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Table of Contents
EXPLORING WRITING: SENTENCES AND PARAGRAPHS, 3/e
By John Langan
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE xx
PART ONE WRITING: SKILLS AND PROCESS 2
1. An Introduction to Writing 4
Understanding Point and Support 5
An Important Difference Between Writing and Talking 5
Point and Support in Two Cartoons 6
Point and Support in a Paragraph 8
Writing as a Skill 10
Why Does Your Attitude toward Writing Matter? 10
Writing as a Process of Discovery 12
Keeping a Journal 13
2. The Writing Process 16
How Do You Reach the Goals of Effective Writing? 17
Prewriting 17
Technique 1: Freewriting 17
Technique 2: Questioning 20
Technique 3: Making a List 21
Technique 4: Clustering 22
Technique 5: Preparing a Scratch Outline 23
Writing a First Draft 25
Writing a First Draft: A Student Model 25
Revising 27
Revising: A Student Model 28
Editing and Proofreading 29
Editing Tips 30
Proofreading Tips 30
Editing and Proofreading: A Student Model 31
Tips on Using a Computer 32
Using a Computer at Each Stage of the Writing Process 33
Using Peer Review 35
1. Identification 35
2. Scratch Outline 35
3. Comments 36
Review Activities 36
Prewriting 37
Outlining, Drafting, and Revising 37
Taking a Writing Inventory 39
Chapter Review 40
PART TWO WRITING EFFECTIVE PARAGRAPHS 44
3.Four Steps for Writing, Four Bases for Revising 46
What Are The Steps to Writing Effective Paragraphs? 47
Step 1: Make a Point 47
Step 2: Support Your Point 50
Step 3: Organize the Support 67
Step 4: Write Clear, Error-Free Sentences 73
Four Bases for Revising Writing 73
Base 1: Unity 73
Base 2: Support 74
Base 3: Coherence 76
Base 4: Sentence Skills 77
4. Nine Patterns of Paragraph Development 85
Important Considerations in Paragraph Development 86
Knowing Your Subject 86
Knowing Your Purpose and Audience 86
Patterns of Development 87
Exemplification 88
A Paragraph to Consider 89
Writing an Exemplification Paragraph 90
Description 92
A Paragraph to Consider 92
Writing a Descriptive Paragraph 93
Narration 97
A Paragraph to Consider 97
Writing a Narrative Paragraph 98
Process 100
A Paragraph to Consider 100
Writing a Process Paragraph 101
Cause and Effect 104
A Paragraph to Consider 105
Writing a Cause-and-Effect Paragraph 106
Comparison or Contrast 108
Two Paragraphs to Consider 108
Writing a Comparison or Contrast Paragraph 110
Definition 113
A Paragraph to Consider 113
Writing a Definition Paragraph 114
Division-Classification 116
A Paragraph to Consider 116
Writing a Division-Classification Paragraph 118
Argument 120
A Paragraph to Consider 120
Writing an Argument Paragraph 121
5. Moving From Paragraph to Essay 125
What Is an Essay? 126
Differences between an Essay and a Paragraph 126
The Form of an Essay 126
A Model Essay 127
Important Points about the Essay 128
Introductory Paragraph 128
Supporting Paragraphs 130
Transitional Sentences 130
Concluding Paragraphs 131
Essays to Consider 131
Planning the Essay 134
Outlining the Essay 134
Form for Planning the Essay 135
Practice in Writing the Essay 135
Understanding the Two Parts of a Thesis Statement 135
Supporting the Thesis with Specific Evidence 136
Identifying Introductions 138
Revising an Essay for All Four Bases: Unity, Support, Coherence,and Sentence Skills 139
Essay Assignments 141
PART THREE SENTENCE SKILLS 150
SECTION 1: SENTENCES 152
6. Subjects and Verbs 153
A Simple Way to Find a Subject 154
A Simple Way to Find a Verb 154
More about Subjects and Verbs 157
Distinguishing Subjects from Prepositional Phrases 157
Verbs of More Than One Word 158
Compound Subjects and Verbs 159
7. Fragments 162
What Fragments Are 163
Dependent-Word Fragments 163
How to Correct Dependent-Word Fragments 164
-ing and to Fragments 167
How to Correct -ing Fragments 167
How to Correct to Fragments 168
Added-Detail Fragments 170
How to Correct Added-Detail Fragments 170
Missing-Subject Fragments 172
