1. Reading Critically

Critical Reading

Distinguishing Facts from Opinions

Making Inferences

Synthesizing Information

Evaluating Quality

Detecting Errors in Logic

Strategies for Critical Reading

Approach Your Reading with a Reflective and Questioning Attitude

Preview the Material

Do a First Reading

Reread and Study

A Sample Marked Essay

Keeping a Reading Journal

Strategies for Reading Visual Material Critically

Reading All Images

Reading Charts and Graphs

Reading Photographs

Reading Advertisements

Reading Selection: Mortimer Adler, How to Mark a Book

2. Planning an Essay and Using the Patterns of Development

Identifying and Considering Your Writing Context

Purpose

Audience

Role

Generating Ideas

Shaping a Writing Topic

Discovering Ideas to Develop Your Topic

Developing a Thesis

Location of the Thesis

Qualities of an Effective Thesis

Composing Your Thesis

Ordering Ideas

Outlining

The Scratch Outline

The Informal Outline

The Outline Tree

The Formal Outline

Using the Patterns of Development

Reading Selection: Gail Godwin, The Watcher at the Gates

3. Writing and Rewriting

Writing Your First Draft

Tips for Drafting

Essay Structure

The Introduction

Body Paragraphs

The Conclusion

The Title

Visualizing an Essay

Revising Your Draft

Tips for Revising

Revising with Peer Review

Editing Your Draft

Tips for Editing

Proofreading

An Essay in Progress: "The Not-so-ideal Male"

