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Grounded in current theory and research, yet practical and teachable.
Widely praised for its groundbreaking integration of composition research and a rhetorical perspective, The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing with MyWritingLab has set the standard for first-year composition courses in writing, reading, critical thinking, and inquiry.
Teachers and students value its clear and coherent explanations, engaging classroom activities, and flexible sequence of aims-based writing assignments that help writers produce effective, idea-rich essays in academic and civic genres. Numerous examples of student and professional writing accompany this thorough guide to the concepts and skills needed for writing, researching, and editing in college and beyond.
Writing Projects
Thematic Contents
Preface
Part 1 A Rhetoric For Writers
1 Posing Problems: The Demands of College Writing
Why Take a Writing Course?
Concept 1.1 Subject matter problems are the heart of college writing.
Shared Problems Unite Writers and Readers
Where Do Problems Come From?
Concept 1.2 Writers’ decisions are shaped by purpose, audience, and genre.
What Is Rhetoric?
How Writers Think about Purpose
How Writers Think about Audience
How Writers Think about Genre
Concept 1.3 The rules for “good writing” vary depending on rhetorical context.
A Thought Exercise: Two Pieces of Good Writing That Follow Different “Rules”
David Rockwood, A Letter to the Editor
Thomas Merton, A Festival of Rain
Distinctions between Closed and Open Forms of Writing
Flexibility of “Rules” along the Continuum
Where to Place Your Writing along the Continuum
Chapter Summary
BRIEF WRITING PROJECT: TWO MESSAGES FOR DIFFERENT PURPOSES, AUDIENCES, AND GENRES
2 Exploring Problems, Making Claims
Concept 2.1 To determine their thesis, writers must often “wallow in complexity.”
Learning to Wallow in Complexity
Seeing Each Academic Discipline as a Field of Inquiry and Argument
Using Exploratory Writing to Help You Wallow in Complexity
Believing and Doubting Paul Theroux’s Negative View of Sports
Concept 2.2 A strong thesis statement surprises readers with something new or challenging.
Trying to Change Your Reader’s View of Your Subject
Giving Your Thesis Tension through “Surprising Reversal”
Concept 2.3 In closed-form prose, a typical introduction starts with the problem, not the thesis.
A Typical Introduction
Features of an Effective Introduction
Chapter Summary
BRIEF WRITING PROJECT: PLAYING THE BELIEVING AND DOUBTING GAME
3 How Messages Persuade
Concept 3.1 Messages persuade through their angle of vision.
Recognizing the Angle of Vision in a Text
Analyzing Angle of Vision
Concept 3.2 Messages persuade through appeals to logos, ethos, and pathos.
Concept 3.3 Messages persuade through writers’ choices about style and document design.
Understanding Factors that Affect Style
Making Purposeful Choices about Document Design
Concept 3.4 Nonverbal messages persuade through visual strategies that can be analyzed rhetorically.
Visual Rhetoric
The Rhetoric of Clothing and Other Consumer Items
Chapter Summary
BRIEF WRITING PROJECT: TWO CONTRASTING DESCRIPTIONS OF THE SAME SCENE
4 Multimodal and Online Communication
Concept 4.1 Composers of multimodal texts use words, images, and sounds rhetorically to move an audience.
Hooking Audiences with Images and “Nutshell” Text
Holding Readers through Strong Content
Designing Video Narratives that Move Viewers
Concept 4.2 Online environments are rhetorically interactive with shifting audiences, purposes, genres, and authorial roles.
Shifting and Evolving Rhetorical Contexts Online
Online Variations in Purposes, Genres, and Authorial Roles
Maintaining Appropriate Online Privacy
Concept 4.3 Responsible participation in online discourse requires understanding intellectual property rights and an ethical persona.
