|
|
|
xvi | |
| To the Teacher |
|
xvii | |
| To the Student |
|
xxiii | |
|
Part One The Basics of the Short Essay |
|
|
1 | (176) |
|
|
|
3 | (28) |
|
Getting Started (or Soup-Can Labels Can Be Fascinating) |
|
|
3 | (1) |
|
|
|
4 | (2) |
|
Finding Your Essay's Purpose and Focus |
|
|
6 | (1) |
|
|
|
7 | (10) |
|
After You've Found Your Focus |
|
|
17 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
18 | (1) |
|
Discovering Your Audience |
|
|
19 | (1) |
|
How to Identify Your Readers |
|
|
19 | (3) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
22 | (1) |
|
|
|
22 | (3) |
|
Keeping a Journal (Talking to Yourself Does Help) |
|
|
25 | (4) |
|
|
|
29 | (2) |
|
|
|
31 | (16) |
|
What Is a Thesis? What Does a ``Working Thesis'' Do? |
|
|
32 | (1) |
|
Can a ``Working Thesis'' Change? |
|
|
32 | (1) |
|
Guidelines for Writing a Good Thesis |
|
|
33 | (4) |
|
Avoiding Common Errors in Thesis Statements |
|
|
37 | (2) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
39 | (1) |
|
|
|
40 | (1) |
|
|
|
41 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
42 | (1) |
|
|
|
43 | (2) |
|
|
|
45 | (2) |
|
|
|
47 | (32) |
|
Planning the Body of Your Essay |
|
|
47 | (3) |
|
Composing the Body Paragraphs |
|
|
50 | (1) |
|
|
|
50 | (5) |
|
Focusing Your Topic Sentence |
|
|
53 | (1) |
|
Placing Your Topic Sentence |
|
|
53 | (2) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
55 | (3) |
|
|
|
58 | (1) |
|
Applying What You've Learned to Your Writing |
|
|
58 | (1) |
|
|
|
59 | (3) |
|
|
|
62 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
63 | (1) |
|
|
|
63 | (1) |
|
Applying What You've Learned to Your Writing |
|
|
64 | (1) |
|
|
|
64 | (2) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
66 | (1) |
|
Applying What You've Learned to Your Writing |
|
|
67 | (1) |
|
|
|
68 | (5) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
73 | (3) |
|
|
|
76 | (1) |
|
Transitions between Paragraphs |
|
|
77 | (1) |
|
Applying What You've Learned to Your Writing |
|
|
78 | (1) |
|
|
|
78 | (1) |
|
|
|
79 | (10) |
|
How to Write a Good Lead-in |
|
|
79 | (2) |
|
Avoiding Errors in Lead-ins |
|
|
81 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
82 | (1) |
|
How to Write a Good Concluding Paragraph |
|
|
82 | (2) |
|
Avoiding Errors in Conclusions |
|
|
84 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
85 | (1) |
|
How to Write a Good Title |
|
|
85 | (1) |
|
|
|
86 | (1) |
|
Applying What You've Learned to Your Writing |
|
|
86 | (1) |
|
|
|
87 | (2) |
|
Drafting and Revising: Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking |
|
|
89 | (26) |
|
|
|
89 | (1) |
|
When Does Revision Occur? |
|
|
90 | (1) |
|
|
|
90 | (1) |
|
Can I Learn to Improve My Revision Skills? |
|
|
91 | (1) |
|
Preparing to Draft: Some Time-Saving Hints |
|
|
92 | (3) |
|
Additional Suggestions for Writers with Word Processors |
|
|
93 | (2) |
|
Writing Centers, Computer Labs, and Computer Classrooms |
|
|
95 | (1) |
|
A Revision Process for Your Drafts |
|
|
96 | (2) |
|
What Is Critical Thinking? |
|
|
98 | (1) |
|
Thinking Critically as a Writer |
|
|
98 | (6) |
|
A Final Checklist for Your Essay |
|
|
104 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
104 | (2) |
|
Benefiting from Revision Workshops |
|
|
106 | (3) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
109 | (1) |
|
|
|
110 | (1) |
|
