Bridges to Better Writing Book

PART I: WRITING YOUR PAPER. 1. Let's talk about writing. Understanding That Writing Is Thinking. Using and Understanding This Book. Being Aware of Writing Realities. Attitudes and Myths about Writing. Reconsidering Your Attitude about Writing. Connecting Reading to Writing. Writing Your Paper. The Writing Process. Prewriting. Drafting. Revising. Proofreading. Reflecting. 2. Writing your descriptive paragraphs. Previewing Your Task. Writing for College. Writing in Your Profession. Writing in Everyday Life. Understanding Description. Using Sensory Details. Using Figurative Language. Deciding on the Dominant Impression. Ordering Your Descriptive Details. Connecting Reading to Writing. Preparing to read. Increasing Your Vocabulary. Reading Selection: "On Being Cripple" by Nancy Mairs. Reading Connection. Understanding the Reading. Understanding the Structure, Style, and Tone. Making a Personal Connection. Writing Your Descriptive Paragraph. Prewriting. Discovering and Limiting Your Topic. Prewriting Strategy: Listing and Freewriting. Topics to Consider. Identifying Your Audience. Establishing Your Purpose. Setting Your Tone. Stating Your Dominant Impression. Outlining Your Ideas. Drafting. Coherence: Using Transitions. Revising. Style Tip: Using a Variety of Sentence Lengths. Problem-Solution. Proofreading. Common Error #1: Sentence Fragments. Reflecting. 3. Writing Your Descriptive Narrative Essay. Previewing Your Task. Writing for College. Writing in Your Profession. Writing in Everyday Life. Understanding Narrative. Using the Elements of Plot. The Beginning. The Middle. The End. Supporting Your Narrative. Using Descriptive Language. Using Words to Describe Emotions. Using Verbs Effectively. Using Dialogue. Connecting Reading to Writing. Preparing to read. Increasing Your Vocabulary. Reading Selection: "The Struggle to be an All-American Girl" by Elizabeth Wong. Reading Connection. Understanding the Reading. Understanding the Structure, Style, and Tone. Making a Personal Connection. Writing Your Descriptive Narrative. Prewriting. Discovering and Limiting Your Topic. Prewriting Strategy: Listing, Freewriting, and Questioning. Topics to Consider. Identifying Your Audience. Establishing Your Purpose. Setting Your Tone. Formulating Your Thesis. Outlining Your Ideas. Drafting. Paragraphing. Writing Your Beginning. Writing Your Middle. Writing Your End. Coherence: Using Transitions. Revising. Style Tip: Varying Sentence Structure. Problem-Solution. Proofreading. Common Error #2: Editing for Shifts in Verb Tense. Applying Previous Knowledge. Reflecting. 4. Writing Your Expository Paragraphs. Previewing Your Task. Writing for College. Writing in Your Profession. Writing in Everyday Life. Understanding the Expository Paragraph. Expository Paragraph Structure. The Topic Sentence. The Topic and the Controlling Idea. Limiting Your Topic. Placement of the Topic Sentence. The Support: Major and Minor. Levels of Generality. Developing Your Paragraph with Facts and Details. Unity. The Conclusion. Connecting Reading to Writing. Preparing to read. Increasing Your Vocabulary. Reading Selection: "The Fine Art of Letting Go" by Barbara Kantrowitz. Reading Connection. Understanding the Reading. Understanding the Structure, Style, and Tone. Making a Personal Connection. Writing Your Expository Paragraph. Prewriting. Discovering and Limiting Your Topic. Prewriting Strategy: Freewriting and Questioning. Topics to Consider. Identifying Your Audience and Establishing Your Purpose. Setting Your Tone. Formulating Your Topic Sentence. Outlining Your Ideas. Drafting. Writing Your Major and Minor Supports. Coherence: Using Transitions. Writing Your Conclusion. Revising. Style Tip: Subordinating Ideas. Problem-Solution. Proofreading. Common Error #3: Fused Sentences. Common Error #4: Comma Splices. Applying Previous Knowledge. Reflecting. 