1  Writers, Readers, and Communities

Academic, public, and work communities

1 Communities in action

2 Choices and limits

Identifying electronic communities

2  Discovering and Planning 

Getting started

1 Try informal writing

2 Use listing

3 Ask strategic questions

Keeping a writing/reading journal

1 How to keep a reading and writing journal

2 Thinking, writing, and discovering

Structuring ideas and information

1 Draw a cluster

2 Create a tree diagram

3 Build a time sequence

4 Create a problem-solution grid

5 Outline

Planning: Paper in progress

3  Purpose, Thesis, and Audience

Recognizing your purpose

1 Identify the focus

2 Define the purpose

Using purpose to guide your writing

1 Rough out a purpose structure

Defining a thesis or main idea

1 Turn topics into theses

2 Complicate or extend your rough thesis

3 Expand your thesis with specifics

4 Modify your thesis

Different kinds of thesis statements

Recognizing your audience

Specific readers and communities of readers

Adapting to readers and communities of readers

4  Drafting

From planning to drafting

1 Draft in manageable parts

2 Develop a general structure

3 Assess your purpose and redraft

Drafting strategies

1 Write about your writing

2 Draft quickly

3 Semidraft

4 Talk it out or take a break

Collaborative drafting

1 Do parallel drafting

2 Do team drafting

3 Do intensive drafting

5   Revising, Editing, and Proofreading

Major revisions

1 Redraft unworkable material

2 Reorganize poorly arranged paragraphs or sections

3 Add new material

4 Delete unnecessary or redundant material

Minor revisions

1 Revise for sense

2 Revise for style

3 Revise for economy

Collaborative revising

1 Respond helpfully

2 Make the most of response

3 Workplace collaboration

Revising: Paper in progress

Editing your own writing

1 Final editing for economy and style

2 Editing for grammatical problems

Collaborative editing

Editing on the computer

1 What computer editors can do

2 What computer editor can’t do

Proofreading

6 Paragraphs

Focused paragraphs

Creating paragraph focus

1 Topic sentence at the beginning

2 Topic sentence plus a limiting or clarifying sentence

3 Topic sentence at the end

4 Topic sentence implied rather than stated

Paragraph coherence

Creating paragraph coherence

1 Repeating words and phrases

2 Supplying transitions

3 Using parallel structure

Developed paragraphs

1 Developing paragraphs with details

2 Creating paragraph structures

Introductory and concluding paragraphs

1 Creating introductory paragraphs

2 Creating concluding paragraphs

7  Sentences

Clear sentences

1 Use significant subjects

2 Avoid unnecessary nominalizations

3 Use I, we, and you as subjects

4 Be careful with strings of nouns

5 Use clear and specific verbs

6 Keep subjects and verbs clearly related

Direct sentences

Emphatic sentences

1 Use sentence beginnings and endings

2 Create emphatic sentence patterns

3 Use the passive voice with care

Revising for variety

1 Vary sentence length

2 Vary sentence types

3 Vary sentence structure and patterns

4 Create surprise

8 Assessing Writing

Assessing your own writing

1 Saying what you want to say

2 Sharing what you want to share

3 Being honest about things that didn’t work or shortcuts you took

4 Recognizing what you didn’t understand

5 Deciding on a revision plan

Assessing someone else’s writing

1 Deciding what makes a difference for you as a reader

2 Believing and doubting

3 Prompting change

4 Working with others

How others assess your writing

1 Where readers start evaluating

2 How readers move through your writing

3 How readers decide on evaluation standards

Assembling and assessing your portfolio

1 Choosing the best

2 Choosing and assessing for variety

3 Introducing and explaining your selections 

PART 2 CRITICAL THINKING AND ARGUMENT

9   Thinking Critically and Reading Critically

What is critical thinking?

Building a chain of reasoning

1 Focus on conclusions

2 Include information and inferences

3 Assess evidence and reasoning

4 Consider your readers’ assumptions

Persuasive reasoning

1 Be well informed

2 Acknowledge other perspectives and anticipate reader’s reactions

3 Be balanced and reasonable

4 Assess the appropriateness of strong bias to the occasion

What is critical reading?

