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the cruelest sport exploring the text answers

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Ninth Edition

The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing

Rise B. Axelrod University of California, Riverside

Charles R. Cooper University of California, San Diego

Bedford / St. Martin’s

Boston New York

For Bedford/St. Martin’s

Senior Developmental Editor: Alexis P. Walker Senior Production Editor: Harold Chester Production Supervisor: Jennifer Peterson Marketing Manager: Molly Parke Art Director: Lucy Krikorian Text Design: Jerilyn Bockorick Copy Editor: Denise P. Quirk Photo Research: Naomi Kornhauser Cover Design: Richard DiTomassi Composition: Nesbitt Graphics, Inc. Printing and Binding: RR Donnelley and Sons

President: Joan E. Feinberg Editorial Director: Denise B. Wydra Editor in Chief: Karen S. Henry Director of Development: Erica T. Appel Director of Marketing: Karen R. Soeltz Director of Editing, Design, and Production: Marcia Cohen Assistant Director of Editing, Design, and Production: Elise S. Kaiser Managing Editor: Shuli Traub

Library of Congress Control Number: 2009932161 (with Handbook) 2009932166 (without Handbook)

Copyright © 2010, 2008, 2004, 2001 by Bedford/St. Martin’s All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except as may be expressly permitted by the applicable copyright statutes or in writing by the Publisher.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

5 4 3 2 1 0 f e d c b a

For information, write: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 75 Arlington Street, Boston, MA 02116 (617-399-4000)

ISBN-10: 0-312-53612-7 ISBN-13: 978-0-312-53612-1 (with Handbook) ISBN-10: 0-312-53613-5 ISBN-13: 978-0-312-53613-8 (without Handbook)

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments and copyrights appear at the back of the book on pages A1-A3, which consti- tute an extension of the copyright page.

Advisory Board

We owe an enormous debt to all the rhetoricians and composition specialists whose theory, research, and pedagogy have informed The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing. We would be adding many pages if we were to name everyone to whom we are indebted.

The members of the Advisory Board for the ninth edition, a group of dedicated composition instructors from across the country, have provided us with extensive insights and suggestions for the chapters in Part One and have given us the benefit of their advice on new features. The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing has been greatly enhanced by their contributions.

Samantha Andrus-Henry Grand Rapids Community College

Melissa Batai Triton College

Mary Bishop Holmes Junior College–Ridgeland

Jo Ann Buck Guilford Technical Community College

Kevin Cantwell Macon State College

Anne Dvorak Longview Community College

Leona Fisher Chaffey College

Diana Grahn Longview Community College

Dawn Hubbell-Staeble Bowling Green State University

Amy Morris-Jones Baker College of Muskegon

Gray Scott University of California, Riverside

Susan Sebok South Suburban College

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Preface for Instructors

When we first wrote The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing, we aimed to demystify writing and authorize students as writers. We wanted to help students learn to commit them- selves to writing projects, communicate effectively with chosen readers, and question their own certainties. We also wanted them to understand that knowledge of writing comes both from analyzing writing and from working hard on their own writing. To achieve this aim, we took what we had learned from classical rhetoric and from con- temporary composition theory and did our best to make it accessible to students.

The response from instructors and students was overwhelmingly positive: The first edition of The Guide, published in 1985, immediately became the most widely adopted text of its kind in the nation.

As with every new edition, we began work on this ninth edition with the goal of adapting the best of current composition research and practice to the needs of instructors and students. We listened closely to our Advisory Board and dozens of talented reviewers (students as well as instructors), and we were confirmed in our belief that the essential purpose and approach of The Guide is more relevant than ever: Students need clear guidance and practical strategies to harness their potential as writers — an achievement that will be key to their success in their other college courses, in their jobs, and in the wider world.

At the same time, we realized that we needed to reach out to these students, and help them connect with writing, in new ways.

Every aspect of the academic landscape has changed since we wrote the first edition. The texts we read and write, the tools we use to find them, the options we have for communicating, the habits of mind we rely on, even the students them- selves — all are more varied and complex than in the past, sometimes overwhelm- ingly so. At the same time, students and instructors alike are increasingly burdened with demands on their time, attention, and energy that emanate from outside the classroom.

