The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing: Brief Edition

by Ramage, John D.; Bean, John C.

• ISBN13: 9780205297924
• ISBN10: 0205297927
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-07-01
• Publisher: Pearson College Div

Summary

The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing, Brief Edition, is a paperback volume that contains all of the content of The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing with the exception of Part Six, A Guide to Editing. The most successful college rhetoric published in over a decade, The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing offers the most progressive and teachable introduction now available to academic and personal writing. The guide offers engaging instruction in rhetoric and composition, a flexible sequence of comprehensive writing assignments, numerous examples of student and professional writing, and thorough guides to research and editing. Solidly grounded in current theory and research, yet eminently practical and teachable, The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing has set the new standard for freshman composition courses in writing, reading, and critical thinking and inquiry. Part One, A Rhetoric for College Writers, provides a conceptual framework for The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing by showing how inquiring writers pose problems, pursue them through discussion and exploratory writing, and solve them as they compose and revise. Part Two, Writing Projects, contains twelve self-contained assignment chapters arranged according to the purposes for writing. Each chapter guides students through the process of generating and exploring ideas, composing and drafting and revising and editing. Concluding each chapter are Guidelines for Peer Reviewers, which sum up the important features in the assignments and facilitate detailed, helpful peer reviews. Part Three, A Guide to Composing and Revising, comprises four self-contained chapters of nuts-and-bolts strategies for composing and revising. A Guide to Research, Part Four, helps students learn to conduct research and incorporate sources into their own writing, and includes a state-of-the-art chapter on electronic writing and research. Part Five, A Guide to Special Writing Occasions, gives students helpful advice on writing reflective self-evaluations and on writing essay exams.

Table of Contents

* Denotes selections new to this edition.

I. A RHETORIC FOR COLLEGE WRITERS.

1. Posing Problems: The Demands of College Writing.
Why Take a Writing Course?
Subject-Matter Problems: The Starting Point of Writing.
Shared Problems Unite Writers and Readers. The Writer as Problematizer. Posing a Problem: A Case Study of a Beginning College Writer. Types of Subject-Matter Questions.
Rhetorical Problems: Reaching Readers Effectively.
An Example of a Rhetorical Problem: Closed versus Open Forms.
Readings:

* David Rockwood, A Letter to the Editor. Minnie Bruce Pratt, from Identity: Skin Blood Heart. Distinctions between Closed and Open Forms of Writing. Where to Place Your Writing along the Continuum.
Brief Writing Project.
Reading:

* Melissa Davis (student), Why Do Some Dogs Like Cats While Others Hate Them? Showing Why Your Question Is Problematic. Showing Why Your Question Is Significant. Planning Your Essay.

2. Pursuing Problems: Exploratory Writing and Talking.
What Does a Professor Want?
Learning to Wallow in Complexity. Seeing Each Academic Discipline as a Field of Inquiry and Argument. How a Prototypical Introduction Poses a Question and Proposes an Answer.
Techniques for Exploratory Writing and Talking.
Freewriting. Idea Mapping. Dialectic Discussion. Active Reading and Research.
How to Make Exploratory Writing and Talking Work for You.
Make Marginal Notes on Readings. Keep a Journal or Learning Log. Discuss Your Ideas with E-mail Correspondents. Join Focused Study Groups. Participate Effectively in Class Discussions.
Brief Writing Project.
Playing the Believing and Doubting Game. Student Example.

3. Solving Content Problems: Thesis and Support.
Drafting and Revising as a Problem-Solving Process.
Taking Risks: Seeking a Surprising Thesis.
Try to Change Your Reader's View of Your Subject. Give Your Thesis Tension.
Supporting a Thesis: Points and Particulars.
How Points Convert Information to Meaning. How Removing Particulars Creates a Summary. How to Use Your Knowledge about Points and Particulars When You Revise. Moving up and down the Scale of Abstraction.
Brief Writing Project.
Student Example.

