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Steps to Writing Well with Infotrac

ISBN: 9781413001082 | 1413001084
Edition: 9th
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Cengage Learning
Pub. Date: 6/22/2004

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SummaryTable of Contents
The informal, student-friendly tone of this rhetorically-organized rhetoric/reader/handbooks provides step-by-step instructions on writing a variety of short, 500-800-word essays. This is a text that both students and instructors can use easily.
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 advic... MORE
List of Fine Art
xvi
To the Teacherxvii
To the Studentxxiii
Part One The Basics of the Short Essay
... MORE(176)
Prewriting
3(28)
Getting Started (or Soup-Can Labels Can Be Fascinating)
3(1)
Selecting a Subject
4(2)
Finding Your Essay's Purpose and Focus
6(1)
Pump-Primer Techniques
7(10)
After You've Found Your Focus
17(1)
Practicing What You've Learned
18(1)
Discovering Your Audience
19(1)
How to Identify Your Readers
19(3)
Practicing What You've Learned
22(1)
Assignment
22(3)
Keeping a Journal (Talking to Yourself Does Help)
25(4)
Chapter 1 Summary
29(2)
The Thesis Statement
31(16)
What Is a Thesis? What Does a ``Working Thesis'' Do?
32(1)
Can a ``Working Thesis'' Change?
32(1)
Guidelines for Writing a Good Thesis
33(4)
Avoiding Common Errors in Thesis Statements
37(2)
Practicing What You've Learned
39(1)
Assignment
40(1)
Using the Essay Map
41(1)
Practicing What You've Learned
42(1)
Assignment
43(2)
Chapter 2 Summary
45(2)
The Body Paragraphs
47(32)
Planning the Body of Your Essay
47(3)
Composing the Body Paragraphs
50(1)
The Topic Sentence
50(5)
Focusing Your Topic Sentence
53(1)
Placing Your Topic Sentence
53(2)
Practicing What You've Learned
55(3)
Assignment
58(1)
Applying What You've Learned to Your Writing
58(1)
Paragraph Development
59(3)
Paragraph Length
62(1)
Practicing What You've Learned
63(1)
Assignment
63(1)
Applying What You've Learned to Your Writing
64(1)
Paragraph Unity
64(2)
Practicing What You've Learned
66(1)
Applying What You've Learned to Your Writing
67(1)
Paragraph Coherence
68(5)
Practicing What You've Learned
73(3)
Paragraph Sequence
76(1)
Transitions between Paragraphs
77(1)
Applying What You've Learned to Your Writing
78(1)
Chapter 3 Summary
78(1)
Beginnings and Endings
79(10)
How to Write a Good Lead-in
79(2)
Avoiding Errors in Lead-ins
81(1)
Practicing What You've Learned
82(1)
How to Write a Good Concluding Paragraph
82(2)
Avoiding Errors in Conclusions
84(1)
Practicing What You've Learned
85(1)
How to Write a Good Title
85(1)
Assignment
86(1)
Applying What You've Learned to Your Writing
86(1)
Chapter 4 Summary
87(2)
Drafting and Revising: Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking
89(26)
What Is Revision?
89(1)
When Does Revision Occur?
90(1)
Myths about Revision
90(1)
Can I Learn to Improve My Revision Skills?
91(1)
Preparing to Draft: Some Time-Saving Hints
92(3)
Additional Suggestions for Writers with Word Processors
93(2)
Writing Centers, Computer Labs, and Computer Classrooms
95(1)
A Revision Process for Your Drafts
96(2)
What Is Critical Thinking?
98(1)
Thinking Critically as a Writer
98(6)
A Final Checklist for Your Essay
104(1)
Practicing What You've Learned
104(2)
Benefiting from Revision Workshops
106(3)
Practicing What You've Learned
109(1)
Assignment
110(1)
Some Last Advice: How to Play with Your Mental Blocks
110(3)
Chapter 5 Summary
113(2)
Effective Sentences
115(26)
Developing a Clear Style
116(6)
Developing a Concise Style
122(4)
Practicing What You've Learned
126(2)
Assignment
128(1)
Developing a Lively Style
128(4)
Practicing What You've Learned
132(1)
Assignment
132(1)
Developing an Emphatic Style
133(3)
Practicing What You've Learned
136(2)
Assignment
138(1)
Applying What You've Learned to Your Writing
139(1)
Chapter 6 Summary
139(2)
Word Logic
141(24)
Selecting the Correct Words
141(6)
Practicing What You've Learned
147(2)
Selecting the Best Words
149(10)
Practicing What You've Learned
159(2)
Assignment
161(2)
Applying What You've Learned to Your Writing
163(1)
Chapter 7 Summary
164(1)
The Reading-Writing Connection
165(12)
How Can Reading Well Help Me Become a Better Writer?
