ISE College Writing Skills with Readings

John Langan has taught reading and writing at Atlantic Cape Community College for more than 25 years. The author of a popular series of college textbooks on both writing and reading, John enjoys the challenge of developing instructive materials that are clear and lively. Before teaching, he earned advanced degrees in writing at Rutgers University and in reading at Rowan University. He also spent a year writing fiction that is now at the back of a drawer waiting to be discovered and acclaimed posthumously. While in school, he supported himself by working as a truck driver, a machinist, a battery assembler, a hospital attendant, and an apple packer. In addition to his wife and Philly sports teams, his passions include reading and conveying to nonreaders the pleasure and power of books. Through Townsend Press, his educational publishing company, he has developed the nonprofit Townsend Librarya collection of more than 100 new and classic stories that appeal to readers of any age. Zoï¿ L. Albright has been involved in diverse aspects of education for 22 years. For the last 18 years, she has been a faculty member at Metropolitan Community CollegeLongview, teaching developmental writing, composition, and literature. She has created and implemented traditional and online curricula for high school and college English and composition courses and for a variety of literature courses. She continues to research new educational theory and practices. Zoï¿ has most recently served as co-author of English Skills with Readings, ninth edition, and contributing author to other Langan texts. She received her M.A. from Goldsmiths, University of London; B.S. and B.A. from the University of Idaho; and A.A. from Cottey College. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Kansas. Zoï¿ currently resides outside Kansas City, Missouri, with her husband and teenage son.

Contents

Readings Listed by Rhetorical Mode 0

Preface 0

Part 1 Essay Writing 1      



An Introduction to Writing 0

Point and Support 0

Structure of the Traditional Essay 0

Benefits of  Writing the Traditional Essay 00

Writing as a Skill 00

Writing as a Process of Discovery 00

Writing as a Way to Communicate with Others 00

Keeping a Journal 00

Using Technology to Work Efficiently 00

MLA Format 00

Review Activities 00

Using This Text 00



The Writing Process 00

Prewriting 00

Writing a First Draft 00

Revising 00

Editing 00

Review Activities 00



The First and Second Steps in Essay Writing 00

Step 1: Begin with a Point, or Thesis 00

Step 2: Support the Thesis with Specific Evidence 00

Practice in Advancing and Supporting a Thesis 00



The Third Step in Essay Writing 00

Step 3: Organize and Connect the Specific Evidence 00

Introductions, Conclusions, and Titles 00

Practice in Organizing and Connecting Specific Evidence 000



The Fourth Step in Essay Writing 000

Revising Sentences 000

Editing Sentences 000

Practice in Revising Sentences 000



Four Bases for Revising Essays 000

Base 1: Unity 000

Base 2: Support 000

Base 3: Coherence 000

Base 4: Sentence Skills 000

Practice in Using the Four Bases 000



Developing an Essay 000

Important Considerations in Essay Development 000

The Writing Process in Action 000

A Look Ahead to Part Two: Patterns of Essay Development 000

Part 2 Patterns of Essay Development 000



Description 000

Student Essays to Consider 000

Developing an Essay with Emphasis on Description 000

A Model Essay to Consider 000

     READING Lou’s Place by Beth Johnson 000



Narration 000

Student Essays to Consider 000

Developing an Essay with Emphasis on Narration 000

A Model Essay to Consider 000

READING The Teacher Who Changed My Life by Nicholas Gage 000



Exemplification 000

Student Essays to Consider 000

Developing an Essay with Emphasis on Exemplification 000

A Model Essay to Consider 000

READING Dad by Andrew H. Malcolm 000



Process 000

Student Essays to Consider 000

Developing an Essay with Emphasis on Process 000

A Model Essay to Consider 000

READING How to Do Well on a Job Interview by Glenda Davis 000



Cause and/or Effect 000

Student Essays to Consider 000

Developing an Essay with Emphasis on Cause and/or Effect 000

A Model Essay to Consider 000

READING Taming the Anger Monster by Anne Davidson 000



Comparison and/or Contrast 000

Methods of Development 000

Student Essays to Consider 000

Developing an Essay with Emphasis on Comparison and/or Contrast 000

A Model Essay to Consider 000

READING Born to Be Different? by Camille Lewis 000



Definition 000

Student Essays to Consider 000

Developing an Essay with Emphasis on Definition 000

A Model Essay to Consider 000

READING Propaganda Techniques in Today’s Advertising
by Ann McClintock 000



Division-Classification 000

Student Essays to Consider 000

Developing an Essay with Emphasis on Division-Classification 000

A Model Essay to Consider 000

READING The 5 Types of Friends Worth Holding Onto for Dear Life by Shelley Emling 000