Understanding Issues of Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative Commons Licenses
Using Images and Sound Ethically in Your Multimodal Projects
Creating an Ethical Online Persona
Chapter Summary
BRIEF WRITING PROJECT 1: DESCRIPTION AND REFLECTION ON YOUR ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS
BRIEF WRITING PROJECT 2: DESCRIPTION AND REFLECTION ON YOUR CREATION OF A MULTIMODAL COMPOSITION
Part 2 Writing Projects
Writing To Learn
5 Reading Rhetorically: The Writer As Strong Reader
Engaging Rhetorical Reading
Understanding Rhetorical Reading
What Makes College-Level Reading Difficult?
Using the Reading Strategies of Experts
Reading with the Grain and Against the Grain
Understanding Summary Writing
Usefulness of Summaries
The Demands that Summary Writing Makes on Writers
Summary of “Why Bother?”
Understanding Strong Response Writing
Strong Response as Rhetorical Critique
Strong Response as Ideas Critique
Strong Response as Reflection
Strong Response as a Blend
Kyle Madsen (student), Can a Green Thumb Save the Planet? A Response to Michael Pollan
WRITING PROJECT: A SUMMARY
Generating Ideas: Reading for Structure and Content
Drafting and Revising
Questions for Peer Review
WRITING PROJECT: A SUMMARY/STRONG RESPONSE ESSAY
Exploring Ideas for Your Strong Response
Writing a Thesis for a Strong Response Essay
Shaping and Drafting
Revising
Questions for Peer Review
WRITING PROJECT: MULTIMODAL OR ONLINE OPTION: BOOK REVIEW
Readings
Michael Pollan, Why Bother?
Thomas L. Friedman, 30 Little Turtles
Stephanie Malinowski (student), Questioning Thomas L. Friedman’s Optimism in “30 Little Turtles”
Writing To Express
6 Writing An Autobiographical Narrative
Engaging Autobiographical Narrative
Understanding Autobiographical Writing
Autobiographical Tension: The Opposition of Contraries
How Literary Elements Work in Autobiographical Narratives
Special Features of Literacy Narratives
WRITING PROJECT: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL OR LITERACY NARRATIVE
Generating and Exploring Ideas
Shaping and Drafting Your Narrative
Revising
Questions for Peer Review
WRITING PROJECT MULTIMODAL OR ONLINE OPTION: PHOTO ESSAY
Readings
Kris Saknussemm, Phantom Limb Pain
Patrick José (student), No Cats in America?
Stephanie Whipple (student), One Great Book
Writing To Explore
7 Writing An Exploratory Essay or Annotated
Bibliography
Engaging Exploratory Writing
Understanding Exploratory Writing
WRITING PROJECT: AN EXPLORATORY ESSAY
Generating and Exploring Ideas
Taking “Double-Entry” Research Notes
Shaping and Drafting
Revising
Questions for Peer Review
WRITING PROJECT: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
What Is an Annotated Bibliography?
Features of Annotated Bibliography Entries
Examples of Annotation Entries
Writing a Critical Preface for Your Annotated Bibliography
Shaping, Drafting, and Revising
Questions for Peer Review
WRITING PROJECT: MULTIMODAL OR ONLINE OPTION: SPEECH WITH VISUAL AIDS
Readings
Kent Ansen (student), Should the United States Establish Mandatory Public Service for Young Adults?
Kent Ansen (student), Should the United States Establish Mandatory Public Service for Young Adults? An Annotated Bibliography
Writing To Inform
8 Writing An Informative (and Surprising) Essay or Report
Engaging Informative (and Surprising) Writing
Understanding Informative Writing
Informative Reports
Informative Essay Using the Surprising-Reversal Strategy
WRITING PROJECT: INFORMATIVE REPORT
Generating and Exploring Ideas
Shaping and Drafting
Revising
Questions for Peer Review
WRITING PROJECT: INFORMATIVE ESSAY USING THE SURPRISING-REVERSAL STRATEGY
Generating and Exploring Ideas
Shaping, Drafting, and Revising
Questions for Peer Review
WRITING PROJECT: MULTIMODAL OR ONLINE OPTIONS: POSTER, VIDEO, AND PECHAKUCHA PRESENTATION
Readings
Theresa Bilbao (student), Spinning Spider Webs from Goat’s Milk—The Magic of Genetic Science
Kerri Ann Matsumoto (student), How Much Does It Cost to Go Organic?