Read to understand

1 Prereading strategies

2 Reading strategies during and after

Read to respond and evaluate

1 Note responses while reading

2 Share interpretations and insights

3 Respond in writing

10 Constructing an Argument

Occasions for argument

1 Existing issues

2 Potential issues

3 Identify arguable issues

Developing your stance

1 Articulate your stance

2 Clarify your ideas

Developing a thesis

1 Focus on an argumentative claim

2 Create a thesis statement

3 Revise your thesis statement

11 Developing, Supporting, and Documenting an Argument

Developing reasons that support your claim

Using varied kinds of evidence

1 Use examples

2 Use quotations and ideas from authorities

3 Use detailed information

4 Use comparisons

Incorporating counterarguments

Logical strategies (logos)

Emotional strategies (pathos)

Data-warrant-claim (Toulmin) reasoning

Audience and purpose (Rogerian argument)

Misleading and illogical reasoning

Documented  argument or position paper

1 Sample position paper

2 Comment on Paul Pusateri’s Paper

12 Creating a Visual Argument

Explaining

1 Calling attention to an issue

2 Explaining an issue or problem

Providing evidence

Reading images critically

Multimodal materials

PART 3    PRESENTING YOUR WORK

13 Designing Documents

Goals of document design

Format choice

1 Consider your rhetorical situation and readers’ needs

2 Determine the form and shape of your document

Layout        

1 Use visual cues

2 Arrange information effectively

Typeface choices

Visuals

1 Table organize information

2 Graphs and charts represent relationships among data

3 Other visual devices serve varied purposes

Web pages

1 Establishing a purpose and a persona for your Web page

2 Considering your audience

Model documents 

14 Multimodal Presentations

Multimodal compositions

1 Photographs

2 Advertisements

3 Videos

4 Oral presentations

Analyzing multimodal presentations

1 Purpose and focus

2 Detail and explanation

3 Design

Composing multimodal presentations

1 Developing your craft

2 Computer software

Evaluating multimodal presentations

15 Writing Online

Online writing

1 Understanding your online audience and your purpose

2 Creating an online persona

3 Netiquette

Avoiding plagiarism and acting ethically online

1 Always document or credit information borrowed from others

2 Do your own work

3 Know the rules

E-mail choices

1 Elements of email

2 Email appearance

3 Using the functions of email

Participating in online communities

1 Discussion lists

2 Web-based forums: Blogs

3 Real-time writing

Participating in virtual classrooms

1 Using electronic courseware

2 Taking courses online

16 Speaking Effectively

Effective oral presentation

1 Planning your presentation

2 Rehearsing your presentation

3 Giving your presentation

SAMPLE POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

4 Assessing the results

Speech Anxiety

Group presentations and other public forums

1 Effective group presentations

2 Effective speaking in public forums

3 Effective comments on boards and committees

PART 4  WRITING FOR SPECIFIC COMMUNITIES

17 Academic Writing: General Education

 Analyzing assignments

1 Syllabus assignments

2 Detailed assignments

3 Assignment goals

Common types of information-driven assignments

Summaries

Annotated bibliographies

Literature reviews

Essay exams (information-driven)

1 Sample information-driven essay exam

2 Commentary on student essay exam

Short documented paper

Common types of point-driven assignments

Critiques

Reviews

Essay exams (point-driven)