For all of these reasons, this edition represents a bold reimagining of our origi- nal vision. The chapters containing the Guides to Writing have been reengineered to reflect and build on the actual writing processes of students, and the Guides them- selves are streamlined and more visual. Throughout the book, we attempt to help students focus on what is important, yet offer multiple options for critical reading and writing. The result of this reimagining is what you hold in your hands: a text that we believe to be more flexible, more engaging, and more pedagogically effective than any previous edition.

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vi PREFACE FOR INSTRUCTORS

An Overview of the Book The Guide offers everything you need for the writing course.

Part One: Writing Activities

Part One presents nine different genres of writing, all reflecting actual writing assign- ments that students may encounter both in and out of college. While the chapters can be taught in any order, we have organized Part One to move from writing based on personal experience and reflection, through writing based on research and obser- vation, to writing about controversial issues and problems.

Each chapter follows the same organizational plan:

Three brief illustrated scenarios providing examples of how the genre is used in college courses, in the community, and in the workplace

A brief introduction to the genre A collaborative activity helping students start working in the genre An orientation to the genre’s basic features and to questions of purpose and audience specific to the genre A set of readings illustrating the genre accompanied by questions and prompts designed to help students explore connections to their culture and experience and to analyze the basic features and writing strategies

A “Beyond the Traditional Essay” section discussing examples of the genre drawn from unexpected contexts — advertising, blogs, museums, even public parks

A Guide to Writing, tailored to the genre, that helps students refine their own writing processes, with activities for invention and research, easy-reference guides for drafting and revision, a Critical Reading Guide for peer review, strat- egies for integrating sources, and more

Editing and proofreading guidelines, based on our nationwide study of errors in first-year college students’ writing, to help students check for one or two sentence-level problems likely to occur in a given genre

A section exploring how writers think about document design, expanding on one of the scenarios presented at the beginning of the chapter

A look at one student writer at work, focusing on one or more aspects of the writing process of a student whose essay is featured in the chapter

Critical thinking activities designed to help students reflect on what they learned and consider the social dimensions of the genre taught in the chapter

Part Two: Critical Thinking Strategies

Part Two consists of two chapters that present practical heuristics for invention and reading. Chapter 11, “A Catalog of Invention Strategies,” covers clustering, looping, dramatizing, and questioning, among other strategies, while Chapter 12, “A Catalog of Reading Strategies,” includes annotating, summarizing, exploring the significance of figurative language, and evaluating the logic of an argument.

PREFACE FOR INSTRUCTORS vii

Part Three: Writing Strategies

Part Three looks at a wide range of writers’ strategies: paragraphing and coherence; logic and reasoning; and the familiar methods of presenting information, such as narrating, defining, and classifying.

In the ninth edition of The Guide, a new Chapter 20 provides students with criteria for analyzing visuals and illustrates them with several lengthy sample analyses and one full-length, documented student paper. Part Three concludes with a heavily illustrated chapter on document design, which provides principles to guide students in construct- ing a wide range of documents, along with examples of some of the most common kinds of documents they’ll create in school, at work, and in their everyday lives.

Examples and exercises in Part Three have been drawn from a wide range of contemporary publications as well as reading selections appearing in Part One. The extensive cross-referencing between Parts One and Three allows instructors to teach writing strategies as students work on full essays.

Part Four: Research Strategies

Part Four discusses field as well as library and Internet research and includes thorough, up-to-date guidelines for using and documenting sources, with detailed examples of the 2009 Modern Language Association (MLA) and 2010 American Psychological Association (APA) documentation styles. An annotated sample student research paper models ways students can integrate citations into their own work in accordance with the rules for MLA documentation. The final chapter in Part Four, new to the ninth edition of The Guide, offers detailed guidelines for creating anno- tated bibliographies and literature reviews.

Part Five: Writing for Assessment

Part Five covers essay examinations, showing students how to analyze different kinds of exam questions and offering strategies for writing answers. It also addresses portfolios, helping students select, assemble, and present a representative sample of their writing.

Part Six: Writing and Speaking to Wider Audiences

Part Six includes chapters on oral presentations, collaborative learning, and service learning, offering advice to help students work together on writing projects and to write in and for their communities.