4. Solving Rhetorical Problems: Purpose, Audience, and Genre.
Motivating Occasions, or Why Am I Writing This Piece?
The Elements of Rhetorical Context: Purpose, Audience, and Genre.
Purpose. Audience. Genre.
Rhetorical Context and Decisions about Structure.
Rhetorical Context and Decisions about Style.
Factors That Affect Style. Recognizing and Creating Style or “Voice.” Practicing Different Styles through Creative Imitation.
Summary of Chapter 4 and Part I.
Brief Writing Project.

II. WRITING PROJECTS.

WRITING TO LEARN.

5. Seeing Rhetorically: The Writer as Observer.
Exploring Rhetorical Observation.
Understanding Observational Writing.
How Observational Writing Reflects an Angle of Vision. Conducting a Simple Rhetorical Analysis. Using Rhetorical Knowledge to Become a Strong Reader. Which Comes First, Perception or Interpretation?
Reading:

Mark Twain, Two Ways of Seeing a River. * Clash on the Congo: Two Eyewitness Accounts — Henry Morton Stanley's Account and Mojimba's Account.

6. Reading Rhetorically: The Writer as Strong Reader.
About Reading Rhetorically.
Exploring Rhetorical Reading.
Reading:

* Andrés Martin, M.D., On Teenagers and Tattoos.
Understanding Rhetorical Reading.
What Makes College-Level Reading Difficult. Reading Processes Used by Experienced Readers. Improving Your Own Reading Process. How to Write a Summary. How to Write a Strong Response. How to Think of Ideas for Your Strong Response.
Readings:

* Richard Lynn, Why Johnny Can't Read, but Yoshio Can. * Victoria Register-Freeman, Hunks and Handmaidens. Edward Abbey, The Damnation of a Canyon. * Patricia J. Williams, The Death of the Profane: A Commentary on the Genre of Legal Writing.
Composing Your Summary/Strong Response Essay.
Generating and Exploring Ideas for Your Summary. Shaping, Drafting, and Revising Your Summary. Generating and Exploring Ideas for Your Strong Response. Revising Your Strong Response.

WRITING TO EXPRESS.

7. Writing an Autobiographical Narrative.
About Autobiographical Narrative.
Exploring Autobiographical Narrative.
Understanding Autobiographical Writing.
Autobiographical Tension: The Opposition of Contraries. Using the Elements of Literary Narrative to Generate Ideas.
Readings:

Bill Russell, from Second Wind. * William Least Heat Moon, from Blue Highways: A Journey in America. Anonymous Student Essay, Masks. * Chris Kordash (student), Making My Mark. Sheila Madden, Letting Go of Bart.

WRITING TO EXPLORE.

8. Writing an Exploratory Essay.
About Exploratory Writing.
Exploring Exploratory Writing.
Understanding Exploratory Writing.
The Essence of Exploratory Prose: Considering Multiple Solutions.
Readings:

Mary Turla (student), Mail-Order Bride Romances: Fairy Tale, Nightmare, or Somewhere in Between? Sheridan Botts (student), Exploring Problems about Hospices. Jane Tompkins, “Indians' Textualism, Morality, and the Problem of History.”
Composing Your Exploratory Essay.
Generating and Exploring Ideas. Continuing with Research and Dialectic Thinking. Shaping and Drafting. Revising.

WRITING TO INFORM.

9. Writing an Informative (and Surprising) Essay.
About Informative (and Surprising) Writing.
Exploring Informative (and Surprising) Writing.
Understanding Informative (and Surprising) Writing.
Readings:

Leo W. Banks, Not Guilty: Despite Its Fearsome Image, the Tarantula Is a Benign Beast. * Elaine Robbins, The New Ego Moooovement. Cheryl Carp (student), Behind Stone Walls. David Quammen, The Face of a Spider.

WRITING TO ANALYZE.

