Steps to Writing Well with Additional Readings (with 2019 APA Updates and MLA 2021 Update Card)

Jean Wyrick is Professor Emerita of English at Colorado State University, where she was director of composition for 11 years. She has more than 25 years of experience teaching writing, training writing teachers, and designing writing/writing-across-the-curriculum programs. Her other textbooks include THE RINEHART READER and DISCOVERING IDEAS. She has presented over 100 workshops and papers on the teaching of writing, American literature, American studies, and women's studies.

Part I: THE BASICS OF THE SHORT ESSAY.
1. Prewriting.
Getting Started (or Soup-Can Labels Can Be Fascinating). Selecting a Subject. Finding Your Essay’s Purpose and Focus. Pump-Primer Techniques. After You’ve Found Your Focus. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Discovering Your Audience. How to Identify Your Readers. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. Keeping a Journal (Talking to Yourself Does Help). Chapter 1 Summary.
2. The Thesis Statement.
What Is a Thesis? What Does a “Working Thesis” Do? Can a “Working Thesis” Change? Guidelines for Writing a Good Thesis. Avoiding Common Errors in Thesis Statements. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. Using the Essay Map. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. Chapter 2 Summary.
3. The Body Paragraphs.
Planning the Body of Your Essay. Composing the Body Paragraphs. The Topic Sentence. Focusing Your Topic Sentence. Placing Your Topic Sentence. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. Applying What You’ve Learned to Your Writing. Paragraph Development. Paragraph Length. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. Applying What You’ve Learned to Your Writing. Paragraph Unity. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Applying What You’ve Learned to Your Writing. Paragraph Coherence. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Paragraph Sequence. Transitions between Paragraphs. Applying What You’ve Learned to Your Writing. Chapter 3 Summary.
4. Beginnings and Endings.
How to Write a Good Lead-In. Avoiding Errors in Lead-Ins. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. How to Write a Good Concluding Paragraph. Avoiding Errors in Conclusions. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. How to Write a Good Title. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. Applying What You’ve Learned to Your Writing. Chapter 4 Summary.
5. Drafting and Revising: Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking.
What Is Revision? When Does Revision Occur? Myths about Revision. Can I Learn to Improve My Revision Skills? Preparing to Draft. Some Basic Tips for Drafting. Some Hints When Drafting on a Computer. Some Hints When Handwriting a Draft. Writing Centers, Computer Classrooms, and Electronic Networks. Procrastination: Enemy of Critical Thinking, Thief of Time. I. Revising for Purpose, Thesis, and Audience. II. Revising for Ideas and Evidence. What Is Critical Thinking? Thinking Critically as a Writer. Critical Thinking and Visual Literacy. III. Revising for Organization. IV. Revising for Clarity and Style. V. Editing for Errors. VI. Proofreading. A Final Checklist for Your Essay. Sample Student Essay: “The Fear No One Talks About.” Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. Applying What You’ve Learned to Your Writing. Collaborative Activities: Group Work, Peer Revision Workshops, and Team Projects. Benefiting from Collaborative Activities. Guidelines for Peer Revision Workshops. Guidelines for Small-Group Work. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. Some Last Advice: How to Play with Your Mental Blocks. Chapter 5 Summary.
6. Effective Sentences.
Developing a Clear Style. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Developing a Concise Style. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. Developing an Engaging Style. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. Developing an Emphatic Style. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. Applying What You’ve Learned to Your Writing. Chapter 6 Summary.
7. Word Logic.
Selecting the Correct Words. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Selecting the Best Words. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. Applying What You’ve Learned to Your Writing. Chapter 7 Summary.
8. The Reading-Writing Connection.
How Can Reading Well Help Me Become a Better Writer? How Can I Become an Analytical Reader? Steps to Reading Well. Sample Annotated Essay: “College for Grown-Ups.” Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. How Can I Read Multimodal Texts Analytically? Steps to Reading Multimodal Texts Well. Sample Annotated Advertisement. Writing a Summary. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Benefiting from Class Discussion. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Chapter 8 Summary.
Part One Summary: The Basics of the Short Essay.
Part II: PURPOSES, MODES, AND STRATEGIES.
9. Development by Example.
Why and How to Use Examples In Your Writing. Developing Your Essay. Problems to Avoid. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Essay Topics. A Topic Proposal for Your Essay. Sample Student Essay: “If You Want to Get to Know a New Place, Go For a Run.” Professional Essay: “So What’s So Bad about Being So-So?” A Revision Worksheet. Reviewing Your Progress. Using Strategies and Sources.
10. Process Analysis.
Types of Process Analysis Essays. Developing Your Essay. Problems to Avoid. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Essay Topics. A Topic Proposal for Your Essay. Sample Student Essay: “An Experiment in Spending Less.” Professional Essay (Informative Process): “To Bid the World Farewell.” Professional Essay (Directional Process): “Preparing for the Job Interview: Know Thyself.” A Revision Worksheet. Reviewing Your Progress. Using Strategies and Sources.