165(1)
How Can I Become an Analytical Reader?
166(2)
Sample Annotated Essay: ``Our Youth Should Serve''
168(3)
Practicing What You've Learned
171(1)
Assignment
171(1)
Writing a Summary
171(2)
Practicing What You've Learned
173(1)
Benefiting from Class Discussions
173(2)
Chapter 8 Summary
175(1)
Part One Summary: The Basics of the Short Essay
176(1)
Part Two Purposes, Modes, and Strategies
177(176)
Exposition
179(94)
The Strategies of Exposition
179(1)
Strategy One: Development by Example
180(5)
Developing Your Essay
183(1)
Problems to Avoid
184(1)
Essay Topics
185(2)
A Topic Proposal for Your Essay
186(1)
Sample Student Essay
187(2)
Professional Essay: ``So What's So Bad about Being So-So?''
189(3)
The drive for perfection is preventing too many people from enjoying sports and hobbies, says author Lisa Wilson Strick (who proudly plays the piano badly but with great pleasure)
A Revision Worksheet
192(1)
Reviewing Your Progress
193(1)
Strategy Two: Development by Process Analysis
193(3)
Developing Your Essay
194(2)
Problems to Avoid
196(1)
Essay Topics
196(2)
A Topic Proposal for Your Essay
198(1)
Sample Student Essay
198(5)
Professional Essay (Informative Process): ``To Bid the World Farewell''
203(5)
By describing the embalming process in vivid, step-by-step detail, social critic and author Jessica Mitford questions the value---and necessity---of the entire procedure
Professional Essay (Directional Process): ``Ditch Diving''
208(2)
Humorist Tom Bodett offers precise instructions for achieving high scores in the winter sport of ditch diving, an unappreciated artistic activity that requires only a vehicle, a road, a ditch, and some snow
A Revision Worksheet
210(1)
Reviewing Your Progress
211(1)
Strategy Three: Development by Comparison and Contrast
211(4)
Developing Your Essay
211(2)
Which Pattern Should You Use?
213(1)
Problems to Avoid
214(1)
Essay Topics
215(2)
A Topic Proposal for Your Essay
217(1)
Sample Student Essay (Point-by-Point Pattern)
217(4)
Sample Student Essay (Block Pattern)
221(2)
Professional Essay (Point-by-Point Pattern): ``Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts''
223(4)
Noted historian Bruce Catton compares and contrasts the two great generals of the Civil War, concluding that their roles at Appomattox made possible ``a peace of reconciliation.''
Professional Essay (Block Pattern): ``Two Ways of Viewing the River''
227(2)
One of the United States' most beloved writers, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), contrasts his earlier, romantic view of the Mississippi River to his later, more practical view as an experienced riverboat pilot
A Revision Worksheet
229(3)
A Special Kind of Comparison: The Analogy
229(3)
Reviewing Your Progress
232(1)
Strategy Four: Development by Definition
232(4)
Why Do We Define?
