Bridges to better writing

Bridges to Better Writing

• Writing your introduction

• Writing your body paragraphs

• Writing your conclusion

• Making your ideas coherent

• Revising your support

• Considering style

• Troubleshooting problem areas

• Asking your peers to review

• Considering how you might use

your new skills in other situations

• Discovering and limiting your topic

• Identifying your audience

• Establishing your purpose

• Setting your tone

• Formulating your thesis

• Outlining your ideas

William F Lewis Pueblo Community College

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 12 11 10 09 08

For my wife, Carmen, and children—Jessica, Louis, and Ryan—for their patience

and support; my parents, Irma and Carmelo, for their faith in me; and the faculty

and students of Pueblo Community College from whom I’m still learning

Luis Nazario

To my father, Prof Edward H Davidson, for my love of reading and writing; to my

husband, Phil, for tutoring me through my fi rst year of teaching; to my son, Nat,

who inspires me; and to all of my students who expand my world

Deborah Borchers

For my wife, Jan, my sons, Owen and John, and my parents, Bill and Louise, with

grati-tude and love For my sgrati-tudents, whose questions, I hope, are answered in this book

William Lewis

A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

The authors express their warmest gratitude to the following: our entire Cengage Learning

support team, including Development Editor, Marita Sermolins, for her constant

encour-agement and wise counsel; Director of Developmental English, Annie Todd; Marketing

Manager, Kirsten Stoller; Associate Media Editor, Emily Ryan; and Senior Content Project

Manager, Michael Lepera To Ms Erika Parks, for her careful reading and valuable

sugges-tions; David Hall for suggesting this project; Stephen Dalphin for helping us through the

initial stages; and the many authors and authorities in the fi eld of English education that

have inspired us

The authors would also like to thank the many colleagues who reviewed many iterations of manuscript chapters and provided their valuable input on content and

design—without their advice this book would not be in its current state: Cathryn

Amdahl, Harrisburg Area Community College; Keith Amrine, Genessee Community

College; Stephen Black, Southwest Tennessee Community College; Carol Ann Britt,

San Antonio College; Cathleen Carosella, Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort

Wayne; Gregory Cecere, Palm Beach Community College; Alan Church, University of

Texas at Brownsville; J Andrew Clovis, West Virginia University at Parkersburg; Donna

Marie Colonna, Sandhills Community College; Jim Cooney, Montgomery County

Community College; Janet Cutshall, Sussex County Community College; Barbara

Danley, Sandhills Community College; Magali A M Duignan, Augusta State University;

Stephanie Dumstorf, Brevard Community College; Margo Eden-Camann, Georgia

Perimeter College—Clarkston; Gwen Enright, San Diego City College; Endora Feick,

Nashville State Community College; Karen L Feldman, Seminole Community College;

Cathy Gillis, Napa Valley College; Ellen Gilmour, Genessee Community College; José J

González, Jr., South Texas College; Martha Goodwin, Bergen Community College; Robin

Griffi n, Truckee Meadows Community College; Mary Ellen Haley, Bloomfi eld College;

Nikka Harris, Rochester Community and Technical College; Amy Havel, Southern Maine

Community College; Levia DiNardo Hayes, College of Southern Nevada; Linda Houck,

Nashville State Community College; Brandon Hudson, McLennen Community College;

Marisa Humphrey, Central Washington University; Therese Jones, Lewis University; Jack

Macfarlane, San Joaquin Valley College; David Mackinder, Wayne State University; Ami

Massengill, Nashville State Community College; Jack Miller, Normandale Community

College; Chris Morelock, Walters State Community College; Betty Palmer Nelson, Volunteer State Community College; Ellen Olmstead, Montgomery College; Roberta Panish, Rockland Community College; Charles E Porter, Wor-Wic Community College;

Jennifer Ratcliff , North Central Texas College; Dana Resente, Montgomery County Community College; Donald Rhyne, San Joaquin Valley College; Edward Roper, Troy University, Montgomery; Jamie Sadler, Richmond Community College; Julie Sanford, Roosevelt University; Anna Schmidt, Cy-Fair College; Deneen Shepherd, Saint Louis Community College at Forest Park; Tamara Shue, Georgia Perimeter College—

Dunwoody; Michelle Taylor, Ogeechee Technical College; Michael Tischler, Western Nevada Community College; Lisa Todd, Hudson County Community College; Verne Underwood, Rogue Community College; Mary Beth Van Ness, Terra Community College; Roger West, Trident Technical College; Helena Zacharis, Palm Beach Community College; and William Ziegler, J Sargeant Reynolds Community College

The authors would also like to thank the group who carefully reviewed drafts of the Instructor’s Manual and Test Bank and provided counsel about and enthusiasm for the project: Phyllis Gowdy, Tidewater Community College—Virginia Beach; Patricia Moseley, Central Carolina Technical College; Linsay Oaken, University of Nevada, Reno;

Charles E Porter, Wor-Wic Community College; and Vicki Sapp, Tarrant County College

The authors would especially like to thank the following students whose work we present to you in this text:

Leroy BachichaLora Bailey Ron BartonAndre BlackwellJamie BrussJoe ChamberlainTom ColemanLoretta CruzLisa DosenDavid FarrenMarla GrossmanFrank Hahn

Clyde HazeltonJon-Paul Jared HuntJoshua JanoskiJoAnna JohnsonSheralan MarrottGabriel MartinezJeremy MathewsLauren MontoyaTamra O’TooleChristian PettieMichael PinoTheresa Randall

Regina RitschardLawrence RodriguezDeborah J SeatonDiannah SholeyChi Yon SinKent SpathClaude SternerAngelique TrujilloDustin WertzDawn Yengich

A B O U T T H E A U T H O R S

Luis Nazario is Assistant Chair of the English

depart-ment at Pueblo Community College where he has taught since 1990 Professor Nazario completed his B.A at Inter American University in Puerto Rico He pursued his teach-ing career in both Puerto Rico and the United States where

he earned his M.A in TESOL at New York University

After joining the English department at Pueblo in

1990, Professor Nazario distinguished himself by oping a set of manuals for part-time faculty that were innovative in their comprehensiveness and use of visual support With Professor Borchers he presented their work with service learning at conferences and later worked on modules for developmental English to be used in the De-partment of Corrections Additionally, he has developed internet courses in both developmental and college level courses and has restructured his course to be taught as a learning community

devel-Professor Nazario has enjoyed the challenges of creating a textbook with visual appeal “A whole graphic might spring from a single phrase.” He is also energized by

off ering instructors the power of choice “Instructors have

to be aware of their choices, and in Bridges to Better

Writ-ing, they can pick and choose chapters to develop their

syllabus and create the most eff ective approach for their students And we’re always including new ways to intro-duce a composition.”

Luis Nazario

“I saw an opportunity to

write a text that engages

students visually to create

a more dynamic learning

experience.”

■ Luis Nazario ■

Debbie Borchers is Chair of the English department at

Pueblo Community College, where she is in her twentieth year as a member of the faculty Professor Borchers began her teaching career as a student of Near Eastern culture

in Cairo “From Egypt, I went on to teach in Iran, where

I eventually had to escape the Iranian Revolution.” After she returned to the United States, Prof Borchers earned her M.A in TESL from the University of Arizona and even-tually moved to Pueblo

With her Assistant Chair, Luis Nazario, Professor Borchers has implemented innovative service learning programs, student and faculty assessments, and standards for the English curriculum Additionally, she developed

an online Introduction to Literature course and has presented workshops on Writing Across the Curriculum

“Writing is one of the hardest things to teach, and what many people don’t realize is that a textbook doesn’t have

to be just text! There are better ways to teach than to have

a student just write a paragraph and do some activities.”

Bill Lewis has recently returned to teaching after serving

for two years as Director of Planning, Accreditation, and

Eff ectiveness at Pueblo Community College where he is

in his fi fteenth year as an English teacher Professor Lewis came to teaching after many years working in the defense industry He graduated from the University of Colorado and traveled around the country before pursuing his interest in the Russian language at the Defense Language Institute

He worked in the intelligence community until ing his M.A in English from George Mason University He then began his long association with the English depart-ment at Pueblo, where he has taught developmental and college level English composition, technical writing, and literature courses “My recent work on our accreditation has shown me the great strides that Debbie and Luis have made with the English department Their development of service learning programs and special manuals for adjunct instructors—these are unique and innovative solutions.”

earn-Deborah Borchers

“I always try to perfect the tone, style, and fl ow to make the chapters as readable as possible.”

■ Bill Lewis ■

B R I E F C O N T E N T S

PART 1 WRITING YOUR PAPERS, 1

CHAPTER 1 Let’s Talk about Writing, 3 CHAPTER 2 Writing Your Descriptive

Paragraph, 17 CHAPTER 3 Writing Your Descriptive

Narrative Essay, 42 CHAPTER 4 Writing Your Expository

Paragraph, 73 CHAPTER 5 Developing Your Essay through

Illustration, 103 CHAPTER 6 Developing Your Essay through

Process Analysis, 136 CHAPTER 7 Developing Your Essay through

Cause/Eff ect Analysis, 171 CHAPTER 8 Developing Your Essay through

Comparison or Contrast, 201 CHAPTER 9 Developing Your Essay through

Division and Classifi cation, 237 CHAPTER 10 Developing Your Essay through

Defi nition, 268 CHAPTER 11 Developing Your Essay through

Argumentation, 297 CHAPTER 12 Making Choices: Developing an

Integrated Essay, 338

PART 2 WRITING WITH SOURCES, 369

CHAPTER 13 Working with Sources, 371 CHAPTER 14 Writing Your Research Paper, 410

PART 3 EDITING FOR GRAMMAR, 449

CHAPTER 15 Editing for Fragments, 451 CHAPTER 16 Editing for Run-on Sentences, 469 CHAPTER 17 Editing for Subject–Verb

Agreement, 485 CHAPTER 18 Editing for Pronouns, 504 CHAPTER 19 Editing for Verb Use, 528 CHAPTER 20 Editing for Adjectives and

