Writing: A Guide for College And Beyond, 2nd Edition

Writing: A Guide for College and Beyond uses written instruction and visual tools to teaches how to read, write, and research effectively for different purposes.

 

Lester Faigley’s clear and inviting teaching style and Dorling Kindersley’s accessible and striking design combine to create a textbook that shows what readers and writers actually do.  Unique, dynamic presentations of reading, writing, and research processes in the text bring writing alive and speaks to those with many learning styles.  Throughout the book, the readers are engaged and learning, with such notable features as “process maps” to guide through the major writing assignments, extensive examples of student “Writers at work,” and diverse, distinctive reading selections.

Preface

 

PART 1: THE WRITER AS EXPLORER

 

1. Making Discoveries

Look with new eyes

Explore the world

Find a territory

Use guides

 

2. Reading to Explore

Become a critical reader

Look with a critical eye

Read actively

Recognize fallacies

Respond as a reader

 

3. Planning a Journey

Determine your direction

Write a thesis

Plan your route

 

4. Returning and Revising

Evaluate your draft

Respond to others

Pay attention to details last

 

5. Thinking Visually

Communicate with visuals and words

Understand visual and verbal concepts

Know when to use images and graphics

Take pictures that aren’t boring

Compose images

Create tables, charts, and graphs

 

6. Designing Documents

Start with your readers

Use headings and subheadings effectively

Design pages

Understand typography

 

7. Delivering Presentations

Plan a presentation

  Design effective visuals

Give a memorable presentation

 

8. Working as a Team

Organize a team

Understand the team process

Work as a team

 

 

PART 2: THE WRITER AS GUIDE

 

9. Writing Effectively in College

Understand the demands of writing in college

Think about your aim

Think about your genre

Think about your audience

Think about your credibility

Think about building on the work of others

Become an effective writer

Student visual analysis

    Angela Yamashita, Got Roddick?

 

Write to Reflect

 

10. Reflections

Writing reflections

An effective reflection

Sue Kunitomi Embrey, Some Lines for a Younger Brother . . .

Explore current issues

 

How to read reflections

David Sedaris, Let it Snow

Lee Conell, My Dropout Boyfriend Kept Dropping In

Jason Christopher Hartley, Just Another Soldier

Amy Tan, Mother Tongue

 

How to write a reflection

Student essay

    Janine Carter, The Miracle Quilt

Projects

 

Write to Inform

 

11. Observations

Writing observations

An effective observation

Annie Dillard, Life on the Rocks: The Galápagos

Explore current issues 

 

How to read observations

Mary Roach, Monster in a Ryokan

Ansel Adams, Photographs of Japanese-Americans at Manzanar

Fred Strebeigh, The Wheels of Freedom: Bicycles in China

Salman Hameed, The Travelogue of an Astronomer

 

How to write an observation

Student essay

    Sarah Cuellar, Playing in Traffic: How Parallel Play Helps Preschool Children "Merge" into Group Play

Projects

 

12. Informative Essays

Reporting information

Effective informative writing

Samuel Wilson, The Emperor’s Giraffe

Explore current issues 

 

How to read informative writing

Lori Gottlieb, How Do I Love Thee?

Chip Walter, Affairs of the Lips: Why We Kiss

Po Bronson, Learning to Lie

Virginia Morell, Minds of their Own

 

How to write to inform

Student essay

    Lakshmi Kotra, The Life Cycle of Stars

Projects

 

Write to Analyze

 

13. Rhetorical and Literary Analyses

Writing to analyze

Writing a rhetorical analysis

Writing a visual analysis

Writing a literary analysis

An effective analysis

Tim Collins, Straight from the Heart

Explore current issues 

 

How to read analyses

David T.Z.Mindich, The Collapse of Big Media: The Young and the Restless

Frank Gehry, The Stata Center

Landor Associates, Federal Express Logo

Volkswagen Beetle

Alice Walker, Everyday Use

Student literary analysis

    Shaunte Huff, “Make Something of Yourself”: Symbolism in Alice Walker's “Everyday Use”

Dagoberto Gilb, Love in LA

 

How to write an analysis

Student rhetorical analysis

    Kelsey Turner, Biting the Hands That Feed America

Projects

 

14. Causal Analyses

Writing to analyze causes

An effective causal analysis

Stentor Danielson, Pesticides, Parasite May Cause Frog Deformities

Explore current issues 

 

How to read causal analyses

Stephanie Coontz, The Future of Marriage

Hannah Fairfield, Pushing Paper Out the Door

Emily Raine, Why Should I Be Nice To You? Coffee Shops and the Politics of Good Service

Daniel Akst, Strive We Must

Kay S. Hymowitz, The New Girl Order

Operation Iraqi Freedom Leaflets

 

