Whether you have years of teaching experience or are new to the classroom, you and your students can count on The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing to provide the thoroughly class-tested support you need for first-year composition, with a rhetoric, an array of engaging readings, a research manual, and a handbook, all in a single book — and available online in LaunchPad. Thousands of instructors and their students rely on the Guide’s proven approach because it works: Acclaimed step-by-step reading and writing guides to 9 different genres offer sure-fire invention that get students started and revision strategies that help them develop their writing. The new edition continues in its strategies to serve a diverse audience of schools and students with an improved, accessible design, new support for reflection that encourages the transfer, and a new Student’s Companion for students taking co-requisite or ALP courses.

1?Composing Literacy 000

Understanding the Rhetorical Situation?000

Reflecting on Your Own Literacy?000

Composing Your Own Literacy Narrative?000

Apply the rhetorical framework: who? what? when? where? how? and why?

Devise a topic.

Readings

Katherine Kachnowski, Beyond the Microwave, or How I Learned to Cook with a French Accent?000

David Sedaris, Me Talk Pretty One Day?000

PART 1?WRITING ACTIVITIES?000

GUIDE TO READING?000

Analyzing Remembered Event Essays?000

Determine the writer’s purpose and audience. ?000

Assess the genre’s basic features. ?000

Readings?000

Jean Brandt, Calling Home?000

Annie Dillard, The Chase [[aka From An American Childhood]] ?000

Ta-Nehisi Coates, My Lost Innocence?000

Jenée Desmond-Harris, Tupac and My Non-thug Life?000

GUIDE TO WRITING?000

The Writing Assignment?000

Starting Points: Remembering an Event?000

Writing a Draft: Invention, Research, Planning, and Composing?000

Choose an event to write about. ?000

Give your story a dramatic arc. ?000

Use tenses to clarify the sequence of actions. ?000

Describe key people and places vividly, and show their significance. ?000

Use dialogue to portray people and dramatize relationships. ?000

Clarify your story’s significance. ?000

Write the opening sentences. ?000

Draft your story. ?000

Evaluating the Draft: Using Peer Review?000

A Peer Review Guide?000

Improving the Draft: Revising, Editing, and Proofreading?000

Revise your draft. ?000

A Troubleshooting Guide?000

Edit and proofread your draft. ?000

A WRITER AT WORK: Developing Significance in Jean Brandt’s Remembered Event Essay ?000

REFLECTING?000

GUIDE TO READING?000

Analyzing Profiles?000

Determine the writer’s purpose and audience. ?000

Assess the genre’s basic features. ?000

Readings?000

Brian Cable, The Last Stop?000

Victoria Moré, Dumpster Dinners: An Ethnography of Freeganism?000

Amanda Coyne, The Long Good-Bye: Mother’s Day in Federal Prison?000

Gabriel Thompson, A Gringo in the Lettuce Fields?000

GUIDE TO WRITING?000

The Writing Assignment?000

Starting Points: Writing a Profile ?000

Writing a Draft: Invention, Research, Planning, and Composing?000

Choose a subject to profile. ?000

Conduct your field research. ?000

Use quotations that provide information and reveal character. ?000

Consider adding visual or audio elements. ?000

Create an outline that will organize your profile effectively for your readers. ?000

Determine your role in the profile. ?000

Develop your perspective on the subject. ?000

Clarify the dominant impression. ?000

Write the opening sentences. ?000

Evaluating the Draft: Using Peer Review?000

A Peer Review Guide?000

Improving the Draft: Revising, Editing, and Proofreading?000

Revise your draft. ?000

A Troubleshooting Guide?000

Edit and proofread your draft. ?000

A WRITER AT WORK: Brian Cable’s Interview Notes and Write-Up ?000

REFLECTION?000

GUIDE TO READING?000

Analyzing Concept Explanations?000

Determine the writer’s purpose and audience. ?000

Assess the genre’s basic features. ?000

Readings?000

Rosa Alexander, The Meme-ing of Trigger Warnings?000

Anastasia Toufexis, Love: The Right Chemistry?000

Lindsay Grace, Persuasive Play: Designing Games That Change Players?000

Susan Cain, Shyness: Evolutionary Tactic? ?000

GUIDE TO WRITING?000

The Writing Assignment?000

Starting Points: Explaining a Concept ?000

Writing a Draft: Invention, Research, Planning, and Composing?000

Choose a concept to write about. ?000

Conduct initial research on the concept. ?000

Focus your explanation of the concept. ?000

Conduct further research on your focused concept. ?000

Draft your working thesis. ?000

Create an outline that will organize your concept explanation effectively for your readers. ?000