The Handbook

The Handbook offers a complete reference guide to grammar, word choice, punctua- tion, mechanics, common ESL problems, sentence structure, and usage. We have designed the Handbook so that students will find the answers they need quickly, and we have provided student examples from our nationwide study so that students will see errors similar to the ones in their own essays. In addition to the section on ESL problems, boxes throughout the rest of the Handbook offer specific support for ESL students.

viii PREFACE FOR INSTRUCTORS

Proven Features

While this edition of The Guide represents a bold reimagining of the way students work, it has retained the three central features that have made it a best-seller since its first edition: the detailed, practical guides to writing in different genres; the sys- tematic integration of reading and writing; and continuing attention to changes in composition pedagogy.

Practical Guides to Writing

Each chapter in Part One offers practical, flexible guides that help students with different aspects of writing, such as invention or revision, as they write. Common- sensical and easy to follow, these writing guides teach students to assess a rhetorical situation, identify the kinds of information they will need, ask probing questions and find answers, and organize writing to achieve a particular purpose for chosen readers.

In the ninth edition, we’ve done even more to make these guides effective and easy to use, by streamlining them, by adding easy reference charts and tables, and by offering students multiple entry points into the composing process.

Systematic Integration of Reading and Writing

Each chapter in Part One introduces a single genre of writing, which students are led to consider both as readers and as writers. Chapters begin with an essay written in the genre by a student writer using The Guide; these essays are annotated with questions designed to encourage students to discover the ways in which the essay exemplifies that genre’s basic features.

Each of three professional readings in the chapter is accompanied by carefully focused apparatus to guide purposeful, productive rereading. First is a response activity, Making Connections, which relates a central theme of the reading to stu- dents’ own lives and cultural knowledge. The section following, Analyzing Writing Strategies, asks students to examine how the writer makes use of the basic features and strategies typical of the genre. Essays that include visuals are followed by an Analyzing Visuals section, which asks students to write about the way(s) in which photos, graphs, and other visual elements enhance the text. Finally, in Considering Topics for Your Own Essay, students approach the most important decision they have to make with a genre-centered assignment: choosing a workable topic that inspires their commitment to weeks of thinking and writing.

Continuing Attention to Changes in Composition

With each new edition, we have responded to new thinking and new issues in the field of composition and turned current theory and research into practical class- room activities — with a minimum of jargon. As a result, in every new edition The Guide incorporated new material that contributed to its continued effectiveness, including more on appropriate methods of argument, research, and working with

PREFACE FOR INSTRUCTORS ix

sources; attention to new technologies for writing and researching; activities that promote group discussion and inquiry and encourage students to reflect on what they have learned; and material on document design, oral presentations, and writ- ing in the community.

Changes in the Ninth Edition

In this edition, we have taken instructors’ advice and revised the text to make it an even more effective teaching tool.

Streamlined and redesigned Part One chapters provide more visual cues for students who learn visually, more “easy-reference” features for students who need help navigating a lengthy text, and more “ways in” to each assignment for students whose writing processes don’t conform to an imaginary norm.

The Basic Features of each chapter’s genre of writing are now introduced at the start of the chapter, to lay the groundwork for students’ understand- ing of the genre and to prepare them for their work with that chapter’s readings.

A new color-coding system calls out the Basic Features in the annotated stu- dent essay, the post-reading apparatus, and throughout the Guide to Writing, helping students see the connections among the chapter’s various parts and more easily grasp what makes a successful example of a given genre.

New “Beyond the Traditional Essay” sections illustrate and discuss ex- amples of that chapter’s genre of writing drawn from advertising, blogs, museums — even public parks.

New easy-reference charts in each Guide to Writing — “Starting Points” and “Troubleshooting Your Draft” — help students self-assess and efficiently find the advice and models they need for overcoming individual writing challenges.

Newly designed Invention activities highlight different paths through the processes of generating and shaping material.

Chapter 5, newly revised as “Finding Common Ground,” now teaches students how to analyze opposing positions and find “common ground” between them — a key step in analyzing and synthesizing sources and in con- structing academic as well as civic arguments.

New material brings the book up-to-date and teaches students what they’ll need to succeed at academic writing.