Shannon King (student), How Clean and Green Are Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Cars?
NAACP, NAACP Report Reveals Disparate Impact of Coal-Fired Power Plants
Writing To Analyze and Synthesize
9 Analyzing Field Research Data
Engaging the Analysis of Field Research Data
Understanding the Analysis of Field Research Data
The Structure of an Empirical Research Report
How Readers Typically Read a Research Report
Posing Your Research Question
Collecting data through observation, interviews, or Questionnaires
Reporting Your Results in Both Words and Graphics
Analyzing Your Results
Following ethical Standards
WRITING PROJECT: EMPIRICAL RESEARCH REPORT
Generating ideas for Your empirical Research Report
Designing Your empirical Study and drafting the introduction and Method Sections
Doing the Research and Writing the Rest of the Report
Revising Your Report
Questions for Peer Review
WRITING PROJECT: MULTIMODAL OR ONLINE OPTION: SCIENTIFIC POSTER
Readings
LeAnne M. Forquer et al., Sleep Patterns of College Students at a Public University \
Lauren Campbell, Charlie Bourain, and Tyler Nishida (students),
A Comparison of Gender Stereotypes in SpongeBob SquarePants and a 1930s Mickey Mouse Cartoon (APA-Style Research Paper)
Lauren Campbell, Charlie Bourain, and Tyler Nishida (students), SpongeBob SquarePants Has Fewer Gender Stereotypes than Mickey Mouse (scientific poster)
10 Analyzing Images
Engaging Image Analysis
Understanding Image Analysis: Documentary and News Photographs
Angle of vision and Credibility of Photographs
How to Analyze a Documentary Photograph
Sample Analysis of a Documentary Photograph
Understanding Image Analysis: Paintings
How to Analyze a Painting
Sample Analysis of a Painting
Understanding Image Analysis: Advertisements
How Advertisers Think about Advertising
Mirrors and Windows: The Strategy of an Effective Advertisement
How to Analyze an Advertisement
Sample Analysis of an Advertisement
WRITING PROJECT: ANALYSIS OF TWO VISUAL TEXTS
Exploring and Generating Ideas for Your Analysis
Shaping and Drafting Your Analysis
Revising
Questions for Peer Review
WRITING PROJECT: MULTIMODAL OR ONLINE OPTIONS: PODCAST AND LECTURE SLIDES
Readings
Clark Hoyt, Face to Face with Tragedy
Manoucheka Celeste, Disturbing Media Images of Haiti Earthquake Aftermath Tell Only Part of the Story
Lydia Wheeler (student), Two Photographs Capture Women’s Economic Misery
11 Analyzing Short Fiction
Engaging Literary Analysis
Alison Townsend, The Barbie Birthday
Understanding Literary Analysis
Critical Elements of a Literary Text
Historical and Cultural Contexts
A Process for Analyzing a Short Story
Sample Analysis of “The Barbie Birthday”
WRITING PROJECT: AN ANALYTICAL ESSAY ABOUT A SHORT STORY
Generating and Exploring Ideas
Shaping, Drafting, and Revising
Questions for Peer Review
WRITING PROJECT: MULTIMODAL OR ONLINE OPTION: PODCAST READING
Readings
Jacquelyn Kolosov, Forsythia
Michelle Eastman (student), Unconditional Love and the Function of the Rocking Chair in Kolosov’s “Forsythia”
Bill Konigsberg, After
12 Analyzing and Synthesizing Ideas
Engaging Analysis and Synthesis
John Miley, Ground Rules for Boomerang Kids
Publishers Weekly, Review of The Accordion Family: Boomerang Kids, Anxious Parents, and the Private Toll of Global Competition
Understanding Analysis and Synthesis
Posing a Significant Synthesis Question
Synthesis Writing as an Extension of Summary/Strong Response Writing
WRITING PROJECT: A SYNTHESIS ESSAY
Summarizing Your Texts to Explore Their Ideas
Rosie Evans (student), Summary of Robin Marantz Henig’s Article
Rosie Evans (student), Summary of Scammed Hard!’s Blog Post
Analyzing Your Texts
Rosie Evans (student), Rhetorical Analysis of Henig’s Article
Rosie Evans (student), Rhetorical Analysis of Scammed Hard!’s Blog Post
Analyzing the Main Themes and Similarities and Differences in Your Texts’ Ideas
Synthesizing Ideas from Your Texts
Rosie Evans (student) Exploration of Her Personal Connections to Her Texts and the Synthesis Question
Taking Your Position in the Conversation: Your Synthesis
Shaping and Drafting
Writing a Thesis for a Synthesis Essay
Organizing a Synthesis Essay
Revising
Questions for Peer Review
WRITING PROJECT: MULTIMODAL OR ONLINE OPTION: DISCUSSION POST
Reading
Rosie Evans (student), Boomerang Kids: What Are the Causes of Generation Y’s Growing Pains?