11. Comparison and Contrast.
Developing Your Essay. Which Pattern Should You Use? Problems to Avoid. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Essay Topics. A Topic Proposal for Your Essay. Sample Student Essay (Point-by-Point Pattern): “When It’s Time to Study, Get Out of Your Pajamas.” Sample Student Essay (Block Pattern): “More Than Just the Crust: New York and Chicago Style Pizza.” Professional Essay (Point-by-Point Pattern): “Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts.” Professional Essay (Block Pattern): “Two Ways of Viewing the River.” A Revision Worksheet. A Special Kind of Comparison: The Analogy. Reviewing Your Progress. Using Strategies and Sources.
12. Definition.
Why Do We Define? Developing Your Essay. Problems to Avoid. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Essay Topics. A Topic Proposal for Your Essay. Sample Student Essay: “Blind Paces.” Professional Essay: “The Munchausen Mystery.” A Revision Worksheet. Reviewing Your Progress. Using Strategies and Sources.
13. Division and Classification.
Division. Classification. Developing Your Essay. Problems to Avoid. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Essay Topics. A Topic Proposal for Your Essay. Sample Student Essay: “The Native American Era at Mesa Verde.” Professional Essay (Classification): “The Plot against People.” Professional Essay (Division): “What Is REALLY in a Hot Dog?” A Revision Worksheet. Reviewing Your Progress. Using Strategies and Sources.
14. Causal Analysis.
Developing Your Essay. Problems to Avoid. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Essay Topics. A Topic Proposal for Your Essay. Sample Student Essay: “It’s Simply Not Worth It.” Professional Essay: “Why Are Young People Ditching Cars for Smartphones?” A Revision Worksheet. Reviewing Your Progress. Using Strategies and Sources.
15. Argumentation.
Developing Your Essay. Problems to Avoid. Common Logical Fallacies. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. Essay Topics. A Topic Proposal for Your Essay. Sample Student Essay: “Better Information Equals Healthier Eating.” Professional Essays (Paired): “Mandatory Voting Won’t Cure Dismal Turnout” and “Required Voting Yields Benefits.” Analyzing Advertisements. Divergent Viewpoints: Gun Ownership in America. Competing Products: Sources of Energy. Popular Appeals: Spending Our Money. Practicing What You’ve Learned. A Revision Worksheet. Reviewing Your Progress. Using Strategies and Sources.
16. Description.
How to Write Effective Description. Problems to Avoid. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment: “Birthday” by Marc Chagall. Essay Topics. A Topic Proposal for Your Essay. Sample Student Essay: “Treeclimbing.” Professional Essay: “Pretty Girl.” A Revision Worksheet. Reviewing Your Progress. Using Strategies and Sources.
17. Narration.
Writing the Effective Narrative Essay. Problems to Avoid. Practicing What You’ve Learned: “Tornado Over Kansas” by John Steuart Curry. Essay Topics. A Topic Proposal for Your Essay. Sample Student Essay: “Never Underestimate the Little Things.” Professional Essay: “Don’t Mess with Auntie Jean.” A Revision Worksheet. Reviewing Your Progress. Using Strategies and Sources.
18. Writing Essays Using Multiple Strategies.
Choosing the Best Strategies. Problems to Avoid. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Sample Student Essay: “Pass the Broccoli--Please!” Professional Essay: “Courage in Greensboro.” A Revision Worksheet. Reviewing Your Progress. Using Strategies and Sources.
Part III: SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS.
19. Conducting Research and Using Sources.
Focusing Your Topic. Beginning Your Library Research. General Reference Works. Library Catalogs. Databases. Special Collections. Beginning Your Online Research. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Conducting Primary Research. The Personal Interview. The Questionnaire. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Preparing a Working Bibliography. Choosing and Evaluating Your Sources. Preparing an Annotated Bibliography. Taking Notes. Distinguishing Paraphrase from Summary. Incorporating Your Source Material. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Avoiding Plagiarism. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment.
20. Documenting Sources.
MLA Style. MLA Citations in Your Essay. Compiling a Works Cited List: MLA Style. Sample Works Cited Entries: MLA Style. Electronic Sources: MLA Style. Practicing What You’ve Learned. APA Style. APA Citations in Your Essay. Compiling a Reference List: APA Style. Sample Reference List Entries: APA Style. Electronic Sources: APA Style. Footnote and Bibliography Form. Using Supplementary Notes. Examples (MLA Style). Sample Student Essay Using MLA Style: “Pervasive Computing and Privacy Rights: Who Owns Your Emotions?” Sample Student Essay Using APA Style: “Pervasive Computing and Privacy Rights: Who Owns Your Emotions?”
21. Classroom Writing Assignments: Exams, Timed Essays, and Presentations.
Writing Well under Pressure. Problems to Avoid. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. Writing the Summary-and-Response Essay. Sample Student Essay: Summary and Response Essay on “College for Grown-Ups.” Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. Writing for Classroom Presentations. Steps to Effective Presentation. Guidelines for Effective Delivery. Practicing What You’ve Learned.