Design your writing project. ?000

Consider the explanatory strategies you should use. ?000

Use summaries, paraphrases, and quotations from sources to support your points. ?000

Use visuals or multimedia illustrations. ?000

Use appositives to integrate sources. ?000

Use descriptive verbs in signal phrases to introduce information from sources. ?000

Write the opening sentences. ?000

Draft your explanation. ?000

Evaluating the Draft: Using Peer Review?000

A Peer Review Guide?000

Improving the Draft: Revising, Editing, and Proofreading?000

Revise your draft. ?000

A Troubleshooting Guide?000

Edit and proofread the final draft. ?000

A WRITER AT WORK: Focusing Rosa Alexander’s Concept Explanation?000

REFLECTION?000

GUIDE TO READING?000

Analyzing Opposing Arguments ?000

Determine the writer’s purpose and audience. ?000

Assess the genre’s basic features. ?000

Readings?000

Max King, Freedom of or from Speech?000

Maya Gomez, Should Kidney Donors Be Compensated??000

GUIDE TO WRITING?000

The Writing Assignment?000

Starting Points: Analyzing and Synthesizing Opposing Arguments?000

Writing a Draft: Invention, Research, Planning, and Composing?000

Choose a controversial issue to write about. ?000

Conduct research.?000

Create an annotated bibliography.?000

Analyze your audience.?000

Choose opposing arguments to analyze.?000

Analyze and synthesize the opposing arguments.?000

Draft a working thesis.?000

Create an outline to assess your organization.?000

Develop your analysis.?000

Draft the opening sentences.?000

Draft your comparative analysis. ?000

Evaluating the Draft: Using Peer Review?000

A Peer Review Guide?000

Improving the Draft: Revising, Editing, and Proofreading?000

Revise your draft. ?000

A Troubleshooting Guide?000

Edit and proofread the final draft.?000

A WRITER AT WORK: Max King’s Analysis ?000

REFLECTION?000

GUIDE TO READING?000

Analyzing Position Arguments ?000

Determine the writer’s purpose and audience. ?000

Assess the genre’s basic features. ?000

Readings?000

Jessica Statsky, Children Need to Play, Not Compete?000

Amitai Etzioni, Working at McDonald’s?000

Laura Beth Nielsen, The Case for Restricting Hate Speech ?000

Daniel J. Solove, Why Privacy Matters Even If You Have "Nothing to Hide"?000

GUIDE TO WRITING?000

The Writing Assignment?000

Starting Points: Arguing a Position ?000

Writing a Draft: Invention, Research, Planning, and Composing?000

Choose a controversial issue on which to take a position. ?000

Frame the issue for your readers. ?000

Formulate a working thesis stating your position. ?000

Develop the reasons supporting your position. ?000

Research your position. ?000

Use sources to reinforce your credibility. ?000

Identify and respond to your readers’ likely reasons and objections. ?000

Create an outline that will organize your argument effectively for your readers. ?000

Consider document design. ?000

Use visuals or multimedia illustrations. ?000

Write the opening sentences. ?000

Draft your position argument. ?000

Evaluating the Draft: Using Peer Review?000

A Peer Review Guide?000

Improving the Draft: Revising, Editing, and Proofreading?000

Revise your draft. ?000

A Troubleshooting Guide?000

Edit and proofread the final draft. ?000

A WRITER AT WORK: Jessica Statsky’s Response to Opposing Positions ?000

REFLECTION?000

Analyzing Proposals ?000

Determine the writer’s purpose and audience. ?000

Assess the genre’s basic features. ?000

A Clear, Logical Organization?000

Readings?000

Patrick O’Malley, More Testing, More Learning?000

David Figlio, Starting High School Later?000

David J. Smith, Getting to "E Pluribus Unum"?000

Kelly D. Brownell and Thomas R. Frieden, Ounces of Prevention — The Public Policy Case for Taxes on Sugared Beverages?000

