Successful Writing - 2012 Book Archive

815 Pages·2012·46.78 MB·English

Successful Writing
v. 1.0
This is the bookSuccessful Writing(v. 1.0).
This book is licensed under aCreative Commonsby-nc-sa 3.0(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/
3.0/)license. See the license for more details, but that basically means you can share this book as long as you
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same terms.
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per the publisher's request, their name has been removed in some passages. More information is available on this
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Table of Contents
About the Author.................................................................................................................. 1
Acknowledgements............................................................................................................... 2
Dedications............................................................................................................................. 3
Preface..................................................................................................................................... 4
Chapter 1: Introduction to Writing................................................................................... 6
Reading and Writing in College....................................................................................................................7
Developing Study Skills...............................................................................................................................22
Becoming a Successful College Writer.......................................................................................................37
Introduction to Writing: End-of-Chapter Exercises.................................................................................47
Chapter 2: Writing Basics: What Makes a Good Sentence?........................................ 48
Sentence Writing..........................................................................................................................................49
Subject-Verb Agreement.............................................................................................................................70
Verb Tense....................................................................................................................................................85
Capitalization...............................................................................................................................................93
Pronouns.......................................................................................................................................................99
Adjectives and Adverbs.............................................................................................................................110
Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers...........................................................................................................118
Writing Basics: End-of-Chapter Exercises...............................................................................................124
Chapter 3: Punctuation.................................................................................................... 130
Commas.......................................................................................................................................................131
Semicolons..................................................................................................................................................142
Colons..........................................................................................................................................................145
Quotes..........................................................................................................................................................150
Apostrophes................................................................................................................................................156
Parentheses.................................................................................................................................................160
Dashes..........................................................................................................................................................162
Hyphens......................................................................................................................................................163
Punctuation: End-of-Chapter Exercises...................................................................................................165
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Chapter 4: Working with Words: Which Word Is Right? .......................................... 170
Commonly Confused Words......................................................................................................................171
Spelling........................................................................................................................................................185
Word Choice................................................................................................................................................198
Prefixes and Suffixes.................................................................................................................................206
Synonyms and Antonyms..........................................................................................................................214
Using Context Clues...................................................................................................................................220
Working with Words: End-of-Chapter Exercises....................................................................................226
Chapter 5: Help for English Language Learners......................................................... 229
Word Order.................................................................................................................................................230
Negative Statements..................................................................................................................................237
Count and Noncount Nouns and Articles................................................................................................242
Pronouns.....................................................................................................................................................248
Verb Tenses................................................................................................................................................255
Modal Auxiliaries.......................................................................................................................................274
Prepositions................................................................................................................................................280
Slang and Idioms........................................................................................................................................287
Help for English Language Learners: End-of-Chapter Exercises...........................................................291
Chapter 6: Writing Paragraphs: Separating Ideas and Shaping Content ............. 294
Purpose, Audience, Tone, and Content....................................................................................................295
Effective Means for Writing a Paragraph................................................................................................314
Writing Paragraphs: End-of-Chapter Exercises......................................................................................332
Chapter 7: Refining Your Writing: How Do I Improve My Writing Technique? ..335
Sentence Variety........................................................................................................................................336
Coordination and Subordination..............................................................................................................356
Parallelism..................................................................................................................................................367
Refining Your Writing: End-of-Chapter Exercises..................................................................................376
Chapter 8: The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?..................................................... 379
Apply Prewriting Models..........................................................................................................................380
Outlining.....................................................................................................................................................396
Drafting.......................................................................................................................................................408
Revising and Editing..................................................................................................................................424
The Writing Process: End-of-Chapter Exercises.....................................................................................444
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Chapter 9: Writing Essays: From Start to Finish........................................................ 447
Developing a Strong, Clear Thesis Statement.........................................................................................448
Writing Body Paragraphs..........................................................................................................................458
Organizing Your Writing...........................................................................................................................468
Writing Introductory and Concluding Paragraphs................................................................................475
Writing Essays: End-of-Chapter Exercises...............................................................................................483
Chapter 10: Rhetorical Modes........................................................................................ 484
Narration.....................................................................................................................................................485
Illustration..................................................................................................................................................490
Description..................................................................................................................................................495
Classification..............................................................................................................................................499
Process Analysis.........................................................................................................................................503
Definition....................................................................................................................................................507
Comparison and Contrast..........................................................................................................................512
Cause and Effect.........................................................................................................................................518
Persuasion...................................................................................................................................................523
Rhetorical Modes: End-of-Chapter Exercises..........................................................................................533
Chapter 11: Writing from Research: What Will I Learn?.......................................... 534
The Purpose of Research Writing.............................................................................................................535
Steps in Developing a Research Proposal................................................................................................541
Managing Your Research Project.............................................................................................................551
Strategies for Gathering Reliable Information.......................................................................................558
Critical Thinking and Research Applications..........................................................................................585
Writing from Research: End-of-Chapter Exercises.................................................................................596
Chapter 12: Writing a Research Paper ......................................................................... 598
Creating a Rough Draft for a Research Paper.........................................................................................599
Developing a Final Draft of a Research Paper.........................................................................................616
Writing a Research Paper: End-of-Chapter Exercises............................................................................640
Chapter 13: APA and MLA Documentation and Formatting.................................... 643
Formatting a Research Paper....................................................................................................................644
Citing and Referencing Techniques.........................................................................................................661
Creating a References Section..................................................................................................................678
Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Style..................................................................................703
APA and MLA Documentation and Formatting: End-of-Chapter Exercises.........................................715
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Chapter 14: Creating Presentations: Sharing Your Ideas ........................................ 717
Organizing a Visual Presentation.............................................................................................................718
Incorporating Effective Visuals into a Presentation..............................................................................736
Giving a Presentation................................................................................................................................758
Creating Presentations: End-of-Chapter Exercises................................................................................771
Chapter 15: Readings: Examples of Essays .................................................................. 774
Introduction to Sample Essays.................................................................................................................775
Narrative Essay...........................................................................................................................................776
Illustration Essay........................................................................................................................................780
Descriptive Essay........................................................................................................................................783
Classification Essay....................................................................................................................................787
Process Analysis Essay...............................................................................................................................791
Definition Essay..........................................................................................................................................795
Compare-and-Contrast Essay....................................................................................................................799
Cause-and-Effect Essay..............................................................................................................................803
Persuasive Essay.........................................................................................................................................806
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About the Author
Scott McLean is the Shadle-EdgeCombe Endowed Faculty Chair at Arizona Western
College. He serves as the Professor of Communication, including Journalism and
English, for a combined campus partnership with the University of Arizona and
Northern Arizona University-Yuma.
