Confidence in Writing Book

1. BEGINNING WITH PARAGRAPHS: WRITING ABOUT AN OBJECT. Anne Morrow Lindbergh: Seashell Paragraph. Step 1: Brainstorm to Explore Your Subject. Step 2: Write Your Topic Sentence. Step 3: Outline Your Paragraph. Step 4: Write Your First Draft. Student Paragraph: Describing a Lemon. Step 5: Revise Your Paragraph. Revision of Lemon Paragraph. Student Paragraph: Two Drafts Describing a Mug. William Fox Conner: Memory's Glass. Suggestions for writing. 2. CONTINUING WITH PARAGRAPHS: WRITING ABOUT PEOPLE. Susan Orlean: Paragraph from The Orchid Thief. Step 1: Brainstorm to Explore Your Subject. Boyd Gibbons: Passage on the Sense of Smell. Step 2: Write Your Topic Sentence. Step 3: Outline Your Paragraph. Step 4: Write Your First Draft. Student Paragraph: Describing Pete, a Farm Mechanic. Step 5: Revise Your Paragraph. Revision of Pete Paragraph. Roger Wilkins: I Became Her Target. Suggestions for Writing. 3. CONTINUING WITH PARAGRAPHS: WRITING ABOUT A PLACE. Gilbert Highet: Passage from Talents and Geniuses. Step 1: Brainstorm to Explore Your Subject. William Least Heat Moon: Observation of the Texas Desert. Step 2: Write Your Topic Sentence. Step 3: Outline Your Paragraph. Step 4: Write Your First Draft. Student Paragraph: Describing Maria's Restaurant. Step 5: Revise Your Paragraph. Rachel Carson: Two Versions of a Descriptive Paragraph. Student Paragraph: Two Drafts Describing Polly's Kitchen. Revision of Maria's Restaurant Paragraph. Russell Baker: The Marydell Road House. Suggestions for Writing. 4. USING PARAGRAPHS AS PARTS OF LONGER PIECES: WRITING ABOUTAN ACTIVITY. Daniel Meier: One Man's Kids. Step 1: Brainstorm to Explore Your Subject. John Steinbeck and Edward F. Ricketts: Paragraph from Sea of Cortez. Step 2: Write Your Controlling Idea. Step 3: Outline Your Paper. Step 4: Write Your First Draft. Student Paragraph: Describing a Baby Learning to Walk. Step 5: Revise Your Paper. John Steinbeck: Two Versions of an Action Paragraph. Multiparagraph Revision of Baby Learning to Walk. Jane Smiley: Action Passage from Horse Heaven. James Tuite: The Sounds of the City. Suggestions for Writing. 5. INTRODUCING THE ESSAY: RECALLING EVENTS. Annie Dillard: Chapter from An American Childhood. Step 1: Brainstorm to Explore Your Subject. Step 2: Write Your Controlling Idea. Step 3: Outline Your Paper. Step 4: Write Your First Draft. Student Essay: Describing a Night at the Drive-In. Step 5: Revise Your Paper. Revision of Night at the Drive-In Essay. Student Essay: A Reasonable Death. Roger Hoffman: The Dare. Suggestions for Writing. 6. DEVELOPING THE ESSAY: EXPLAINING IDEAS. David Raymond: On Being Seventeen, Bright, and Unable to Read. Step 1: Brainstorm to Explore Your Subject. Step 2: Write Your Thesis Statement. Step 3: Outline Your Essay. Step 4: Write Your First Draft. Student Essay: Oddball Grandma. Step 5: Revise Your Essay. Revision of Oddball Grandma. Phyllis Rose: Of Shopping. Suggestions for Writing. 7. MASTERING PATTERNS OF DEVELOPMENT. Marie Winn: TV Addiction. The Example Paragraph. Professional Example: Tony Hillerman. The Process Paragraph. Professional Example: L. Rust Hills. The Comparison Paragraph. Professional Example: Robert Pirsig. The Cause-and-Effect Paragraph. Professional Example: Sheila Tobias. The Definition Paragraph. Professional Example: Gretel Ehrlich. The Division/Classification Paragraph. Professional Example: Eric Berne. The Opinion Paragraph. Professional Example: Wallace Stenger. Elizabeth Mehren: I Was an Unwed Stepmother. 8. WRITING THE SUMMARY. Major Steps in Summarizing. Ronald Takaki: From A Different Mirror. Lillian Schlissel: From Women's Diaries. Practicing on Longer Pieces. Dick Schaap: The Greatest Team I Ever Saw. Suggested Answers for Writing Activities. 9. ADDITIONAL READINGS. Charis Colins: The Bicycle Tree. Gretel Ehrlich: From a Sheepherder's Notebook. David Groff: Taking the Test. Linda Hogan: Thanksgiving. Susan Jacoby: Unfair Game. Felicia R. Lee: Model Minority. Reginald Lockett: How I Started Writing Poetry. Barry Lopez: Grown Men. Malcolm X: A Homemade Education. HANDBOOK: THE CONVENTIONS OF WRITING. Parts of the Sentence. Building Sentences. Joining Ideas. Four Sentence Types. Fixing Sentence Problems. Improving Sentence Style. Punctuating Sentences. Ways to Improve Spelling. Corrected Versions of Editing Exercises. Index. Credits.