GUIDE TO WRITING?000

The Writing Assignment?000

Starting Points: Proposing a Solution ?000

Writing a Draft: Invention, Research, Planning, and Composing?000

Choose a problem for which you can propose a solution.?000

Frame the problem for your readers.?000

Assess how the problem has been framed, and reframe it for your readers.?000

Develop a possible solution.?000

Explain your solution.?000

Research your proposal.?000

Develop a response to objections or alternative solutions.?000

Create an outline that will organize your proposal effectively for your readers.?000

Write the opening sentences.?000

Draft your proposal.?000

Evaluating the Draft: Using Peer Review?000

A Peer Review Guide?000

Improving the Draft: Revising, Editing, and Proofreading?000

Revise your draft. ?000

A Troubleshooting Guide?000

Edit and proofread the final draft. ?000

A WRITER AT WORK: Patrick O’Malley’s Revision Process ?000

REFLECTION?000

Analyzing Evaluations?000

Determine the writer’s purpose and audience. ?000

Assess the genre’s basic features. ?000

Readings?000

William Akana, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: A Hell of a Ride?000

Tasha Robinson, Moana: The Perfect Disney Movie?000

Katherine Isbister, Why Pokémon Go Became an Instant Phenomenon?000

Malcolm Gladwell, What College Rankings Really Tell Us?000

GUIDE TO WRITING?000

The Writing Assignment?000

Starting Points: Proposing a Solution ?000

Writing a Draft: Invention, Research, Planning, and Composing?000

Choose a subject to evaluate.?000

Assess your subject and consider how to present it to your readers.?000

Formulate a working thesis stating your overall judgment.?000

Develop the reasons and evidence supporting your judgment.?000

Research your evaluation.?000

Respond to a likely objection or alternative judgment.?000

Organize your evaluation to appeal to your readers.?000

Consider document design.?000

Write the opening sentences.?000

Draft your proposal.?000

Evaluating the Draft: Using Peer Review?000

A Peer Review Guide?000

Improving the Draft: Revising, Editing, and Proofreading?000

Revise your draft. ?000

A Troubleshooting Guide?000

Edit and proofread the final draft. ?000

A WRITER AT WORK: William Akana’s Thesis and Response to Objections ?000

REFLECTION?000

Analyzing Cause-Effect Arguments?000

Determine the writer’s purpose and audience. ?000

Assess the genre’s basic features. ?000

Readings?000

Clayton Pangelinan, #socialnetworking: Why It’s Really So Popular?000

Jean M. Twenge, Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation? ?000

Stephen King, Why We Crave Horror Movies?000

Shankar Vedantam, The Telescope Effect?000

GUIDE TO WRITING?000

The Writing Assignment?000

Starting Points: Arguing for Causes or Effects ?000

Writing a Draft: Invention, Research, Planning, and Composing?000

Choose a subject to analyze.?000

Present the subject to your readers. ?000

Analyze possible causes or effects. ?000

Conduct research. ?000

Cite a variety of sources to support your causal analysis. ?000

Formulate a working thesis stating your preferred cause(s) or effect(s). ?000

Draft a response to objections readers are likely to raise. ?000

Draft a response to the causes or effects your readers are likely to favor. ?000

Create an outline that will organize your causal argument. ?000

Write the opening sentences. ?000

Draft your causal argument. ?000

Evaluating the Draft: Using Peer Review?000

A Peer Review Guide?000

Improving the Draft: Revising, Editing, and Proofreading?000

Revise your draft. ?000

A Troubleshooting Guide?000

Edit and proofread the final draft. ?000

A WRITER AT WORK: Clayton Pangelinan’s Analysis of Possible Causes ?000

REFLECTION?000

10?Analyzing Stories?000

Analyzing Essays That Analyze Stories?000

Determine the writer’s purpose and audience.?000

Assess the genre’s basic features. ?000

Readings

Iris Lee, Performing a Doctor’s Duty ?000

Isabella Wright, "For Heaven’s Sake!" ?000

GUIDE TO WRITING?000

The Writing Assignment?000

