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Summary
Exploring Writing: Sentences and Paragraphsserves as a guidebook for every step of the writing process. Emphasizing both process and practice, with a focus on revision, the new third edition helps to apply and advance writing skills using John Langan's proven techniques. Mastering essential sentence skills, learning to write effective sentences, paragraphs, and essays, and becoming a critical reader are turning points for every writer, and they will prepare the students for writing situations in college and beyond.
Table of Contents
EXPLORING WRITING: SENTENCES AND PARAGRAPHS, 3/e
By John Langan
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE xxi
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 74
Base 2: Support 75
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 89
Description 92
A Paragraph to Consider 92
Writing a Descriptive Paragraph 93
Narration 97
A Paragraph to Consider 97
Writing a Narrative Paragraph
Process 100
A Paragraph to Consider 100
Writing a Process Paragraph 101
Cause and Effect 105
A Paragraph to Consider 105
Writing a Cause-and-Effect Paragraph 106
Comparison or Contrast 108
A Paragraph to Consider 109
Writing a Comparison or Contrast Paragraph 111
Definition 114
A Paragraph to Consider 114
Writing a Definition Paragraph 115
Division-Classification 117
A Paragraph to Consider 117
Writing a Division-Classification Paragraph 119
Argument 121
A Paragraph to Consider 121
Writing an Argument Paragraph 122
5. Moving From Paragraph to Essay 126
What Is an Essay? 127
Differences between an Essay and a Paragraph 127
The Form of an Essay 127
A Model Essay 128
Important Points about the Essay 129
Introductory Paragraph 129
Supporting Paragraphs 131
Transitional Sentences 131
Concluding Paragraphs 132
Essays to Consider 132
Planning the Essay 135
Outlining the Essay 135
Form for Planning the Essay 136
Practice in Writing the Essay 136
Understanding the Two Parts of a Thesis Statement 136
Supporting the Thesis with Specific Evidence 137
Identifying Introductions 139
Revising an Essay for All Four Bases: Unity, Support, Coherence,and Sentence Skills 140
Essay Assignments 142
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
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
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 275
17. Adjectives and Adverbs 276
Adjectives 276
What are Adjectives? 276
Using Adjectives to Compare 277
Points to Remember about Adjectives 277
Adverbs 279
What are Adverbs? 279
A Common Mistake with Adjectives and Adverbs 279
18. Misplaced Modifiers 283
What Misplaced Modifiers Are and How to Correct Them 283
19. Dangling Modifiers 289
What Dangling Modifiers Are and How to Correct Them 289
20. Faulty Parallelism 295
Parellelism Explained 295
21. Sentence Variety II 304
-ing Word Groups 304
-ed Word Groups 305
-ly Openers 306
To Openers 308
Prepositional Phrase Openers 309
Series of Items 311
Adjectives in Series 311
Verbs in Series 313
SECTION 4: PUNCTUATION AND MECHANICS 318
22. Paper Format 319
Guidelines for Preparing a Paper 320
23. Capital Letters 324
Main Uses of Capital Letters 325
First Word in a Sentence or Direct Quotation 325
Names and Titles
Names of Persons and the Word 325
Names of Particular Places 325
Names of Days of the Week, Months, and Holidays 325
Names of Commercial Products 326
Titles of Books, Magazines, Articles, Films, Televisions Shows, Songs, Poems, Stories, Papers That You Write, and the Like 326
Names of Companies, Associations, Unions, Clubs, Religious and Political Groups, and Other Organizations 326