Scott is the author of “The Basics of Speech Communication” and “The Basics of
Interpersonal Communication,” both currently published by Allyn & Bacon. He is
also the author of “Business Communication for Success” withUnnamed Publisher,
has published in peer-reviewed journals, classic car magazines, and newspapers.
From his experience working with students at the community college and
undergraduate level, including English 95 (development), 100 (college prep), 101
(composition and argumentation), 102 (literature and analysis), and 350 (business
communication), he has learned the importance of clear, concise learning resources
with scaffolding, frequent opportunities for engagement and demonstration of skill
mastery, and the importance of the first English course on overall academic success
for many students. He has taught at AWC/San Luis on the US/Mexican Border, for
Central Oregon Community College’s Branch Campus on the Warm Springs Indian
Reservation, and for Universidad San Sebastian in Concepcion, Chile.
Scott studied at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, at Washington State
University’s Edward R. Murrow School of Communication, and at Northern Arizona
University-Flagstaff’s Department of English in the area of Professional Writing. He
and his family divide their time between Yuma, Arizona and Puerto Montt, Chile.
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Acknowledgements
Thank you to our reviewers for their insightful and constructive comments:
• Gregory Gibson, Henderson State University
• Michael Heumann, Imperial Valley College
• Kevin F. Boyle, College of Southern Nevada
• Sharon Tash, Saddleback College
• Andzhela Keshishyan, California State University, Northridge
• Jacqueline Blackwell, Thomas Nelson Community College
• Kathleen Duff Wilson, Arizona State University
• Thomas Bonfiglio, Arizona State University
• Roseann Grotjan, Lincoln University of Missouri
• Jacquelyne Kibler, Phoenix College
• Catherine Coleman, Long Beach City College/Orange Coast College/
Irvine Valley College
• Professor Claudia Rubner, Mesa Community College
• Abby Rotstein, College of Southern Nevada
Special thanks to Pam, Michael, Jenn, Sanford, and Jeff atUnnamed Publisher. This
book, like everything at Flat World, is a team effort and is better for it! I am
honored to be a small part of a much larger movement to increase open access to
educational materials.Unnamed Publisheris inspirational.
Finally, Lisa, my partner and spouse, was always supportive and quick with the “so
what?” requests for clarification. Thank you to everyone who made a suggestion,
made a correction, or otherwise contributed to this project.
Scott McLean
Puerto Montt, Chile
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Dedications
For Lisa and our children, Mackenzie, John, and Katherine
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Preface
Writing is often a challenge. If you were ever challenged to express yourself via the
written word, this book is for you.
Writing for Successis a text that provides instruction in steps, builds writing,
reading, and critical thinking, and combines comprehensive grammar review with
an introduction to paragraph writing and composition.
Beginning with the sentence and its essential elements, this book addresses each
concept with clear, concise, and effective examples that are immediately reinforced
with exercises and opportunities to demonstrate learning.
Each chapter allows students to demonstrate mastery of the principles of quality
writing. With its incremental approach, this book can address a range of writing
levels and abilities, helping each student prepare for the next writing or university
course. Constant reinforcement is provided through examples and exercises, and
the text involves students in the learning process through reading, problem
solving, practicing, listening, and experiencing the writing process.
Each chapter also has integrated examples that unify the discussion and form a
common, easy-to-understand basis for discussion and exploration. This will put
students at ease and allow for greater absorption of the material.
Tips for effective writing are included in every chapter, as well. Thought-provoking
scenarios provide challenges and opportunities for collaboration and interaction.
These exercises are especially helpful for working with groups of students. Clear
exercises teach sentence and paragraph writing skills that lead to common English
composition and research essays.
Writing for Successprovides a range of discussion, examples, and exercises, from
writing development to mastery of the academic essay, that serve both student and
instructor.
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