Position papers

18 Writing in the Arts and Humanities

Writing about texts

Reading literary and artistic texts

1 Reading for meaning

2 Reading for technique

Writing about literary and artistic texts

1 Writing about meaning

2 Writing about technique

The text analysis

1 Sample literary text analysis

2 Commentary on student text analysis

Analyzing and interpreting visual texts

1 Sample visual analysis

2 Commentary on student visual analysis

Reviews and critical analyses (critiques) in the arts and humanities

1 Sample critical analysis of a film

2 Commentary on student analysis

19 Writing in the Social and Natural Sciences

Research in the social sciences

Common types of writing assignments in social science courses

Reviews of research

1 Sample social science literature review

2 Commentary on student literature review

Informative reports

Reports of original research

Research in the natural and applied sciences

Common types of writing assignments in natural and applied science courses

Lab reports

1 Sample lab report

2 Commentary on student lab report

Abstracts

Informative reports

Scientific explanation for a general audience

1 Sample scientific explanation for a general audience

2 Commentary on student scientific explanation for a general audience

20 Public Writing

Goals of public writing

Analyzing public audiences

Types of public writing

Flyers

Letters to the editor

Speaking in public settings

21 Workplace Writing

Goals of workplace writing

1 Plan according to your reader’s needs

2 Draft as clearly as possible

3 Revise and edit

Workplace writing process

1 How are writing projects assigned?

2 Is most writing done individually, or in work groups?

3 Does the company have a formal editing process?

4 Does the company have a formalized set of writing genres?

5 How are revisions to documents such as work procedures and technical specifications controlled?

Business letters

Memos

Email

Résumés and application letters

1 Use categories to construct your résumé

2 Submitting your résumé

PART 5 RESEARCHING AND WRITING

22 Getting Started: Researching and Writing

Choosing a topic

1 Respond to your assignment

2 Recognize your interests

3 Browse for an issue or problem

Narrowing a topic

1 Broad subject to limited topic

2 Surveying potential topics

Aims of research writing

1 Informative research project

2 Persuasive research project

Research questions

Preliminary thesis

Audience inventory

Developing a search strategy

1 Resources

2 Search tools

3 Keywording

4 Working bibliography

Timeline

Assessing sources

Reading sources critically

1 Identifying questions

Taking notes

1 Cards

2 Research journal

Summarizing, paraphrasing, synthesizing, and interpreting

1 Summarizing

2 Paraphrasing

3 Synthesizing

4 Interpreting

23 Library Resources

From general to specific sources

1 General resources

Kinds of library resources

1 Online catalogs

2 Periodicals, print and electronic indexes, and government documents

Evaluating library resources

24 Databases

Reference databases

Full-text databases

Databases containing abstracts

Indexing or bibliographic databases

Resource databases

Evaluating database resources

25 Internet Resources

Internet search strategy

Search engines

1 General search engines

2 Advanced search engines

3 Metasearch engines

4 Focused search sites and question-oriented sites

Kinds of Web sites

1 Individual Web sites

2 Sponsored Web sites

3 Blogs

4 Online periodicals and books; electronic versions of print publications

5 Government publications sites

6 Discussion groups and newsgroups

Evaluating online resources

26 Field Resources and Fieldwork

Field research

Surveys, polls, and questionnaires

1 Surveys and polls

2 Questionnaires

Interviews

Obtaining human subjects’ consent and approval

Ethnographies

27 Avoiding Plagiarism and Integrating Sources

Plagiarism in college

The problem of intention

When to document sources

Common knowledge

Quotations, summaries, facts, and visuals

1 Quotations

2 Summaries and paraphrases

3 Facts, details, and statistics

4 Visuals

Integrating sources for specific purposes

1 Introducing a topic and providing background

2 Summarizing prior research

3 Providing examples and cases

4 Showing evidence or support

5 Expanding an idea

6 Taking issue with a claim

28 Writing, Revising, and Presenting Research

Planning

1 Think about your goal – again!

2 Review your research questions

3 Redevelop you thesis

Drafting

An informative research paper

1 Consider readers

2 Look for a pattern

3 Consider familiar plans

A persuasive research paper

1 Key elements

2 Plan your reasoning and support

3 Arrange statements and evidence in persuasive order

Presentation strategies

1 Create a presentation

2 Use photographs

3 Create a film

4 Design a Web page

PART 6 DOCUMENTING SOURCES           

29 Ten Serious Documentation Problems

Choosing the right documentation style

Deciding what to document

Understanding the importance of documentation

Following a publication’s style

Incorrect placement of a citation

Missing information in a citation

Wrong details in a citation

Wrong kind of entry in references list

Missing information in references entry

Wrong details in references entry

30 MLA Documentation

In-text citation examples

Works Cited list

Sample MLA paper

31 APA Documentation

In-text (parenthetical) citations

References list

Sample APA paper

32 CMS Documentation

Endnotes and footnotes

1 Select endnotes or footnotes

2 Content and explanatory notes

Note examples

Bibliography

Student CMS paper

33 CSE Documentation

Elements of scientific and engineering styles

1 In-text citations

2 Reference list

Scientific in-text citations

1 Using the name-and-date method

2 Using the number method

Scientific reference list

Student CSE paper

PART 7    GRAMMAR

34 Ten Serious Grammar Errors

Fragment

Fused Sentence

Unclear Pronoun Reference

Lack of Subject-Verb Agreement

Dangling Modifier

Shift

Misused or Missing Apostrophe    

Unnecessary Comma

Missing or Misused Quotation Marks

Double Negative

35 Sentence Elements and Patterns

Words

1 Recognizing nouns and articles

2 Recognizing pronouns

3 Recognizing verbs

4 Recognizing adjectives

5 Recognizing adverbs

6 Recognizing prepositions

7 Recognizing conjunctions

8 Recognizing interjections

Subjects and predicates

1 Creating sentence subjects

2 Creating sentence predicates

Phrases and clauses

1 Recognizing prepositional phrases

2 Recognizing absolute phrases

3 Recognizing appositive phrases

4 Recognizing verbal phrases

5 Recognizing subordinate clauses

Sentence types

1 Recognizing sentence structures

2 Recognizing sentence purposes

36 Verbs

Simple present and past tense

1 Watch for irregular verbs

2 Using present and past tense in academic settings

Participles: Recognizing and editing

Progressive and perfect tenses: Editing

1 Check the helping verb in progressive tenses

2 Check the form of the past participle in the past perfect tense

Troublesome verbs (lie, lay, sit, set)

Active and passive voice

Clear tense sequence

Subjunctive mood

37 Nouns and Pronouns

Noun forms

Pronoun forms

1 Recognizing pronoun case

2 Choosing subjunctive forms

3 Choosing objective forms

4 Choosing possessive forms

Common problems with pronouns

1 Pay attention to compound subjects and objects

2 Watch for we or us with a noun

3 Be alert for subject complements

4 Check appositives

5 Be careful with comparisons using than or as

6 Be cautious when using myself and other reflexive pronouns

Who and whom

38 Agreement

Subject-verb agreement (simple)

Subject-verb agreement (complex)

1 What for plural forms with singular meanings

2 Be alert for collective nouns

3 Check subjects linked by and, or, and nor

4 Pay attention to separated subjects and verbs

5 Recognize unusual word order

6 Watch for there is, there are

7 Pay attention to is, appears, feels, and other linking verbs      

8 All, everybody, none; who, which, that – using special subjects

9 Pay special attention to titles and names

Pronoun-antecedent agreement

1 Recognize antecedents joined by and, or, and nor

2 Pay attention to everyone, any, something, (indefinite pronouns) as antecedents

3 Watch for collective nouns as antecedents

39 Adjectives and Adverbs

What adjectives and adverbs do

Avoiding confusion between adjectives and adverbs

1 Figure out what a modifier does in a sentence

2 Be alert for verbs like look, feel, prove, and is

3 Pay special attention to real/really, sure/surely, bad/badly, and good/well

Comparatives and superlatives: Correct forms

1 Watch out for illogical comparatives

2 Look for imprecise use of comparatives

3 Check for double comparatives

Avoiding double negatives

PART 8 SENTENCE PROBLEMS

40 Sentence Fragments

Sentence fragments: Recognizing

1 Look for a subject and a verb

2 Look for although, because, that, since, and other subordinating words

3 Look for troublesome constructions

Sentence fragments: Editing

Partial sentences

41 Comma Splices and Fused Sentences

Comma splices and fused sentences: Recognizing

Comma splices and fused sentences: Editing

1 Create separate sentences

2 Join main clauses with a comma plus a coordinating conjunction

3 Join main clauses with a semicolon

4 Join main clauses with a semicolon plus a conjunctive adverb or transitional expression

5 Subordinate one of the clauses

6 Join the clauses with a colon

42 Pronoun Reference

Unclear pronoun reference: Recognizing and editing

1 Watch for pronouns with several possible antecedents

2  Pay attention to pronouns widely separated from their antecedents

3 Create clear reference chains

Nonspecific pronoun reference
1 Use it, which, this, and that with care

2 Look for it used in more than one sense

3 Watch for antecedents that are implied rather than directly stated

Matching who, which, and that to antecedents

43  Misplaced, Dangling, and Disruptive Modifiers

Misplaced modifiers: Recognizing and editing

1 Pay attention to a modifier’s location

2 Pay attention to only, simply, even, and other limiting modifiers

3 Be alert for squinting modifiers

4 Pay attention to clauses beginning with who, which, and that, or other subordinators

Dangling modifiers: Recognizing and editing

Disruptive modifiers: Recognizing and editing
1 Pay attention to separated subjects and verbs

