The Complete Sentence Workout Book With Readings

Most chapters contain “Chapter Reviews” and “Chapter Review Writing Assignment.”

Preface.

I. THE COMPOSING PROCESS.

1. Exploring Topics for Paragraphs.
Generating Ideas.
Prewriting.
Narrowing Topics.
Identifying Audience and Purpose.

2. Developing Paragraphs.
Topic Sentences.
Primary Support Sentences.
Secondary Support Sentences.
Cohesion.
Concluding Sentences.

3. Revising Paragraphs.
Revising Strategies.
Editing.
Proofreading.

4. Writing Essays.
Structuring Essays.
Introductions.
Conclusions.

II. THE SENTENCE CORE: SUBJECTS AND VERBS.

5. Identifying Subjects and Verbs.
Subjects.
Verbs.
Identifying Subjects and Verbs.
Prepositional Phrases.
Style.

6. Sentence Formats.
Sentence Formats.
Verbals.
Parts of Speech and Their Functions.
Classes of Sentences.

7. Subject-Verb Agreement.
Singular and Plural Forms.
Verbs.
Subjects.

III. VERBS.

8. The Simple Tenses.
Action Verbs and Linking Verbs.
Conjugating Verbs.
The Present Tense.
The Past Tense.
The Future Tense.
Consistency of Verb Tenses.

9. The Perfect Forms.
The Perfect Tenses.
The Present Perfect Tense.
The Past Perfect Tense.
The Future Perfect Tense.

10. The Progressive Forms.
The Progressive Forms.
The Simple Progressive Forms.
The Perfect Progressive Forms.
Helping Verbs.
Consistency of Verb Tenses.

IV. CORRECT SENTENCE FORMATION.

11. Types of Sentences.
Clauses.
Simple Sentences.
Compound Sentences.
Complex Sentences.
Compound-Complex Sentences.
A Final Hint.
Style.

12. Fragments.
Fragment Type 1: No Subject.
Fragment Type 2: No Verb.
Fragment Type 3: -ing Verb with No Helping Verb.
Fragment Type 4: No Complete Thought.

13. Comma Splices.
Identifying the Problem.
Correcting the Problem.

14. Run-Ons.
Identifying the Problem.
Correcting the Problem.

V. SENTENCE CHOICES—STYLE.

15. Sentence Combinations.
Adjectives and Other Modifiers.
Appositives and Relative-Pronoun Clauses.
Participles.
Coordination.
Subordination.
Parallelism.
Beginning Sentences.

16. Diction.
Vocabularies.
Using Appropriate Language.
Denotation and Connotation.
Euphemisms and Neologisms (Invented Words or Meanings).
Wordiness and Redundancy (Unnecessary Repetition).

17. Finer Points of Verbs.
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs.
Voice.
Mood.
Verbals.
Style.

VI. SENTENCE TOOLS.

18. Capitals and End Punctuation.
Capitals.
End Punctuation.

19. Commas to Separate.
Independent Clauses.
Items in a Series.
Coordinate Adjectives.
Long Introductory Elements.
Dates and Addresses.
Elements That Might Be Misread or Misunderstood.

20. Commas to Enclose.
Direct Address.
Dialogue.
Appositives.
Out-of-Place Adjectives.
Nonrestrictive Clauses and Phrases.
Parenthetical Expressions.

21. Apostrophes.
Indicating Possession.
Forming Contractions.
Forming Plurals.

22. Other Types of Punctuation.
Quotation Marks (“ ” ).
Colons (:).
Ellipsis Points (...).
Hyphens (-) and Dashes (—).
Parentheses ( ) and Brackets .

VII. CORRECT FORMS.

23. Pronoun Reference.
Personal Pronouns and Cases.
Pronoun Agreement.
Special Problems.

24. Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers.
Misplaced Modifiers.
Dangling Participles and Dangling Modifiers.
Split Infinitives.

25. Adjectives and Adverbs.
Functions of Adjectives and Adverbs.

26. Confusing Words.

27. Spelling.
Types of Spelling Errors.
Rule #1: Words with ie, or ei.
Rule #2: Adding Prefixes.
Rule #3: Changing y to i.
Rule #4: Silent e.
Rule #5: Doubling the Final Consonant.

VIII. READING TO WRITE.

28. Analytical Reading.
Reading as Thinking.
Analyzing Essays
The Analytical Reading Process (SQ3R).

29. Readings for Writing.
Narratives.
Robin Lampson, Man at His Best.
Richard Wright, The Library Card.
Joe Liberatore (student), The All-American Job.
Descriptions.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh, The Beach.
Norman Mailer, Plains, GA.
Regina Rafferty (student), Paradise Can Be a Concentration Camp.
Illustrations by Example .
H.L. Mencken, The Boons of Civilization.
Michael Olesker, Adversity Proves No Match for Dixon.
Ray Stolle (student), Do Something Different: Go Back in Time.
Comparisons and Contrasts.
Mark Twain, Two Views of the River.
Deborah Soloman, 1899: The Names Have Changed, But the Worries Remain.
Doug Eppler (student), Lives Beyond the Beltway.
Causes and Effects.
Martin Luther King, Jr., The Arrest of Rosa Parks.
Dorothy Foltz-Gray, Did You Lose Something?.
Ryan Bromwell (student), A Place to Come Home To.
Paragraph Assignments.
Definitions.
The Economist, Incident at Rifle River.
Linda Bridges, The Tomato as an Endangered Species.
Ray Stolle (student), War Games.
Paragraph Assignments.
Classifications.
E. B. White, Three New Yorks.
Rachel Carson, Whales.
Shellie Smith (Student), Baseball Spectators.
Paragraph Assignments.
Process Analysis.
James Michener, The Birth of an Island.
Luella Fern Sanders, The Smart Way to Buy a New Car.
Tim Maher (student), Writing a Paper.

Appendix: Common ESL Mistakes, by Marriott Nielsen.

Answer Key.

Credits.

Index.