Table of Contents

Preface Introduction ACHIEVING STUDENT SUCCESS The Successful Student A Serious Approach to College Life Information Access Preparation and Organization Classroom Decorum Study Habits Time Management Part 1: Approaches Chapter 1 THE ESSAY: DETERMINING PURPOSE, AUDIENCE, AND APPROACH 00 Characteristics of the Essay Rhetorical Context Rhetorical Structures Reading with a Writer's Eye Consider the Writer's Rhetorical Context and Rhetorical Structures Consider Your Purposes as a Reader Suzanne Britt, Neat People vs. Sloppy People Essay Analysis Writing with a Reader's Eye STUDENT ESSAY: A Very Secret Santa The Writing Process Chapter 2 SHAPING YOUR ESSAY: PREWRITING, FOCUSING, ORGANIZING, AND DRAFTING Choosing Your Topic Establishing Your Rhetorical Context Prewriting Strategies Considering Your Purpose and Audience Considering Your Learning Style Focusing Strategies Establishing Your Working Thesis Focusing Your Thesis Organizational Strategies Structuring Your Prewriting Drafting Strategies Drafting In-Class Essays Drafting Out-of-Class Essays Drafting with a Computer Establishing Your Voice STUDENT ESSAY: Verlinda's First Draft of A Very Secret Santa 47 Chapter 3 DEVELOPING STRONG PARAGRAPHS: EXPLORING YOUR OPTIONS 51 Paragraphs in Context Introductory Paragraphs Body Paragraphs Concluding Paragraphs Writing Effective Topic Sentences Topic Sentence at the Paragraph's Beginning Ending with the Topic Sentence Topic Sentence Within the Paragraph Topic Sentence Used for Two Paragraphs The Implied Topic Sentence Achieving Unity Achieving Coherence Using Effective Transitions to Improve Coherence Achieving Coherence Through Careful Choice of Nouns and Pronouns Using Parallelism to Improve Coherence Achieving Specificity Through the Use of Concrete Details Chapter 4 RESHAPING YOUR ESSAY: GLOBAL REVISION, EDITING, AND PROOFREADING Global Revision Peer Response and Review BOX: Peer Review Checklist Responding to Suggestions for Revision 82 STUDENT ESSAY: Peer-Reviewed Draft of A Very Secret Santa Using a Word Processor to Revise 85 Revising Essays Checking for Unity Improving Coherence Using the Appropriate Language Level Making Your Language More Concrete and Specific Finding the Right Tone Checking Your Introductory Paragraphs and Thesis Checking Your Topic Sentences and Body Paragraphs Checking Your Conclusion Writing an Effective Title BOX: Completing Your Essay on a Computer Editing and Proofreading Combining Sentences Merging and Submerging Related Ideas Coordinating and Subordinating Related Ideas Using Hybrid Sentence Patterns Using Periodic and Climactic Sentence Structure to Create Emphasis Choosing Words Carefully Striving for Parallelism Including All Necessary Words Avoiding Awkward Repetition Avoiding Faulty Comparisons Using Only Words That Matter Avoiding Redundancy Avoiding Euphemisms Using Figurative Language Appropriately Avoiding Clichés Learning to Use Denotation and Connotation Using Idiomatic English Using Active, Specific Language Part 2: Structures Chapter 5 DESCRIPTION How Does Description Work? Reading the Descriptive Essay with a Writer's Eye Thomas McGuane, Roanie Maxine Hong Kingston, Photographs of My Parents Hildegard Knef, from The Gift Horse Writing the Descriptive Essay with a Reader's Eye Issues to Keep in Mind Choosing a Topic Prewriting Organizing Drafting Revising Your Draft STUDENT ESSAY: Jennifer Janisz, Help! Anyone! BOX: Questions for Reviewing a Descriptive Essay Description and Visual Representations Chapter 6 NARRATION How Does Narration Work? 174 Reading the Narrative Essay with a Writer's Eye 176 Lynda Barry, The Sanctuary of School 176 Sandra Cisneros, Only Daughter 179 Annie Dillard, The Chase 182 Writing the Personal Narrative with a Reader's Eye 190 Issues to Keep in Mind Choosing a Topic Prewriting Organizing Drafting Revising Your Draft BOX: Questions for Reviewing a Narrative Essay STUDENT ESSAY: Claire Reid, After the Fray Narration and Visual Representations Chapter 7 EXEMPLIFICATION How Does Exemplification Work? Reading the Exemplification Essay with a Writer's Eye Brent Staples, Just Walk on By Lars Eighner, On