Real Essays With Readings With 2009 MLA Update: Writing Projects for College, Work, and Everyday Life Book

Brief Contents

Contents

Thematic Contents

Preface for Instructors

Writing Essays

Part One: Reading and Writing in College

1. Succeeding in College: What You Need to Know

Advice from Those Who’ve Been There

Four Strategies for Success

2. Reading and Writing in College and Beyond: What You Need to Know

How to Read in College

Reading College Textbooks

Reading Course Syllabi

Moving from Reading to Writing

Reading and Writing beyond College

3. Writing Basics: Audience, Purpose, and Process

Understand Audience and Purpose

Understand Paragraph and Essay Form

Understand the Writing Process

How to Analyze a Writing Assignment

Grading Criteria

How to Create a Writing Portfolio

4. Finding and Exploring Your Topic: Choosing Something to Write About

Understand What a Good Topic Is

Narrow Your Topic

Explore Your Topic

5. Making a Point: Writing Your Thesis Statement

Understand What a Good Thesis Statement Is

Practice Developing a Good Thesis Statement

Write Your Own Thesis Statement

6. Supporting Your Point: Finding Details, Examples, and Facts

Understand What Support for a Thesis Is

Practice Supporting a Thesis Statement

Write Your Own Support

7. Making a Plan: Arranging Your Ideas

Understand Ways of Ordering Ideas

Practice Making a Plan

Write Your Own Plan

8. Writing a Draft: Putting Your Ideas Together

Understand What a Draft Is

Practice Writing a Draft

Write Your Own Draft

9. Revising Your Draft: Improving Your Essay

Understand What Revision Is

Understand What Peer Review Is

Practice Revising for Unity

Practice Revising for Support and Detail

Practice Revising for Coherence

Revise Your Own Essay

Part Two: Writing Different Kinds of Essays

10. Narration; Writing That Tells Stories

Understand What Narration Is

Read and Analyze Narration

Critical Reading and Writing: Key College Skills

Write a Narration Essay

WRITING GUIDE: Narration

11. Illustration: Writing That Shows Examples

Understand What Illustration Is

Read and Analyze Illustration

Critical Reading and Writing: Key College Skills

Write an Illustration Essay

WRITING GUIDE: Illustration

12. Description: Writing that Creates Pictures in Words

Understand What Description Is

Read and Analyze Description

Critical Reading and Writing: Key College Skills

Write a Description Essay

WRITING GUIDE: Description

13. Process Analysis: Writing that Explains How Things Happen

Understand What Process Analysis Is

Read and Analyze Process Analysis

Critical Reading and Writing: Key College Skills

Write a Process Analysis Essay

WRITING GUIDE: Process Analysis

14. Classification: Writing That Puts Things Into Groups

Understand What Classification Is

Read and Analyze Classification

Critical Reading and Writing: Key College Skills

Write a Classification Essay

WRITING GUIDE: Classification

15. Definition: Writing That Tells What Something Means

Understand What Definition Is

Read and Analyze Definition

Critical Reading and Writing: Key College Skills

Write a Definition Essay

WRITING GUIDE: Definition

16. Comparison and Contrast: Writing that Shows Similarities and Differences

Understand What Comparison and Contrast Is

Read and Analyze Comparison and Contrast

Critical Reading and Writing: Key College Skills

Write a Comparison and Contrast Essay

WRITING GUIDE: Comparison and Contrast

17. Cause and Effect: Writing that Explains Reasons or Results

Understand What Cause and Effect Is

Read and Analyze Cause and Effect

Critical Reading and Writing: Key College Skills

Write a Cause and Effect Essay

WRITING GUIDE: Cause and Effect

18. Argument: Writing That Persuades

Understand What Argument Is

Read and Analyze Argument

Critical Reading and Writing: Key College Skills

Write an Argument Essay

WRITING GUIDE: Argument

Part Three: Special College Writing Projects

19. Writing under Pressure: Tests, Essay Exams, and Timed Writing

Studying for Tests

Test-Taking Strategies

Answering an Essay Question

20. Writing Summaries and Reports: Important College Writing Tasks

Writing a Summary

WRITING GUIDE: Summary

Writing a Report

WRITING GUIDE: Report

21. Writing the Research Essay: Using Outside Sources

Make a Schedule

Choose a Topic

Find Sources

Evaluate Sources

Avoid Plagiarism

Write a Thesis Statement

Make an Outline

Write Your Essay

Cite and Document Your Sources

Revise and Edit Your Essay

Sample Student Research Essay

Editing Essays

Part Four: The Four Most Serious Errors

22. The Basic Sentence: An Overview

The Four Most Serious Errors

The Parts of Speech

The Basic Sentence

Six Basic Sentence Patterns

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

