With top-notch models for writing, Patterns for College Writing, Brief offers you classic and contemporary essays, some written by students, to help you develop your writing skills in a number of key styles.
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With top-notch models for writing, Patterns for College Writing, Brief offers you classic and contemporary essays, some written by students, to help you develop your writing skills in a number of key styles.
Preface
Thematic Guide to the Contents
Introduction: How to Use This Book
Henry Louis Gates Jr., "What’s in a Name?"
Responding to an Essay?
PART ONE: THE WRITING PROCESS
1 Reading to Write: Becoming a Critical Reader
Understanding Critical Reading
Cutting and Pasting: A Senior Thesis by (Insert Name)Brent Staples,
*Moises Naim, The YouTube Effect
Brent Staples, Cutting and Pasting: A Senior Thesis by (Insert Name) (with sample annotations)
2 Invention
Understanding Your Assignment
Setting Limits
Moving from Subject to Topic
Finding Something to Say
Grouping Ideas
Understanding Thesis and Support
Developing a Thesis
3 Arrangement
Recognizing a Pattern
Understanding the Parts of the Essay
Constructing a Formal Outline
4 Drafting and Revising
Writing Your First Draft
Revising Your Essay
Points for Special Attention: First Draft
Points for Special Attention: Second Draft
Laura Bobnak, The Price of Silence (Student Essay)
5 Editing and Proofreading
Editing for Grammar
Editing for Punctuation
Editing for Sentence Style and Word Choice
Proofreading Your Essay
Checking Your Paper’s Format
Part Two: Readings for Writers
6 Narration
What Is Narration?
Using Narration
Planning a Narrative Essay
Developing a Thesis Statement
Including Enough Detail
Varying Sentence Structure
Maintaining Clear Narrative Order
Structuring a Narrative Essay
Revising a Narrative Essay
REVISION CHECKLIST: Narration
Editing a Narrative Essay
GRAMMAR IN CONTEXT: Avoiding Run-ons
EDITING CHECKLIST: Narration
A Student Writer: Narration
My Field of Dreams (Student Essay)Tiffany Forte,
Points for Special Attention
Focus on Revision
A Student Writer: Literacy Narrative
Becoming a Writer (Student Essay)Erica Sarno,
Points for Special Attention
Focus on Revision
PEER EDITING WORKSHEET: Narration
Visual Text: Marjane Satrapi, From Persepolis II (Graphic Fiction)
*Ocean Vuong, Surrendering
Martin Gansberg, Thirty-Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police
George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant
Writing Assignments for Narration
Collaborative Activity for Narration
7 Description
What is Description?
Using Description
Checklist: Using Visuals Effectively
Planning a Descriptive Essay
Structuring a Descriptive Essay
Revising a Descriptive Essay
Revision Checklist: Description
Editing a Description Essay
Grammar in Context: Avoiding Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
Editing Checklist: Description
A Student Writer: Objective Description
My Grandfather’s Globe (Student Essay)Mallory Cogan,
A Student Writer: Subjective Description
The Valley of Windmills (Student Essay)Mary Lim,
Peer-Editing Worksheet: Description
Visual Text: Ansel Adams, Jeffrey Pine--Sentinel Dome (Photograph)
Bich Minh Nguyen, Goodbye to My Twinkie Days
Suzanne Berne, Ground Zero
*Marina Keegan, Stability in Motion
Heather Rogers, The Hidden Life of Garbage
8 Exemplification
What Is Exemplification?
Using Exemplification
Planning an Exemplification Essay
Structuring an Exemplification Essay
Revising an Exemplification Essay
Revision Checklist: Exemplification
Editing an Exemplification Essay
Grammar in Context: Using Commas in a Series
Editing Checklist: Exemplification
A Student Writer: Exemplification
Kristy Bredin, Job Application Letter (Student Essay)
A Student Writer: Exemplification
Grace Ku, Midnight (Student Essay)
Peer-Editing Worksheet: Exemplification
Visual Texts: Four Tattoos: Charles Thatcher, "
Alisha, Loretta,"; Carrie Williams, "Positive Outlook"; Anthony Bradshaw, "Bar Code"; Guido Koppes, "Owl"*Zeynep Tufekci, Why the Post Office Makes America Great
Judith Ortiz Cofer, The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria
Brent Staples, Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space
9 Process
What Is Process?
Using Process
Planning a Process Essay
Structuring a Process Essay
Revising a Process Essay
Revision Checklist: Process
Editing a Process Essay
Grammar in Context: Avoiding Unnecessary Shifts
Editing Checklist: Process
A Student Writer: Instructions
The Search (Student Essay)Eric McGlade,
A Student Writer: Process Explanation
Medium Ash Brown (Student Essay)Melany Hunt,
Peer Editing Worksheet: Process
Visual Text: Piranha Plastics, What Happens to Plastic that is Recycled by Us? (Infographic)
Malcolm X, My First Conk
*Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht, How to Build a Monster from Spare Parts
Jessica Mitford, The Embalming of Mr. Jones
10 Cause and Effect
What Is Cause and Effect?
