How to Write Anything: A Guide and Reference with Readings with 2009 MLA and 2010 APA Updates

980 Pages·2010·23.72 MB·English

by  John J. Ruszkiewicz

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How to Write Anything
how to start
ur writing Genres
airead n assignment? 1 Narrative 4
2 Report 40
3 Argument 68
4 Evaluation 702
5 Causal Analysis 728
6 Proposai 760
7 Literary Analysis 786
8 Rhetorical Analysis 222
Special Assignments 252
9 Essay Examination 254
10 Position Paper 260
11 E-mail 266
12 Business Letter 272
13 Résumé 278
14 Personal Statement 284
15 Lab Report 290
16 Oral Report 298
need help getting started? Ideas зоб
17 Brainstorming 308
18 Brainstorming with Others
19 Smart Reading 377
20 Experts 325
21 Writer's Block 330
stuck in the middle? Shaping & Drafting
22 Thesis 336
23 Organization 340
24 Outlines 342
25 Paragraphs 346
26 Transitions 350
27 Introductions 354
28 Conclusions 359
29 Titles 362
want to improve your draft? Style 364
30 High, Middle, and Low Style 366
31 Inclusive and Culturally Sensitive Style 374
32 Vigorous, Clear, Economical Style 378
A Guide and Reference with Readings
need research help? Research & Sources 398
35 Beginning Your Research 400
36 Finding Print and Online Sources 406
37 Doing Field Research 412
38 Evaluating Sources 415
39 Critical Reading, Note-Taking Strategies 420
40 Summarizing Sources 424
41 Paraphrasing Sources 428
42 Integrating Sources into Your Work 431
43 Documenting Sources 435
44 MLA Documentation and Format 437
45 APA Documentation and Format 474
e need design help? Media & Design 498
c
n 46 Understanding Images 500
e 47 Using Images 504
r 48 Presentation Software 510
e
f 49 Charts, Tables, and Graphs 514
e 50 Designing Print and Online Documents 517
r
need proofreading help? Common Errors 524
51 Capitalization 526
52 Apostrophes 529
53 Commas 531
54 Comma Splices, Run-ons, Fragments 534
55 Subject / Verb Agreement 537
56 Irregular Verbs 541
57 Pronoun / Antecedent Agreement 543
58 Pronoun Reference 545
59 Pronoun Case 547
60 Misplaced and Dangling Modifi ers 550
61 Parallelism 552
need more examples? Readings 556
62 Narrative 558
r 63 Report 606
e 64 Argument 641
d
65 Evaluation 676
a
e 66 Causal Analysis 725
r 67 Proposal 759
68 Literary Analysis 820
69 Rhetorical Analysis 862
For Bedford/St. Martin’s
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Copyright © 2010 by Bedford/St. Martin’s
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For information, write: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 75 Arlington Street, Boston, MA 02116
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ISBN–10: 0–312–66830–9
ISBN–13: 978–0–312–66830–3
Acknowledgments:
“2007 Porsche 911 Turbo.” Excerpt from article published in Road & Track, June 2006.
Copyright © 2006. Reprinted with permission of the publisher.
Natalie Angier. “Almost Before We Spoke, We Swore.” Originally published in The New
York Times. Copyright © 2005 by The New York Times. Reprinted by permission of
the author.
Stephanie Armour. “More Families Move in Together during Housing Crisis.” USA Today
February 2, 2009. USA TODAY is a division of Gannett Co., Inc. Reprinted with
permission. http://www.usatoday.com.
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constitute an extension of the copyright page. It is a violation of the law to reproduce these selections
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HOW TO
WRITE
ANYTHING
A Guide and Reference
with Readings
John J. Ruszkiewicz
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, AUSTIN
Jay Dolmage
WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
BEDFORD /ST. MARTIN’S
Boston ◆ New York

Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
Preface
How to Write Anything: A Guide and Reference with Readings is not a humble
title. You might wonder whether any book, especially one designed expressly
as a guide for college writers, should promise so much. The simple answer is
no; the more intriguing one is maybe.
What, after all, do writers do when they face an assignment? They try
to grasp what the project entails; they look for examples of the genre; they
wrestle with basic language and research skills. How to Write Anything guides
college writers through these stages for their most common academic and
professional assignments. In doing so, it lays out strategies to follow in any
situation that requires purposeful writing.
But rarely do different writers work in the same order, and the same
writer is likely to follow different paths for different projects. How to Write
Anything doesn’t defi ne a single process of writing or imagine that all stu-
dents using it will have the same skills and interests. Instead, a modular
chapter organization and an innovative system of cross references encour-
age students to navigate the book’s materials to fi nd exactly the information
they want at the level of specifi city they need — which pretty much sums up
the rationale for the book. If many college guides to composition test the
patience of teachers and students alike by their sheer size and kitchen-sink
approach to instruction, How to Write Anything is both more focused and
more fl exible, marrying the rich perspectives of a full rhetoric and reader to
the effi ciency of a brief handbook.
v
vi Preface
HOW TO WRITE ANYTHING WITH READINGS
A Guide, Reference, and Reader
The Guide, in Parts 1 and 2, covers a wide range of genres that instructors
frequently assign in composition classes or that students encounter in other
undergraduate courses. Each chapter lays out the basics of a genre, such as
narrative or argument, then redefi nes the writing process as a fl exible series
of rhetorical choices — Exploring Purpose and Topic; Understanding Audi-
ence; Finding and Developing Materials; Creating a Structure; and Choosing
a Style and Design. These choices provide students with a framework for
writing in any situation and in any genre, and encourage writers to explore
the range of possibilities within genres. The explanations here are direct,
practical, and economical. If writers do need more help with a particular
topic, targeted cross references make it easy to fi nd in the Reference section.
The Reference section (Parts 3 through 9) covers key aspects of the
writing process — with separate parts devoted to Ideas; Shaping and Draft-
ing; Style; Revising and Editing; Research and Sources; Media and Design;
and Common Errors. While the topics will seem familiar to most writing
instructors, the fresh and lively material here is designed to expand points
introduced in the Guide. For instance, a writer might turn to these sections
to fi nd specifi c techniques for generating ideas or arguments or guidance for
making a formal style feel more friendly. The organization of How to Write
Anything lets students quickly fi nd what they need without getting bogged
down in other material.
Part 10, the Reader, is an anthology of 50 additional contemporary
selections organized by genres covered in the Guide. Drawn from a variety
of sources such as print and online journals, books, scholarly and popular
magazines, blogs, graphic novels,and government reports, the readings offer

both solid models for writing as well as compelling topics for students to
respond to. Some examples include Kelefa Sanneh’s report on hip-hop music
from New Orleans, the Union of Concerned Scientists’ proposal to address
global warming, Lynda Barry’s comic literacy narrative, Douglas Kellner’s
critique of Michael Jordan, and evaluations of everything from cell phone
ringtones to organic food to reality television shows. The Reader includes
new content from established authors such as Michael Pollan, Camille
Paglia, Joyce Carol Oates, and Deborah Tannen, as well as newer voices such