Some Last Advice: How to Play with Your Mental Blocks |
|
|
110 | (3) |
|
|
|
113 | (2) |
|
|
|
115 | (26) |
|
|
|
116 | (6) |
|
Developing a Concise Style |
|
|
122 | (4) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
126 | (2) |
|
|
|
128 | (1) |
|
Developing a Lively Style |
|
|
128 | (4) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
132 | (1) |
|
|
|
132 | (1) |
|
Developing an Emphatic Style |
|
|
133 | (3) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
136 | (2) |
|
|
|
138 | (1) |
|
Applying What You've Learned to Your Writing |
|
|
139 | (1) |
|
|
|
139 | (2) |
|
|
|
141 | (24) |
|
Selecting the Correct Words |
|
|
141 | (6) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
147 | (2) |
|
|
|
149 | (10) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
159 | (2) |
|
|
|
161 | (2) |
|
Applying What You've Learned to Your Writing |
|
|
163 | (1) |
|
|
|
164 | (1) |
|
The Reading-Writing Connection |
|
|
165 | (12) |
|
How Can Reading Well Help Me Become a Better Writer? |
|
|
165 | (1) |
|
How Can I Become an Analytical Reader? |
|
|
166 | (2) |
|
Sample Annotated Essay: ``Our Youth Should Serve'' |
|
|
168 | (3) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
171 | (1) |
|
|
|
171 | (1) |
|
|
|
171 | (2) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
173 | (1) |
|
Benefiting from Class Discussions |
|
|
173 | (2) |
|
|
|
175 | (1) |
|
Part One Summary: The Basics of the Short Essay |
|
|
176 | (1) |
|
Part Two Purposes, Modes, and Strategies |
|
|
177 | (176) |
|
|
|
179 | (94) |
|
The Strategies of Exposition |
|
|
179 | (1) |
|
Strategy One: Development by Example |
|
|
180 | (5) |
|
|
|
183 | (1) |
|
|
|
184 | (1) |
|
|
|
185 | (2) |
|
A Topic Proposal for Your Essay |
|
|
186 | (1) |
|
|
|
187 | (2) |
|
Professional Essay: ``So What's So Bad about Being So-So?'' |
|
|
189 | (3) |
|
The drive for perfection is preventing too many people from enjoying sports and hobbies, says author Lisa Wilson Strick (who proudly plays the piano badly but with great pleasure) |
|
|
|
|
|
192 | (1) |
|
|
|
193 | (1) |
|
Strategy Two: Development by Process Analysis |
|
|
193 | (3) |
|
|
|
194 | (2) |
|
|
|
196 | (1) |
|
|
|
196 | (2) |
|
A Topic Proposal for Your Essay |
|
|
198 | (1) |
|
|
|
198 | (5) |
|
Professional Essay (Informative Process): ``To Bid the World Farewell'' |
|
|
203 | (5) |
|
By describing the embalming process in vivid, step-by-step detail, social critic and author Jessica Mitford questions the value---and necessity---of the entire procedure |
|
|
|
Professional Essay (Directional Process): ``Ditch Diving'' |
|
|
208 | (2) |
|
Humorist Tom Bodett offers precise instructions for achieving high scores in the winter sport of ditch diving, an unappreciated artistic activity that requires only a vehicle, a road, a ditch, and some snow |
|
|
|
|
|
210 | (1) |
|
|
|
211 | (1) |
|
Strategy Three: Development by Comparison and Contrast |
|
|
211 | (4) |
|
|
|
211 | (2) |
|
Which Pattern Should You Use? |
|
|
213 | (1) |
|
|
|
214 | (1) |
|
|
|
215 | (2) |
|
A Topic Proposal for Your Essay |
|
|
217 | (1) |
|
Sample Student Essay (Point-by-Point Pattern) |
|
|
217 | (4) |
|
Sample Student Essay (Block Pattern) |
|
|
221 | (2) |
|
Professional Essay (Point-by-Point Pattern): ``Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts'' |
|
|
223 | (4) |
|