10. Analyzing Images.
About Analyzing Images.
Exploring Image Analysis.
Understanding Image Analysis.
Targeting Specific Audiences. Analyzing an Advertisement. Sample Analysis of an Advertisement. Cultural Issues Raised by Advertisements.
Readings:

Vance Packard, Selling Creative Outlets from the Hidden Persuaders. Gillian Dyer, On Manner and Activity. Stephen Bean (student), How Cigarette Advertisers Address the Stigma against Smoking: A Tale of Two Ads.

11. Analyzing Numerical Data.
About Numerical Analysis.
Exploring Numerical Analysis.
Reading:

* USA Today, Help Troubled Teens — Don't Forget Them.
Understanding Numerical Analysis.
What Do We Mean by “Data” ? Basic Tools of Data Analysis. Shaping Data for Specific Effects.
Readings:

Bryant Stamford, Understand Calories, Fat Content in Food. * Vicki Alexander (student), Trouble with Teens or with Numbers? * John Burbank, The Minimum Wage: Making Work Pay. * David R. Henderson, Minimum Wage: +$1 = More Poverty.

12. Analyzing a Short Story.
About Literary Analysis.
Exploring Literary Analysis.
Reading:
Evelyn Dahl Reed, The Medicine Man.
Essay Assignment. Reading Log Assignment.
Understanding Literary Analysis.
The Truth of Literary Events. Reading the Story. Writing (About) Literature.
Readings:

Alice Walker, Everyday Use (for Your Grandmama). * Gabriel Garcia Márquez, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings. * Betsy Weiler (student), Who Do You Want to Be? Finding Heritage in Walker's “Everyday Use.”

13. Investigating Questions about Cause and Consequence.
About Causal Analysis.
Exploring Causal Analysis.
Understanding Causal Analysis.
Three Methods of Showing a Causal Relationship. The Mysterious Decline in Male Births: An Extended Example of a Casual Puzzle. Glossary of Causal Terms.
Readings:

* David H. Levy, How to Make Sense out of Science. * Michael Castleman, The .02 Percent Solution. * Walter S. Minto, Students Who Push Burgers. * Susan Myers (student), Denying Desire: The Anorexic Struggle with Image, Self, and Sexuality.

WRITING TO PERSUADE.

14. Writing a Classical Argument.
About Classical Argument.
Exploring Classical Argument.
Understanding Classical Argument.
Stages of Development: Your Growth as an Argument. Creating an Argument Frame: A Claim with Reasons. Articulating Reasons. Articulating Unstated Assumptions. Using Evidence Effectively. Addressing Objections and Counterarguments. Responding to Objections, Counterarguments, and Alternative Views through Refutation or Concession. Appealing to Ethos and Pathos. Some Advanced Considerations.
Readings:

* Edward I. Koch, Death and Justice: How Capital Punishment Affirms Life. * David Bruck, The Death Penalty. * Diane Hunsaker, Ditch the Calculators. Walt Spady, A Misguided Ban on Personal Watercraft. * Tiffany Linder (student), Salvaging Our Old-Growth Forests.

15. Making an Evaluation.
About Evaluative Writing.
Exploring Evaluative Writing.
Understanding Evaluation Arguments.
The Criteria/Match Process of Evaluation Arguments. The Role of Purpose and Context in Determining Criteria. Other Considerations in Establishing Criteria. Using Toulmin's System to Develop Evaluation Arguments. Conducting an Evaluation Argument 1: An Extended Example of Evaluating Websites.
Readings:

* Diane Helman and Phyllis Bookspan, Sesame Street: Brought to You by the Letters M-A-L-E. * Elayne Rapping, In Praise of Roseanne. * Sarah Erickson (student), Picnic at Hanging Rock as an Art Film. * Casey James (student), A Difficult Website.