Adverbs, 557

PART 4 EDITING FOR STYLE, 577

CHAPTER 21 Writing Clear Sentences, 579 CHAPTER 22 Writing Varied Sentences, 600 CHAPTER 23 Avoiding Unnecessary Words

and Expressions, 622

PART 5 USING THE CORRECT WORDS, 641

CHAPTER 24 Frequently Confused Words, 643 CHAPTER 25 Improving Your Spelling, 664

PART 6 USING PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALIZATION, 679

CHAPTER 26 Using Commas, Semicolons,

and Colons, 681 CHAPTER 27 Other Punctuation

and Capitalization, 709

PART 7 READING CRITICALLY, 733

CHAPTER 28 Reading Critically, 735

APPENDIX A, A-1 CREDITS, C-1 INDEX, I-1

D E T A I L E D C O N T E N T S

PART 1 WRITING YOUR PAPERS, 1

CHAPTER 1 Let’s Talk about

Writing, 3

Understanding That Writing

Is Thinking, 5

Using and Understanding This Book, 5

Being Aware of Writing Realities, 6

Attitudes and Myths about Writing, 7

Reconsidering Your Attitude about

Writing, 8

Writing Your Papers, 9

The Writing Process, 9

Previewing Your Task, 19

Writing for College, 19

Writing in Your Profession, 20

Writing in Everyday Life, 20

Understanding Description, 21

Using Sensory Details, 22

Using Figurative Language, 24

Deciding on the Dominant Impression, 25Ordering Your Descriptive Details, 26

Writing Your Descriptive Paragraph, 27

Prewriting, 28Discovering and Limiting Your Topic, 28Identifying Your Audience, 32

Establishing Your Purpose, 32Setting Your Tone, 32

Stating Your Dominant Impression, 33Outlining Your Ideas, 33

Drafting, 34Coherence: Using Transitions, 35Revising, 36

Style Tip: Using a Variety of Sentence Lengths, 37

Proofreading, 38Common Error #1: Sentence Fragments, 39

Refl ecting, 40

CHAPTER 3 Writing Your Descriptive

Narrative Essay, 42

Previewing Your Task, 44

Writing for College, 44Writing in Your Profession, 45Writing in Everyday Life, 47

Understanding Narrative, 48

Using the Elements of Plot, 48The Beginning, 49

The Middle, 49The End, 49Supporting Your Narrative, 49Using Descriptive Language, 50Using Words to Describe Emotions, 50Using Verbs Eff ectively, 52

Using Dialogue, 53

Writing Your Descriptive Narrative Essay, 55

Prewriting, 56Discovering and Limiting Your Topic, 56Identifying Your Audience, 60

Establishing Your Purpose, 60Setting Your Tone, 60Formulating Your Thesis, 61Outlining Your Ideas, 62Drafting, 64

Paragraphing, 64Writing Your Beginning, 65Writing Your Middle, 66Writing Your End, 66Coherence: Using Transitions, 67Revising, 68

Style Tip: Varying Sentence Structure, 68Proofreading, 70

Common Error #2: Editing for Shifts in Verb Tense, 71

Refl ecting, 72

CHAPTER 4 Writing Your

Exposi-tory Paragraph, 73

Previewing Your Task, 75

Writing for College, 75Writing in Your Profession, 75Writing in Everyday Life, 76

Understanding the Expository Paragraph, 77

Expository Paragraph Structure, 78The Topic Sentence, 78

The Support: Major and Minor, 82The Conclusion, 86

Writing Your Expository Paragraph, 87

Prewriting, 88Discovering and Limiting Your Topic:

Freewriting and Questioning, 88Identifying Your Audience and Establishing Your Purpose, 90

Setting Your Tone, 91Formulating Your Topic Sentence, 93Outlining Your Ideas, 93

Drafting, 95Drafting Your Major and Minor Supports, 95

Coherence: Using Transitions, 96Writing Your Conclusion, 97Revising, 98

Style Tip: Varying Sentence Structure, 98Proofreading, 99

Common Error #3: Punctuating Introductory Elements, 100Refl ecting, 101

CHAPTER 5 Developing Your

Essay through Illustration, 103

Previewing Your Task, 105

Writing for College, 105Writing in Your Profession, 106Writing in Everyday Life, 108

Understanding Illustration, 109

Using Examples for Support, 110

Writing Your Illustration Essay, 111

Prewriting, 114Discovering and Limiting Your Topic, 114Identifying Your Audience, 117

Establishing Your Purpose, 117Setting Your Tone, 117Formulating Your Thesis, 119Outlining Your Ideas, 123Drafting, 125