Argument 000

Strategies for Argument 000

Student Essays to Consider 000

Developing an Essay with Emphasis on Argument 000

A Model Essay to Consider 000

READING Essay on the Importance of Teaching Failure
by Edward Burger 000

 

Part 3 Researching, Writing, and Documenting 000



Information Literacy 000

             Using Online Sources Effectively 000

             Using the Library in the Context of the Digital World 000



Summarizing and Paraphrasing 000

             Identifying and Avoiding Plagiarism 000

             Writing a Summary 000

             A Model Summary of an Article 000

             Writing a Paraphrase 000

             Using Direct Quotations 000

 



Writing a Source-Based Essay 000

             Planning Ahead and Taking Notes 000

             Understanding How To Incorporate Sources 000

             Citing Sources 000

    &nb
sp;        A Model Literary Analysis 000

             Model Rhetorical Analysis 000



Writing a Research Essay 000

             Getting Started and Creating a Schedule 000

             Selecting a Topic That You Can Readily Research 000

             Limiting Your Topic and Making the Purpose of Your Paper Clear 000

             Brainstorming What You Know 000

             Gathering Information on Your Limited Topic 000

             Keeping Track of Your Sources and Taking Notes 000

             Writing the Paper 000

             A Model Research Essay 000

Part 4 Handbook of Sentence Skills 000

SECTION I Grammar 000



Subjects and Verbs 000

A Simple Way to Find a Subject 000

A Simple Way to Find a Verb 000

More about Subjects and Verbs 000



Fragments 000

Dependent-Word Fragments 000

-ing and to Fragments 000

Added-Detail Fragments 000

Missing-Subject Fragments 000



Run-Ons 000

What Are Run-Ons? 000

Three Ways to Correct Run-Ons 000



Regular and Irregular Verbs 000

Regular Verbs 000

Irregular Verbs 000



Subject-Verb Agreement 000

Words between Subject and Verb 000

Verb before Subject 000

Compound Subjects 000

Indefinite Pronouns 000



More about Verbs 000

Verb Tense 000

Helping Verbs 000

Verbals 000



Pronoun Agreement and Reference 000

Pronoun Agreement 000

Pronoun Reference 000



Pronoun Types 000

Subject and Object Pronouns 000

Possessive Pronouns 000

Demonstrative Pronouns 000



Adjectives and Adverbs 000

Adjectives 000

Adverbs 000



Misplaced Modifiers 000

          Identifying and Correcting Misplaced Modifiers 000



Dangling Modifiers 000

          Identifying and Correcting Dangling Modifiers 000

 

      SECTION II Mechanics and Punctuation 000



Capital Letters 000

Main Uses of Capital Letters 000

Other Uses of Capital Letters 000

Unnecessary Use of Capitals 000



Numbers and Abbreviations 000

Numbers 000

Abbreviations 000



Apostrophe 000

Apostrophe in Contractions 000

Apostrophe to Show Ownership or Possession 000



Quotation Marks 000

Quotation Marks to Set Off the Words of a Speaker or Writer 000

Quotation Marks to Set Off Titles of Short Works 000

Other Uses of Quotation Marks 000



Comma 000

Six Main Uses of the Comma 000

 

SECTION III Word Use 000



Commonly Confused Words 000

Homonyms 000

Other Words Frequently Confused 000



Effective Word Choice 000

Slang 000

Clichés 000

Pretentious Words 000

 

SECTION IV Tests 000



Editing Tests 000

Part 5 Readings for Writers 000

Introduction to the Readings 000

The Format of Each Selection 000

How to Read Well: Four General Steps 000

How to Answer the Comprehension Questions: Specific Hints 000

Building Self Awareness 000

from Self-Reliance

Ralph Waldo Emerson 000

Shame

Dick Gregory 000

I Became Her Target

Roger Wilkins 000

Stepping into the Light

Tanya Savory 000

Cultivating a Resilient Spirit

Brené Brown 000

The Certainty of Fear

Audra Kendall 000

One Hundred Years of the Secret Garden

Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina 000

Education and Learning 000

Single-Sex Schools: An Old Idea Whose Time Has Come

Diane Urbina 000

How to Make It in College, Now That You’re Here

Brian O’Keeney 000

College Lectures: Is Anybody Listening?

David Daniels 000

Brainology

Carol S. Dweck 000

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

Nicholas Carr 000

The Quiet Struggle of College Students with Kids

Gillian B. White 000

Challenging Societal Values 000

 

The Professor Is a Dropout

Beth Johnson 000

 

Chief Seattle’s Speech of 1854

Chief Seattle 000

Mayor of Rust

Sue Halpern 000

Is Sex All That Matters?

Joyce Garity 000

Moving Beyond Pain

bell hooks 000

  When a Classmate Is a Former Inmate

Juleyka Lantigua-Williams 000

 

Index 000