16. Proposing a Solution.
About Proposal Writing.
Exploring Proposal Writing.
Understanding Proposal Writing.
Special Demands of Proposal Arguments. Developing an Effective Justification Section.
Readings:

Theresa LaPorte (student), A Proposal to Create a Quiet Study Lounge on the Twelfth Floor of Campwell Hall. Sheridan Botts (student), Saving Hospices: A Plea to the Insurance Industry. * Richard Weissbourd, The Feel-Good Trap. * Brian A. Courtney, Freedom from Choice.

III. A GUIDE TO COMPOSING AND REVISING.

17. Writing as a Problem-Solving Process.
Understanding How Experts Compose and Revise.
Why Experienced Writers Revise So Extensively.
Revising to Overcome Limits of Short-Term Memory. Revising to Accommodate Shifts and Changes in a Writer's Ideas. Revising to Clarify Audience and Purpose. Revising to Clarify Structure and Create Coherence. Revising to Improve Gracefulness and Correctness.
A Working Description of the Writing Process.
Early in the Process. Midway through the Process. Late in the Process.
Improving Your Own Writing Process.
Recognizing Kinds of Changes Writers Typically Made in Drafts. Practice the Composing Strategies of Experienced Writers.

18. Nine Lessons in Composing and Revising Closed-Form Prose.
Lesson 1: Understanding Reader Expectations.
Unity and Coherence. Old before New. Forecasting and Fulfillment. Summary.
Lesson 2: Converting Loose Structures into Thesis/Support Structures.
And Then Writing, or Chronological Structure. All about Writing, or Encyclopedic Structure. Engfish Writing, or Structure without Surprise. Summary.
Lesson 3: Planning and Visualizing Your Structure.
Articulate the Change You Want to Make in Your Audience's View of Your Subject. Articulate a Working Thesis and Main Points. Sketch Your Structure Using an Outline, Tree Diagram, or Flowchart. Let the Structure Evolve. Articulate Points, Not Topics. Summary.
Lesson 4: Learning Four Expert Moves for Organizing and Developing Ideas.
The For Example Move. The Summary/However Move. The Division-into-Parallel-Parts Move. The Comparison/Contrast Move. Summary.
Lesson 5: Placing Points before Particulars.
Put Point Sentences at the Beginning of Paragraphs. Revise Paragraphs for Unity. Add Particulars to Support Points. Summary.
Lesson 6: Signaling Relationships with Transitions.
Use Common Transition Words to Signal Relationships. Write Major Transitions between Points. Signal Transitions with Headings and Subheadings. Summary.
Lesson 7: Binding Sentences Together by Following the Old/New Contract.
An Explanation of the Old/New Contract. Avoid Ambiguous Use of “This” to Fulfill the Old/New Contract. How the Old/New Contract Modifies the Rule “Avoid Weak Repetition.” How the Old/New Contract Modifies the Rule “Prefer Active over Passive Voice.” Summary.
Lesson 8: Writing Effective Titles and Introductions.
Writing Effective Titles. Planning an Introduction. Typical Features of a Closed-Form Introduction. Laying out the Whole with a Thesis Statement, Purpose Statement, or Blueprint Statement. Summary.
Lesson 9: Writing Effective Conclusions.
The Simple Summary Conclusion. The Larger Significance Conclusion. The Proposal Conclusion. The Scenic or Anecdotal Conclusion. The Hook and Return Conclusion. The Delayed Thesis Conclusion. Summary.

19. Composing and Revising Open-Form Prose.
Understanding Open-Form Features.
Narrative Base and Reader Involvement. The Writer's Role and Reader Involvement. Artistic Language and Reader Involvement.
Reading:

Patrick Klein (student), Berkeley Blues.
Identifying and Creating a Minimal Story.
Depiction of Events. Connectedness. Tension or Conflict. Resolution, Recognition, or Retrospective Interpretation.
Considering Structural Options for Open-Form Writing.
Suspending and Disrupting Readers' Desire for Direction. Leaving Gaps. Employing Unstable or Ironic Points of View.
Using Language Artistically for Meaning and Pleasure.
Using Specific Words. Using Revelatory Words. Using Memory-Soaked Words. Using Figurative Words.
Reading:

Annie Dillard, Living Like Weasels.
Combining Closed and Open Elements.
Introducing Some Humor. Using Techniques from Popular Magazines. Delaying Your Thesis.