233(1)
Developing Your Essay
233(2)
Problems to Avoid
235(1)
Essay Topics
236(2)
A Topic Proposal for Your Essay
237(1)
Sample Student Essay
238(3)
Professional Essay: ``The Munchausen Mystery''
241(3)
A Harvard professor of psychiatry explains a perplexing ``medical madness'' in which patients use extreme and sophisticated measures to fake illnesses---in some cases, all the way to the operating room
A Revision Worksheet
244(1)
Reviewing Your Progress
244(1)
Strategy Five: Development by Division and Classification
245(2)
Division
245(1)
Classification
245(1)
Developing Your Essay
246(1)
Problems to Avoid
247(1)
Essay Topics
247(2)
A Topic Proposal for Your Essay
249(1)
Sample Student Essay
249(3)
Professional Essay (Classification): ``The Plot against People''
252(3)
According to well-known columnist Russell Baker, all inanimate objects may be classified into three categories: those that don't work, those that get lost, and those that break down
Professional Essay (Division): ``A Brush with Reality: Surprises in the Tube''
255(3)
Do you really know what's in the toothpaste you use every day? In this unforgettable essay, science writer David Bodanis analyzes the surprising (and sometimes shocking) ingredients
A Revision Worksheet
258(1)
Reviewing Your Progress
258(1)
Strategy Six: Development by Causal Analysis
259(3)
Developing Your Essay
259(2)
Problems to Avoid
261(1)
Essay Topics
262(2)
A Topic Proposal for Your Essay
263(1)
Sample Student Essay
264(3)
Professional Essay: ``How Mr. Dewey Decimal Saved My Life''
267(3)
In this delightful essay recalling her teen years in rural Kentucky, award-winning novelist Barbara Kingsolver explains how books and a librarian with a hidden agenda rescued her from a dead-end life in a two-stop-light town
A Revision Worksheet
270(3)
Reviewing Your Progress
270(3)
Argumentation
273(34)
Developing Your Essay
273(9)
Problems to Avoid
282(1)
Common Logical Fallacies
282(3)
Practicing What You've Learned
285(2)
Assignment
287(1)
Essay Topics
287(2)
A Topic Proposal for Your Essay
288(1)
Sample Student Essay
289(3)
Professional Essays (Pro/Con): ``Free Speech Zones''
292(3)
Should demonstrators be restricted to ``protest zones'' far away from the speakers or sites they are protesting? No, says the editorial board of USA Today, an enforced confinement of citizens interferes with their basic right of free speech. Yes, says attorney Robert J. Scott, who argues that recent disruptive activity justifies such restrictions to maintain order
Analyzing Advertisements
295(10)
Conflicting Positions: Gun Control
295(4)
Competing Products: Sources of Energy
299(3)
Popular Appeals: Spending Our Money
302(3)
A Revision Worksheet
305(2)
Reviewing Your Progress
305(2)
Description
307(18)
How to Write Effective Description
307(5)
Problems to Avoid
311(1)
Practicing What You've Learned: ``Aboard the Sleeper''
312(1)
Verlyn Klinkenborg
Assignment: ``Nighthawks''
313(1)
Edward Hopper
Essay Topics
313(2)
A Topic Proposal for Your Essay
315(1)
Sample Student Essay
315(4)
Professional Essay: ``Still Learning from My Mother''
319(3)
Not only did Mom throw a mean fast ball in her younger days, at almost 80 she continues to achieve new goals with determination and spirit, as described by son Cliff Schneider in this charming tribute
A Revision Worksheet
322(3)
Reviewing Your Progress
323(2)
Narration
325(16)
Writing the Effective Narrative Essay
326(2)
Problems to Avoid
327(1)
Practicing What You've Learned: ``Tornado Over Kansas''
328(1)
John Steuart Curry
Essay Topics
329(2)
A Topic Proposal for Your Essay
330(1)
Sample Student Essay
331(2)
Professional Essay: ``Sister Flowers''
333(5)
Multi-talented writer and performer Maya Angelou remembers a special time in her life and shows how one person's kindness and respect can dramatically change a child's life for the better
A Revision Worksheet
338(3)
Reviewing Your Progress
339(2)
Writing Essays Using Multiple Strategies
341(12)
Choosing the Best Strategies
342(1)
Problems to Avoid
343(1)
Sample Student Essay
343(4)
Professional Essay: ``Don't Let Stereotypes Warp Your Judgments''
347(4)
Are Gloria and Richard better looking than Bertha or Cuthbert? Do you vote for the candidate who looks like a winner? In this essay, Professor Robert L. Heilbroner addresses the complex issue of stereotyping, first by citing some fascinating experiments that illustrate the problem. He then analyzes the causes of type-casting, explains the harmful effects, and offers some steps for changing this negative behavior
