Writing: A Guide for College and Beyond Book

PART ONE: The Writer as Explorer

1. Thinking as a Writer

Explore through writing

Understand the process of writing

Understand the rhetorical situation

Analyze your assignment

Think about your genre and medium

Think about your topic

Think about your audience

Think about your credibility

2. Reading to Explore

Become a critical reader

Look with a critical eye

Read actively

Recognize fallacies

Respond as a reader

Move from reading to invention

3. Planning

Move from a general topic to a writing plan

Narrow your topic

Write a thesis

Make a plan

4. Drafting

Draft with strategies in mind

Write a zero draft

Draft from a working outline

Start fast with an engaging title and opening paragraph

Develop paragraphs

Conclude with strength

Link within and across paragraphs

5. Revising

Revising and editing

Evaluate your draft

Respond to others

Pay attention to details last

Revise using your instructor’s comments

PART TWO: The Writer as Guide

Writing to Reflect

6. Reflections

Writing reflections

What makes a good reflection

How to read reflections

Sue Kunitomi Embrey, Some Lines for a Younger Brother . . .

David Sedaris, Let it Snow

Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, My Hips, My Caceras

Rebecca Solnit, Open Door

Amy Tan, Mother Tongue

How to write a reflection

Student example

Janine Carter, The Miracle Quilt

Projects

Writing to Inform

7. Observations

Writing observations

What makes a good observation

How to read observations

Mary Roach, Monster in a Ryokan

Sandra Tsing Loh, Coming Home to Van Nuys

Kellie Schmitt, The Old Man Isn’t There Anymore

Ansel Adams, Photographs of Japanese-Americans at Manzanar

National Park Service, Yellowstone’s Geothermal Resources

How to write an observation

Student example

Sarah Cuellar, Playing in Traffic: How Parallel Play Helps Preschool Children "Merge" into Group Play

Projects

8. Informative Essays

Reporting information

What makes good informative writing

How to read informative writing

Chip Walter, Affairs of the Lips: Why We Kiss

Kheehong Song and Allison Cui, Understanding China’s Middle Class

Robin Dunbar, Gossip Is Good for You

World Wildlife Fund, Measuring Human Demand

Christopher McCandless, The Heart Disease Test Madeover

How to write to inform

Student example

Lakshmi Kotra, The Life Cycle of Stars

Projects

Writing to Analyze

9. Rhetorical, Visual, and Literary Analyses

Writing to analyze

Analyzing text and context

Writing a rhetorical analysis

Writing a visual analysis

Writing a literary analysis

How to read analyses

Tim Collins, Straight from the Heart

David T. Z. Mindich, The Collapse of Big Media: The Young and the Restless

Example for analysis: Volkswagen Beetle

Example for analysis: Kate Chopin, The Storm

Example for analysis: Dagoberto Gilb, Love in LA

Student example

Quandre Brown, Fender-bender Romance in Dagoberto Gilb's "Love in LA"

How to write an analysis

Student example

Kelsey Turner, Biting the Hands That Feed America

Projects

Writing Arguments

10. Causal Arguments

Writing a causal argument

What makes a good causal argument

How to read causal arguments

Laura Fraser, The French Paradox

Emily Raine, Why Should I Be Nice To You? Coffee Shops and the Politics of Good Service

Kay S. Hymowitz, The New Girl Order

Malcolm Gladwell, Small Change

Clay Shirkey, Gin, Television, and Social Surplus

Eduardo Porter, The Price of Crossing Borders

How to write a causal argument

Student example

Armandi Tansel, Modern Warfare: Video Games’ Link to Real-World Violence

Projects

11. Evaluation Arguments

Writing an evaluation argument

What makes a good evaluation argument

How to read evaluation arguments

P. J. O'Rourke, The End of the Affair

Editorial. The Worst Policy on Campus

Bill McKibben, The Only Way to Have a Cow

Jane McGonigal, The Four Secrets to Making Our Own Happiness

Stephanie Rosenbloom, The Nitpicking Nation

How to write an evaluation

Student example

Jenna Picchi, Organic Foods Should Come Clean

Projects

12. Position Arguments

Writing a position argument

What makes a good position argument

How to read position arguments

Ted Koppel, Take My Privacy, Please!

