Texts and Contexts A Contemporary Approach to College Writing

by Robinson, William S.; Tucker, Stephanie

• ISBN13: 9780155060715
• ISBN10: 0155060716
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-08-30
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing

Summary

TEXTS AND CONTEXTS is designed to help developmental and freshman composition students write academic essays in response to high-interest readings about contemporary issues.

Table of Contents

To the Student	xiii
Preface: To the Instructor	xvii
Part I Writing from the Top Down	1	(70)
The Writing Process	3	(50)
Reading Actively and Efficiently	3	(8)
Writing Summaries	11	(1)
Steps in Writing a Summary	12	(1)
An Experienced Writer Writes a Summary	12	(11)
Analyzing and Evaluating Your Information	23	(1)
Organizing and Finding Your Point	24	(1)
Writing a Report	25	(6)
The Idea Draft	31	(2)
Later Drafts	33	(2)
Using Quotations	35	(2)
Paraphrasing	37	(16)
Sentence Combining	39	(1)
Shaping Sentences	39	(2)
Recognizing Verb Forms for Writing and Sentence Combining	41	(3)
Shaping Sentences with Adjectives and Verb Forms	44	(4)
Shaping Sentences with Prepositional Phrases	48	(5)
The Shape of Texts	53	(18)
Introductions and Thesis Statements	53	(3)
Students at Work: Introductions	56	(3)
Paragraphs: Proving Your Points	59	(2)
Topic Sentences and the Organization Process	61	(3)
Students at Work: Paragraphs	64	(3)
Conclusions	67	(4)
Part II Discovering and Writing	71	(320)
Learning by Sorting It Out	73	(74)
An Important Thinking Tool: Making Inferences	73	(2)
Inferences and Guesses	75	(1)
Good Inferences and Bad Inferences	75	(2)
Classifying to Discover	77	(70)
Assignments and Readings	80	(1)
Analyzing Television for Children	80	(1)
Reading Assignment	81	(1)
What Are TV Ads Selling to Children?	81	(2)
John J. O'Connor
Females and Minorities in TV Ads in 1987 Saturday Children's Programs	83	(3)
Daniel Riffe
Helene Goldson
Kelly Saxton
Yang-Chou Yu
Essay Assignment	86	(1)
Analyzing the Job Market	87	(1)
Reading Assignment	88	(1)
U.S. Income Inequality Keeps on Rising	89	(7)
Robert B. Reich
Tomorrow's Jobs by Bureau of Labor Statistics U.S. Department of Labor	96	(6)
Benefits Dwindle Along with Wages for the Unskilled	102	(2)
Peter Passell
Present Day Jobs	104	(3)
Essay Assignment	107	(1)
Learning What Our Magazines Tell About Us	108	(1)
Reading Assignment	109	(1)
Help or Hindrance? Women's Magazines Offer Readers Little but Fear, Failure	109	(3)
Mary Kay Blakely
We've Come a Long Way, but Magazines Stayed Behind	112	(4)
Susan Dudash
Essay Assignment	116	(1)
How Do Advertisers Try to Manipulate Us?	117	(1)
Reading Assignment	118	(1)
Advertising's Fifteen Basic Appeals	118	(10)
Jib Fowles
Essay Assignment	128	(1)
The Writer's Checklist	129	(2)
Sentence Combining	131	(1)
Joining Ideas to Show Basic Logical Relationships	131	(4)
Subordinating Conjunctions	135	(7)
Transition Words	142	(5)
Learning by Comparing	147	(62)
Comparing and Contrasting to Discover	147	(1)
Organizing Essays Based on Comparison and Contrast	148	(21)
Assignments and Readings	150	(1)
Changing Tastes in Television: 1970 and Today	150	(1)
Reading Assignment	151	(1)
Network Prime-Time Programming	152	(4)
Essay Assignment	156	(1)
Comparing American Families in the Past and Present	157	(1)
Reading Assignment	158	(1)
The Social Order in Colonial New England	158	(1)
Edmund S. Morgan
The Role of Men and Women in Colonial New England	159	(2)