5. Developing Your Essay Through Illustration. Previewing Your Task. Writing for College. Writing in Your Profession. Writing in Everyday Life. Understanding Illustration. Using Examples for support. Connecting Reading to Writing. Preparing to read. Increasing Your Vocabulary. Reading Selection: "When Reality TV Gets Too Real" by Jeremy W. Peters. Reading Connection. Understanding the Reading. Understanding the Structure, Style, and Tone. Making a Personal Connection. Writing Your Illustration Essay. Prewriting. Discovering and Limiting Your Topic. Prewriting Strategy: Clustering. Topics to Consider. Identifying Your Audience. Establishing Your Purpose. Setting Your Tone. Formulating Your Thesis. Characteristics of an Effective Thesis. Using an Essay Map with Your Thesis. Outlining Your Ideas. Drafting. Writing Your Introduction. Writing Your Body Paragraphs. Coherence: Using Transitions. Writing Your Conclusion. Revising. Style Tip: Using Coordination to Combine Sentences. Problem-Solution. Proofreading. Common Error #5: Punctuating Introductory Elements. Applying Previous Knowledge. Reflecting. 6. Developing Your Essay Through Process Analysis. Previewing Your Task. Writing for College. Writing in Your Profession. Writing in Everyday Life. Understanding Process Analysis. The Directional Process. Components of a Directional Process. The Informational Process. Connecting Reading to Writing. Preparing to read. Increasing Your Vocabulary. Reading Selection: "The Crummy First Draft" by Anne Lamott. Reading Connection. Understanding the Reading. Understanding the Structure, Style, and Tone. Making a Personal Connection. Writing Your Process Analysis Essay. Prewriting. Discovering and Limiting Your Topic. Prewriting Strategy: Looping. Topics to Consider. Identifying Your Audience and Establishing Your Purpose. Audience and Purpose for a Directional Process. Audience and Purpose for an Informational Process. Setting Your Tone. Jargon. Slang. Formulating Your Thesis. Outlining Your Ideas. Drafting. Writing Your Introduction. Writing Your Body Paragraphs. Coherence: Using Transitions. Writing Your Conclusion. Revising. Style Tip: Choosing the Active Voice. Problem-Solution. Proofreading. Common Error #6: Shifts in Person. Applying Previous Knowledge. Reflecting. 7. Developing Your Essay Through Cause/Effect Analysis. Previewing Your Task. Writing for College. Writing in Your Profession. Writing in Everyday Life. Understanding Cause/Effect Analysis. Cause Analysis. Main and Contributory Causes. Immediate and Distant Causes. Chain of Causes. Effect Analysis. Problems of Avoid in Cause/Effects Analysis. Connecting Reading to Writing. Preparing to read. Increasing Your Vocabulary. Reading Selection: "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell. Reading Connection. Understanding the Reading. Understanding the Structure, Style, and Tone. Making a Personal Connection. Writing Your Cause/Effect Essay. Prewriting. Discovering and Limiting Your Topic. Prewriting Strategy: Flowcharting. Topics to Consider. Identifying Your Audience and Establishing Your Purpose. Setting Your Tone. Formulating Your Thesis. Outlining Your Ideas. Drafting. Writing Your Introduction. Writing Your Body Paragraphs. Coherence: Using Transitions. Writing Your Conclusion. Revising. Style Tip: Modifying Phrases and Clauses. Problem-Solution. Proofreading. Common Error #7: Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement. Applying Previous Knowledge. Reflecting. 8. Developing Your Essay Through Comparison or Contrast. Previewing Your Task. Writing for College. Writing in Your Profession. Writing in Everyday Life. Understanding Comparison and Contrast. Two Topics to Be Compared or Contrasted. Clear Bases of Comparison or Contrast. Evidence to Describe Similarities or Differences. Organization of a Comparison or Contrast Analysis. The Block Method. The Point-by-Point Method. Connecting Reading to Writing. Preparing to read. Increasing Your Vocabulary. Reading Selection: "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me" by Sherman Alexie. Reading Connection. Understanding the Reading. Understanding the Structure, Style, and Tone. Making a Personal Connection. Writing Your Comparison or Contrast Essay. Prewriting. Discovering and Limiting Your Topic. Prewriting Strategy: Venn Diagram. Topics to Consider. Identifying Your Audience. Establishing Your Purpose. Setting Your Tone. Formulating Your Thesis. Outlining Your Ideas. Drafting. Writing Your Introduction. Writing Your Body Paragraphs. Coherence: Using Transitions in the Block Method. Coherence: Using Transitions in the Point-by-Point Method. Writing Your Conclusion. Revising. Style Tip: Avoid Offensive Language. Problem-Solution. Proofreading. Common Error #8: Pronoun Reference. Common Error #9: Pronoun Case. Applying Previous Knowledge. Reflecting. 