College Writing Skills with Readings offers students a practical guide to becoming better writers. From mastering the traditional five-paragraph essay and its variations to learning about the finer points of grammar and punctuation, College Writing Skills with Readings empowers students to take control of their writing and put it to work for them. This new ninth edition brings writing closer to students and helps to take them where they need to go. Whether online or in class, College Writing Skills with Readings offers students the tools to succeed. Connect Writing for Langan is the only integrated learning system that empowers students by continuously adapting to deliver precisely what they need, when they need it, so that your class time is more engaging and effective.

Preface xxii

Part 1: Essay Writing 1

Chapter 1 An Introduction to Writing 2

Point and Support 3

Structure of the Traditional Essay 6

Benefits of Writing the Traditional Essay 11

Writing as a Skill 11

Writing as a Process of Discovery 12

Writing as a Way to Communicate with Others 13

Keeping a Journal 14

Tips on Using a Computer 15

Review Activities 17

Using This Text 20

Chapter 2 The Writing Process 22

Prewriting 23

Writing a First Draft 31

Revising 33

Editing 35

Review Activities 38

Chapter 3 The First and Second Steps in Essay Writing 50

Step 1: Begin with a Point, or Thesis 51

Step 2: Support the Thesis with Specific Evidence 60

Practice in Advancing and Supporting a Thesis 67

Chapter 4 The Third Step in Essay Writing 83

Step 3: Organize and Connect the Specific Evidence 84

Introductions, Conclusions, and Titles 94

Practice in Organizing and Connecting Specific Evidence 102

Chapter 5 The Fourth Step in Essay Writing 110

Revising Sentences 111

Editing Sentences 130

Practice in Revising Sentences 133

Chapter 6 Four Bases for Revising Essays 144

Base 1: Unity 145

Base 2: Support 148

Base 3: Coherence 152

Base 4: Sentence Skills 155

Practice in Using the Four Bases 159

Part 2: Patterns of Essay Development 173

Chapter 7 Introduction to Essay Development 174

Important Considerations in Essay Development 175

Patterns of Essay Development 180

Chapter 8 Description 182

READING: Lou's Place by Beth Johnson 192

Chapter 9 Narration 203

READING: The Yellow Ribbon by Pete Hamill 214

Chapter 10 Exemplification 222

READING: Dad by Andrew H. Malcolm 233

Chapter 11 Process 242

READING: How to Do Well on a Job Interview by Glenda Davis 251

Chapter 12 Cause and/or Effect 260

READING: Taming the Anger Monster by Anne Davidson 269

Chapter 13 Comparison and/or Contrast 281

READING: Born to Be Different? by Camille Lewis 293

Chapter 14 Definition 304

READING: Television Addiction by Marie Winn 313

Chapter 15 Division-Classification 325

READING: Wait Divisions by Tom Bodett 334

Chapter 16 Argument 343

READING: Ban the Things. Ban Them All. by Molly Ivins 356

Part 3: Special Skills 365

Chapter 17 Taking Essay Exams 366

Chapter 18 Writing a Summary 375

Chapter 19 Writing a Report 387

Chapter 20 Writing a Résumé and Cover Letter 392

Chapter 21 Using the Library and the Internet 399

Using the Library 400

Using the Internet 407

Practice in Using the Library and the Internet 411

Chapter 22 Writing a Research Paper 413

Model Paper 427

Part 4: Handbook of Sentence Skills 439

SECTION 1: Grammar 440

Chapter 23 Subjects and Verbs 441

Chapter 24 Fragments 447

Chapter 25 Run-Ons 460

Chapter 26 Regular and Irregular Verbs 473

Chapter 27 Subject-Verb Agreement 484

Words between Subject and Verb 485

Verb before Subject 485

Compound Subjects 486

Indefinite Pronouns 487

Chapter 28 Additional Information about Verbs 490

Verb Tense 490

Helping Verbs 491

Verbals 492

Chapter 29 Pronoun Agreement and Reference 494

Pronoun Agreement 495

Pronoun Reference 497

Chapter 30 Pronoun Types 500

Subject and Object Pronouns 500

Possessive Pronouns 504Chapter 31 Adjectives and Adverbs 507
Adjectives 507
Adverbs 509
Chapter 32 Misplaced Modifiers 513
Chapter 33 Dangling Modifiers 517

SECTION 2: Mechanics 522
Chapter 34 Manuscript Form 523
Chapter 35 Capital Letters 526
Main Uses of Capital Letters 526
Other Uses of Capital Letters 529
Unnecessary Use of Capitals 532
Chapter 36 Numbers and Abbreviations 534
Numbers 535
Abbreviations 536

SECTION 3: Punctuation 538
Chapter 37 Apostrophe 539
Apostrophe in Contractions 540
Apostrophe to Show Ownership or Possession 541
Chapter 38 Quotation Marks 546
Chapter 39 Comma 554
Six Main Uses of the Comma 554
Chapter 40 Other Punctuation Marks 564
Colon (:) 564
Semicolon (;) 565
Dash (-) 565
Parentheses () 566
Hyphen (-) 567

SECTION 4: Word Use 569
Chapter 41 Spelling Improvement 570
Chapter 42 Commonly Confused Words 575
Homonyms 575
Other Words Frequently Confused 580
Chapter 43 Effective Word Choice 585
Chapter 44 Editing Tests 592
Chapter 45 ESL Pointers 605
Articles with Count and Noncount Nouns 606
Subjects and Verbs 610
Adjectives 615
Prepositions Used for Time and Place 617
Correction Symbols 620

Part 5: Readings for Writers 621
Introduction to the Readings 622
Looking Inward 627
from Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson 627
Three Passions, Bertrand Russell 632
Shame, Dick Gregory 636
I Became Her Target, Roger Wilkins 643
Stepping into the Light, Tanya Savory 650
A Hanging, George Orwell 658
What Your Closet Reveals About You, Amy Tan 667

Observing Others 674
The Professor Is a Dropout, Beth Johnson 674
The Certainty of Fear, Audra Kendall 684
What’s Wrong with Schools? Teacher Plays Student,Learns to Lie and Cheat, Casey Banas 691
Propaganda Techniques in Today’s Advertising,Ann McClintock 697

Confronting Problems 707
Chief Seattle's Speech of 1854, Chief Seattle 707
Single-Sex Schools: An Old Idea Whose Time Has Come,Diane Urbina 715
Here’s to Your Health, Joan Dunayer 722
Mayor of Rust, Sue Halpern 728
How to Make It in College, Now That You’re Here,Brian O’Keeney 739
College Lectures: Is Anybody Listening?, David Daniels 748
Is Sex All That Matters?, Joyee Garity 755
Reading Comprehension Chart 763
Credits C-1
Index I-1

Instructor’s Guide IG-1
Suggested Approaches and Techniques IG-2
A Model Syllabus IG-14
Suggested Answers to the Discussion Questions in Parts IG-20

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!