Preface for Students: Using This Book Preface for Instructors PART 1: The Process of Writing 1. Assessing the Writing Situation a. Understanding how writing happens b. Analyzing the writing situation c. Discovering and limiting a subject d. Defining a purpose e. Considering the audience f. Understanding genres 2.

Discovering and Shaping Ideas a. Discovering ideas b. Developing a thesis c. Organizing ideas SAMPLE INFORMATIVE ESSAY 3. Drafting, Revising, and Editing a. Writing the first draft b. Revising a draft c. Giving and receiving comments d.

Examining a sample revision e. Editing the revised draft f. Preparing and proofreading the final draft g. SAMPLE FINAL DRAFT (RESPONSE ESSAY) h. Preparing a writing portfolio 4. Writing and Revising Paragraphs a. Relating paragraphs in the essay b. Maintaining paragraph unity c.

Achieving paragraph coherence d. Developing the paragraph e. Writing special kinds of paragraphs 5. Presenting Writing a. Formatting academic writing SAMPLE MARKETING REPORT b. Using visuals and other media in multimodal writing c. Presenting writing on the Web SAMPLE WEB SITE SAMPLE LITERACY NARRATIVE POSTED TO A BLOG d. Making oral presentations SAMPLE POWERPOINT SLIDES PART 2: Reading and Writing in and out of College 6.

Writing in Academic Situations a. Determining purpose and audienceb. Using an academic genrec. Choosing structure and content d. Using sources with integritye. Using academic language f. Communicating with instructors and classmates 7. Critical Reading and Writing a.

Using techniques of critical reading b. Summarizing c. Developing a critical response d. Viewing visuals critically e. Writing criticallyf. Examining sample critical analyses SAMPLE CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF A TEXT SAMPLE CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF AN IMAGE 8. Reading Arguments Critically a. Recognizing the elements of argument b.

Testing claims c. Weighing evidence d. Discovering assumptions e. Watching language, hearing tone f. Judging reasonableness g. Recognizing fallacies h. Reading visual arguments 9. Writing an Argument a.

Finding a subject b. Conceiving a thesis statement c. Analyzing your purpose and your audience d. Using reason e. Using evidence f. Reaching your readers g. Organizing your argument h. Revising your argument i.

SAMPLE PROPOSAL ARGUMENT 10. Taking Essay Exams a. Preparing for an essay examination b. Planning your time and your answer c. Starting the essay d. Developing the essay e. Rereading the essay 11. Public Writing a.

Writing on social media b. Writing business letters and memos SAMPLE LETTER AND MEMO c. Writing a job application SAMPLE LETTER AND RESUMES d. Writing business reports and proposals SAMPLE REPORT AND PROPOSAL e. Writing for community work SAMPLE NEWSLETTER, ONLINE POST PART 3: Grammatical Sentences 12. Understanding Sentence Grammar a. Understanding the basic sentence b. Expanding the basic sentence with single words c.

Expanding the basic sentence with word groups d. Compounding words, phrases, and clauses e. Changing the usual word order f. Classifying sentences 13. Case of Nouns and Pronouns a. Compound subjects and complements b. Compound objects c. We or us with a noun d.

Appositives e. Pronoun after than or as in a comparison f. Subjects and objects of infinitives g. Who vs. whom h. Case before a gerund 14. Verbs Verb Forms a. Regular and irregular verbs b.

Sit and set; lie and lay; rise and raise c. Omitted -s and -ed endings d. Helping verbs e. Verb plus gerund or infinitive f. Verb plus participle Tense g. Appropriate tense for meaning h. Sequence of tenses Mood i. Subjunctive verb forms Voice j.

Active vs. passive voice 15. Agreement a. Agreement between subject and verb b. Agreement between pronoun and antecedent 16. Adjectives and Adverbs a. Adjectives only with nouns and pronouns b. Adjectives after linking verbs c.

Adjectives with objects; adverbs with verbs d. Comparative and superlative forms e. Double negatives f. Overuse of nouns as modifiers g. Present and past participles as adjectives h. A, an, the, and other determiners PART 4: Clear Sentences 17. Sentence Fragments a. Tests for sentence completeness, revision of fragments b.

Subordinate clause c. Verbal or prepositional phrase d. Other fragments e. Acceptable uses of incomplete sentences 18. Comma Splices and Fused Sentences a. Main clauses not joined by coordinating conjunction b. Main clauses related by a conjunctive adverb or transitional expression c. Main clauses with no conjunction or punctuation 19.

Pronoun Reference a. Clear reference to one antecedent b. Clear placement of pronoun and antecedent c. Reference to specific antecedent d. Indefinite use of you e. Clear use of it f. Appropriate who, which, that 20. Shifts a.