Noted historian Bruce Catton compares and contrasts the two great generals of the Civil War, concluding that their roles at Appomattox made possible ``a peace of reconciliation.'' |
|
|
|
Professional Essay (Block Pattern): ``Two Ways of Viewing the River'' |
|
|
227 | (2) |
|
One of the United States' most beloved writers, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), contrasts his earlier, romantic view of the Mississippi River to his later, more practical view as an experienced riverboat pilot |
|
|
|
|
|
229 | (3) |
|
A Special Kind of Comparison: The Analogy |
|
|
229 | (3) |
|
|
|
232 | (1) |
|
Strategy Four: Development by Definition |
|
|
232 | (4) |
|
|
|
233 | (1) |
|
|
|
233 | (2) |
|
|
|
235 | (1) |
|
|
|
236 | (2) |
|
A Topic Proposal for Your Essay |
|
|
237 | (1) |
|
|
|
238 | (3) |
|
Professional Essay: ``The Munchausen Mystery'' |
|
|
241 | (3) |
|
A Harvard professor of psychiatry explains a perplexing ``medical madness'' in which patients use extreme and sophisticated measures to fake illnesses---in some cases, all the way to the operating room |
|
|
|
|
|
244 | (1) |
|
|
|
244 | (1) |
|
Strategy Five: Development by Division and Classification |
|
|
245 | (2) |
|
|
|
245 | (1) |
|
|
|
245 | (1) |
|
|
|
246 | (1) |
|
|
|
247 | (1) |
|
|
|
247 | (2) |
|
A Topic Proposal for Your Essay |
|
|
249 | (1) |
|
|
|
249 | (3) |
|
Professional Essay (Classification): ``The Plot against People'' |
|
|
252 | (3) |
|
According to well-known columnist Russell Baker, all inanimate objects may be classified into three categories: those that don't work, those that get lost, and those that break down |
|
|
|
Professional Essay (Division): ``A Brush with Reality: Surprises in the Tube'' |
|
|
255 | (3) |
|
Do you really know what's in the toothpaste you use every day? In this unforgettable essay, science writer David Bodanis analyzes the surprising (and sometimes shocking) ingredients |
|
|
|
|
|
258 | (1) |
|
|
|
258 | (1) |
|
Strategy Six: Development by Causal Analysis |
|
|
259 | (3) |
|
|
|
259 | (2) |
|
|
|
261 | (1) |
|
|
|
262 | (2) |
|
A Topic Proposal for Your Essay |
|
|
263 | (1) |
|
|
|
264 | (3) |
|
Professional Essay: ``How Mr. Dewey Decimal Saved My Life'' |
|
|
267 | (3) |
|
In this delightful essay recalling her teen years in rural Kentucky, award-winning novelist Barbara Kingsolver explains how books and a librarian with a hidden agenda rescued her from a dead-end life in a two-stop-light town |
|
|
|
|
|
270 | (3) |
|
|
|
270 | (3) |
|
|
|
273 | (34) |
|
|
|
273 | (9) |
|
|
|
282 | (1) |
|
|
|
282 | (3) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
285 | (2) |
|
|
|
287 | (1) |
|
|
|
287 | (2) |
|
A Topic Proposal for Your Essay |
|
|
288 | (1) |
|
|
|
289 | (3) |
|
Professional Essays (Pro/Con): ``Free Speech Zones'' |
|
|
292 | (3) |
|
Should demonstrators be restricted to ``protest zones'' far away from the speakers or sites they are protesting? No, says the editorial board of USA Today, an enforced confinement of citizens interferes with their basic right of free speech. Yes, says attorney Robert J. Scott, who argues that recent disruptive activity justifies such restrictions to maintain order |
|
|
|
|
|
295 | (10) |
|
Conflicting Positions: Gun Control |
|
|
295 | (4) |
|
Competing Products: Sources of Energy |
|
|
299 | (3) |
|
Popular Appeals: Spending Our Money |
|
|
302 | (3) |
|
|
|
305 | (2) |
|
|
|
305 | (2) |