Frederick Douglass, What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?

Mark Winne, When Handouts Keep Coming, the Food Line Never Ends

Michael Pollan, Eat Food, Food Defined

David Carr, Why Twitter Will Endure

James Paul Gee, Games, Not Schools, Are Teaching Kids to Think

Buff Daddy

Food Cops Bust Cookie Monster

How to write a position argument

Student example

Patrice Conley, Flagrant Foul: The NCAA’s Definition of Student Athletes as Amateurs

Projects

13. Proposal Arguments

Writing a proposal argument

What makes a good proposal argument

How to read proposal arguments

Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence

Richard Nixon, Building the Interstate Highway System

San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Connecting the City

Glenn Loury, A Nation of Jailers

Peter W. Huber, Bound to Burn

Chris Packham and Mark Wright, Should Pandas Be Left to Face Extinction?

How to write a proposal argument

Student example

Kim Lee, Let’s Make It a Real Melting Pot with Presidential Hopes for All

Projects

PART THREE: The Multimodal Writer

14. Thinking Visually

Communicate with visuals and words

Know when to use images and graphics

Take pictures that aren’t boring

Compose images

Create tables, charts, and graphs

15. Designing Documents

Start with your readers

Use headings and subheadings effectively

Design pages

Understand typography

Create tables, charts, and graphs

16. Delivering Presentations

Plan a presentation

Design effective visuals

Deliver a successful presentation

17. Writing for Online Courses

Keep track of online coursework

Participate in online discussions

Manage online writing

18. Working as a Team

Organize a team

Brainstorm as a team

Work as a team

PART FOUR: The Writer as Researcher

Guide to Research

19. Planning Research

Analyze the research task

Ask a question

Determine what you need

Draft a working thesis

20. Finding Sources

Identify the kinds of sources that you need

Search using keywords

Find sources in databases

Find sources on the Web

Find multimedia sources

Find print sources

Create a working bibliography

21. Evaluating Sources

Determine the relevance and quality of sources

Determine the kind of source

Determine if a source is trustworthy

Create an annotated bibliography

22. Exploring in the Field

Conduct interviews

Administer surveys

Make observations

23. Writing the Research Project

Write a draft

Avoid plagiarism

Quote sources without plagiarizing

Summarize and paraphrase sources without plagiarizing

Incorporate quotations

Incorporate visuals

Review your research project

24. MLA Documentation

Elements of MLA documentation

Entries in the works-cited list

In-text citations in MLA style

Books in MLA-style works cited

Web sources in MLA-style works cited

Other sources in MLA-style works cited

Visual sources in MLA-style works cited

Sample MLA paper

Sarah Picchi, It’s Time to Shut Down the Identity Theft Racket

25. APA Documentation

APA citations

In-text citations in APA style

Books in APA-Style references list

Periodicals in APA-Style references list

Web sources in APA-Style references list

Other sources in APA-Style references list

Sample APA paper

Blair Zacharias, Parking Design Recommendations for Publically Funded Commercial Redevelopment Projects

PART FIVE: The Writer as Editor

26. Writing Effective Sentences

Pay attention to verbs

Stay active

Focus on people and actors

Write concise sentences

Write ethical sentences

Match structure with ideas

Summary for editing sentences

27. Avoiding Errors

Fix fragments

Fix run-on sentences

Fix comma spices

Make verbs agree with subjects

Make pronouns agree

Fix shifts

Use modifiers correctly

Place modifiers carefully

Summary for editing for errors

28. Understanding Punctuation and Conventions

Identify where commas are needed

Place commas correctly with modifiers

Place commas correctly with clauses and phrases

Use semicolons and colons correctly

Use hyphens, dashes, and parentheses correctly

Use quotation marks correctly

Use other punctuation correctly

Understand print conventions

Summary for punctuation and conventions

29. Writing in a Second Language

Understand the demands of writing in a second language

Understand nouns in English

Understand articles in English

Understand verbs and modifiers in English

Understand English sentence structure

Summary for second-language writers

Appendixes:

A. Writing Essay Exams

B. Creating Portfolios