22. Writing about Literature.
Using Literature in the Composition Classroom. Suggestions for Close Reading of Literature. Steps to Reading a Story. Annotated Story: “The Story of an Hour.” Sample Student Essay: “A Breath of Fresh Air.” Steps to Reading a Poem. Annotated Poem: “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer.” Sample Student Essay: “Two Ways of Knowing.” Guidelines for Writing about Literature. Problems to Avoid. Practicing What You’ve Learned (Story): “Geraldo No Last Name” by Sandra Cisneros. Practicing What You’ve Learned (Poems): “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden; “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. Suggestions for Writing.
23. Writing in the World of Work.
Composing Business Letters. Traditional Business Letter Format. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. Sample Business Letter. Creating Memos. Sending Professional E-Mail. Problems to Avoid. Writing Cover Letters and Designing Résumés. Effective Cover Letters. Effective Résumés. Problems to Avoid. Sample Résumés. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. Preparing Interview Notes and Post-Interview Letters.
MindTap® Online Chapter. Writing about Visual Arts.
Using Visual Arts in the Composition Classroom. Suggestions for Analyzing Paintings. Additional Advice about Sculpture and Photography. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Guidelines for Writing about Artworks. Problems to Avoid. Annotated Painting: Nighthawks. Sample Student Essay: “Night in the City and Psyche.” Suggestions for Writing
MindTap® Online Chapter. Writing about Film.
Using Film in the Composition Classroom. Guidelines for Writing about Film. Problems to Avoid. Sample Student Essay: “Catch the Blackbird.” Practicing What You’ve Learned. Professional Essay: “The Theory of Everything.” Suggestions for Writing. Glossary of Film Terms.
Part IV: A CONCISE HANDBOOK.
Parts of Speech. Sentence Components and Classifications.
24. Major Errors in Grammar.
Assessing Your Skills: Grammar (Self-scored Diagnostic Test). Errors with Verbs. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Errors with Nouns. Errors with Pronouns. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Errors with Adverbs and Adjectives. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Errors in Modifying Phrases. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Errors in Sentences. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Answers to the Grammar Assessment.
25. A Concise Guide to Punctuation.
Assessing Your Skills: Punctuation (Self-scored Diagnostic Test). Punctuation Guidelines. The Period. The Question Mark. The Exclamation Point. Practicing What You’ve Learned. The Comma. Practicing What You’ve Learned. The Semicolon. Practicing What You’ve Learned. The Colon. Practicing What You’ve Learned. The Apostrophe. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. Quotation Marks. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Parentheses. Brackets. The Dash. Practicing What You’ve Learned. The Hyphen. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Italics and Underlining. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Ellipsis Points. The Slash. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Answers to the Punctuation Assessment.
26. A Concise Guide to Mechanics.
Assessing Your Skills: Mechanics (Self-scored Diagnostic Test). Capitalization. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Abbreviations. Numbers. Practicing What You’ve Learned. Assignment. Spelling. Answers to the Mechanics Assessment.
Part V: ADDITIONAL READINGS.
27. Development by Example.
“Black Men and Public Space” by Brent Staples. “Rhetorical Reasons that Slogans Stick” by Mark Forsyth. “A Look Into the ‘Double Lives’ of America’s Homeless College Students” by Shadee Ashtari.
28. Process Analysis.
“College Students: Protect Yourself from Identity Theft” by Luanne Kadlub. “Bite-Size History” by Carlton Stowers.
29. Comparison and Contrast.
“Us and Them” by David Sedaris. “The Myth Of The Latin Woman: I Just Met A Girl Named Maria” by Judith Ortiz Cofer. “Once More to the Lake (August 1941)” by E. B. White.
30. Definition.
“Celebrating Nerdiness” by Tom Rogers. “The Exam Dream” by Eric Hoover. “What Is Poverty?” by Jo Goodwin Parker.
31. Division/Classification.
“Virtual Unreality: The Online Sockpuppets That Trick Us All” by Charles Seife. “The Colorful Plate” by Dianne Moeller. “Four Kinds of Chance” by James Austin.
32. Causal Analysis.
“Some Lessons from the Assembly Line” by Andrew Braaksma. “Mystery” by Nicholas Meyer. “Mind Game” by Joshua Bell.
33. Argumentation.
“The Lost Language of Privacy” by David Brooks. “Putting Up with Hate” by the Denver Post Editorial Board. “Judging by the Cover” by Bonny Gainley.
34. Description.
“Still Learning from My Mother” by Cliff Schneider. “A Day at the Theme Park” by W. Bruce Cameron. “Battle of the Ants” by Henry David Thoreau.
35. Narration.
“38 Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police” by Martin Gansberg. “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. “Arrival at Manzanar” by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston.
36. Essays for Further Analysis: Multiple Strategies and Styles.
“Why Parents Need to Let Their Children Fail” by Jessica Lahey. “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift.
37. Literature.
“Bilingual/Bilingüe” by Rhina Espaillet. “Poem for an Inked Daughter” by Jane Wheeler. “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell.