For one/two-semester paragraph-to-essay level basic writing courses, Developmental Writing, or Freshman Composition courses in the English Department. This time-honored, comprehensive program for basic writers features a unique instructional format that combines the fundamentals of grammar, mechanics, rhetoric, vocabulary, and spelling, with contemporary topics of interest and participatory exercises that require students to get fully involved by creating, changing, rewriting, or correcting. Using an integrated whole language approach and continual reinforcement of skills, the text shows respect for students' intelligence, maturity, and interests.