23. Fragments: Incomplete Sentences

Understand What Fragments Are

Find and Correct Fragments

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

24. Run-Ons: Two Sentences Joined Incorrectly

Understand What Run-ons Are

Find and Correct Run-ons

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

25. Problems with Subject-Verb Agreement: When Subjects and Verbs Don’t Match

Understand What Subject-Verb Agreement Is

Find and Correct Errors in Subject-Verb Agreement

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

26. Verb Problems: Avoiding Mistakes in Verb Tense

Understanding What Verb Tense Is

Use Correct Verbs

Verb Tense Reference Charts

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

Part Five: Other Grammar Concerns

27. Pronouns: Using Substitutes for Nouns

Understand What Pronouns Are

Practice Using Pronouns Correctly

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

28. Adjectives and Adverbs: Describing Which One? or How?

Understand What Adjectives and Adverbs Are

Practice Using Adjectives and Adverbs Correctly

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

29. Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers: Avoiding Confusing Descriptions

Understand What Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers Are

Practice Correcting Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

30. Coordination and Subordination: Joining Ideas

Understand Coordination and Subordination

Practice Using Coordination and Subordination

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

31. Parallelism: Balancing Ideas

Understand What Parallelism Is

Practice Writing Parallel Sentences

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

32. Sentence Variety: Putting Rhythm in Your Writing

Understand What Sentence Variety Is

Practice Creating Sentence Variety

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

33. Formal English and ESL: Grammar Trouble Spots for Multilingual Students

Basic Sentence Patterns

Pronouns

Verbs

Articles

Prepositions

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

Part Six: Word Use

34. Word Choice: Avoiding Language Pitfalls

Understand the Importance of Choosing Words Carefully

Practice Avoiding Four Common Word-Choice Problems

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

35. Commonly Confused Words: Avoiding Mistakes with Sound-Alikes

Understand Why Certain Words Are Commonly Confused

Practice Using Commonly Confused Words Correctly

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

36. Spelling: Using the Right Letters

Understand the Importance of Spelling Correctly

Practice Spelling Correctly

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

Part Seven: Punctuation and Capitalization

37. Commas

Understand What Commas Do

Practice Using Commas Correctly

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

38. Apostrophes

Understanding What Apostrophes Do

Practice Using Apostrophes Correctly

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

39. Quotation Marks

Understand What Quotation Marks Do

Practice Using Quotation Marks Correctly

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

40. Other Punctuation

Understand What Punctuation Does

Practice Using Punctuation Correctly

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

41. Capitalization

Understand Capitalization

Practice Capitalization

Edit Paragraphs and Your Own Writing

Readings

Part Eight: Readings for Writers

42. Introduction to the readings

43. Narration

Langston Hughes, "Salvation"

Uzodinma Iweala, "A Close Encounter"

44. Illustration

Ellen Goodman, "Nightmare of Feature Creep"

Kathleen Vail, "Words That Wound"

45. Description

Alex Espinoza, "An American in Mexico"

Debra Marquart, "Chores"

46. Process Analysis

Malcolm X, "My First Conk"

Daniel Goleman, "For Man and Beast, Language Shares Many Traits"

47. Classification

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

Amy Tan, "Mother Tongue"

48. Definition

Nancy Mairs, "On Being a Cripple"

Juliet B. Schor, "Age Compression"

49. Comparison/Contrast

Dave Barry, "The Ugly Truth about Beauty"

Bharati Mukherjee, "Two Ways to Belong in America"

50. Cause/Effect

Amy Beck, "Struggling for Perfection"

Brent Staples, "Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space"

51. Argument Casebook: Physician-Assisted Suicide

Barbara Huttman, "A Crime of Compassion"

Mark Siegel, "Treating the Pain by Ending a Life"

Jerry Fensterman, "I See Why Others Choose To Die"

Marilyn Golden, "Why Progressives Should Oppose the Legalization of Assisted-Suicide"

Herbert Hendin, "Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia"

Appendix: Problem-Solving in Writing