Reading Selection: Christopher Buckley, College Essay*

4. Writing in Academic Settings*

Writing in Response to Reading

Writing a Personal Response

Writing a Summary

Writing a Critical Analysis

Writing a Synthesis

Using the Readings in This Book as Sources

Paraphrasing

Summarizing

Quoting

Integrating Paraphrases, Summaries, and Quotations

Avoiding Plagiarism

Writing to Learn

Keeping a Learning Log

Rewriting Lecture Notes and Class Readings in New Ways

Using the Idea Generation Strategies

Writing with Your Classmates

Writing Explanations and Definitions for Different Audience

Reading Selection: Alan Brinkley, The Mall*

5. Description

The Pattern

Using Description for a Purpose

Combining Patterns for a Purpose

Description beyond the Writing Classroom

Deciding on a Dominant Impression

Supporting Details

Objective and Expressive Details

Descriptive Words

Similes and Metaphors

Organizing Details

Visualiing a Descriptive Essay*

Thinking Critically about Description*

Process Guidelines: Strategies for Writing Description

Checklist for Revising Description

Using Sources for a Purpose

Annotated Student Essay: The Gendarme

Examining Visuals: Description in Corporate Logos

N. Scott Momaday, The Homestead on Rainy Mountain Creek

Diane Akcerman, The World at Dawn: The Pleasure of Life Rekindled*

Annie Dillard, The Deer at Providencia

Gretel Ehrlich, Struck by Lightning

Barry Corbet, Embedded

Alberto Riós, The Vietnam Wall

Additional Writing Assignments

Responding to an Image*

6. Narration

The Pattern

Using Narration for a Purpose

Combining Patterns for a Purpose

Narration beyond the Writing Classroom

Writing Dialogue

Organizing Details

Visualizing a Narrative Essay*

Thinking Critically about Narration*

Process Guidelines: Strategies for Writing Narration

Checklist for Revising Narration

Using Sources for a Purpose

Annotated Student Essay: The Family Reunion, Revisited

Examining Visuals: Narration in a Cartoon

Chris Abani, The Lottery

Langston Hughes, Salvation

Shawn MacComber, Stripping Away Free Expression

John Schwartz, The Poncho Bearer

Natalie Kusz, Ring Leader

Lee K. Abbott, The View of Me from Mars

Additional Essay Assignments

Responding to an Image*

7. Exemplification

The Pattern

Using Exemplification for a Purpose

Combining Patterns for a Purpose

Exemplification beyond the Writing Classroom

Hypothetical Examples

Organizing Details

Visualizing an Exemplification Essay*

Thinking Critically about Exemplification*

Process Guidelines: Strategies for Writing Exemplification

Checklist for Revising Exemplification

Using Sources for a Purpose

Annotated Student Essay: Food for Thought

Examining Visuals: Exemplification in a Cartoon

Cullen Murphy, Lifosuction

Jennifer Saranow, The Snoop Next Door

Ralph Ellison, On Being the Target of Discrimination

Jeffrey Kluger, The Art of Simplexity

Jonathan Kozol, Untouchables

John Cheever, Reunion

Additional Essay Assignments

Responding to an Image*

8. Process Analysis

The Pattern

Using Process Analysis for a Purpose

Combining Patterns for a Purpose

Process Analysis beyond the Writing Classroom

Supporting Details

Organizing Details

Visualizing a Narrative Process Analysis*

Thinking Critically about Process Analysis*

Process Guidelines: Strategies for Writing a Process Analysis

Checklist for Revising a Process Analysis

Using Sources for a Purpose

Annotated Student Essay: A Visit to Candyland

Examining Visuals: Process Analysis in a Photograph

Dave Barry, Science: It's Just Not Fair*

Diane Cole, Don’t Just Stand There

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., In the Kitchen

Timothy Harper, Shoot to Kill

Jessica Mitford, Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain

Naomi Shihab Nye, The Traveling Onion

Additional Essay Assignments

Responding to an Image*

9. Comparison-Contrast

The Pattern

Using Comparison-Contrast for a Purpose

Combining Patterns for a Purpose

Comparison-Contrast beyond the Writing Classroom

Choosing Subjects

Supporting Details

Organizing Details

Visualizing a Comparison-Contrast Essay*

Thinking Critically about Comparison-Contrast*

Process Guidelines: Strategies for Writing Comparison-Contrast

Checklist for Revising Comparison-Contrast

Using Sources for a Purpose

Annotated Student Essay: No Body's Perfect: Femael Self-Image in Two Narratives*

Examining Visuals: Comparison-Contrast in a Photograph

Bruce Catton, Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts

Anne Fadiman, Never Do That to a Book*

Alice Walker, Am I Blue?

*Deborah Siegal, The New Trophy Wife

Deborah Tannen, Squeaky Wheels and Protruding Nails: Direct and Indirect Speech

Arthur L. Campa, Anglo vs. Chicano: Why?

Robert Frost, Fire and Ice

Additional Essay Assignments

Responding to an Image*

10. Cause-and-Effect Analysis

The Pattern

Using Cause-and-Effect Analysis for a Purpose

Combining Patterns for a Purpose

Cause-and-Effect Analysis beyond the Writing Classroom

Supporting Details

Avoiding Errors in Logic

Organizing Details

Visualizing a Cause-and-Effect Analysis*

Thinking Critically about Cause-and-Effect Analysis*

Process Guidelines: Strategies for Writing Cause-and-Effect Analysis

Checklist for Revising Cause-and-Effect Analysis

Using Sources for a Purpose

Annotated Student Essay: Why Athletes Use Steroids

Andrew Sullivan, Why the M Word Matters to Me

Brad Stone, Web of Risks

James Surowiecki, Paying to Play

Carlin Flora, The Beguiling Truth about Beauty*

Brent Staples, Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space

Dorothy Siegel, What Is Behind the Growth of Violence on College Campuses?

Leslie Marmon Silko, Lullaby

Additional Essay Assignments

Responding to an Image*

11. Classification and Division

The Pattern

Using Classification and Division for a Purpose

Combining Patterns for a Purpose

Classification and Division beyond the Writing Classroom

The Principle of Classification and Division

Supporting Details

Organizing Details

Visualizing a Classification and Division Essay*

Thinking Critically about Classification and Devision*

Process Guidelines: Strategies for Writing Classification and Division

Checklist for Revising Classification-Division

Using Sources for a Purpose

Annotated Student Essay: Strictly Speaking

Examining Visuals: Classification-Division in an Advertisement

Sissela Bok, White Lies

Martin Luther King, Jr. The Ways of Meeting Oppression

Bill Bunn, What's Really in Your Shampoo*

Thomas Friedman, Globalization: The Super Story

William Zinsser, College Pressures

Dylan Thomas, Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

Additional Essay Assignments

Responding to an Image

12. Definition

The Pattern

Using Definition for a Purpose

Combining Patterns for a Purpose

Definition beyond the Writing Classroom

Supporting Details

Organizing Details

Visualizing a Definition Essay*

Thinking Critically about Definition*

Process Guidelines: Strategies for Writing Definition

Checklist for Revising Definition

Using Sources for a Purpose

Annotated Student Essay: Why did the Chicken Cross the Möbius Strip?