Writing To Persuade
13 Writing A Classical Argument
Engaging Classical Argument
Understanding Classical Argument
What Is Argument?
Stages of Development: Your Growth as an Arguer
Creating an Argument Frame: A Claim with Reasons
Articulating Reasons
Articulating Underlying Assumptions
Using Evidence Effectively
Evaluating Evidence: The STAR Criteria
Addressing Objections and Counterarguments
Responding to Objections, Counterarguments, and Alternative Views
Seeking Audience-Based Reasons
Appealing to Ethos and Pathos
A Brief Primer on Informal Fallacies
WRITING PROJECT: A CLASSICAL ARGUMENT
Generating and Exploring Ideas
Shaping and Drafting
Questions for Peer Review
WRITING PROJECT: MULTIMODAL OR ONLINE OPTIONS: VIDEO, ADVOCACY AD, AND BUMPER STICKER
Readings
Ross Taylor (student), Paintball
Megan H. MacKenzie, Let Women Fight
Mackubin Thomas Owens, Coed Combat Units
Gary Varvel, Combat Barbie (editorial cartoon)
Claire Giordano (student), Virtual Promise: Why Online Courses Will Not Adequately Prepare Us for the Future
14 Making An Evaluation
Engaging Evaluative Writing
Understanding Evaluation Arguments
The Criteria-Match Process
The Role of Purpose and Context in Determining Criteria
Special Problems in Establishing Criteria
Distingushing Necessary, Sufficient, and Accidental Criteria
Using a Planning Schema to Develop Evaluation Arguments
Conducting an Evaluation Argument: An Extended Example
WRITING PROJECT: AN EVALUATION ARGUMENT
Generating and Exploring Ideas
Shaping and Drafting
Revising
Questions for Peer Review
WRITING PROJECT: MULTIMODAL OR ONLINE OPTIONS: REVIEW POST AND SPEECH WITH VISUAL AIDS
Readings
Jackie Wyngaard (student), EMP: Music History or Music Trivia?
Gary Gutting, Learning History at the Movies
Teresa Filice, Parents: The Anti-Drug
15 Proposing A Solution
Engaging Proposal Writing
Understanding Proposal Writing
Special Challenges of Proposal Arguments
Developing an Effective Justification Section
Multimodal Proposal Arguments
WRITING PROJECT: A PROPOSAL ARGUMENT
Generating and Exploring Ideas
Shaping and Drafting
Revising
Questions for Peer Review
WRITING PROJECT: MULTIMODAL OR ONLINE OPTIONS: ADVOCACY AD OR POSTER AND SPEECH WITH VISUAL AIDS
Readings
Lucy Morsen (student), A Proposal to Improve the Campus Learning Environment by Banning Laptops and Cell Phones from Class
Jennifer Allen, The Athlete on the Sidelines
Sam Rothchild (student), Reward Work Not Wealth (oral presentation
with visual aids)
Kent Ansen (student), Engaging Young Adults to Meet America’s Challenges: A Proposal for Mandatory National Service (MLA format research paper)
Part 3 A Guide To Composing and
Revising
16 Writing As A Problem-Solving Process
SKILL 16.1 Follow the experts’ practice of using multiple drafts.