2 Pay attention to separations between verbs and objects (or complements)

3 Be alert for split infinitives or verb phrases

Using absolute phrases effectively

44  Shifts

Person and number

1 Pay attention to shifts in person

2 Pay attention to shifts in number

Tense and mood

1 Pay attention to shifts in tense

2 Be alert for shifts in mood

Voice

Direct and indirect quotation

45 Mixed and Incomplete Sentences

Mixed sentences: Recognizing and editing

1 Recognizing topic shifts

2 Editing topic shifts

3 Recognizing shifts in grammatical pattern

4 Editing shifts in grammatical pattern

Incomplete sentences: Recognizing and editing

1 Recognizing and avoiding incomplete or illogical comparisons

2 Recognizing appropriate and inappropriate omissions

46 Parallelism

Problems with parallelism: Recognizing and editing

1 Check for parallelism in a series

2 Decide which words to repeat

3 Pay attention to parallelism with paired sentence elements

Creating parallelism beyond the sentence

1 Creating parallel sentence clusters

2 Creating parallel paragraphs

Parallelism in lists

47 Coordination and Subordination

Creating coordination

Problems with coordination: Recognizing and editing

1 Look for excessive coordination

2 Check for illogical coordination

Creating subordination

Problems with subordination: Recognizing and editing

1 Be alert for illogical or unclear relationships               

2 Be careful with troublesome subordinators: as/while, and which, but that, and who

3 Watch out for excessive subordination

PART 9  WORDS AND STYLE

48 Wordiness

Common types of wordiness

1 Eliminate empty words and phrases

2 Edit wordy and repetitive sentences

Clichés, generalizations and overblown language

1 Omit clichés

2 Edit overblown language

3 Eliminate excessive writer’s commentary

49 Style, the Dictionary, and Vocabulary

Word choice, readers’ needs, and writers’ purposes

1 Adjust your diction to your readers’ needs

2 Adjust your diction to your purpose

3 Adjust your diction to your persona

4 Use specialized diction appropriately

Precise diction

1 Choose specific words

2 Choose words with appropriate connotations

3 Edit for archaic words and neologism

4 Edit for idiomatic and trite expressions

Using a dictionary and thesaurus

1 Use a dictionary

2 Use a thesaurus

Building vocabulary

1 Vocabulary and the writing process

2 Vocabulary and the reading process

50 Appropriate and Respectful Language

Home and community language varieties

1 Learn to see dialect variations as “rules”

2 Understand standard English as a function of power and social prestige

3 Become aware of the grammatical variations in your home dialect

How dialects influence writing

1 Become aware of oral language influences

2 Consider your word choices

3 Distinguish between slang and dialect        

4 Recognize hypercorrection

Sexist language: Recognizing and editing

1 Avoid implying stereotyped views

2 Avoid gender-stereotyping roles and occupations

3 Beware of male terms used generically

4 Avoid implying sexist views

5 Avoid making unwarranted claims

Discriminatory language: Recognizing and avoiding

1 Avoid derogatory terms

2 Revise unfair stereotypes

3 Choose appropriate group names and terms

PART 10 PUNCTUATION, MECHANICS, AND SPELLING

51 Commas

Joining sentences

Setting off introductory phrases

Setting off nonrestrictive modifiers

1 Recognize nonrestrictive and restrictive modifiers

2 Pay special attention to modifying clauses, phrases, and appositives

Setting off parenthetical expressions

Using commas in a series

Separating coordinate adjectives

Dates, numbers, addresses, place names, people’s titles, and letters

1 Dates

2 Numbers

3 Addresses and place names

4 People’s names and titles

5 Salutations and closings of letters

Commas with quotations

Commas to make your meaning clear

Commas that do not belong