A Revision Worksheet
351(2)
Reviewing Your Progress
352(1)
Part Three Special Assignments
353(122)
Writing a Paper Using Research
355(52)
Focusing Your Topic
355(1)
Beginning Your Library Research
356(7)
General Reference Works
357(1)
Online Catalogs
357(1)
Indexes
358(1)
Databases
358(3)
The Internet
361(2)
Special Collections
363(1)
Conducting the Personal Interview
363(2)
Preparing a Working Bibliography
365(3)
Choosing and Evaluating Your Sources
368(2)
Preparing an Annotated Bibliography
370(1)
Taking Notes
371(3)
Distinguishing Paraphrase from Summary
373(1)
Incorporating Your Source Material
374(2)
Avoiding Plagiarism
376(2)
Practicing What You've Learned
378(1)
Assignment
379(1)
Choosing the Documentation Style for Your Essay
380(16)
MLA Style
380(11)
APA Style
391(4)
Footnote and Bibliography Form
395(1)
Using Supplementary Notes
396(1)
Sample Student Paper Using MLA Style
397(10)
Writing in Class: Exams and ``Response'' Essays
407(14)
Steps to Writing Well under Pressure
407(6)
Problems to Avoid
413(1)
Practicing What You've Learned
413(1)
Assignment
414(1)
Writing the Summary-and-Response Essay
414(3)
Sample Student Essay
417(2)
Practicing What You've Learned
419(1)
Assignment
419(2)
Writing about Literature
421(22)
Using Literature in the Composition Classroom
421(1)
Suggestions for Close Reading of Literature
422(1)
Steps to Reading a Story
423(1)
Annotated Story: ``The Story of an Hour''
424(4)
In this ironic story by Kate Chopin, a woman receives some bad news about her husband---not once, but twice
Sample Student Essay
428(2)
Steps to Reading a Poem
430(3)
Annotated Poem: ``When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer''
433(1)
Poet Walt Whitman contrasts two ways of knowing and responding to the marvels of the night sky
Sample Student Essay
434(3)
Guidelines for Writing about Literature
437(2)
Problems to Avoid
438(1)
Practicing What You've Learned: ``Snow'' by Julia Alverez and ``Those Winter Sundays'' by Robert Hayden
439(2)
Suggestions for Writing
441(2)
Writing about Film
443(14)
Using Film in the Composition Classroom
443(2)
Guidelines for Writing about Film
445(3)
Problems to Avoid
448(1)
Sample Student Essay
448(4)
Practicing What You've Learned: ``Cat in the Hat Coughs Up Mayhem''
452(1)
David Germain
Suggestions for Writing
453(1)
Glossary of Film Terms
454(3)
Writing in the World of Work
457(18)
Composing Business Letters
458(4)
Business Letter Format
459(3)
Practicing What You've Learned
462(1)
Assignment
462(1)
Sample Business Letter
463(1)
Creating Memos
464(1)
Sending Professional E-Mail
465(2)
Designing Resumes
467(4)
Critique Your Page Appeal
470(1)
Problems to Avoid
470(1)
Assignment
471(1)
Sample Resumes
471(3)
Writing Post-Interview Letters
474(1)
Part Four A Concise Handbook
475(54)
Major Errors in Grammar
477(22)
Errors with Verbs
477(4)
Practicing What You've Learned
481(1)
Errors with Nouns
482(1)
Errors with Pronouns
482(3)
Practicing What You've Learned
485(1)
Errors with Adverbs and Adjectives
486(2)
Practicing What You've Learned
488(1)
Errors in Modifying Phrases
488(1)
Practicing What You've Learned
489(1)
Errors in Sentences
490(1)
Practicing What You've Learned
490(2)
Practicing What You've Learned
492(2)
Practicing What You've Learned
494(2)
Practicing What You've Learned
496(3)
A Concise Guide to Punctuation
499(22)
The Period
500(1)
The Question Mark
500(1)
The Exclamation Point
500(1)
Practicing What You've Learned
500(1)
The Comma
501(3)
Practicing What You've Learned
504(1)
The Semicolon
505(1)
Practicing What You've Learned
506(1)
The Colon
507(1)
Practicing What You've Learned
508(1)
The Apostrophe
509(1)
Practicing What You've Learned
510(1)
Quotation Marks
510(2)
Practicing What You've Learned
512(1)
Parentheses
512(1)
Brackets
513(1)
The Dash
514(1)
Practicing What You've Learned
515(1)
The Hyphen
515(1)
Practicing What You've Learned
516(1)
Underlining
517(1)
Ellipsis Points
517(1)
Practicing What You've Learned
518(3)
A Concise Guide to Mechanics
521(8)
Capitalization
521(1)
Practicing What You've Learned
522(1)
Abbreviations
523(1)
Numbers
524(1)
Practicing What You've Learned
524(1)
Spelling
525(4)
Credits529(2)
Index531

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