Why Expert Writers Revise So Extensively
An Expert’s Writing Processes Are Recursive
SKILL 16.2 Revise globally as well as locally.
SKILL 16.3 Develop ten expert habits to improve your writing processes.
SKILL 16.4 Use peer reviews to help you think like an expert.
Becoming a Helpful Reader of Classmates’ Drafts
Using a Generic Peer Review Guide
Participating in Peer Review Workshops
Responding to Peer Reviews
17 Strategies For Writing Closed-Form Prose
SKILL 17.1 Satisfy reader expectations by linking new material to old material.
The Principle of Old before New
How the Principle of Old Before New Creates Unified and Coherent Paragraphs
The Explanatory Power of the Principle of Old before New
SKILL 17.2 Convert loose structures into problem-thesis-support structures.
Avoiding And Then Writing, or Chronological Structure
Avoiding All About Writing, or Encyclopedic Structure
Avoiding Engfish Writing, or Structure that Doesn’t Address a Real Problem
SKILL 17.3 Nutshell your argument and visualize its structure.
Make a List of “Chunks” and a Scratch Outline Early in the Writing Process
To Achieve Focus, “Nutshell” Your Argument and Create a Working Thesis Statement
Visualizing Your Structure
SKILL 17.4 Start and end with the “big picture” through effective titles, introductions, and conclusions.
What Not to Do: “Topic Title” and the “Funnel Introduction”
Creating Effective Titles
Writing Good Closed-Form Introductions
Writing Effective Conclusions
SKILL 17.5 Create effective topic sentences for paragraphs.
Placing Topic Sentences at the Beginning of Paragraphs
Revising Paragraphs for Unity
Adding Particulars to Support Points
SKILL 17.6 Guide your reader with transitions and other signposts.
Using Common Transition Words to Signal Relationships
Writing Major Transitions between Parts
Signaling Major Transitions with Headings
SKILL 17.7 Bind sentences together by placing old information before new information.
The Old/New Contract in Sentences
How to Make Links to the “Old”
Avoiding Ambiguous Use of “This” to Fulfill the Old/New Contract
SKILL 17.8 Learn 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
SKILL 17.9 Use effective tables, graphs, and charts to present numeric data.
How Tables Tell Many Stories
Using a Graphic to Tell a Story
Incorporating a Graphic into Your Essay
SKILL 17.10 Write effective conclusions.
18 Strategies for Writing Open-Form Prose
SKILL 18.1 Make your narrative a story, not an and then chronology.
Four Criteria for a Story
SKILL 18.2 Evoke Images and sensations by writing low on the ladder of abstraction.
Concrete Words Evoke Images and Sensations
Using Revelatory Words and Memory-Soaked Words
SKILL 18.3 Disrupt your reader’s desire for direction and clarity.
Disrupting Predictions and Making Odd Juxtapositions
Leaving Gaps
SKILL 18.4 Tap the power of metaphor and other tropes.
SKILL 18.5 Expand your repertoire of styles.
19 Strategies For Composing Multimodal Texts
SKILL 19.1 Consider a range of multimodal options for accomplishing your purpose.
SKILL 19.2 Design multimodal texts so that each mode contributes its own strengths to the message.
This Design Principle at Work In Successful Multimodal Texts
Using This Design Principle to Revise a Jumbled Multimodal Text
SKILL 19.3 Design multimodal genres including posters, speeches with visual aids, podcasts, and videos.