Edmund S. Morgan
Louis B. Wright
The Role of Children in Colonial New England	161	(2)
Edmund S. Morgan
Men Assuming Bigger Share at Home, New Survey Shows	163	(2)
Tamar Lewin
For First Time, Nuclear Families Drop Below 25% of Households	165	(2)
Eric Schmitt
Essay Assignment	167	(1)
Examining American and Asian Educational Methods	168	(1)
Reading Assignment	169	(40)
New Math-Science Study Rates U.S. Students Mediocre at Best	169	(1)
William S. Robinson
Why Are U.S. Kids Poor in Math?	170	(1)
Barbara Vobejda
Japan's School System	171	(2)
James Kilpatrick
We Should Cherish Our Children's Freedom to Think	173	(1)
Kie Ho
Strengths, Weaknesses, and Lessons of Japanese Education	174	(6)
James Fallows
School Here in the United States and There in Vietnam, Student Essay	180	(2)
Some Public Schools Don't Make the Grade	182	(1)
Richard Morin
Essay Assignment	183	(1)
The Health-Care Crisis: Examining Two Approaches to National Health	184	(2)
Reading Assignment	186	(3)
U.S. Spends Most on Health, but France No. 1 in Treatment	189	(1)
Lauran Neergaard
A Hard Lesson about Socialized Medicine	190	(1)
Michael Tanner
Why the U.S. Needs a Single Payer Health System	191	(3)
David U. Himmelstein
Steffie Woolhander
Essay Assignment	194	(1)
The Writer's Checklist	195	(2)
Sentence Combining	197	(1)
Joining Ideas to Show Contrast and Concession	197	(1)
What Is Concession?	198	(1)
Summary of Comparison/Contrast Words	198	(1)
Using Joining Words to Show Emphasis	199	(10)
Arguing	209	(102)
Facts and Opinions	209	(3)
Evaluating Evidence and Shaping Your Argument	212	(99)
Assignments and Readings	216	(1)
Deciding Carmen Herrera's Future	216	(1)
Reading Assignment	217	(1)
Various Comments on Carmen's Dilemma by her counselor, parents, boyfriend, employer, friend, sister, brother	218	(1)
Essay Assignment	219	(1)
Should High School Students Work?	220	(1)
Reading Assignment	221	(1)
Part-Time Work Ethic: Should Teens Go for It?	221	(4)
Dennis McLellan
McJobs	225	(4)
Ben Wildavsky
Why Fast-Food Joints Don't Serve Up Good Jobs for Kids	229	(4)
Amitai Etzioni
Why Not Ask the Students? Urban Teenagers Make the Case for Working	233	(7)
Katherine Cress
Essay Assignment	240	(1)
Should People Keep Handguns at Home?	241	(1)
Reading Assignment	241	(1)
The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution	242	(1)
Firearm-Related Deaths in the United States and 35 Other High- and Upper-Middle-Income Countries	242	(7)
E. G. Krug
K. E. Powell
L. L. Dahlberg
Handgun Regulations, Crime, Assaults, and Homicide: A Tale of Two Cities	249	(5)
Drs. J. H. Sloan
A. L. Kellermann
D. T. Reay
J. A. Ferris
T. Koepsell
F. P. Rivara
C. Rice
L. Gray
J. LoGerfo
Crime Is the Basic Problem, Not Guns	254	(1)
Wayne LaPierre
Should You Carry a Gun? A New Study Argues for Concealed Weapons	255	(2)
Romesh Ratnesar
Taking Another Look at Right to Bear Arms	257	(2)
Neil A. Lewis
Why I Bought a Gun	259	(4)
Gail Buchalter
Man Shoots Own Son	263	(1)
Essay Assignment	264	(1)
Censorship of High School Newspapers	265	(1)
Reading Assignment	266	(1)
Pregnancy at Hazelwood High	266	(1)
Christine de Hass
Divorce's Impact on Kids May Have Lifelong Effects	267	(2)
Shari Gordon
A Limit on the Student Press	269	(1)
Jean Seligmann
Tessa Namuth
High School Papers Grow Up	270	(2)
Jerry Carroll
High Court Gives a Civics Lesson	272	(2)
Fred M. Hechinger
Censorship: A Fact of Life Students Are Forced to Face	274	(3)
Jonathan Yardley
Essay Assignment	277	(1)