9. Developing Your Essay Through Division and Classification. Previewing Your Task. Writing for College. Writing in Your Profession. Writing in Everyday Life. Understanding Division and Classification. Division. Classification. A Guiding Principle. Connecting Reading to Writing. Preparing to read. Increasing Your Vocabulary. Reading Selection: "The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria" by Judith Ortiz Cofer. Reading Connection. Understanding the Reading. Understanding the Structure, Style, and Tone. Making a Personal Connection. Writing Your Descriptive or Classification Essay. Prewriting. Discovering and Limiting Your Topic. Prewriting Strategy: Branching. Topics to Consider. Identifying Your Audience. Establishing Your Purpose. Setting Your Tone. Formulating Your Thesis. Outlining Your Ideas. Drafting. Writing Your Introduction. Writing Your Body Paragraphs. Coherence: Using Transitions. Writing Your Conclusion. Revising. Style Tip: Avoid Mixed Constructions. Problem-Solution. Proofreading. Common Error #10: Lack of Agreement between Subjects and Verbs. Applying Previous Knowledge. Reflecting. 10. Developing Your Essay Through Definition. Previewing Your Task. Writing for College. Writing in Your Profession. Writing in Everyday Life. Understanding Definition. Denotative and Connotative Meanings of Words. The Formal Definition. Defining through Negation. The Extended Definition. Developing and Extended Definition. The Informal Definition. Connecting Reading to Writing. Preparing to read. Increasing Your Vocabulary. Reading Selection: "What is Poverty" by Jo Goodwin Parker. Reading Connection. Understanding the Reading. Understanding the Structure, Style, and Tone. Making a Personal Connection. Writing Your Definition Essay. Prewriting. Discovering and Limiting Your Topic. Prewriting Strategy: Cubing. Topics to Consider. Identifying Your Audience and Establishing Your Purpose. Setting Your Tone. Formulating Your Thesis. Outlining Your Ideas. Drafting. Writing Your Introduction. Writing Your Body Paragraphs. Coherence: Using Transitions. Writing Your Conclusion. Revising. Style Tip: Use Parallel Constructions Correctly. Problem-Solution. Proofreading. Common Error #11: Missing or Misplaced Apostrophe. Applying Previous Knowledge. Reflecting. 11. Developing Your Essay Through Argumentation. Previewing Your Task. Writing for College. Writing in Your Profession. Writing in Everyday Life. Understanding Argument. The Elements of Argument. Types of Claims. Using Evidence to Support your position. A Logical Line of Reasoning. Eliminating Common Fallacies in Logic. Concession of Apposing Arguments. Refutation. Patterns for Organizing an Argument. Connecting Reading to Writing. Preparing to read. Increasing Your Vocabulary. Reading Selection: "Death and Justice" by Ed Koch. Reading Connection. Understanding the Reading. Understanding the Structure, Style, and Tone. Making a Personal Connection. Writing Your Argumentative Essay. Prewriting. Discovering and Limiting Your Topic. Prewriting Strategy: Combination of Strategies. Topics to Consider. Identifying Your Audience. Appeal to Character. Appeal to Emotion. Establishing Your Purpose. Setting Your Tone. Formulating Your Thesis. Outlining Your Ideas. Drafting. Writing Your Introduction. Writing Your Body Paragraphs. Coherence: Using Transitions. Writing Your Conclusion. Revising. Style Tip: Use Appropriate Levels of Formality. Problem-Solution. Proofreading. Common Error #12: Misused Commas with Restrictive or Nonrestrictive Elements. Applying Previous Knowledge. Reflecting. 12. Making Choices: Developing An Integrated Essay. Previewing Your Task. Understanding the Integrated Essay. Making Choices. Reacting to Your World. Connecting Reading to Writing. Preparing to read. Increasing Your Vocabulary. Reading Selection: "Veiled Intentions: Don't Judge a Muslim Girl by Her Covering" by Maysan Haydar. Reading Connection. Understanding the Reading. Understanding the Structure, Style, and Tone. Making a Personal Connection. Writing Your Integrated Essay. Prewriting. Discovering and Limiting Your Topic. Prewriting Strategy: Responding to Visual Cues. Identifying Your Audience , Establishing Your Purpose, and Setting Your Tone. Formulating Your Thesis. Outlining Your Ideas. Drafting. Revising. Proofreading. Applying Previous Knowledge. Reflecting. PART II: WRITING WITH SOURCES. 