|
|
|
307 | (18) |
|
How to Write Effective Description |
|
|
307 | (5) |
|
|
|
311 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned: ``Aboard the Sleeper'' |
|
|
312 | (1) |
|
|
|
Assignment: ``Nighthawks'' |
|
|
313 | (1) |
|
|
|
|
|
313 | (2) |
|
A Topic Proposal for Your Essay |
|
|
315 | (1) |
|
|
|
315 | (4) |
|
Professional Essay: ``Still Learning from My Mother'' |
|
|
319 | (3) |
|
Not only did Mom throw a mean fast ball in her younger days, at almost 80 she continues to achieve new goals with determination and spirit, as described by son Cliff Schneider in this charming tribute |
|
|
|
|
|
322 | (3) |
|
|
|
323 | (2) |
|
|
|
325 | (16) |
|
Writing the Effective Narrative Essay |
|
|
326 | (2) |
|
|
|
327 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned: ``Tornado Over Kansas'' |
|
|
328 | (1) |
|
|
|
|
|
329 | (2) |
|
A Topic Proposal for Your Essay |
|
|
330 | (1) |
|
|
|
331 | (2) |
|
Professional Essay: ``Sister Flowers'' |
|
|
333 | (5) |
|
Multi-talented writer and performer Maya Angelou remembers a special time in her life and shows how one person's kindness and respect can dramatically change a child's life for the better |
|
|
|
|
|
338 | (3) |
|
|
|
339 | (2) |
|
Writing Essays Using Multiple Strategies |
|
|
341 | (12) |
|
Choosing the Best Strategies |
|
|
342 | (1) |
|
|
|
343 | (1) |
|
|
|
343 | (4) |
|
Professional Essay: ``Don't Let Stereotypes Warp Your Judgments'' |
|
|
347 | (4) |
|
Are Gloria and Richard better looking than Bertha or Cuthbert? Do you vote for the candidate who looks like a winner? In this essay, Professor Robert L. Heilbroner addresses the complex issue of stereotyping, first by citing some fascinating experiments that illustrate the problem. He then analyzes the causes of type-casting, explains the harmful effects, and offers some steps for changing this negative behavior |
|
|
|
|
|
351 | (2) |
|
|
|
352 | (1) |
|
Part Three Special Assignments |
|
|
353 | (122) |
|
Writing a Paper Using Research |
|
|
355 | (52) |
|
|
|
355 | (1) |
|
Beginning Your Library Research |
|
|
356 | (7) |
|
|
|
357 | (1) |
|
|
|
357 | (1) |
|
|
|
358 | (1) |
|
|
|
358 | (3) |
|
|
|
361 | (2) |
|
|
|
363 | (1) |
|
Conducting the Personal Interview |
|
|
363 | (2) |
|
Preparing a Working Bibliography |
|
|
365 | (3) |
|
Choosing and Evaluating Your Sources |
|
|
368 | (2) |
|
Preparing an Annotated Bibliography |
|
|
370 | (1) |
|
|
|
371 | (3) |
|
Distinguishing Paraphrase from Summary |
|
|
373 | (1) |
|
Incorporating Your Source Material |
|
|
374 | (2) |
|
|
|
376 | (2) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
378 | (1) |
|
|
|
379 | (1) |
|
Choosing the Documentation Style for Your Essay |
|
|
380 | (16) |
|
|
|
380 | (11) |
|
|
|
391 | (4) |
|
Footnote and Bibliography Form |
|
|
395 | (1) |
|
Using Supplementary Notes |
|
|
396 | (1) |
|
Sample Student Paper Using MLA Style |
|
|
397 | (10) |
|
Writing in Class: Exams and ``Response'' Essays |
|
|
407 | (14) |
|
Steps to Writing Well under Pressure |
|
|
407 | (6) |
|
|
|
413 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
413 | (1) |
|
|
|
414 | (1) |
|
Writing the Summary-and-Response Essay |
|
|
414 | (3) |
|
|
|
417 | (2) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
419 | (1) |
|
|
|
419 | (2) |
|
|
|
421 | (22) |
|
Using Literature in the Composition Classroom |
|
|
421 | (1) |
|
