Rent 9780495899075 | Steps to Writing Well (with 2009 MLA Update Card)

Summary Table of Contents

Writing well is just a step away! Join the thousands of students who have learned to write well with Jean Wyrick's helpful instruction. STEPS TO WRITING WELL, Tenth Edition, is the ultimate step-by-step guide to writing effective essays. With Wyrick's clear, practical advice and student-friendly tone, you'll find it easy to begin, organize, and revise your writing-from choosing a topic to developing your essay to polishing your prose. Interesting readings in a variety of styles offer useful examples of the types of essays you'll most often be assigned in your composition and other college classes. Students receive the most up-to-date information on MLA documentation with the enclosed tri-fold card providing NEW 2009 MLA Handbook formats.

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*Denotes new reading
The Basics Of The Short Essay
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
Discovering Your Audience
How to Identify Your Readers
Keeping a Journal (Talking to Yourself Does Help)
Chapter Summary
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
Using the Essay Map
Chapter Summary
The Body Paragraphs
Planning the Body of Your Essay
Composing the Body Paragraphs
The Topic Sentence
Paragraph Development
Paragraph Length
Paragraph Unity
Paragraph Coherence
Paragraph Sequence
Transitions between Paragraphs
Chapter Summary
Beginnings and Endings
How to Write a Good Lead-in
Avoiding Errors in Lead-ins
How to Write a Good Concluding Paragraph
Avoiding Errors in Conclusions
How to Write a Good Title
Chapter Summary
Drafting and Revision: 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 Time-Saving Hints
Writing Centers, Computer Labs, and Computer Classrooms
A Revision Process for Your Drafts
What Is Critical Thinking
Thinking Critically as a Writer
Benefiting from Revision Workshops
Some Last Advice: How to Play with Your Mental Blocks
Chapter Summary
Effective Sentences
Developing a Clear Style
Developing a Concise Style
Developing a Lively Style
Developing an Emphatic Style
Chapter Summary
Word Logic
Selecting the Correct Words
Selecting the Best Words
Chapter Summary
The Reading-Writing Connection
How Can Reading Well Help Me Become a Better Writer
How Can I Become an Analytical Reader
Sample Annotated Essay: "Our Youth Should Serve" by Steven Muller
Writing a Summary
Benefiting from Class Discussions
Chapter Summary
Summary: The Basics of the Short Essay
Purposes, Modes, and Strategies
Exposition
The Strategies of Exposition
Strategy One: Development by Example
Developing Your Essay
Problems to Avoid
Student Essay: "River Rafting Teaches Worthwhile Lessons"
Professional Essay: "What's So Bad about Being So-So?"
Strategy Two: Development by Process Analysis
Developing Your Essay
Problems to Avoid
Student Essay: "Catching Garage Sale Fever."
Professional Essay: "To Bid the World Farewell"
Professional Essay: *"Preparing for the Job Interview: Know Thyself"
Strategy Three: Development by Comparison and Contrast
Developing Your Essay
Problems to Avoid
Student Essay: Point-by-Point Pattern: "Bringing Back the Joy of Market Day."
Student Essay: Block Pattern: "Backyard: Old and New."
Professional Essay: Point-by-Point Pattern: "Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts"
Professional Essay: Block Pattern: "Two Ways of Viewing the River"
Strategy Four: Development by Definition
Developing Your Essay
Problems to Avoid
Student Essay: "Blind Paces." Professional Essay: "The Munchausen Mystery"
Strategy Five: Development by Division and Classification
Developing Your Essay
Problems to Avoid
Student Essay: "The Native American Era at Mesa Verde."
Professional Essay: "The Plot against People"
Professional Essay: Division: "A Brush with Reality: Surprises in the Tube"
Strategy Six: Development by Causal Analysis
Developing Your Essay
Problems to Avoid
Student Essay: "It's Simply Not Worth It."
*Professional Essay: "Some Lessons from the Assembly Line"
Argumentation
Developing Your Essay
Problems to Avoid
Common Logical Fallacies
Student Essay: "Students, Take Note!"
Professional Pro/Con Essays: School Schedules
*"High Schools, Wake Up!" from USA Today
*"Reform No Child's Play"
Conflicting Positions: Gun Control (ads)
Competing Products: Energy Sources (ads)
Popular Appeals: Spending Our Money (ads)
Description
How to write Effective Description
Problems to Avoid
Student Essay: "Treeclimbing."
Narration
Writing the Effective Narrative Essay
Problems to Avoid
Student Essay: "Never Underestimate the Little Things."
Professional Essay: "Sister Flowers"
Writing Essays Using Multiple Strategies
Choosing the Best Strategies
Problems to Avoid
Student Essay: "Pass the Broccoli--Please!"
Professional Essay: "Don't Let Stereotypes Warp Your Judgments"
Special Assignments
Writing a Paper Using Research
Focusing Your Topic
Beginning Your Library Research
Conducting Primary Research
The Personal Interview
The Questionnaire
Preparing a Working Bibliography
Choosing and Evaluating Your Sources
Preparing an Annotated Bibliography
Taking Notes
Avoiding Plagiarism
Choosing the Documentation Style for Your Essay
MLA Style
APA Style
Using Supplementary Notes
Student Paper Using MLA Style: "A Possibility of Survival: The Mysterious Fate of Anastasia and Alexei"
*Student Sample Using APA Style
Writing in Class: Exams and 'Response' Essays
Steps to Writing Well under Pressure
Problems to Avoid
Writing the Summary-and-Response Essay
Student Essay "Youth Service: An Idea Whose Time Has Come."
Writing about Literature
Using Literature in the Composition Classroom
Suggestions for Close Reading of Literature
Steps to Reading a Story
Annotated Fiction: "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin
Student Essay: "A Breath of Fresh Air." Steps to Reading a Poem
Annotated Poetry: "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer"
Student Essay: "Two Ways of Knowing."
*Fiction: "Gerald No Last Name"
*Fiction: "The Cask of Amontillado"
Poetry: "Those Winter Sundays"
*Poetry: "The Road Not Taken"
Writing about Visual Arts
Using Visual Arts in the Composition Classroom
Suggestions for Analyzing Paintings
Additional Advice about Sculpture and Photography
Guidelines for Writing about Art Works
Problems to Avoid
*Annotated painting: Nighthawks
*Student Essay "Night in the City and Psyche"
Writing about Film
Using Film in the Composition Classroom
Guidelines for Writing about Film
Problems to Avoid
Student Essay: "Catch the Black Bird."
Professional Film Review: "Cat in the Hat Coughs Up Mayhem"
Glossary of Film Terms
Writing in the World of Work
Composing Business Letters
Sample Student Business Letter
Creating Memos
Sending Professional E-Mail
Designing Resumes
Sample Resume #
Sample Resume #2
Preparing Interview Notes and Post-Interview Letters
A Concise Handbook
Major Errors in Grammar
Verbs
Nouns
Pronouns
Adverbs and Adjectives
Modifying Phrases
Sentences
A Concise Guide to Punctuation
Period
Question Mark
Exclamation Point
Comma
Semicolon
Colon
Apostrophe
Quotation Marks
Parentheses
Brackets
Dash
Hyphen
Underlining
Ellipsis Points
A Concise Guide to Mechanics
Capitalization
Abbreviations
Numbers
Spelling
"Grammar's Gremlins" from On Language
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

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