13. Working with Sources. Understanding Sources. Reading for College. Why Use Source Material?. Types of Source Materials. Primary Source. Secondary Evidence. How Do I Use Source Material?. Quoting Source Material. Paraphrasing Source Material. Summarizing Source Material. Extracting Information from a Source. How Do I Integrate Sources?. Punctuating Quotations. Paraphrasing. Summarizing. Bringing Borrowed Material to an End. How Do I Avoid Plagiarism?. Common Types of Plagiarism. Strategies to Prevent Plagiarism. How Do I Document My Sources?. Understanding In-Text Citations. Understanding the Works Cited List. Documenting Books. Documenting Periodicals from Print and Online Sources. Documenting Internet Sources. Documenting Other Sources. 14.Writing Your Research Paper. Understanding the Value of Research. Writing Your Research Paper. Prewriting and Planning. Selecting Your Topic. Formulating a Research Question. Limiting Your Topic and Stating Your Thesis. Setting Your Schedule. Researching Your Topic. Using the Library. Using Databases. Using the Internet. Evaluating the Reliability of Your Sources. Criteria for Evaluating Your Sources. Identifying Subtopics. Managing Your Information. Maintaining a Working Bibliography. Writing Notes. Quotation Notes. Paraphrase Notes. Summary Notes. Outline Notes. Personal Notes. Combination Notes. Drafting and Revising Your Paper. Preparing Your Preliminary Outline. Writing Your First Draft. Writing Your Introduction. Writing Your Body Paragraphs. Writing Your Conclusion. Revising and Proofreading Your Draft. Problem-Solution. Formatting Your Final Draft. Formatting Your Final Outline. Formatting Your Final Draft. Formatting Your Final Bibliography. Reflecting. HANDBOOK. Part I: EDITING FOR GRAMMAR. H1. Editing for Fragments. Understanding Sentence Fragments. a. Basic Parts of a Sentence. Locating the Verbs of Sentences. Locating the Subjects of Sentences. Verb Forms as Subjects. Independent and Dependent Clauses. b. Identifying Fragments. Types of Fragments. Assess Your Understanding of Fragments. H2. Editing for Run-on Sentences. Understanding Run-on Sentences. a. Fused Sentences. Editing for Fused Sentences. Revising Fused Sentences. b. Comma Splices. Editing for Comma Splices. c. Strategies for Revising Run-on Sentences. Assess Your Understanding of Run-on Sentences. H-3. Editing for Subject-Verb Agreement. Understanding Subject-Verb Agreement. a. Grammatical Person. b. Grammatical Number. An Informal Test for Number. c. Revisiting Subjects and Verbs. d. Problems with Subject Number. Words That Come between the Subject and Verb. Indefinite Pronouns as Subjects. Compound Subjects. Sentences beginning with There and Here. Words That Are Plural in Form But Singular in Meaning. Assess Your Understanding of Subject-Verb Agreement. H4. Editing for Pronouns. Understanding Pronouns. a. Problems in Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement. Indefinite Pronouns as Antecedents. Using His or Her to Avoid Sexist language. Compound Antecedents. Collective Nouns as Antecedents. b. Pronoun Reference. Error #1: Two Possible Antecedents. Error #2: Pronouns Referencing Broad Ideas. Error #3: Unidentified Antecedents. Error #4: Referring to People, Animals, and Things. c. Pronoun Case. Using Who and Whom. d. Pronoun Consistency. Assess Your Understanding of Pronouns. H5. Editing for Verb Use. Understanding Verbs. a. Verb Forms. b. Auxiliary (helping) Verbs. Primary Auxiliary Verbs. Modal Auxiliary Verbs. c. Constructing Verb Tenses. Keeping Tense Consistent. d. Action Verbs and Linking Verbs. Action Verbs: Transitive and Intransitive. Linking Verbs. e. Working with Troublesome Verb Sets. Lie versus Lay. Sit versus Set. Rise versus Raise. f. Active versus Passive Voice. Keeping Voice Consistent. g. Verb Moods. Indicative. Imperative. Subjective. Keeping Mood Consistent. h. Verbals. Infinitive Phrase. Gerund Phrase. Participial Phrase. Assess Your Understanding of Verbs. H6. Editing for Adjectives and Adverbs. Understanding Adjectives and Adverbs. a. Adjectives. Describe or Modify Nouns. Describe Nouns and Pronouns. Describe Gerunds. Participles as Adjectives. Use Nouns as Adjectives. Possessive Adjectives. Comparatives and Superlatives. Absolute Adjectives. Punctuating Adjectives in a Series. b. Adverbs. Tricky Verbs. Comparatives and Superlatives. c. Frequently Confused Adjectives and Adverbs. Good versus Well. Bad versus Badly. Fewer versus Less. Real versus Really. d. Irregular Adjectives and Adverbs. e. Double Negatives. Assess Your Understanding of Adjectives and Adverbs. Part II: EDITING FOR STYLE. H7. Writing Clear