Suggestions for Close Reading of Literature |
|
|
422 | (1) |
|
|
|
423 | (1) |
|
Annotated Story: ``The Story of an Hour'' |
|
|
424 | (4) |
|
In this ironic story by Kate Chopin, a woman receives some bad news about her husband---not once, but twice |
|
|
|
|
|
428 | (2) |
|
|
|
430 | (3) |
|
Annotated Poem: ``When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer'' |
|
|
433 | (1) |
|
Poet Walt Whitman contrasts two ways of knowing and responding to the marvels of the night sky |
|
|
|
|
|
434 | (3) |
|
Guidelines for Writing about Literature |
|
|
437 | (2) |
|
|
|
438 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned: ``Snow'' by Julia Alverez and ``Those Winter Sundays'' by Robert Hayden |
|
|
439 | (2) |
|
|
|
441 | (2) |
|
|
|
443 | (14) |
|
Using Film in the Composition Classroom |
|
|
443 | (2) |
|
Guidelines for Writing about Film |
|
|
445 | (3) |
|
|
|
448 | (1) |
|
|
|
448 | (4) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned: ``Cat in the Hat Coughs Up Mayhem'' |
|
|
452 | (1) |
|
|
|
|
|
453 | (1) |
|
|
|
454 | (3) |
|
Writing in the World of Work |
|
|
457 | (18) |
|
Composing Business Letters |
|
|
458 | (4) |
|
|
|
459 | (3) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
462 | (1) |
|
|
|
462 | (1) |
|
|
|
463 | (1) |
|
|
|
464 | (1) |
|
Sending Professional E-Mail |
|
|
465 | (2) |
|
|
|
467 | (4) |
|
Critique Your Page Appeal |
|
|
470 | (1) |
|
|
|
470 | (1) |
|
|
|
471 | (1) |
|
|
|
471 | (3) |
|
Writing Post-Interview Letters |
|
|
474 | (1) |
|
Part Four A Concise Handbook |
|
|
475 | (54) |
|
|
|
477 | (22) |
|
|
|
477 | (4) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
481 | (1) |
|
|
|
482 | (1) |
|
|
|
482 | (3) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
485 | (1) |
|
Errors with Adverbs and Adjectives |
|
|
486 | (2) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
488 | (1) |
|
Errors in Modifying Phrases |
|
|
488 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
489 | (1) |
|
|
|
490 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
490 | (2) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
492 | (2) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
494 | (2) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
496 | (3) |
|
A Concise Guide to Punctuation |
|
|
499 | (22) |
|
|
|
500 | (1) |
|
|
|
500 | (1) |
|
|
|
500 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
500 | (1) |
|
|
|
501 | (3) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
504 | (1) |
|
|
|
505 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
506 | (1) |
|
|
|
507 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
508 | (1) |
|
|
|
509 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
510 | (1) |
|
|
|
510 | (2) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
512 | (1) |
|
|
|
512 | (1) |
|
|
|
513 | (1) |
|
|
|
514 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
515 | (1) |
|
|
|
515 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
516 | (1) |
|
|
|
517 | (1) |
|
|
|
517 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
518 | (3) |
|
A Concise Guide to Mechanics |
|
|
521 | (8) |
|
|
|
521 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
522 | (1) |
|
|
|
523 | (1) |
|
|
|
524 | (1) |
|
Practicing What You've Learned |
|
|
524 | (1) |
|
|
|
525 | (4) |
| Credits |
|
529 | (2) |
| Index |
|
531 | |
Other versions by this Author