English Skills with Readings

824 Pages·2011·12.152 MB·English

by  John Langan

"
I did like [the avatars] because they helped me
to understand [the material] better. Thank you
for fi nding w"ays to help those of us who need
a little extra help.
—LaTricia Scott, Central Texas College
[ [
Scott is single and in his mid-thirties. He
is taking care of his father, who was di-
agnosed with lung cancer. Scott is taking
prerequisite classes for a radiologic tech-
nology program. In his spare time, Scott
enjoys BMX racing. ➧
Scott
[ [
Vickie is in her mid-fi fties, and is return-
ing to school to earn a counseling degree
so that she can work as a substance
abuse counselor. She is outgoing and
enjoys volunteering, such as delivering
meals to the elderly and working with at-
risk teens.
➧
Vickie
[
[
Zach is a recent high school graduate,
and is very much a skater. He’s always
listening to his iPod, with his skate-
board by his side. He is a fi rst-year
college student and is still exploring his
" options. ➧
I liked them all. [The ava"tars] make Zach
work more fun and engaging.
"
—Zuzana Melnova, Montgomery College
The characters are "helpful; they show
me when I’m doing well.
➧ —Paula Ray, Delgado Community College
mhconnectwriting.com

English Skills

with Reading

Eighth Edition
English Skills
with Readings
John Langan
Atlantic Cape Community College
Published by McGraw-Hill, an imprint of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue of the
Americas, New York, NY 10020. Copyright © 2012, 2008, 2006, 2002, 1999, 1995, 1991, 1988. All
rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any
means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or
transmission, or broadcast for distance learning.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 DOC / DOC 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Student Edition: Instructor’s Edition
ISBN: 978-0-07-337168-9 ISBN: 978-0-07-740420-8
MHID: 0-07-337168-8 MHID: 0-07-740420-3
Vice President and Editor in Chief: Michael Ryan Design Manager and Cover Designer:
Publisher: David S. Patterson Preston Thomas
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Credits: The credits section for this book begins on page 779 and is considered an extension of the
copyright page.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Langan, John, 1942–
English skills with readings / John Langan.—8th ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-07-337168-9 (acid-free paper)
ISBN-10: 0-07-337168-8 (acid-free paper) 1. English language—Rhetoric. 2. English language—
Grammar. 3. College readers. I. Title.
PE1408.L3182 2011
808’.0427—dc22
2010048315
The Internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of publication. The inclusion of a
Web site does not indicate an endorsement by the authors or McGraw-Hill, and McGraw-Hill does
not guarantee the accuracy of the information presented at these sites.
www.mhhe.com
Contents
Readings Listed by Rhetorical Mode xv
Preface xxi
PART 1: Basic Principles of Effective Writing 1
1 An Introduction to Writing 2
All rights reserved. U Benndeefir ststa onfd iPnagr aPgorianpt ha nWdr iStiunpgp o8rt 3
mpanies, Inc. W Wrriittiinngg aass aa SPkroilcl es8s of Discovery 10
Co Keeping a Journal 11
Hill
Graw- Using This Text 13
Mc
© 2012 The 2 T Prheew rWitirnigti ng1 6P rocess 15
Copyright Writing a Topic Sentence and Preparing a Scratch Outline 23
Writing a First Draft 25
Revising 27
Editing 30
Review Activities 32
3 The First and Second Steps in Writing 48
Step 1: Begin with a Point 49
Step 2: Support the Point with Specifi c Evidence 51
Reinforcing Point and Support 55
The Importance of Specifi c Details 58
The Importance of Adequate Details 62
Practice in Making and Supporting a Point 64
vii
viii Contents
4 The Third Step in Writing 86
Step 3: Organize and Connect the Specifi c Evidence 87
Practice in Organizing and Connecting Specifi c Evidence 98
5 The Fourth Step in Writing 108
Step 4: Write Clear, Error-Free Sentences 109
Revising Sentences 109
Editing Sentences 125
Practice in Revising Sentences 127
Using Parallelism 128
Using a Consistent Point of View 130
Using Specifi c Words 131
Using Concise Wording 133
Varying Your Sentences 134
6 Four Bases for Revising Writing 139
Base 1: Unity 140
Base 2: Support 142
Base 3: Coherence 144
Base 4: Sentence Skills 147
Practice in Using the Four Bases 151
PART 2: Paragraph Development 167
7 Introduction to Paragraph Development 168
Important Considerations in Paragraph Development 169
Tips on Using a Computer 173
Using Peer Review 176
Doing a Personal Review 177
Patterns of Paragraph Development 178
8 Exemplifi cation 180
9 Process 196
10 Cause and Effect 212
11 Comparison or Contrast 226
Contents ix
12 Defi nition 247
13 Division-Classifi cation 261
14 Description 275
15 Narration 293
16 Argument 307
17 Additional Paragraph Assignments 323
PART 3: Essay Development 335
18 Writing the Essay 336
All rights reserved. I E Wmshspaaoytr stI ast noat n CP oEonsinssatidsy e?a rb o33u34t7 5 t he Essay 340
mpanies, Inc. P Plraancntiicneg inth We rEitsisnagy th3e4 9E ssay 352
Hill Co Essay Assignments 360
w-
Gra
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© 2012 The PART 4: Research Skills 369
Copyright 19 U Ussiinngg tthhee L Libibrarrayr y 3a7n1d the Internet 370
Using the Internet 379
20 Writing a Research Paper 386
Step 1: Select a Topic That You Can Readily Research 387
Step 2: Limit Your Topic, Make the Purpose of Your Paper Clear,
and Assess Your Audience 388
Step 3: Gather Information on Your Limited Topic 390
Step 4: Plan Your Paper and Take Notes on Your
Limited Topic 390
Step 5: Write the Paper 394
Step 6: Use an Acceptable Format and Method of
Documentation 394
Model Paper 401
x Contents
PART 5: Handbook of Sentence Skills 411
Sentence-Skills Diagnostic Test 412
SECTION 1: Grammar 418
21 Subjects and Verbs 419
A Simple Way to Find a Subject 419
A Simple Way to Find a Verb 419
More about Subjects and Verbs 420
22 Sentence Sense 424
What Is Sentence Sense? 424
Turning On Your Sentence Sense 424
Summary: Using Sentence Sense 426
23 Fragments 427
What Are Fragments? 428
Dependent-Word Fragments 428
-ing and to Fragments 432
Added-Detail Fragments 435
Missing-Subject Fragments 438
24 Run-Ons 443
What Are Run-Ons? 444
Correcting Run-Ons 445
25 Standard English Verbs 457
Regular Verbs: Dialect and Standard Forms 458
Three Common Irregular Verbs: Dialect and Standard Forms 461
26 Irregular Verbs 466
A Brief Review of Regular Verbs 467
List of Irregular Verbs 467
27 Subject-Verb Agreement 475
Words between Subject and Verb 476
Verb before Subject 477
Compound Subjects 478
Indefi nite Pronouns 479