Classification or Division Essay
What to Look for, Highlight, and Annotate
How to Find Ideas to Write About
Readings
David Bodanis, A Brush with Reality: Surprises in the Tube
Elizabeth Wray, The Seven Ages of Walking
Scott Russell Sanders, The Men We Carry in Our Minds
Martin Luther King Jr., The Ways of Meeting Oppression
Cindy C. Combs, Profile of a Terrorist

11. Definition: Explaining What You Mean
What Is Definition?
Mary Pipher, Cultural Brokers
Characteristics of Definition Essays
Visualizing a Definition Essay
Writing a Definition Essay
Planning a Definition Essay
Drafting a Definition Essay
Analyzing and Revising
Editing Tips and Troublespots
Students Write
Geneva Lamberth, Eating Disorders: Serious and Legitimate Illnesses (student essay)
Reading a Definition Essay
What to Look for, Highlight, and Annotate
How to Find Ideas to Write About
Readings
Janice Castro, Dan Cook, Christina Garcia, Spanglish
Shelly Branch, One Term Says It All: "Shut Up!"
William Plasencia, Web Logs Get Personal
Gloria Naylor, The Meanings of a Word
Gina Kolata, Spinning

12. Cause and Effect: Using Reasons and Results to Explain
What Are Causes and Effects?
Deb Aronson, How Nature Heals Us
Characteristics of Cause and Effect Essays
Visualizing a Cause and Effect Essay
Writing a Cause and Effect Essay
Planning a Cause and Effect Essay
Drafting a Cause and Effect Essay
Analyzing and Revising
Editing Tips and Troublespots
Students Write
Nathan Nugyen, Gambling on Our Future (student essay)
Reading a Cause and Effect Essay
What to Look for, Highlight, and Annotate
How to Find Ideas to Write About
Readings
Clive Thompson, The Honesty Virus
Susan Warren and Melanie Trottman, When Plug Is Pulled on the Digital Age, the Basics Black Out
Ruth Russell, The Wounds That Can't Be Stitched Up
Tom Rosenberg, Changing My Name after Sixty Years
Terry Tempest Williams, The Clan of One-Breasted Women

13. Argumentation: Supporting a Claim
What Is an Argument?
Wilbert Rideau, Why Prisons Don't Work
Characteristics of Argument Essays
Visualizing an Argument Essay
Writing an Argument Essay
Planning an Argument Essay
Drafting an Argument Essay
Analyzing and Revising
Editing Tips and Troublespots
Students Write
Rudy De La Torre, Ethnic Definitions Hinder Society's Enlightenment (student essay)
Reading an Argument Essay
What to Look for, Highlight, and Annotate
How to Find Ideas to Write About
Readings
Carol Bernstein Ferry, A Good Death
Frank DeFord, Athletics 101: A Change in Eligibility Rules Is Long Overdue
Martin Luther King Jr., I Have a Dream
Organ Donation: Should People Be Allowed to Sell Their Organs?
Bruce Gottlieb, How Much Is That Kidney in the Window?
Gilbert Meilaender, "Strip-Mining" the Dead: When Human Organs Are for Sale
The Effect of Media on Children: Is Violent Media Harmful?
Dave Grossman and Gloria DeGaetano, It's Important to Feel Something When You Kill
Gerard Jones, Violent Media Is Good for Kids
Civil Liberties: Does the Patriot Act Go Too Far?
Zara Gelsey, Who's Reading over Your Shoulder?
Ramesh Ponnuru, Fears about the Patriot Act Are Misguided

14. Combining Patterns: Using Variety to Achieve Your Purposes
What Is Combining Patterns?
Anna Quindlen, We Are Here for Andrea
Characteristics of Essays That Combine Patterns
Visualizing an Essay That Combines Patterns
Writing an Essay That Combines Patterns
Planning an Essay That Combines Patterns
Drafting an Essay That Combines Patterns
Analyzing and Revising
Editing Tips and Troublespots
Students Write
Robin Ferguson, The Value of Volunteering (student essay)
Reading an Essay That Combines Patterns
What to Look for, Highlight, and Annotate
How to Find Ideas to Write About
Readings
Lars Eighner, On Dumpster Diving
John Leo, The Good-News Generation
Chitra Divakaruni, Houseguest Hell
Jeffrey Rosen, Naked Terror
Shirley Jackson, The Lottery (short story)

PART THREE: STUDENT RESOURCE GUIDE
15. Finding and Using Sources
When Should You Use Sources?
How to Locate Sources
Locating Useful Library Sources
Conducting Research on the Internet
How to Choose and Evaluate Sources
Choosing Relevant Sources
Choosing Reliable Sources
Evaluating Internet Sources
Taking Notes and Avoiding Plagiarism
Extracting Information through Note-Taking
Avoiding Plagiarism
Documenting Your Sources: MLA Style
In-Text Citations
Works Cited List
Students Write
Nicholas Destino, Do Animals Have Emotions? (student essay)

16. Keys to Academic Success
Developing Skills for Success
Plan Your Valuable Time
Use Your Course Syllabus
Discover College Services
Present Yourself as a Successful Student
Participate in Class
Communicate with Your Instructors
Take Effective Class Notes and Use Them Well
Organizing and Managing Your Life
Organize a Writing-Study Area
Stay Focused and "Study Smarter"
Manage Stress

Glossary of Terms
Index