Starting Points: Analyzing Stories?000

Writing a Draft: Invention, Research, Planning, and Composing?000

Find a story to write about. ?000

Analyze the story. ?000

Generate ideas by moving from specific to general or the reverse. ?000

Formulate a working thesis. ?000

Provide support for your argument. ?000

To build on your support, consider doing outside research. ?000

Create an outline that will organize your argument effectively. ?000

Write the opening sentences. ?000

Draft your analysis. ?000

Evaluating the Draft: Using Peer Review ?000

A Peer Review Guide ?000

Improving the Draft: Revising, Editing, and Proofreading ?000

Revise your draft. ?000

A Troubleshooting Guide ?000

Edit and proofread the final draft. 000

WRITER AT WORK: Isabella Wright’s Invention Work ?000

Reflection ?000

AN ANTHOLOGY OF SHORT STORIES ?000

Kate Chopin, The Story of an Hour ?000

James Joyce, Araby ?000

William Carlos Williams, The Use of Force ?000

Jamaica Kincaid, Girl ?000

11?A Catalog of Invention and Inquiry Strategies?000

Mapping?000

Create a cluster diagram to reveal relationships among ideas. ?000

Make a list to generate a plan quickly. ?000

Create an outline to invent and organize. ?000

Writing?000

Use cubing to explore a topic from six perspectives. ?000

Construct a dialogue to explore an experience or alternative view. ?000

Use dramatizing to analyze behavior. ?000

Freewrite to generate ideas freely and creatively. ?000

Use looping to explore aspects of a topic. ?000

Take notes in a journal. ?000

Ask questions to explore a subject systematically. ?000

12?A Catalog of Reading Strategies?000

Annotating?000

Martin Luther King Jr., An Annotated Sample from "Letter from Birmingham Jail" ?000

Taking Inventory?000

Outlining?000

Paraphrasing?000

Summarizing?000

Synthesizing?000

Contextualizing?000

Exploring the Significance of Figurative Language?000

Looking for Patterns of Opposition?000

Reflecting on Challenges to Your Beliefs and Values?000

Evaluating the Logic of an Argument?000

Test for appropriateness. ?000

Test for believability. ?000

Test for consistency and completeness. ?000

Recognizing Emotional Manipulation?000

Judging the Writer’s Credibility?000

Test for knowledge. ?000

Test for common ground. ?000

Test for fairness. ?000

Orienting Statements?000

Use thesis statements to announce the main idea. ?000

Use forecasting statements to preview topics. ?000

Paragraphing?000

Paragraph indents signal related ideas. ?000

Topic sentences announce the paragraph’s focus. ?000

Cohesive Devices?000

Pronouns connect phrases or sentences. ?000

Word repetition aids cohesion. ?000

Synonyms connect ideas. ?000

Repetition of sentence structure emphasizes connections. ?000

Collocation creates networks of meaning. ?000

Transitions?000

Transitions emphasize logical relationships. ?000

Transitions can indicate a sequence in time. ?000

Transitions can indicate relationships in space. ?000

Headings and Subheadings?000

Headings indicate sections and levels. ?000

Headings are not common in all genres. ?000

At least two headings are needed at each level. ?000

Narrating?000

Use narrating strategies to sequence and dramatize events.?000

Use narrating strategies to explain and instruct. ?000

Describing?000

Use naming to give an overall impression. ?000

Use detailing to add specifics and convey thoughts, feelings, and judgments. ?000

Use comparisons to make a description vivid and convey emotion. ?000

Use sensory description to convey what you saw, heard, felt, and tasted. ?000

Use description to create a dominant impression. ?000

15?Defining, Classifying, and Comparing?000

Defining

Use sentence definitions to explain terms and concepts briefly.?000

Use extended definitions to convey the meaning of complex concepts.?000

Use historical definitions to explain how a meaning has changed over time or across cultures.?000

Use stipulative definitions to reach an agreement on the meaning of a term or concept.?000