Dumpster Diving Harry F. Waters, Life According to TV Writing the Exemplification Essay with a Reader's Eye Issues to Keep in Mind Choosing a Topic Prewriting Organizing Drafting Revising Your Draft BOX: Questions for Reviewing an Exemplification Essay STUDENT ESSAY: Jennifer Janisz, Three Families Exemplification and Visual Representations Chapter 8 PROCESS ANALYSIS How Does Process Analysis Work? Reading the Process Analysis Essay with a Writer's Eye Jerry Jesness, Why Johnny Can't Fail Malcolm X, My First Conk Umberto Eco, How Not to Use the Fax Machine and the Cellular Phone Writing the Process Analysis Essay with a Reader's Eye Issues to Keep in Mind Choosing a Topic Prewriting Organizing Drafting Revising Your Draft BOX: Questions for Reviewing a Process Analysis Essay STUDENT ESSAY: Manny Meregildo, Get the Right Job Process Analysis and Visual Representations Chapter 9 CAUSAL ANALYSIS How Does Causal Analysis Work? Reading the Causal Analysis Essay with a Writer's Eye Barbara Ehrenreich, The Cult of Busyness Gore Vidal, Drugs Richard Rhodes, Hollow Claims About Fantasy Violence Writing the Causal Analysis Essay with a Reader's Eye Issues to Keep in Mind Choosing a Topic Prewriting Organizing Drafting Revising Your Draft BOX: Questions for Reviewing a Causal Analysis Essay STUDENT ESSAY: Noelani Jones, Worlds Apart Causal Analysis and Visual Representations Chapter 10 DEFINITION How Does Definition Work? Reading the Definition Essay with a Writer's Eye Judy Brady, Why I Want a Wife William Raspberry, The Handicap of Definition Annie Dillard, So This Was Adolescence Writing the Definition Essay with a Reader's Eye Issues to Keep in Mind Choosing a Topic Prewriting Organizing Drafting Revising Your Draft STUDENT ESSAY: Curtis Ray Mosley, My "Moment of Truth" BOX: Questions for Reviewing an Extended Definition Definition and Visual Representations Chapter 11 CLASSIFICATION How Does Classification Work? Reading the Classification Essay with a Writer's Eye Fran Lebowitz, The Sound of Music: Enough Already Martin Luther King, Jr., Three Types of Resistance to Oppression Paul Fussell, Notes on Class Writing the Classification Essay with a Reader's Eye Issues to Keep in Mind Choosing a Topic Prewriting Organizing Drafting Revising Your Draft BOX: Questions for Reviewing a Classification Essay STUDENT ESSAY: Sam Leininger, Fraud Alert Classification and Visual Representations Chapter 12 COMPARISON AND CONTRAST How Does Comparison/Contrast Work? Reading the Comparison/Contrast Essay with a Writer's Eye Bharati Mukherjee, Two Ways to Belong in America David Sedaris, Family Engineering Barbara Mellix, From Outside, In Writing the Comparison/Contrast Essay with a Reader's Eye Issues to Keep in Mind Choosing a Topic Prewriting Organizing Drafting Revising Your Draft BOX: Questions for Reviewing a Comparison/Contrast Essay STUDENT ESSAY: Sam Leininger, The Two Sides of the Aisle Comparison/Contrast and Visual Representations Chapter 13 ARGUMENT How Does Argument Work? Reading the Argument Essay with a Writer's Eye Walter S. Minot, Students Who Push Burgers Caryl Rivers, What Should Be Done About Rock Lyrics? Michael Levin, The Case for Torture Writing the Argument Essay with a Reader's Eye Issues to Keep in Mind Choosing a Topic Prewriting Organizing Drafting Revising Your Draft BOX: Questions for Reviewing an Argument Essay STUDENT ESSAY: Sam Leininger, My Simple and Modest Plan Argument and Visual Representations Chapter 14 THE BLENDED ESSAY How Does the Blended Essay Work? Reading the Blended Essay with a Writer's Eye Scott Russell Sanders, The Men We Carry in Our Minds Anthony Bourdain, Don't Eat Before Reading This Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, On the Fear of Death Writing the Blended Essay with a Reader's Eye Prewriting Organizing Drafting Revising Your Draft BOX: Questions for Reviewing a Blended Essay STUDENT ESSAY: Kevin Hunkovic, Three Years Without Liberty Blended Approaches and Visual Representations Part 3: Applications Chapter 15 WRITING PROPOSALS From Problem to Solution Purpose: Understand the Problem and Propose a Solution Scope: Decide How Far to