1 Do not insert a comma after words like although and because that introduce a clause

2 Do not insert a comma between a subject and a predicate

3 Do not overuse commas

52 Semicolons and Colons

Using semicolons

1 Try joining two sentences with a semicolon

2 Use a semicolon with words such as however, on the other hand

3 Use a semicolon with deleted structures

4 Use a semicolon with a complex series

Using colons

1 Use a colon to introduce examples, statements, and lists

2 Use a colon to introduce questions

3 Use a colon to separate titles and subtitles

4 Use a colon to join sentences

5 Avoid overuse and misuse of colons

53 Apostrophes

Marking possession

1 Add an apostrophe plus –s to mark possession in singular nouns

2 Add an apostrophe to mark possession in plural nouns

3 Add an apostrophe plus –s or an apostrophe to only the last word in a noun phrase

Marking contractions and omissions

1 Use an apostrophe to contract a verb form

2 Use an apostrophe to mark plural letters

3 Use an apostrophe to abbreviate a year

4 Use an apostrophe to show colloquial pronunciation

54 Quotation Marks

Marking quotations

1 Direct quotations

2 Indirect quotations

3 Quotations inside quotations

Block quotations

Dialogue

Titles of short works

Special meanings of words and phrases

Irony, sarcasm, and authorial distance

55 Periods, Question Marks, and Exclamation Points

Periods

1 End a sentence with a period

2 Use periods in abbreviations

Question marks

1 End a direct question with a question mark

2 Watch for other uses of question marks

Exclamation points

1 End an emphatic statement with an exclamation point

2 Watch for other uses of exclamation points

56 Special Punctuation

Parentheses

1 Use parentheses to set off words or sentences

2 Watch for special uses of parentheses

Brackets

1 Use brackets for interpolations

2 Use brackets within parentheses

Dashes

1 Use dashes for emphasis

2 Avoid overuse of dashes

Ellipses

1 Use ellipses in quotations with omitted words

2 Use ellipses for other gaps

Slashes

1 Use slashes with alternative words

2 Use slashes when quoting lines of poetry

57 Capitalization

Beginning a sentence

1 Capitalize the opening word in a quoted sentence

2 Capitalize a freestanding sentence in parentheses

3 Decide whether to capitalize following a colon

4 Decide whether to capitalize elements in a series or list

Proper nouns and adjectives

1 Capitalize proper nouns and adjectives

2 Capitalize the pronoun I and the interjection O

Titles of works

58 Italics (Underlining)

Following conventions

1 Italicize titles of long or major works

2 Italicize names of specific vehicles

3 Italicize foreign words and phrases

4 Italicize words, letters, and numbers named as words

Emphasis

59 Hyphens and Word Division

Dividing words

Joining words

1 Check hyphens in compound words

2 Hyphenate familiar compounds correctly

3 Hyphenate compound modifiers correctly

4 Use hyphens to create new compounds

60 Numbers

Spelling out or using numerals

1 Spell out number of one or two words

2 Spell out number that begin a sentence

3 Express related numbers in a consistent form

Special conventions

1 Use numerals when appropriate

2 Spell out numbers when appropriate

Too many numbers

61 Abbreviations

Familiar abbreviations

1 Abbreviate titles with proper names

2 Abbreviate references to people and organizations

3 Abbreviate dates and numbers correctly

Using abbreviations sparingly

1 Avoid inappropriate abbreviations

2 Limit Latin abbreviations

 62 Spelling

Spelling and the computer

1 Understand how spell checkers works

2 Use a spell checker cautiously

Recognizing and correcting spelling errors

1 Pause to think

2 Look it up

3 Be alert for common patterns of misspelling

4 Watch for commonly misspelled words

5 Get help

Long-term strategies

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