How to write a causal analysis

Student analysis

    Sean Booker, Borrowing Bling: The Appeal of Hip-hop to Young White Men

Projects

 

Write Arguments

 

15. Evaluations

Writing to evaluate

An effective evaluation

Lefteris Pavlides, The Aesthetics of Wind Power

Explore current issues 

 

How to read evaluations

Michael Gorman, Web 2.0 Forum: The Sleep of Reason

Danah Boyd, Web 2.0 Forum: Knowledge Access as a Public Good

Michael Eric Dyson, Gangsta Rap and American Culture

Stephanie Rosenbloom, The Nitpicking Nation

 

How to write an evaluation

Student essay

    Rashaun Giddens, Stop Loss or “Loss of Trust”

Projects

 

16. Arguments for a Position

Writing a position argument

An effective position argument

Ted Koppel, Take My Privacy, Please!

Explore current issues 

 

How to read position arguments

Frederick Douglass, What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?

Mark Winne, When Handouts Keep Coming, the Food Line Never Ends

Michel Marriott, The Color of Mayhem

Steven Johnson, Hillary vs, “Grand Theft Auto”

Mae M. Ngai, No Human Being Is Illegal

Buff Daddy

Food Cops Bust Cookie Monster

 

How to write a position argument

Student argument

    Chris Nguyen, Speech Doesn’t Have to be Pretty to be Protected

Projects

 

17. Proposal Arguments

Making a proposal argument

An effective proposal argument

Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence

Explore current issues 

 

How to read proposal arguments

Paul Saffo, A Trail of DNA and Data

Thomas Homer-Dixon and S. Julio Friedmann, Coal in a Nice Shade of Green

Richard Nixon, Building the Interstate Highway System

Michael Pollan, Why Bother?

Karol Boudreaux and Tyler Cowen, The Micromagic of Microcredit

 

How to write a proposal argument

Student argument

    Kim Lee, Let’s Make It a Real Melting Pot with Presidential Hopes for All

Projects

 

 

PART 3: THE WRITER AS RESEARCHER

 

18. Planning Research

Analyze the research task

Ask a question

Determine what you need

Draft a working thesis

Search using keywords

Start a working bibliography

 

19. Finding Sources in Databases

Find information in databases

Construct effective searches

Locate elements of a citation

 

20. Finding Sources on the Web

Find information on the Web

Evaluate Web sources

Find visual sources online

 

21. Finding Print Sources

Find books

Find journal articles

Evaluate print sources

 

22. Exploring in the Field

Conduct interviews

Administer surveys

Make observations

 

23. Writing the Research Paper

Plan your organization

Avoid plagiarism

Quote sources without plagiarizing

Summarize and paraphrase sources without plagiarizing

Incorporate quotations

Incorporate visuals

 

24. MLA Documentation

Elements of MLA documentation

Entries in the list of works cited

In-text citations in MLA style

Books in MLA-style works cited

Periodicals in MLA-style works cited

Web sources in MLA-style works cited

Other sources in MLA-style works cited

Sample MLA paper

    George Abukar, It’s Time to Shut Down the Identity Theft Racket

 

25. APA Documentation

APA citations

In-text citations in APA style

Books in APA-style references list

Periodicals in APA-style references list

Web sources in APA-style references list

Other sources in APA-style references list

Sample APA paper

    Blair Zacharias, Parking Design Recommendations for Publicly-Funded Commercial Redevelopment Projects

 

 

PART 4: THE WRITER AS EDITOR

 

26. Writing Effective Paragraphs

Develop paragraphs

Pay attention to paragraph length

Link within and across paragraphs

Start fast

Conclude with strength

Checklist for editing paragraphs

 

27. Writing Effective Sentences

Pay attention to verbs

Stay active

Focus on people and actors

Write concise sentences

Write ethical sentences

Match structure with ideas

Checklist for editing sentences

 

28. Avoiding Errors

Fix fragments

Fix run-on sentences

Fix comma spices

Make verbs agree with subjects

Make pronouns agree

Fix shifts

Use modifiers correctly

Place modifiers carefully

Checklist for editing for errors

 

29. Understanding Punctuation and Conventions

Identify where commas are needed

Place commas correctly with modifiers

Place commas correctly with clauses and phrases

Use semicolons and colons correctly

Use hyphens, dashes, and parentheses correctly

Use quotation marks correctly

Use other punctuation correctly

Understand print conventions

Checklist for punctuation and conventions

 

30. Writing in a Second Language

Understand the demands of writing in a second language

Understand nouns in English

Understand articles in English

Understand verbs and modifiers in English

Understand English sentence structure

Checklist for second language writers

 

Appendices:

A. Writing Essay Exams

B. Creating Portfolios

 

Credits

Index