How to Correct Missing-Subject Fragments 172
8. Run-Ons 179
What are Run-Ons? 180
A Warning: Words That Can Lead to Run-Ons? 180
Correcting Run-Ons 181
Method 1: Period and a Capital Letter 181
Method 2: Comma and a Joining Word 184
Method 3: Semicolon 186
Semicolon Alone 186
Semicolon with a Transition 186
Transitional Words 187
Method 4: Subordination 188
Dependent Words 188
9. Sentence Variety I 195
Four Traditional Sentence Patterns 195
The Simple Sentence 195
The Compound Sentence 196
The Complex Sentence 197
The Compound-Complex Sentence 201
Review of Subordination and Coordination 202
SECTION 2: VERBS, PRONOUNS, AND AGREEMENT 209
10. Standard English Verbs 210
Regular Verbs: Dialect and Standard Forms 210
Present Tense Endings 211
Past Tense Endings 213
Three Common Irregular Verbs: Dialect and Standard Forms 214
11. Irregular Verbs 220
A Brief Review of Regular Verbs 220
List of Irregular Verbs 221
Troublesome Irregular Verbs 226
12. Subject-Verb Agreement 231
Words between the Subject and the Verb 232
Verb before the Subject 233
Indefinite Pronouns 234
Compound Subjects 235
Who, Which, and That 236
13. Consistent Verb Tense 241
Keeping Tenses Consistent 241
14. Additional Information about Verbs 245
Verb Tense 245
Present Perfect (have or has + past participle) 246
Past Perfect (had + past participle) 246
Present Progressive (was or were + the -ing form) 246
Past Progressive (was or were + the -ing form) 246
Verbals 247
Infinitive 247
Participle 248
Gerund 248
Active and Passive Verbs 249
15. Pronoun Reference, Agreement, and Point of View 252
Pronoun Reference 253
Pronoun Agreement 255
Indefinite Pronouns 256
Pronoun Point of View 258
16. Pronoun Types 263
Subject and Object Pronouns 263
Subject Pronouns 264
Object Pronouns 265
Relative Pronouns 267
Points to Remember about Relative Pronouns 268
Possessive Pronouns 269
Demonstrative Pronouns 270
Reflexive Pronouns 272
Points to Remember about Reflexive Pronouns 272
SECTION 3: MODIFIERS AND PARALLELISM 276
17. Adjectives and Adverbs 277
Adjectives 277
What are Adjectives? 277
Using Adjectives to Compare 278
Points to Remember about Adjectives 278
Adverbs 280
What are Adverbs? 279
A Common Mistake with Adjectives and Adverbs 280
Well and Good 281
18. Misplaced Modifiers 284
What Misplaced Modifiers Are and How to Correct Them 284
19. Dangling Modifiers 290
What Dangling Modifiers Are and How to Correct Them 290
20. Faulty Parallelism 296
Parellelism Explained 296
21. Sentence Variety II 305
-ing Word Groups 305
-ed Word Groups 306
-ly Openers 307
To Openers 309
Prepositional Phrase Openers 310
Series of Items 312
Adjectives in Series 312
Verbs in Series 314
SECTION 4: PUNCTUATION AND MECHANICS 319
22. Paper Format 320
Guidelines for Preparing a Paper 321
23. Capital Letters 325
Main Uses of Capital Letters 326
First Word in a Sentence or Direct Quotation 326
Names and Titles 326
Other Uses of Capital Letters 328
Names and Titles 329
Names that Show Family Relationships 328
Miscellaneous Categories 329
Unnecessary Use of Capitals 331
24. Numbers and Abbreviations 335
Numbers 335
Abbreviations 337
25. End Marks 340
Period (.) 340
Question Mark (?) 340
Exclaimation Point (!) 341
26. Apostrophes 343
Apostrophes in Contractions 344
Four Contractions to Note Carefully 345
Apostrophes to Show Ownership or Possession 346
Points to Remember 347
Apostrophes versus Possessive Pronouns 349
Apostrophes versus Simple Plurals 349
Apostrophes with Plural Words Ending in -s 351
27. Quotation Marks 355
Quotation Marks to Set Off the Words of a Speaker or Writer 356
Indirect Quotations 359
Quotation Marks to Set Off the Titles of Short Works 360
Other Uses of Quotation Marks 362
28. Commas 366
Six Main Uses of the Comma 367
Commas between Items in a Series 367
Commas after Introductory Material 368
Commas around Words Interupting the Flow of Thought 369
Commas between Complete Thoughts Connected by Joining Words 371