20. Working in Groups to Pose and Solve Problems.
Basic Principles of Successful Group Interaction.
Avoid Clone-Think and Ego-Think. Listen Empathically. Play Assigned Roles. Be Sensitive to Body Language. Invest Time in Group Maintenance.
Some Special Problems in Making Groups Work.
Recognizing How Personality and Culture Affect Group Participation. Dealing with an “Impossible Group Member.”
Thinking in Groups.
Seeking Consensus. Brainstorming. Oral Rehearsal of Drafts.

IV. A GUIDE TO RESEARCH.

21. Focusing a Problem and Finding Sources.
What Do We Mean by Sources?
Beginning a Research Paper.
Developing Your Research Question. Evaluating Your Research Question.
Finding Library Sources.
Searching for Books. Searching for Articles in Periodicals. Finding Information in Special Reference Materials.
Specialized Libraries and Local Organization.
Finding Information through Interviews and Personal Correspondence.
Interviews. Personal Correspondence.
Gathering Information through Questionnaires.
Concluding Your Information Gathering.

22. Using and Citing Sources.
Focusing and Refining Your Research Question.
Reading, Thinking, and Notetaking.
The Logic of Notetaking. Taking Purposeful Notes. Strategies for Taking Notes. Reflecting on Your Notes. Analyzing Bias in Sources.
Context and Purpose in the Use of Sources.
Reading:

Roger D. McGrath, The Myth of Violence in the Old West.
Writer 1: Summary for an Analytical Paper. Writer 2: Partial Summary for a Persuasive Paper. Writer 3: Partial Summary for an Analytical Paper.
Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting.
Summarizing and Paraphrasing Sources. Attributive Tags and Citations. Quoting a Source.
Avoiding Plagiarism.
Conventions for Quoting and Citing Sources.
Long Quotations. Short Quotations. Modifying Quotations to Fit Your Grammatical Structure. Quotations within Quotations.
Conventions for Documenting Sources.
In-Text Citations. Citing a Quotation or Other Data from an Indirect Source. Bibliographic Listings at the End of Your Paper. Quick Check Reference: MLA and APA Bibliographic Entries.
Formatting a Research Paper.
Student Example:

Mary Turla (student), Mail Order Bride Romances: The Need for Regulation.

23. Electronic Writing and Research.
Opportunities for Exploring Ideas with Others.
E-mail and Listservs. Usenet Newsgroups. Real-Time Discussion or Chat.
Opportunities for Collaborative Discussion and Writing.
E-mail and Newsgroups. Web Message Forums. Writing for the Web.
Opportunities for Conducting Research.
Online Catalogs and Electronic Databases. Listservs, Newsgroups, and Chat as Resources. The World Wide Web. Sample Research Session.

V. A GUIDE TO SPECIAL WRITING OCCASIONS.

24. Essay Examinations: Writing Polished Prose in a Hurry.
Writing under Pressure.
How Are Exams Different from Other Essays?
Preparing for an Exam: Learning and Remembering Subject Matter.
Identifying and Learning Main Ideas. Applying Your Knowledge. Making a Study Plan.
Analyzing Exam Questions.
Dealing with Constraints: Taking an Essay Exam.
Chapter Guidelines for Producing Successful Responses.

25. Writing a Reflective Self-Evaluation.
Understanding Reflective Writing.
What Is Reflective Writing? Reflective Writing in the Writing Classroom. Why Is Reflective Writing Important?
Reflective Writing Assignments.
Single Reflection Assignments. Guidelines for Single Reflection Assignments. Student Example of a Single Reflection. Comprehensive Reflection Writing Assignments. Guidelines for Comprehensive Reflection Assignments. Student Example of a Comprehensive Reflection.