Person and number b. Tense and mood c. Subject and voice d. Indirect and direct quotations and questions 21. Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers a. Clear placement of modifiers b. Limiting modifiers c. Squinting modifiers d.

Separation of subjects, verbs, and objects e. Separation of parts of infinitives or verb phrases f. Position of adverbs g. Order of adjectives h. Dangling modifiers 22. Mixed and Incomplete Sentences Mixed Sentences a. Mixed grammar b. Mixed meaning (faulty predication) c.

Compound constructions d. Comparisons e. Careless omissions PART 5: Effective Sentences 23. Emphasizing Ideas a. Using subjects and verbs effectively b. Using sentence beginnings and endings c. Arranging parallel elements effectively d. Repeating ideas e.

Separating ideas f. Being concise 24. Using Coordination and Subordination a. Coordinating to relate equal ideas b. Subordinating to distinguish main ideas c. Choosing clear connectors 25. Using Parallelism a. Using parallelism for coordinate elements b.

Using parallelism to increase coherence 26. Achieving Variety a. Varying sentence length and structure b. Varying sentence beginnings c. Inverting the normal word order d. Mixing types of sentences PART 6: Punctuation Chart 27. End Punctuation a. The period b.

The question mark c. The exclamation point 28. The Comma a. Main clauses linked by coordinating conjunctions b. Introductory elements c. Nonessential elements d. Absolute phrases e. Phrases expressing contrast f.

Series and coordinate adjectives g. Dates, addresses, place names, long numbers h. With quotations i. To prevent misreading j. Misuse and overuse 29. The Semicolon a. Main clauses not joined by a coordinating conjunction b. Main clauses related by a conjunctive adverb or transitional expression c.

Main clauses that are too long or contain commas d. Series items that are long or contain commas e. Misuse and overuse 30. The Apostrophe a. Possession b. Misuses with noun plurals, verbs, and personal pronouns c. Contractions d. Plurals of abbreviations, dates, and words or characters named as words 31.

Quotation Marks Chart a. Direct quotations b. Quotation within a quotation c. Dialog d. Titles of songs, short stories, etc. e. Words used in a special sense f. Overuse g.

Placement with other punctuation marks 32. Other Punctuation Marks a. The colon b. The dash c. Parentheses d. Brackets e. The ellipsis mark f. The slash PART 7: Mechanics 33.

Capitals a. First word of a sentence b. Titles of works c. Pronoun I and interjection O d. Proper nouns and adjectives e. Titles before proper names f. Misuses of capitals 34. Italics or Underlining a.

Titles of books and periodicals b. Names of ships, aircraft, spacecraft, trains c. Foreign words and phrases d. Words, letters, and numbers named as words e. For emphasis f. In online communication 35. Abbreviations a. Titles before and after proper names b.

Familiar abbreviations and acronyms c. BC, BCE, AD, CE, AM, PM, no., and $ d. Latin abbreviations e. Inc., Bros., Co., and & f.

Misuse with units of measurement, geographical names, and so on 36. Numbers a. Numerals vs. words b. For dates, addresses, etc. c. Beginning sentences PART 8: Effective Words 37. Using Appropriate Language a.

Revising nonstandard dialect b. Revising shortcuts of online communication c. Using slang only when appropriate d. Using colloquial language only when appropriate e. Using regionalisms only when appropriate f. Revising neologisms g. Using technical words with care h. Revising indirect or pretentious writing i.

Revising sexist and other biased language 38. Using Exact Language a. Using a dictionary and a thesaurus b. Using the right word for your meaning c. Balancing the abstract and concrete, the general and specific d. Using idioms e. Using figurative language f. Using fresh expressions 39.

Writing Concisely a. Focusing on subject and verb b. Cutting or shortening empty words and phrases c. Cutting unnecessary repetition d. Reducing clauses to phrases, phrases to single words e. Revising there is, here is, and it is constructions f. Combining sentences g. Rewriting jargon 40.

Spelling and the Hyphen a. Recognizing typical spelling problems b. Following spelling rules c. Developing spelling skills d. Using the hyphen to form or divide words PART 9: Research Writing 41. Planning a Research Project a. Starting out b. Finding a researchable subject and question c.

Developing a research strategy d. Making a working, annotated bibliography 42. Finding Sources a. Starting with your library''s Web site b. Searching electronically c. Finding reference works d. Finding books e. Finding periodicals f.

Finding sources on the Web g. Finding sources using social media h. Finding government publications i. Finding visuals, audio, and video j. Generating your own sources 43. Working with Sources a. Evaluating sources b. Synthesizing sources c.

Interacting with sources d.