Go and Consider Alternatives Audience: See the Problem from the Reader's Perspective Preparing to Write: Issues to Keep in Mind Choosing a Topic: Determining Purpose and Scope Writing and Research Organizing Other Aspects to Consider When Writing Proposals Sample Internal Proposal Revising Your Draft Chapter 16 WRITING CRITIQUES Reviewing, Evaluating, and Persuading What Is the Purpose of a Critique? What a Critique Is Not Deciding on Criteria for Evaluation Planning the Critique Focus on a Topic Decide on a Preliminary List of Criteria Gather Information and Formulate a Thesis Develop Your Critique by Using Appropriate Methods BOX: A Guide to Critiquing Written Texts Reading Critiques Manohla Dargis, A Ghastly Conflagration, A Tormented Aftermath Brooks Atkinson, First Night at the Theater: A Review of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire Is Fox News "Fair and Balanced"? Two Critiques of the Popular News Network Brian C. Anderson, Fox News: Enraging Liberals for 10 Years Steve Rendall and Julie Hollar, Still Failing the "Fair & Balanced" Test Chapter 17 BUSINESS FORMATS E-mail, Memos, and Business Letters E-mail Memos Business Letters Résumés and Letters of Application Elements of a Résumé Submit Your Résumé Online Elements of an Application Letter Chapter 18 GROUP PROJECTS AND ORAL PRESENTATIONS Working in Groups Define Your Group's Purpose Assign Roles Work Toward Greater Accountability Developing Effective Oral Presentations Creating a Script Developing the Final Script Using Visual Aids The Group Oral Presentation Chapter 19 ESSAY EXAMINATIONS Study for the Exam Read the Directions Short Answers Paragraphs Essays Allocate Your Time Interpret Key Words Prewriting Essay Responses Drafting Essay Responses Sample Essay Exam Response Chapter 20 THE RESEARCH PROCESS Narrowing Your Topic and Framing a Research Question Beginning with Tools from the Reference Room Using Primary and Secondary Sources Creating a Working Bibliography Locating Books and Articles on Your Topic Computerized Book Catalogues The Traditional Card Catalogue Periodical Indexes Electronic Databases Searching the Internet Internet Search Tools: URLs, Directories, and Search Engines Evaluating Sources Tips on Evaluating Sources for Your Research Paper Tips on Evaluating Electronic Sources for Your Research Paper Taking Notes Avoiding Plagiarism Quoting Text Incorporating Direct Quotations: MLA Guidelines Incorporating Direct Quotations: APA Guidelines Chapter 21 THE RESEARCH PAPER General Strategies for the Research Paper The MLA-Style Research Paper Parenthetical (In-Text) Citations The Works-Cited List MLA Research Paper Format SAMPLE RESEARCH PAPER IN MLA FORMAT: Valerie Richfield, Child Care and the Working Poor The APA-Style Research Paper In-Text Citations The Reference List APA Research Paper Format Chapter 22 WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE Writing About Fiction Useful Terms for Writing About Fiction Naguib Mahfouz, The Answer Is No STUDENT RESPONSE: An Ongoing Equilibrium Writing About Poetry Useful Terms for Writing About Poetry William Wordsworth, Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802 STUDENT RESPONSE: Beauty in a Strange Context Part 4: Grammar and Mechanics Chapter 23 PARTS OF SPEECH 23a Nouns 23b Pronouns 23c Adjectives 23d Articles 23e Prepositions 23f Conjunctions 23g Verbs 23h Verb Tense 23i Verb Mood 23j Verb Voice 23k Verbals 23l Adverbs 23m Placement of Adverbs 23n Interjections Chapter 24 SENTENCE PARTS AND SENTENCE TYPES Sentence Parts 24a Subjects 24b Predicates 24c Objects 24d Complements 24e Phrases 24f Clauses Sentence Types 24g Creating Emphasis and Variety: Compound Sentences 24h Creating Emphasis and Variety Through Subordination Chapter 25 MAJOR SENTENCE ERRORS Sentence Fragments 25a Phrases as Fragments 25b Dependent Clauses as Fragments 25c Intentional Fragments Avoiding "Run-ons": Fused Sentences and Comma Splices 25d Use a "Full Stop" (Period, Semicolon, or Colon) Between the Independent Clauses 25e Use a Comma and Coordinating Conjunction (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet) to Connect the Two