Exploring Writing: Sentences and Paragraphs » (2nd Edition)

John Langan has taught reading and writing at Atlantic Cape Community College near Atlantic City, New Jersey, for over twenty-five years. The author of a popular series of college textbooks on both writing and reading, John enjoys the challenge of developing materials that teach skills in an especially clear and lively way. Before teaching, he earned advanced degrees in writing at Rutgers University and in reading at Rowan University. He also spent a year writing fiction that, he says, "is now at the back of a drawer waiting to be discovered and acclaimed posthumously." While in school, he supported himself by working as a truck driver, a machinist, a battery assembler, a hospital attendant, and an apple packer. John now lives with his wife, Judith Nadell, near Philadelphia. In addition to his wife and Philly sports teams, his passions include reading and turning on nonreaders to the pleasure and power of books. Through Townsend Press, his educational publishing company, he has developed the nonprofit "Townsend Library"—a collection more than thirty new and classic stories that appeal to readers of any age.

Becoming a writer is a journey, and Exploring Writing: Sentences and Paragraphs will serve as your students’ guidebook every step of the way. Emphasizing both process and practice, with a focus on revision, this text will help students apply and advance their writing skills. Mastering essential sentence skills, learning to write effective paragraphs, and becoming a critical reader are turning points for every writer, and they will prepare the students for writing situations in college and beyond.

Preface

PART ONE/ WRITING: SKILLS AND PROCESS

1. An Introduction to Writing
Understanding Point and Support
An Important Difference Between Writing and Talking
Point and Support in Two Cartoons
Point and Support in a Paragraph
Benefits of Paragraph Writing
Writing as a Skill
Why Does Your Attitude toward Writing Matter?
Writing as a Process of Discovery
Keeping a Journal

2. The Writing Process
How do you reach the goals of Effective Writing?
Prewriting
Technique 1: Freewriting
Freewriting: A Student Model
Technique 2: Questioning
Technique 3: Making a List
Technique 4: Clustering
Technique 5: Preparing a Scratch Outline
Writing a First Draft
Writing a First Draft: A Student Model
Revising
Revising: A Student Model
Editing and Proofreading
Editing Tips
Proofreading Tips
Editing and Proofreading: A Student Model
Tips on Using a Computer
Using a Computer at Each Stage of the Writing Process
Using Peer Review
1. Identification
2. Scratch Outline
3. Comments
Review Activities
Prewriting
Outling, Drafting, and Revising
Outlining TWO/ WRITING EFFECTIVE PARAGRAPHS

3. Four Steps for Writing, Four Bases for Revising
What Are the Steps in Writing Effective Paragraphs?
Step 1: Make a Point
Step 2: Back up Your Point
Step 3: Organize the Support
Step 4: Write Clear, Error-Free Sentences
Four Bases for Revising Writing
Base 1: Unity
Base 2: Support
Base 3: Coherence
Base 4: Sentence Skills

4. Nine Patterns of Paragraph Development
Important Considerations in Paragraph Development
Knowing Your Subject
Knowing Your Purpose and Audience
1. Exemplification
2. Process
A Paragraph to consider
Writing Process Paragraph
3. Cause and Effect
A Paragraph to consider
Writing a Cause-and-Effect Paragraph
4. Comparison and Contrast
Two Paragraphs to Consider
Writing a Comparison and Contrast Pragraph
5. Definition
A Paragraph to Consider
WritiParagraphinition Paragraph
6. Classification and Division
Two Paragraphs to Consider
Writing a Division-Classification Paragraph
7. Description
A Paragraph to Consider
Writing a Descriptive Paragraph
8. Narration
A Paragraph to Consider
Writing an Argument Paragraph

5. Moving From Paragraph to Essay
What Is an Essay?
Differences between an Essay and a Paragraph
The Form of an Essay
A Model Essay
Important Points about the Essay
Introductory Paragraph
Common Methods of Introduction
Supporting Paragraphs
Transitional Sentences
Concluding Paragraph
Essays to Consider
Planning the Essay
Outlining the Essay
Form for Planning an Essay
Practice in Writing the Essay
Understanding the Two Parts of a Thesis Statement
Supporting the Thesis with Specific Evidence
Identifying Introductions
Revising an Essay for All Four Bases: Unity, Support, Coherence, and Sentence Skills
Essay Assignments
Additional Writing Assignments

PART THREE/ SENTENCE SKILLS

SECTION 1: SENTENCES
6. Subjects and Verbs
7. Fragments
8. Run-Ons
9. Sentence Variety I
SECTION 2: VERBS, PRONOUNS, AND AGREEMENT
10. Standard English Verbs
11. Irregular Verbs
12. Subject-Verb Agreement
13. Consistent Verb Tense
14. Additional Information about Verbs
15. Pronoun Reference, Agreement, and Point of View
16. Pronoun Types
SECTION 3: MODIFIERS AND PARALLELISM
17. Adjectives and Adverbs
18. Misplaced Modifiers
19. Dangling Modifiers
20. Faulty Parallelism
21. Sentence Variety II
SECTION 4: PUNCTUATION AND MECHANICS
22. Paper Format
23. Capital Letters
24. Numbers and Abbreviations
25. End Marks
26. Apostrophe
27. Quotation Marks
28. Commas
29. Other Punctuation Marks
SECTION 5: WORD USE
30. Dictionary Use
31. Spelling Improvement
32. Omitted Words and Letters
33. Commonly Confused Words
34. Effective Word Choice

PART FOUR/ READINGS FOR WRITERS

GOALS AND VALUES
Sister Helen Mrosla, “All the Good Things”
Paul Logan, “Rowing the Bus”
Marta Salinas, “The Scholarship Jacket”
Andy Rooney, “Tickets to Nowhere”
Delores Curran, “What Good Families Are Doing Right”

EDUCATION AND SELF-IMPROVEMENT
Ben Carson, “Do It Better!”
James Lincoln Collier, “Anxiety: Challenge by Another Name”
Anita Garland, “Let's Really Reform Our Schools”
Janny Scott, “How They Get You to Do That”
Rudolph Verderber, “Dealing with Feelings”
Grant Berry, “A Change of Attitude”
Beth Johnson, “Let’s Get Specific”

HUMAN GROUPS AND SOCIETY
Katherine Barrett, “Old before Her Time”
Amy Tan, “The Most Hateful Words”
Bill Wine, “Rudeness at the Movies”
Alice Walker, “My Daughter Smokes”

Appendix A: Parts of Speech

Appendix B: ESL Pointers

Appendix C: Sentence Skills Diagnostic Test

Appendix D: Sentence Skills Achievement Test

Appendix E: Answers to Exercises in Part Three

Appendix F: A Writer’s Journal