Examining Visuals: Definition in a Photograph

Stanley Fish, Conspiracy Theories*

Jonathan Rauch, Caring for Your Introvert

Jo Goodwin Parker, What Is Poverty?

Malcolm Gladwell, The Art of Failure

Jose Antonio Burciaga, I Remember Mama*

Pat Mora, Immigrants

Additional Writing Assignments

Responding to an Image*

13. The Law and Society: Contemporary Controversies

The Difference between Argumentation and Persuasion

Purpose and Audience

Combining Patterns for a Purpose

Argumentation-Persuasion beyond the Writing Classroom

Supporting Details

Logos

Pathos

Ethos

How Logos, Pathos, and Ethos Relate to Purpose and Audience

The Toulmin Model

Inductive and Deductive Reasoning

Induction

Deduction

Organizing Argumentation-Persuasion

Visualizing an Argumentation-Persuasion Essay*

Thinking Critically about Argumentation-Persuasion*

Process Guidelines: Strategies for Writing Argumentation-Persuasion

Checklist for Revising Argumentation-Persuasion

Using Sources for a Purpose

Annotated Student Essay: Cast Out of Kansas: Music Censorship in Public Libraries

Should the the Law Allow Payment to Organ Donors?*

National Kidney Foundation, Financial Incentives for Organ Donation

Sally Satel, The Case for Paying for Organ Donors

Should Juvenile Offenders Be Tried in Adult Courts?

The New York Times, Little Adult Criminals

Laurence Steinberg, Should Juvenile Offenders Be Tried as Adults?

Linda J. Collier, Adult Crime, Adult Time

Timothy Roche and Amanda Bower, Young Voices from the Cell

What Speech Does the First Amendment Protect on College Campuses?

Cinnamon Stillwell, Mob Rule on College Campuses

Charles R. Lawrence III, The Debate over Placing Limits on Racist Speech Must Not Ignore the Damage It Does to Its Victims

Harvey A. Silvergate and Greg Lukianoff, Speech Codes: Alive and Well at Colleges

Howard M. Wasserman, Fan Profanity

Robert O’Neil, What Limits Should Campus Networks Place on Pornography?

14. Combining Patterns of Development

Patterns for a Purpose

Using the Patterns of Development For a Purpose

Process Guidelines: Strategies for Combining Patterns

Annotated Student Essay: Taking Book Smarts to the Street

Examining Visuals: Combining Patterns on a Web Site

Elizabeth Svoboda, Closet Cases

George Orwell, A Hanging

Richard Rodriguez, Complexion

Pagan Kennedy, One Room, 3,000 Brains

Esther Thorson, Dissect an Ad

E. B. White, Once More to the Lake

15. Locating, Evaluating, and Drawing on Sources

Using Sources

Locating Sources

Evaluating Print and Internet Sources

Questions about Quality

Questions about Suitability

Drawing on Sources: Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and Quoting

Documenting Sources (MLA Style)

Avoiding Plagiarism

In-Text Citations

The Works Cited Page

Annotated Student Essay: The Struggle to Belong

Appendix A: Document Design

Visuals for Essays

Tables

Pie Charts

Bar and Line Graphs

E-Mail Design

Power Point Slides

Web Site Design

Appendix B: A Guide to Common Errors*

Appendix C: Understanding Plagiarism*

Avoiding Intentional Plagiarism

Avoiding Unintentional Plagiarism

Including Points of Common Knowledge

Avoiding Plagiarism with Paraphrases

Avoiding Plagiarism with Quotations