Informational or Advocacy Posters, Brochures, Flyers, and Ads
Scientific Posters
Speeches with Visual Aids (PowerPoint, Prezi, Pechakucha)
Scripted Speech (Podcasts, Video Voiceovers)
Videos
Part 4 A Rhetorical Guide To Research
20 Asking Questions, Finding Sources
An Overview of Research Writing
Characteristics of a Good Research Paper
An Effective Approach to Research
The Role of Documentation in College Research
SKILL 20.1 Argue your own thesis in response to a research question.
Topic Focus Versus Question Focus
Formulating a Research Question
Establishing Your Role as a Researcher
A Case Study: Kent Ansen’s Research on Mandatory Public Service
SKILL 20.2 Understand differences among kinds of sources.
Primary and Secondary Sources
Reading Secondary Sources Rhetorically
SKILL 20.3 Use purposeful strategies for searching libraries, databases, and Web sites.
Checking Your Library’s Home Page
Finding Print Articles: Searching a Licensed Database
Illustration of a Database Search
Finding Cyberspace Sources: Searching the World Wide Web
21 Evaluating Sources
SKILL 21.1 R ead sources rhetorically and take purposeful notes.
Reading with Your Own Goals in Mind
Reading Your Sources Rhetorically
Taking Purposeful Notes
SKILL 21.2 E valuate sources for reliability, credibility, angle of vision, and degree of advocacy.
Reliability
Credibility
Angle of Vision and Political Stance
Degree of Advocacy
SKILL 21.3 Use your rhetorical knowledge to evaluate Web sources.
The Web as a Unique Rhetorical Environment
Criteria for Evaluating a Web Source
Analyzing Your Own Purposes for Using a Web Source
22 Incorporating Sources Into Your Own Writing
SKILL 22.1 Let your own argument determine your use of sources.
Writer 1: An Analysis of Alternative Approaches to Reducing Alcoholism
Writer 2: A Proposal Advocating Vegetarianism
Writer 3: An Evaluation Looking Skeptically at Vegetarianism
SKILL 22.2 Know when and how to use summary, paraphrase, and quotation.
Summarizing
Paraphrasing
Quoting
SKILL 22.3 Use attributive tags to distinguish your ideas from a source’s.
Attributive Tags Mark Where Source Material Starts and Ends
Attributive Tags Avoid Ambiguities that Can Arise with Parenthetical Citations
Attributive Tags Frame the Source Material Rhetorically
SKILL 22.4 Avoid plagiarism by following academic conventions for ethical use of sources.
Why Some Kinds of Plagiarism May Occur Unwittingly
Strategies for Avoiding Plagiarism
23 Citing and Documenting Sources
SKILL 23.1 Know what needs to be cited and what doesn’t.
SKILL 23.2 Understand the connection between in-text citations and the end-of-paper list of cited works.
SKILL 23.3 Cite and document sources using MLA style.
In-Text Citations in MLA Style
Works Cited List in MLA Style
MLA Citation Models
MLA Format Research Paper
SKILL 23.4 Cite and document sources using APA style.
In-Text Citations in APA Style
References List in APA Style
APA Citation Models
Student Example of an APA-Style Research Paper
Part 5 Writing For Assessment
24 Essay Examinations
How Essay Exams Differ from Other Essays
Preparing for an Exam: Learning Subject Matter
Identifying and Learning Main Ideas
Applying Your Knowledge
Making a Study Plan
Analyzing Exam Questions
Understanding the Use of Outside Quotations
Recognizing Organizational Cues
Interpreting Key Terms
Producing an “A” Response
25 Portfolios and Reflective Essays
Understanding Portfolios
Collecting Work
Selecting Work for Your Portfolio
Understanding Reflective Writing
Why Is Reflective Writing Important?
Reflective Writing Assignments
Single Reflection Assignments
Guidelines for Writing a Single Reflection
Comprehensive Reflection Assignments
Guidelines for Writing a Comprehensive Reflection
Guidelines for Writing a Comprehensive Reflective Letter
Readings
Jaime Finger (student), A Single Reflection on an Exploratory Essay
Bruce Urbanik (student), A Comprehensive Reflective Letter
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