Sentences. Understanding Sentence Clarity. a. Misplaced Modifiers. Misplaced Words. b. Misplaced Phrases. c. Misplaced Participial Phrases. d. Misplaced Clauses. e. Split Infinitives. f. Dangling Modifiers. g. Mixed Constructions. h. Parallel Constructions. Parallelism in a Series. Parallelism in Pairs. Correlative Conjunctions. Effective Repetition to Emphasize Ideas. Assess Your Understanding of Sentence Clarity. H8. Writing Varied Sentences. Understanding Sentence Variety. a. Identifying and Using Basic Types of Sentences. The Simple Sentence. The Compound Sentence. The Complex Sentence. The Compound-Complex Sentence. b. Combining Phrases and Clauses. Vary the Beginning of Your Sentences. Introductory Dependent Clauses. Vary Your Method of Combing Sentences. Use Subordinate Clauses. Reduce Clauses to Phrases. Join Ideas with Relative Clauses. Reduce Relative Clauses to Phrases. Final Advice for Improving Your Style. Assess Your Understanding of Sentence Variety. H9. Avoiding Unnecessary Words and Expressions. Understanding Problematic Patterns of Expressions. a. Eliminating Wordiness. Avoid Stock Phrases or "Deadwood". Reduce Wordy Verbs. Choose Strong Verbs Rather Than Attach Adverbs. Avoid Overusing Relative Clauses. Avoid Overusing Be Verbs. Avoid Overusing Passive Voice. Avoid Overusing Expletive Constructions. b. Avoiding Cliches. c. Avoiding Slang. d. Avoiding Offensive Language. Avoid Insulting Language. Avoid Excluding Language.Use Group Preferred Names. Assess Your Understanding of Problematic Expressions. Part III: USING THE CORRECT WORDS. H10. Frequently Confused Words. Understanding Frequently Confused Words. Words Frequently Confused. Assess Your Understanding of Frequently Confused Words. H11. Improving Your Spelling. Understanding Your Problems with Spelling. a. Using Basic Spelling Rules. Deciding between ie and ei. Choosing among -cede, -ceed, and -sede. b. Attaching Prefixes. c. Attaching Suffixes. Attaching suffixes -ness and -ly to a Word. Keeping or Dropping the Final e. Changing the y to i in Words Ending with y. Doubling a Final Consonant. d. Spelling the Plurals of Nouns Correctly. Forming the Plural by Adding s. Forming the Plural of a Noun Ending in y. Forming the Plural of a Noun Ending in f or fe. Forming the Plural of a Noun Ending in o. Forming the Plural of a Compound Noun. Forming the Plural of Numbers, Letters, and Words Mentioned as Words. Recognizing Irregular Plurals. Being Watchful for Commonly Misspelled Words. e. Strategies for Improving Your Spelling. Assess Your Understanding of Spelling Problems. Part IV: USING PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALIZATION. H12. Using Commas, Semicolons, and Colons. Understanding Commas, Semicolons, and Colons. a. Commas. Connecting Independent Clauses. Adding Introductory Elements. Setting Off an Introductory Dependent Clause. Setting Off a Verbal. Setting Off a Long or a Succession of Introductory Prepositional Phrases. Setting Off Nonrestrictive Elements. Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Relative Clauses. Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Phrases. Separating Coordinating Adjectives. Separating Items in a Series. Separating Words That Interrupt Sentence Flow. Using Parenthetical Expressions. Expressing Contrast. Addressing a Person Directly. Using Mild Interjections. Using Interrogative Tags. Setting Off Quoted Elements. Using Commas with Special Elements. Ensuring Clarity. b. Semicolons. Link Related Independent Clauses without a Coordinating Conjunction. Link Independent Clauses with a Transitional Word or Expression. Separate Items in a Series That Also Contain Commas. c. Colons. Assess Your Understanding of Commas, Semicolons, and Colons. H13. Other Punctuation and Capitalization. Understanding Other Punctuation Marks and Capitalization. a. Apostrophe. Showing Ownership. Indicating Omissions of Letters and Numbers. Avoiding Apostrophes When Forming the Plural of Numbers and Letters. Proofreading for Apostrophe. b. Quotation Marks. Direct Quotations. Quotations within Quotations. Titles of Short Works. Words as Words. Quotation Marks and End Punctuation. Quotation Marks in Dialogue. c. Dashes and Parentheses. Dashes. Parentheses. d. Capitalization. Sentence Beginnings. Proper Nouns. Titles of Works. Family Relationship Titles. e. Italics and Underline. Unfamiliar Foreign Words and Phrases. Emphasized Words. Assess Your Understanding of. Answer Key.