Should English Be the Official Language of the United States?	278	(1)
Reading Assignment	279	(1)
Proposition 63	279	(1)
Argument in Favor of Proposition 63	280	(1)
S. I. Hayakawa
J. William Orozco
Stanley Diamond
Official English and English Plus: An Update	281	(5)
Liberty and Language for All	286	(2)
Andy Rooney
Essay Assignment	288	(1)
The Writer's Checklist	289	(2)
Sentence Combining	291	(1)
Shaping Sentences to Show Relationships: Appositives	291	(1)
Punctuating Noun Phrases in Sentences	291	(9)
Shaping Sentences to Show Relationships: Adjective Clauses	300	(2)
Special Rules	302	(9)
Discussing	311	(75)
Argument and Discussion in School and on the Job	311	(1)
Writing Discussion Essays	312	(74)
Assignments and Readings	313	(1)
Who Should Care for the Children?	313	(1)
Reading Assignment	314	(1)
Who's Taking Care of the Children?	314	(3)
Michael Ryan
Home Day Care Providers Face Increasing Demand	317	(1)
Tammy Hansen
High Staff Turnover Imperils Child Care, Researcher Says	318	(3)
Anastasia Hendrix
An Interview with Mary S	321	(1)
Canada Takes Steps Toward Universal Child Care	321	(1)
Colin Nickerson
Child Care Sacred as France Cuts Back the Welfare State	322	(4)
Marlise Simons
Essay Assignment	326	(1)
Rating the Movies	327	(1)
Reading Assignment	328	(1)
The Motion Picture Production Code	328	(2)
NC-17 Replaces X in Movie Ratings	330	(1)
The Big Chill	331	(2)
Lois P. Sheinfeld
Avoiding the Censors	333	(1)
Peter Stack
The Rating Game	334	(3)
Paul Attanasio
Essay Assignment	337	(1)
Is Hate Speech Free Speech?	338	(1)
Reading Assignment	339	(1)
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution	339	(1)
The Debate Over Placing Limits on Racist Speech Must Not Ignore the Damage It Does to Its Victims	340	(4)
Charles R. Lawrence III
Free Speech on the Campus	344	(5)
Nat Hentoff
Hate Speech on Campus	349	(2)
Joseph S. Tuman
Rethinking Campus Speech Codes	351	(4)
Ben Wildavsky
Essay Assignment	355	(1)
Should College Athletics Be Reformed?	355	(1)
Reading Assignment	356	(1)
Helping Top Athletes Meet Minimum Standards	356	(3)
Kate Zernike
NCAA Stirs Debate---Are SATs Racist?	359	(1)
Cheers to John Thompson's Empty Chair	360	(1)
John Eisenberg
A Kinder, Gentler Racism	361	(2)
Mona Charen
The Ivy League at 30: A Model for College Athletics or an Outmoded Antique?	363	(3)
Douglas Lederman
Essay Assignment	366	(1)
The Writer's Checklist	366	(2)
Sentence Combining	368	(1)
Shaping Sentences to Show Relationships: Verbal Phrases	368	(10)
Shaping Sentences to Show Relationships: Parallelism	378	(8)
Writing the In-Class Essay	386	(5)
The Essay Exam	386	(2)
The Writing Test	388	(1)
Planning Your Time	388	(3)
Part III Proofreading Skills Workbook	391	(74)
Self-teaching assignments for common usage problems
Introduction	392	(1)
Proofreading Quiz	393	(72)
Identifying Subjects and Verbs	395	(6)
Agreement Between Subjects and Verbs	401	(7)
Past Tense and Past Participles	408	(5)
The Past-to-Present Tense (Present Perfect)	413	(4)
The Past-Before-Past Tense (Past Perfect)	417	(4)
Comma-Splice Errors	421	(3)
Sentence Fragments	424	(5)
Pronouns	429	(9)
Using A and An	438	(1)
Noun Plurals	439	(2)
Noncountable Nouns	441	(2)
Dropped Contractions of Is and Are	443	(1)
Forming Direct Questions	444	(4)
Forming Indirect Questions	448	(1)
Apostrophes to Show Possession	449	(5)
Homophones	454	(5)
Capitalization	459	(6)
Credits	465	(4)
Index	469	(5)
Index of Authors and Titles	474