Classifying?000

Use topics and subtopics to organize classifications. ?000

Use graphics to depict a classification scheme.?000

Use cues to maintain clarity and coherence in a classification.?000

Comparing and Contrasting?000

Use chunking or sequencing to organize comparisons and contrasts.?000

Use analogies to make comparisons clear and vivid.?000

16?Arguing?000

Asserting a Thesis?000

Make arguable assertions. ?000

Use clear and precise wording.?000

Qualify the thesis appropriately.?000

Giving Reasons and Support?000

Use representative examples for support.?000

Use up-to-date, relevant, and accurate statistics.?000

Cite reputable authorities on relevant topics.?000

Use vivid, relevant anecdotes.?000

Use relevant textual evidence.?000

Responding to Objections and Alternatives?000

Acknowledge readers’ concerns.?000

Concede readers’ concerns.?000

Refute readers’ objections.?000

Identifying and Correcting Logical Fallacies?000

PART 4?RESEARCH STRATEGIES

Analyzing Your Rhetorical Situation and Setting a Schedule?000

Choosing a Topic and Getting an Overview?000

Focusing Your Topic and Drafting Research Questions?000

Establishing a Research Log?000

Develop a list of search terms. ?000

Create a working bibliography. ?000

Annotating Your Working Bibliography?000

Taking Notes on Your Sources?000

Finding Sources?000

Search library catalogs and databases. ?000

Find books (and other sources). ?000

Find articles in periodicals. ?000

Find government documents and statistical information. ?000

Find Web sites and interactive sources. ?000

Conducting Field Research?000

Conduct observational studies. ?000

Conduct interviews. ?000

Conduct surveys. ?000

Selecting Relevant Sources?000

Evaluating Sources?000

Who wrote it? ?000

How recently was it published? ?000

Is the source scholarly, popular, or for a trade group? ?000

Who published it? ?000

How is the source written? ?000

What does the source say? ?000

Synthesizing Sources?000

Acknowledging Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism?000

What does and does not need to be acknowledged? ?000

Avoid plagiarism by acknowledging sources and quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing carefully. ?000

Using Information from Sources to Support Your Claims?000

Deciding whether to quote, paraphrase, or summarize. ?000

Copy quotations exactly, or use italics, ellipses, and brackets to indicate changes. ?000

Use in-text or block quotations. ?000

Use punctuation to integrate quotations into your writing. ?000

Paraphrase sources carefully. ?000

Write summaries that present the source’s main ideas in a balanced and readable way. ?000

Citing Sources in the Text?000

Directory to In-Text Citation Models?000

Creating a List of Works Cited?000

To cite a source without a model, use a similar model or devise your own using the general principles. ?000

Format your list of works cited. ?000

Directory to Works-Cited-List Models?000

Student Research Project in MLA Style?000

Citing Sources in the Text?000

Directory to In-Text Citation Models?000

Creating a List of References?000

Directory to Reference-List Models?000

A Sample Reference List in APA Style?000

PART 5?COMPOSING STRATEGIES FOR COLLEGE AND BEYOND?000

Understanding Multimodality?000

Analyzing Multimodal Texts?000

Criteria for Analyzing Multimodal Texts?000

Composing Multimodal Texts?000

Reimagine your writing in a new genre or medium. ?000

Design a multimodal text. ?000

Embed visuals and media in texts. ?000

Criteria for Analyzing Document Design?000

Creating a Multimodal Presentation?000

Assess your rhetorical situation. ?000

Determine how much information you can present in the allotted time. ?000

Use cues to orient audience members. ?000

Design your presentation effectively. ?000

23?Taking Essay Examinations?000

Preparing for an Exam?000

Read the exam carefully. ?000

Review typical essay exam questions. ?000

Write your answer. ?000

Purposes of a Writing Portfolio?000

Assembling a Portfolio for Your Composition Course?000

Select your work. ?000

Reflect on your work and what you learned. ?000

Organize your portfolio. ?000

25?Writing in Business and Scientific Genres?000

Business Letters?000

E-mail?000

Résumés and Online Professional Profiles?000

Job-Application Letters?000

Web Sites?000

Lab Reports?000

Writing about Your Service Experience?000

Find a topic. ?000

Gather sources. ?000

Writing for Your Service Organization?000

Working with Others on Your Individual Writing Projects?000

Collaborating on Joint Writing Projects?000