Exploring Writing: Paragraphs and Essaysserves as a guidebook for every step of the writing process. Emphasizing both process and practice, with a focus on revision, the new second edition helps to apply and advance writing skills using John Langan's proven techniques. Mastering essential sentence skills, learning to write effective paragraphs and essays, and becoming a critical reader are turning points for every writer, and they will prepare the students for writing situations in college and beyond.

466
Names of Particular Places and Institutions 466
Names of Days of the Week, Months, and Holidays 467
Names of Commercial Products 467
Titles of Books, Magazines, Newspapers, Articles, Stories, Poems, Films, Television Shows, Songs, Papers Tha You Write, and the Like 467
Names of Companies, Associations, Unions, Clubs, Religious and Political Groups, and Other Organizations 467
Other Uses of Capital Letters 468
Names that Show Family Relationships 468
Titles of Persons When Used with Their Names 469
Specific School Courses 469
Languages
Geographic Locations 469
Historical Periods and Events 469
Races, Nations, and Nationalities 470
Opening and Closing of a Letter 470
Unnecessary Use of Capitals 470

34.Numbers and Abbreviations 473
Numbers 473
Rule 1 473
Rule 2 473
Rule 3 473
Abbreviations 474

SECTION III: PUNCTUATION
35.Apostrophe 479
Apostrophe in Contractions 479
Apostrophe to Show Ownership or Possession 480
Points to Remember 480
Apostrophe versus Possessive Pronouns 482
Apostrophe verus Simple Plurals 482
Apostrophe with Plurals Ending in -s 483

36.Quotation Marks 485
Quotation Marks to Set Off the Words of a Speaker or Writer 485
Indirect Quotations 487
Quotation Marks to Set Off Titles of Short Works 488
Other Uses of Quotations Marks 489

37.Comma 492
Six Main Uses of the Comma 492
1. Comma between Items in a Series 492
2. Comma after Introductory Material 493
3. Comma around Words That Interrupt the Flow of Thought 494
4. Comma between Complete Thoughts 495
5. Comma with Direct Quotations 496
6. Comma with Everyday Material 497

38.Other Punctuation Marks 501
Colon (:) 501
Semicolon (;) 501
Dash (-) 502
Parentheses () 502
Hyphen (-) 503
SECTION IV: WORD USE 507
39.Spelling Improvement 508
Step 1: Use the Dictionary 508
Step 2: Keep a Personal Spelling List 508
Step 3: Master Commonly Confused Words 509
Step 4: Learn Key Words in Major Subjects 509
Step 5: Study a Basic Word List 509
Step 5: Use Electronic Aids 511

40.Commonly Confused Words 512
Homonyms 512
Other Words Frequently Confused 516

41.Effective Word Choice 521
Slang 521
Cliches 522
Inflated Words 524

42.Editing Tests 527
43.ESL Pointers 540
Articles with Count and Noncount Nouns 540
Using a or an with Nonspecific Singular Count Nouns 541
Using the with Specific Nouns 541
Omitting Articles 542
Using the with Proper Nouns 542
Subjects and Verbs 544
Avoiding Repeated Subjects 544
Including Pronoun Subjects and Linking Verbs 544
Including There and Here at the Beginning of Clauses 544
Not Using the Progressive Tense of Certain Verbs 545
Using Only Transitive Verbs for the Passive Voice 545
Using Gerunds and Infinitives after Verbs 545
Adjectives 548
Following the Order of Adjectives in English 548
Using the Present and Past Participles as Adjectives 549
Prepositions Used for Time and Place 551
Word Use Editiing Tests 553
Correction Symbols 558

PART SIX: READINGS FOR WRITERS 560
Introduction to the Readings 562
Looking Inward 566
Shame, Dick Gregory 566
The Professor is a Dropout, Beth Johnson 572
Superman and Me, Sherman Alexie NEW
Prison Studies, Malcom X (personal essay) 587
Straw into Gold: The Metamorphosis of the Everyday, Sandra Cisneros
Mother Tongue, Amy Tan

Observing Others 603
What's Wrong with Schools?, Casey Banas
Propaganda Techniques in Today's Advertising, Ann McClintock 608
This is How We Live, Ellen DeGeneres 616
Advice to Youth, Mark Twain
Start By Sitting Together, Randy Pausch 629
Inaugural Address, John F. Kennedy 633
Neat People vs. Sloppy People, Suzanne Brit (book excerpt) 639
Petophila, Jon Katz 644

Confronting Problems 650
How to Make It in College, Now That You’re Here, Brian O’Keeney 650
In Praise of the F Word, Mary Sherry 659
Is Sex All That Matters?, Joyce Garity 664
Cyberbullying, Thomas J. Billitteri 671
Why Profiling Won’t Work, William Raspberry 678
Here's to Your Health, Joan Dunayer 683
APPENDIX A: Writing a Resume and Cover Letter 689
APPENDIX B: Writing a Formal E-mail
APPENDIX C: Transition Words and Phrases
CREDITS 695
INDEX 697

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Exploring Writing: Paragraphs and Essays

Exploring Writing: Paragraphs and Essays

9780073533339

0073533335

Summary

Table of Contents

By John Langan

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE xxv

PART ONE: WRITING: SKILLS AND PROCESS 2

1. An Introduction to Writing 4

Point and Support 5

An Important Difference between Writing and Talking 5

Point and Support in a Paragraph 6

Knowing Your Purpose and Audience 8

Benefits of Paragraph Writing 9

Writing as a Skill 9

Writing as a Process of Discovery 11

Keeping a Journal 12

Tips on Using a Computer 14

Ways to Use a Computer at Each Stage of the Writing Process 15

2. The Writing Process 19

Prewriting 20

Technique 1: Freewriting 20

Technique 2: Questioning 23

Technique 3: Making a List 24

Technique 4: Clustering 26

Technique 5: Preparing a Scratch Outline 27

Writing a First Draft 28

Writing a First Draft: A Student Model 29

Revising 30

Revising Content 31

Revising Sentences 31

Editing 31

An Illustration of the Revising and Editing Processes 32

Using Peer Review 34

Identification 35

Scratch Outline 35

Comments 35

Review Activities 36

Taking a Writing Inventory 36

Prewriting 38

Outlining 40

Revising 46

PART TWO: BASIC PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE WRITING 52

3. The First and Second Steps in Writing 54

Step 1: Begin with a Point 55

Identifying Common Errors in Topic Sentences 57

Understanding the Two Parts of a Topic Sentence 59

Selecting a Topic Sentence 61

Writing a Topic Sentence I 62

Writing a Topic Sentence II 64

Step 2: Support the Point with Specific Evidence 65

The Point as an “Umbrella” Idea 66

Reinforcing Point and Support 68

The Importance of Specific Details 71

Recognizing Specific Details I 71

Recognizing Specific Details II 74

Providing Supporting Evidence 74

The Importance of Adequate Details 75

Identifying Adequate Supporting Evidence 77

Adding Details to Complete a Paragraph 80

Writing a Paragraph 81

4. The Third and Fourth Steps in Writing 84

Step 3: Organize and Connect the Specific Evidence 85

Common Methods of Organization: Time Order and Emphatic Order 85

Transitions 89

Other Connecting Words 95

Step 4: Write Clear, Error-Free Sentences 98

Revising Sentences 98

Editing Sentences 116

5. Four Bases for Revising Writing 119

Base 1: Unity 120

Understanding Unity 120

Checking for Unity 122

Base 2: Support 126

Understanding Support 126

Checking for Support 127

Base 3: Coherence 129