Using Cause and Effect
Planning a Cause-and-Effect Essay
Structuring a Cause-and-Effect Essay
Revising a Cause-and-Effect Essay
Revision Checklist: Cause and Effect
Editing a Cause-and-Effect Essay
Grammar in Context: Avoiding "The reason is because"; Using Affect and Effect Correctly
Editing Checklist: Cause and Effect
A Student Writer: Cause and Effect
The Irish Famine, 1845–1849 (Student Essay)Evelyn Pellicane,
Peer-Editing Worksheet: Cause and Effect
Visual Text: Jeffrey Coolidge, Rube Goldberg Machine (Photo)
*Josh Barro, Why Stealing Cars Went Out of Fashion
Maggie Koerth-Baker, Why Rational People Buy into Conspiracy Theories
Linda M. Hasselstrom, A Peaceful Woman Explains Why She Carries a Gun
11 Comparison and Contrast
What Is Comparison and Contrast?
Using Comparison and Contrast
Planning a Comparison-and-Contrast Essay
Structuring a Comparison-and-Contrast Essay
Revising a Comparison-and-Contrast Essay
Revision Checklist: Comparison and Contrast
Editing a Comparison-and-Contrast Essay
Grammar in Context: Using Parallelism
Editing Checklist: Comparison and Contrast
A Student Writer: Subject-by-Subject Comparison
Brains versus Brawn (Student Essay)Mark Cotharn,
A Student Writer: Point-by-Point Comparison
A Comparison of Two Web Sites on Attention Deficit Disorder (Student Essay)Maria Tecson,
Peer-Editing Worksheet: Comparison and Contrast
Visual Texts: Auguste Rodin, The Kiss, and Robert Indiana, LOVE (Sculptures)
Bruce Catton, Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts
Deborah Tannen, Sex, Lies, and Conversation
*Isabel Wilkerson, Emmett Till and Tamir Rice, Sons of the Great Migration
12 Classification and Division
What Is Classification and Division?
Using Classification and Division
Planning a Classification-and-Division Essay
Checklist: Establishing Categories
Structuring a Classification-and-Division Essay
Revising a Classification-and-Division Essay
Revision Checklist: Classification and Division
Editing a Classification-and-Division Essay
Grammar in Context: Using a Colon to Introduce Your Categories
Editing Checklist: Classification and Division
Same Student Writer: Classification and Division
What I Learned (and Didn’t Learn) in College (Student Essay)Josie Martinez,
Peer-Editing Worksheet: Classification and Division
*Visual Text: Coffee Types (Chart)
*Olga Khazan, The Three Types of Happiness
Carolyn Foster Segal, The Dog Ate My Flash Drive, and Other Tales of Woe
Stephanie Ericsson, The Ways We Lie
13 Definition
What Is Definition?
Using Definition
Planning a Definition Essay
Structuring a Definition Essay
Revising a Definition Essay
Revision Checklist: Definition
Editing a Definition Essay
Grammar in Context: Avoiding is when and is where
Editing Checklist: Definition
A Student Writer: Definition
The Untouchable (Student Essay)Ajoy Mahtab,
Peer-Editing Worksheet: Definition
Visual Text: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Census 2010 Form (Questionnaire)
Judy Brady, I Want a Wife
José Antonio Burciaga, Tortillas
*Richard Posner, On Plagiarism
14 Argumentation
What Is Argumentation?
Understanding Argumentation and Persuasion
Planning an Argumentative Essay
Checklist: Guidelines for Using Rogerian Argument
Using Deductive and Inductive Arguments
Structuring an Argumentative Essay
Revising an Argumentative Essay
Revision Checklist: Argumentation
Editing an Argumentative Essay
Grammar in Context: Using Coordinating and Subordinating Conjunctions
Editing Checklist: Argumentation
A Student Writer: Argumentation
, An Argument against Study Drugs (Student Essay)Marta Ramos
Peer-Editing Worksheet: Argumentation
Visual Text: StopTextsStopWreck.org, You Don’t Want Them Responding to Your Text (Ad)
Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence
Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail
*DEBATE: Should Public Colleges Be Free?
*Aaron Bady, Public Universities Should be Free
*Matt Bruenig, The Case Against Free College
*CASEBOOK: Do College Students Need Trigger Warnings?
*Michael Bloomberg and Charles Koch, Why Free Speech Matters on Campus
*Aaron R. Hanlon, The "Free Speech" Charade
*Jennifer Medina, Warning: The Literary Canon Could Make Students Squirm
*Soraya Chemally, What’s Really Important about "Trigger Warnings"
15 Combining the Patterns
Structuring an Essay by Combining the Patterns
Combining the Patterns: Revising and Editing
Grammar in Context: Agreement with Indefinite Pronouns
A Student Writer: Combining the Patterns
The Park (Student Essay)Michael Huu Truong,
Peer-Editing Worksheet: Combining the Patterns
Lars Eighner, On Dumpster Diving
*Donald Kagan, On Patriotism
Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal
PART THREE: Working with Sources
16 Finding and Evaluating Sources
Finding Information in the Library
Finding Information on the Internet
Evaluating Sources
17 Integrating Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism
Paraphrasing
Summarizing
Quoting
Integrating Source Material into Your Writing
Synthesizing
Avoiding Plagiarism
18 Documenting Sources: MLA
Parenthetical References in the Text
The Works-Cited List
Philip Lau, The Limitations of Wikipedia (Student Essay in MLA Style)
Appendix: Documenting Sources: APA
Using Parenthetical References
Examples of APA Citations
Philip Lau, The Limitations of Wikipedia (Student Essay in APA Style)
Glossary
Index
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