Writing Your Introduction, 125Writing Your Body Paragraphs, 127

Detailed Contents

Coherence: Using Transitions, 127

Writing Your Conclusion, 129

Revising, 130

Style Tip: Using Coordination to Combine

Sentences, 130Proofreading, 133

Common Error #4: Fused Sentences, 133

Common Error #5: Comma Splice, 133

Refl ecting, 134

CHAPTER 6 Developing Your Essay

through Process Analysis, 136

Previewing Your Task, 137

Writing for College, 137

Writing in Your Profession, 139

Writing in Everyday Life, 141

Understanding Process Analysis,

142

The Directional Process, 142

Components of a Directional Process, 143

The Informational Process, 143

Writing Your Process Analysis

Essay, 145

Prewriting, 146

Discovering and Limiting Your Topic, 147

Identifying Your Audience and

Establishing Your Purpose, 151Setting Your Tone, 152

Formulating Your Thesis, 155

Outlining Your Ideas, 156

Drafting, 158

Writing Your Introduction, 158

Writing Your Body Paragraphs, 161

Writing Your Conclusion, 164

CHAPTER 7 Developing Your Essay

through Cause/Eff ect Analysis, 171

Previewing Your Task, 173

Writing for College, 173Writing in Your Profession, 174Writing in Everyday Life, 176

Understanding Cause/

Effect Analysis, 177

Cause Analysis, 177Main and Contributory Causes, 178Immediate and Distant Causes, 178Chains of Causes, 179

Eff ect Analysis, 180Problems to Avoid in Cause/Eff ect Analysis, 181

Writing Your Cause/Effect Essay, 181

Prewriting, 183Discovering and Limiting Your Topic, 183Identifying Your Audience and Establishing Your Purpose, 185

Setting Your Tone, 185Formulating Your Thesis, 187Outlining Your Ideas, 188Drafting, 190

Writing Your Introduction, 190Writing Your Body Paragraphs, 192Writing Your Conclusion, 194Revising, 195

Style Tip: Modifying Phrases and Clauses, 195Proofreading, 198

Common Error #7: Editing for Pronoun–

Antecedent Agreement, 198Refl ecting, 200

CHAPTER 8 Developing Your Essay

through Comparison

or Contrast, 201

Previewing Your Task, 202

Writing for College, 203Writing in Your Profession, 204Writing in Everyday Life, 205

Understanding Comparison and Contrast, 207

Two Topics to Be Compared or Contrasted, 208Clear Bases of Comparison or Contrast, 209Evidence to Describe Similarities or Diff erences, 211

Organization of a Comparison or Contrast Analysis, 212

The Block Method, 212The Point-by-Point Method, 212

Writing Your Comparison

or Contrast Essay, 214

Prewriting, 216Discovering and Limiting Your Topic, 216Identifying Your Audience, 218

Establishing Your Purpose, 218Setting Your Tone, 219Formulating Your Thesis, 220Outlining Your Ideas, 221Drafting, 224

Writing Your Introduction, 224Writing Your Body Paragraphs, 226Writing Your Conclusion, 229Revising, 230

Style Tip: Avoid Off ensive Language, 230Proofreading, 233

Common Error #8: Pronoun Reference, 233Common Error #9: Pronoun Case, 234Refl ecting, 236

CHAPTER 9 Developing Your Essay

through Division and Classifi cation, 237

Previewing Your Task, 238

Writing for College, 239Writing in Your Profession, 240Writing in Everyday Life, 242

Understanding Division and Classifi cation, 243

Division, 243Classifi cation, 246

A Guiding Principle, 246

Writing Your Division or Classifi cation Essay, 248

Prewriting, 250Discovering and Limiting Your Topic, 250Identifying Your Audience, 252

Establishing Your Purpose, 253Setting Your Tone, 253

Formulating Your Thesis, 254Outlining Your Ideas, 255Drafting, 257

Writing Your Introduction, 258Writing Your Body Paragraphs, 258Writing Your Conclusion, 260Revising, 261

Style Tip: Avoid Mixed Construction, 261Proofreading, 264

Common Error #10: Lack of Agreement between Subjects and Verbs, 265Refl ecting, 266

CHAPTER 10 Developing Your Essay

through Defi nition, 268

Previewing Your Task, 269

Writing for College, 270Writing in Your Profession, 271Writing in Everyday Life, 273

Understanding Defi nition, 274

Denotative and Connotative Meanings of Words, 274

The Formal Defi nition, 275Defi ning through Negation, 276The Extended Defi nition, 277Developing an Extended Defi nition, 277The Informal Defi nition, 279

Writing Your Defi nition Essay, 279

Prewriting, 281Discovering and Limiting Your Topic, 281Identifying Your Audience

and Establishing Your Purpose, 284Setting Your Tone, 285

Formulating Your Thesis, 286Outlining Your Ideas, 287

Drafting, 288

Writing Your Introduction, 289

Writing Your Body Paragraphs, 289

Writing Your Conclusion, 291

Revising, 291

Style Tip: Use Parallel Constructions

Correctly, 291Proofreading, 293

Common Error # 11: Missing or Misplaced

Apostrophes, 294Refl ecting, 295

CHAPTER 11 Developing Your

Essay through Argumentation, 297

Previewing Your Task, 298

Writing for College, 299

Writing in Your Profession, 300

Writing in Everyday Life, 302

Understanding Argument, 303

The Elements of Argument, 304

Types of Claims, 304

Using Evidence to Support Your Position, 305

A Logical Line of Reasoning, 306

Concession of Opposing Arguments, 310

Refutation, 311

Patterns for Organizing an Argument, 311

Writing Your Argumentative Essay, 312

Prewriting, 316

Discovering and Limiting Your Topic:

Combination of Techniques, 316Identifying Your Audience, 318

Establishing Your Purpose, 320

Setting Your Tone, 322

Formulating Your Thesis, 322

Outlining Your Ideas, 323

Drafting, 325

Writing Your Introduction, 326

Writing Your Body Paragraphs, 327

Writing Your Conclusion, 330

Revising, 331

Style Tip: Use Levels of Formality, 331

Proofreading, 334Common Error #12: Misusing Commas with Restrictive or Nonrestrictive Elements, 335

Refl ecting, 336

CHAPTER 12 Making Choices:

Developing an Integrated Essay, 338

Previewing Your Task, 340 Understanding the Integrated Essay, 346

Making Choices, 347Reacting to Your World, 348

Writing Your Integrated Essay, 351

Prewriting, 354Discovering and Limiting Your Topic, 354Identifying Your Audience, Establishing Your Purpose, and Setting Your Tone, 361

Formulating Your Thesis, 363Outlining Your Ideas, 363Drafting, 365

Revising, 365Proofreading, 366Refl ecting, 368

PART 2 WRITING WITH SOURCES, 369

CHAPTER 13 Working with

Sources, 371

Understanding Sources, 373

Reading for College, 373Why Use Source Material?, 377Types of Source Materials, 377Primary Sources, 377Secondary Evidence, 378How Do I Use Source Material?, 378Quoting Source Material, 378Paraphrasing Source Material, 379Summarizing Source Material, 381Extracting Information from a Source, 382

Detailed Contents

How Do I Integrate Sources?, 386Punctuating Quotations, 388Paraphrasing, 389

Summarizing, 389Bringing Borrowed Material to an End, 390How Do I Avoid Plagiarism?, 391

Common Types of Plagiarism, 392Strategies to Prevent Plagiarism, 392How Do I Document My Sources?, 393Understanding In-Text Citations, 393Understanding the Works Cited List, 398

CHAPTER 14 Writing Your Research

Paper, 410

Understanding the Value of Research, 411

Writing Your Research Paper, 412

Prewriting and Planning, 413Selecting Your Topic, 413Formulating a Research Question, 414Limiting Your Topic and Stating Your Thesis, 416

Setting Your Schedule, 418Researching Your Topic, 419Using the Library, 420Using Databases, 420Using the Internet, 421Evaluating the Reliability of Your Sources, 421

Identifying Subtopics, 423Managing Your Information, 424Writing Bibliography Cards, 424Writing Note Cards, 427Drafting and Revising Your Paper, 431Preparing Your Outline, 431Writing Your First Draft, 434Revising and Proofreading Your Draft, 437Formatting Your Final Draft, 441

Formatting Your Final Outline, 442Formatting Your Final Draft, 443Formatting Your Final Bibliography, 446Refl ecting, 447

PART 3 EDITING FOR GRAMMAR, 449

CHAPTER 15 Editing for Fragments,

Independent and Dependent Clauses, 459Identifying Fragments, 460

Editing for Comma Splices, 480Strategies for Revising Run-on Sentences, 481

CHAPTER 17 Editing for Subject–Verb

Agreement, 485

Understanding Subject–Verb Agreement, 487

Grammatical Person, 487Grammatical Number, 488

An Informal Test for Number, 488Revisiting Subjects and Verbs, 490Problems with Subject Number, 492Words That Come between the Subject and Verb, 492

Indefi nite Pronouns as Subjects, 493Compound Subjects, 497

Sentences Beginning with There and Here, 498

Words That Are Plural in Form but Singular in Meaning, 499

Using His or Her to Avoid Sexist

Language, 510Compound Antecedents, 512

Collective Nouns as Antecedents, 513

Pronoun Reference, 514

Error #1: Two Possible Antecedents, 514

Error #2: Pronouns Referencing Broad

Ideas, 516Error #3: Unidentifi ed Antecedents, 517

Error #4: Referring to People, Animals,

and Things, 519Pronoun Case, 520

Using Who and Whom, 522

Auxiliary (Helping) Verbs, 534

Primary Auxiliary Verbs, 534

Modal Auxiliary Verbs, 534

Constructing Verb Tenses, 536

Keeping Tense Consistent, 539

Action Verbs and Linking Verbs, 540

Action Verbs: Transitive and Intransitive, 540

Linking Verbs, 542

Working with Troublesome Verb Sets, 544

Lie versus Lay, 544

Sit versus Set, 545

Rise versus Raise, 546

Active versus Passive Voice, 547

Keeping Voice Consistent, 550

Verb Moods, 550

Indicative, 550

Imperative, 550

Subjunctive, 551Keeping Mood Consistent, 552Verbals, 553

Infi nitive Phrase, 553Gerund Phrase, 554Participial Phrase, 554

CHAPTER 20 Editing for Adjectives

and Adverbs, 557

Understanding Adjectives and Adverbs, 558

Adjectives, 559Describe or Modify Nouns, 559Describe Nouns and Pronouns, 561Describe Gerunds, 562