Independent Clauses 25f Change One of the Two Independent Clauses to a Dependent Clause or to a Phrase Other Sentence-Level Problems 25g Problems with Parallelism 25h Avoiding Faulty Comparisons 25i Avoiding Mixed Constructions Chapter 26 PROBLEMS WITH VERBS Subject-Verb Agreement 26a Subjects Connected by and 26b Compound Subjects Treated as Singular Constructions 26c Subjects Connected by or, nor, either . . . or, neither . . . nor, and not only . . . but also 26d Subjects That Are Indefinite Pronouns 26e Subjects That Are Collective Nouns 26f Other Collective Nouns That Cause Agreement Problems Special Situations 26g Subjects Separated from Their Verbs 26h Subjects and Linking Verbs 26i Subjects That Follow Verbs: Inverted Sentence Structures Verb Shifts 26j Tense Shifts 26k Voice Shifts 26l Mood Shifts Chapter 27 PROBLEMS WITH PRONOUNS Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Determining Whether the Antecedent Is Singular or Plural 27a Antecedents That Use and and Other Connectors 27b Antecedents Joined by or, nor, either . . . or, neither . . . nor, and not only . . . but also 27c Antecedents That Are Indefinite Pronouns 27d Antecedents That Are Collective Nouns 27e Other Collective Nouns That Cause Agreement Problems Pronoun Reference 27f Pronouns Without Appropriate Antecedents 27g Pronouns with Unclear Antecedents 27h Avoiding Shifts of Person Pronoun Case 27i The Subjective Case, the Objective Case, and the Possessive Case 27j Pronouns That Are Subject Complements 27k Pronouns in Comparisons 27l Pronouns That Are Subjects of Clauses 27m Reflexive Pronouns and Intensive Pronouns Chapter 28 PROBLEMS WITH MODIFIERS 28a Misplaced and Ambiguous (Squinting) Modifiers 28b Dangling Modifiers 28c Incorrect Substitution of Adjectives and Adverbs 28d Problems with Comparatives and Superlatives 28e Problems with Adjective Order 28f Problems with Split Infinitives 28g Problems with Articles Chapter 29 PUNCTUATING SENTENCES WITH COMMAS 29a Commas with Independent Clauses 29b Commas with Introductory Clauses, Phrases, and Words 29c Commas and Nonessential Elements 29d Commas and Items in a Series 29e Commas with Coordinate Adjectives 29f Commas with Other Expressions 29g Commas and Conventional Uses 29h Unnecessary Commas Chapter 30 PUNCTUATING SENTENCES WITH OTHER PUNCTUATION MARKS 30a Periods 30b Semicolons 30c Question Marks and Exclamation Marks 30d Colons 30e Dashes 30f Parentheses 30g Brackets 30h Double Quotation Marks 30i Single Quotation Marks 30j Quotation Marks with Other Punctuation 30k Apostrophes 30l Slashes Chapter 31 MECHANICS 31a Capitalization 31b Italics and Underlining 31c Numbers and Numerals 31d Hyphens Chapter 32 DICTION, USAGE, AND SPELLING 32a Using the Right Word 32b Denotation and Connotation 32c General Versus Specific Nouns and Verbs 32d Writing Lean Sentences 32e Avoiding Sexist Language 32f Using Figurative Language and Avoiding Clichés 32g Avoiding Fillers, Euphemisms, and Jargon 32h Using the Appropriate Language Level 32i Using a Consistent Language Level 32j Using the Correct Idiom 32k Improving Your Spelling A GLOSSARY OF USAGE APPENDIX: DESIGNING DOCUMENTS Credits Index

About the Author

Donald Pharr received his bachelor’s degree from Indiana State University and his master’s and doctorate from the University of Georgia. He is the co-author (with Gerald J. Schiffhorst) of the The Short Handbook for Writers, second edition. He taught for many years in the Florida community college system, where he specialized in applied composition: business, technical, and science writing. As well he has spent almost two decades consulting as a technical writer and editor. Dr. Pharr is currently associate professor of English at Saint Leo University. Santi V. Buscemi teaches reading, composition, and literature at Middlesex County College in Edison, New Jersey, where he was chair of the Department of English for twenty-eight years. He is the author of A Reader for College Writers, 75 Readings, and 75 Readings Plus. He has lectured on freshman composition and developmental education at regional and national conferences in the United States and South Africa.