Participles, 562Use Nouns as Adjectives, 563Possessive Adjectives, 563Comparatives and Superlatives, 564Absolute Adjectives, 565

Punctuating Adjectives in a Series, 565Adverbs, 566

Tricky Verbs, 567Comparatives and Superlatives, 569Frequently Confused Adjectives and Adverbs, 569

Good versus Well, 570 Bad versus Badly, 571 Fewer versus Less, 571 Real versus Really, 572

Irregular Adjectives and Adverbs, 572Double Negatives, 573

PART 4 EDITING FOR STYLE, 577

CHAPTER 21 Writing Clear

Sentences, 579

Understanding Sentence Clarity, 580

Misplaced Modifi ers, 581Misplaced Words, 582Misplaced Phrases, 583Misplaced Participial Phrases, 584Misplaced Clauses, 586

Detailed Contents

Split Infi nitives, 587Dangling Modifi ers, 588Mixed Constructions, 591Parallel Constructions, 593Parallelism in a Series, 594Parallelism in Pairs, 595Correlative Conjunctions, 596

Eff ective Repetition to Emphasize Ideas, 597

CHAPTER 22 Writing Varied

Sentences, 600

Understanding Sentence Variety, 602

Identifying and Using Basic Types of Sentences, 602

The Simple Sentence, 602The Compound Sentence, 603The Complex Sentence, 605The Compound-Complex Sentence, 607Combining Phrases and Clauses, 609Vary the Beginning of Your Sentences, 609Vary Your Method of Combining

Sentences, 611 Final Advice for Improving Your Style, 619

CHAPTER 23 Avoiding Unnecessary

Words and Expressions, 622

Understanding Problematic Patterns

of Expression, 624

Eliminating Wordiness, 624Avoid Stock Phrases, or “Deadwood”, 624Reduce Wordy Verbs, 627

Choose Strong Verbs Rather Than Attach Adverbs, 628

Avoid Overusing Relative Clauses, 628

Avoid Overusing Be Verbs, 629

Avoid Overusing Passive Voice, 630Avoid Overusing Expletive Constructions, 630

Avoiding Clichés, 631Avoiding Slang, 632Avoiding Off ensive Language, 634Avoid Insulting Language, 634

Avoid Excluding Language, 636Use Groups’ Preferred Names, 638

PART 5 USING THE CORRECT WORDS, 641

CHAPTER 24 Frequently Confused

Words, 643

Understanding Frequently Confused Words, 645

Words Frequently Confused, 645

CHAPTER 25 Improving Your

Spelling, 664

Understanding Your Problems with Spelling, 666

Using Basic Spelling Rules, 666

Deciding Between ie and ei, 666 Choosing among -cede, -ceed, and -sede, 667

Attaching Prefi xes, 667Attaching Suffi xes, 668Attaching Suffi xes -ness and -ly to a Word,

668

Keeping or Dropping the Final e, 669 Changing the y to i in Words Ending with y,

669Doubling a Final Consonant, 670Spelling the Plurals of Nouns Correctly, 671

Forming the Plural by Adding s, 671 Forming the Plural of a Noun Ending in y,

671Forming the Plural of a Noun Ending

in f or fe, 672 Forming the Plural of a Noun Ending in o,

672Forming the Plural of a Compound Noun, 673

Forming the Plural When Referred to as a Word, 673

Recognizing Irregular Plurals, 674Being Watchful for Commonly Misspelled Words, 676

Strategies for Improving Your Spelling, 677

Understanding Commas, Semicolons,

and Colons, 683

Commas, 683

Connecting Independent Clauses, 683

Adding Introductory Elements, 685

Setting Off Nonrestrictive Elements, 690

Separating Coordinate Adjectives, 695

Separating Items in a Series, 696

Separating Words That Interrupt Sentence

Flow, 697Setting Off Quoted Elements, 700

Using Commas with Special Elements,

701Ensuring Clarity, 703

Semicolons, 703

Without a Coordinating Conjunction, 703

With a Transitional Word or Expression,

704With Items in a Series That Also Contain

Commas, 704Colons, 705

CHAPTER 27 Other Punctuation and

Plural of Numbers and Letters, 715Proofreading for Apostrophes, 716

Quotation Marks, 716

Direct Quotations, 717

Quotations Within Quotations, 717

Titles of Short Works, 718

Words as Words, 718Quotation Marks and End Punctuation, 718

Quotation Marks in Dialogue, 720Dashes and Parentheses, 721

Dashes, 721Parentheses, 722Capitalization, 724Sentence Beginnings, 724Proper Nouns, 724Titles of Works, 727Family Relationship Titles, 728Italics and Underlines, 728Unfamiliar Foreign Words and Phrases, 730Emphasized Words, 731

PART 7 READING CRITICALLY, 733

CHAPTER 28 Reading Critically, 735

Understanding How to Read Critically, 736

Description, 737The Inheritance of Tools by Scott Russell Sanders, 737

Narration, 742

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, 742

Illustration, 746Sex, Lies, and Conversation: Why Is It So Hard for Men and Women to Talk to Each Other? by Deborah Tannen, 746Process, 751

The Crummy First Draft by Anne Lamott, 751

Cause and Eff ect, 754The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, 754

Comparison and Contrast, 758Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood

by Richard Rodriguez, 758Classifi cation and Division, 763The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met

a Girl Named Maria by Judith Ortiz Cofer, 763

Detailed Contents

Defi nition, 768What Is Poverty? by Jo Goodwin Parker,768

Argumentation, 772Death and Justice by Ed Koch, 772

APPENDIX A, A-1 CREDITS, C-1 INDEX, I-1

N O T E S

Notes xxiii

Notes xxv

Notes xxvii

Notes xxix

Let’s Talk about

Writing

1

“Writing is an exploration You start from nothing and learn as you go.”

■ E L Doctorow ■

YOUR GOALS

Understanding That Writing Is Thinking

1 Recognize the connection between writing and

critical thinking

2 Examine realities about writing

3 Judge your own attitudes about writing

4 Review and respond to writing myths

Writing Your Papers

1 Preview prewriting techniques

2 Discover the value of following a writing process

C H A P T E R

Do you feel dread and anxiety when you are asked to write a report, produce a

research paper, or answer essay questions on a U.S history test? Do you avoid the task as long as possible? And then, when you do sit down to write, do you fi nd your-self blanking out or rambling on just to get something on the empty page?

How should you approach a writing assignment in a confi dent and systematic way?

How can you develop a method for writing that works for a variety of situations,

assign-ments, and readers?

We hope that this text, your writing class, and your writing instructor provide you with an approach and system that works for you and that applies to all three major writ-ing occasions: college, profes-sional, and personal

In college you will write some or all of the following:

science and business reports, academic research papers, answers to essay questions on exams, summaries and cri-tiques of professional articles, and reaction papers to specifi c theories and proposals

For your professional career, you may have to produce monthly reports of your department’s activities or progress on a long-term project, proposals for new market-ing plans or patient treatment, summaries of customer satisfaction, or analyses of a patient’s progress, and so on

In your personal life you may write to record a signifi cant event or trip, to explore your family history, to sympathize with a family member over a traumatic event, or

to e-mail daily events to family members living at a distance

If you think of writing as limited to the English classroom, you miss the nity to take the skills from your English class and apply them to your other classes, your profession, and your everyday life

opportu-Whether it’s our creativity, our

ability to use words, our ideas,

our style, our ability to spot

errors, or our motivation, each

of us brings a special skill when

we write Refl ect on yourself as

a writer What major strength

do you bring to the writing

process? Write a short

para-graph explaining your strength Tetra Images/Jupiter Images

U NDERSTANDING T HAT W RITING

I S T HINKING

Writing is a form of thinking It certainly isn’t the only form of thinking Our brains process

ideas in diff erent ways: mathematically, musically, and visually But our use of language is the

basis of all thinking, and it is what makes us distinctly human It allows us to share ideas, pass

on knowledge, engage in debate, and advance our understanding of the world In college,

writing is the vehicle through which we learn new ideas and share them with one another

During your college education, you will hear much about critical thinking You may hear many defi nitions of this term, but basically, critical thinking means expressing your

ideas in a logical way so that they make sense Learning to write well is the best way to

improve your ability to think critically What are the components of critical thinking?

According to the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking, the following

components are key to the process:

1 Clarity. When you express ideas clearly, your audience understands what you are

trying to say without diffi culty

2 Accuracy. Accurate thinking is true to reality as you understand it

3 Precision. Precise thinking isn’t vague; it contains suffi cient detail to be informative

4 Consistency. Consistent thinking “holds together”; it doesn’t contradict itself

5 Relevance. Relevant writing sticks to the point; it doesn’t digress into unrelated

subject matter

6 Sound evidence. When you make a statement that needs to be supported, you

provide solid evidence that proves your point

7 Good reasons. When you argue for or against an idea, you back up your argument

with valid reasoning

8 Depth. Critical thinking is not superfi cial; it goes beyond the obvious

9 Breadth. Critical thinking incorporates a broad view of the subject matter, showing

how it relates to other ideas

10 Fairness. Good writing is fair, both to the subject matter and to other people who

may hold diff erent viewpoints

These components of critical thinking are also components of eff ective writing As you

work through this course, keep in mind the connection between the quality of your

writ-ing and the quality of your thinkwrit-ing Havwrit-ing good writwrit-ing skills can be your ticket to better

grades in most of your courses in college

Using and Understanding This Book

This book seeks to guide you through your writing experience, thus contributing to your

growth as a professional Here are some ways to get the most out of this text and this class:

1 Read and mark your text. Read actively by underlining useful ideas, writing brief

summaries and reactions in the margins, and taking notes main ideas Remember that eff ective writing is closely linked to frequent and close reading

Understanding That Writing Is Thinking ■ Using and Understanding This Book

2 Do every assignment conscientiously. Your instructor is helping you write a successful fi nal paper by having you complete smaller steps to achieve the fi nal product.

3 Plan to keep your text for future reference. You can refresh yourself on the principles of successful writing and use the writing skills for future assignments for school and work

4 Use the skills you learn in this course in your other courses. Whenever you are assigned writing in another class or on the job, try to incorporate the techniques

off ered in this class

Take 5 minutes and fl ip through this book’s chapters Each writing chapter, Chapters 2–12, starts with an activity called Previewing Your Task where you will read academic, profes-sional, and everyday examples of the type of writing you will be drafting in that chapter

The rest of each writing chapter is divided into two main sections:

■ Understanding This section explains the writing task completely In it, you

will examine examples of key concepts and do activities to practice these concepts

■ Writing This section guides you through the writing process: prewriting,

drafting, revising, proofreading, and refl ecting In this section, you will follow

a student’s writing task from creation to the fi nal draft as you go through the process yourself This section also provides suffi cient explanation and activi-ties to help you understand specifi c tasks in the writing process

Being Aware of Writing Realities

Another key to succeeding in your English course is to understand the realities of good writing Eff ective writing requires hard work, patience, courage, thought, and honesty

■ Hard work Few people can produce a polished report, essay, or business plan

by just writing “off the top of their heads.” Instead, writers often must write several drafts, have others read and comment on them, and then carefully proofread and edit before submitting the fi nal copy

■ Patience Writers often run into dead ends, fi nding that a topic isn’t working

and needing to try a diff erent topic, organization, or focus Writers have to be patient and willing to experiment with ideas and ways to express them

■ Courage It takes courage to write because fears of failure, of errors, or of lack

of clarity are often lurking in our mind as we compose We, the writers, fear that the reader may criticize our writing, which we view as almost as an exten-sion of ourselves

■ Thought Writing can be perfect in grammar, punctuation, organization, and

unity but still be a failure because it doesn’t say anything of worth Successful writing and critical thinking are inseparable, requiring us to be able to com-municate our ideas

■ Honesty As writers, we must present ideas honestly to the reader If the idea

comes from an article in a newspaper or from an interview, then we are gated to give credit to the source If we are communicating a personal obser-vation or experience, then the information should be as accurate as possible unless the writing is fi ction

obli-Writing is a social, communal activity, involving writers and readers joining together to

exchange information, support each other, and work toward a transfer of ideas,

experi-ences, and opinions

Attitudes and Myths about Writing

Understanding That Writing Is Thinking ■ Attitudes and Myths about Writing

For the following statements, put a check mark by the ones you agree with and an X by

those you do not

_ 1 Good writers have an inborn talent for writing, whereas weak writers are

doomed to fail

_ 2 Good writers compose effortlessly because they need only to spill what is

inside their minds onto the paper.

_ 3 Once someone has fi nished the English requirements for a college degree,

writing is no longer important or useful.

_ 4 Since professionals often have administrative assistants to edit their reports,

the professionals can depend on their assistants to correct errors in mar, punctuation, and wording.

gram- _ 5 Since essay writing is rarely required in most professions, writing essays

ap-plies only to English classes.

_ 6 Writing is like riding a bike: once you learn how, it is an automatic skill.

_ 7 Copying the writing of others without giving the original authors credit is

acceptable since there is so much written material on the Internet that it is diffi cult to trace writing back to its originator.

_ 8 It is unnecessary to learn grammar and punctuation since most word

pro-cessors provide a grammar and spell-check tool.

_ 9 Writing a research paper is just looking up information and pasting it into a

larger document, somewhat like stitching together the pieces of a quilt.

_ 10 Writing is the mechanical process of typing words into a document,

where-as reading and math require deep thinking and problem solving.

Reconsidering Your Attitude about Writing

Having completed the preceding activity, you may realize that most of the statements in Practice 1-1 are false and that by adopting them you are undermining your ability to suc-ceed as a writer You can adjust your attitudes toward writing as you would tune up a car engine or adjust the thermostat in your home

■ Motivation There is nothing worse than studying a subject or taking a class

and thinking that the material and skills won’t be useful once the course is over Nothing could be farther from the truth when it comes to writing Most employers, when asked what skills are essential for their employees, say eff ec-tive written and oral communication is vital On-the-job training can familiar-ize employees with procedures and policies, but employers do not have the time to teach employees how to write

■ Self-identity See yourself as a writer Just calling yourself a writer can help

you have the confi dence to get the writing done

■ Time and place Since writing takes time, work, and concentration, you need

to set aside certain writing hours and specifi c places in which to write

■ Reader or audience If you visualize your English instructor hovering over

your paper with red pen in hand to highlight all your errors, then you may lose your desire to communicate However, if you can imagine an “ignorant” and eager reader, enthusiastically soaking up your ideas, then you will be more committed to writing And if you adopt a tone of voice in your writing that shows an understanding of and respect for your reader, you should produce an

eff ective piece of writing

■ Competition You might feel that you will never measure up to others in

your English class How do you deal with your sense of inadequacy when you read their successful essays and compare them to yours? But you can benefi t from their writing by analyzing their organization and details so that you can improve your own papers

Finally, view writing as thinking, as the process of examining ideas in depth and of

“toning” your mind as you would tone your body in an exercise class You have really