To help students understand and evaluate the visual data that increas- ingly dominate our culture, we have added a new Chapter 20, “Analyzing Visuals,” which provides clear guidance on how to critically read and write about photos, ads, works of art, and other image-based texts. The chapter also offers a multi-stage model of a student’s analysis of a photo by Gordon Parks, as well as exercises in visual analysis that students can do in class or on their own.

x PREFACE FOR INSTRUCTORS

To help them cope with information overload while doing research, we have added a new Chapter 25, “Annotated Bibliographies and Literature Reviews,” which offers detailed guidance on these important elements of the research process.

To help them make useful connections between their previous writing ex- periences and the writing they will do in college, Chapter 1 now focuses on the literacy narrative, encouraging students to reflect on their own literacy experiences in preparation for the reading and writing challenges they’ll en- counter in the course.

Fifteen new readings, with at least one new reading in every Writing Assignment chapter, introduce compelling topics, multicultural perspectives, and fresh voices, including Trey Ellis on a family member’s battle with AIDS, Saira Shah on finding her roots in Afghanistan, and Amy Goldwasser on what kids learn online — and why it matters.

Additional Resources You Get More Help with The St. Martin’s Guide

The benefits of using The St. Martin’s Guide don’t stop with the print text. Online, in print, and in digital format, you’ll find both free and affordable premium resources to help students get even more out of the book and your course. You’ll also find course management solutions and convenient instructor resources, such as sample syllabi, suggested classroom activities, and even a na- tionwide community of teachers. To learn more about or order any of the prod- ucts below, contact your Bedford/St. Martin’s sales representative, e-mail sales support (sales_support@bfwpub.com), or visit the Web site at bedfordstmartins .com/theguide/catalog.

Student Resources

The St. Martin’s Guide Student Center (bedfordstmartins.com/theguide). Send students to free and open resources, allow them to choose an affordable e-book op- tion, or upgrade to an expanding collection of innovative digital content — all in one place.

Free and open resources for The St. Martin’s Guide provide students with easy-to-access book-specific materials, exercises, and downloadable con- tent, including electronic versions of the Critical Reading Guides, Starting Points and Troubleshooting Your Draft charts; tutorials for the sentence strategies in the Part One chapters; and additional essays on topics of con- temporary debate for use with Chapter 5, “Finding Common Ground.” Additional free resources include Research and Documentation Online by Diana Hacker, with clear advice on how to integrate outside material into a

PREFACE FOR INSTRUCTORS xi

paper, how to cite sources correctly, and how to format the paper in MLA, APA, Chicago, or CSE style; and Exercise Central, a database of over 9,000 editing exercises designed to help identify students’ strengths and weak- nesses, recommend personalized study plans, and provide tutorials for com- mon writing problems.

The St. Martin’s Guide e-Book and enhanced Web site let students do more and pay less. This flexible e-book allows users to highlight important sections, insert their own sticky notes, and customize content; the enhanced Web site includes Marriage 101 and Other Student Essays, a collection of 32 essays inspired by The Guide, and a peer-review lesson module and online role- playing game. The St. Martin’s Guide e-Book and access to the enhanced Web site can be packaged free with the print book or purchased separately at the Student Center for less than the price of the print book. An activation code is required.

Re:Writing Plus, now with VideoCentral, gathers all of Bedford/St. Martin’s premium digital content for composition into one online collection. It includes hundreds of model documents and VideoCentral, with over 50 brief videos for the writing classroom. Re:Writing Plus can be purchased separately at the Student Center or packaged with the print book at a significant discount. An activation code is required.

Sticks and Stones and Other Student Essays, Seventh Edition. Available for packaging free with new copies of The Guide, Sticks and Stones is a collection of es- says written by students across the nation using earlier editions of The Guide. Each essay is accompanied by a headnote that spotlights some of the ways the writer uses the genre successfully, invites students to notice other achievements, and supplies context where necessary.

Who Are We? Readings in Identity and Community and Work and Career. Available for packaging free with new copies of The Guide, Who Are We? contains selections that expand on themes foregrounded in The Guide. Full of ideas for class- room discussion and writing, the readings offer students additional perspectives and thought-provoking analysis.

i·series on CD-ROM. Free when packaged with new copies of The St. Martin’s Guide, the i·series includes multimedia tutorials in a flexible CD-ROM format — because there are things you can’t do in a book:

ix visual exercises help students visualize and put into practice key rhetorical and visual concepts.

i·claim visualizing argument offers a new way to see argument — with 6 tutorials, an illustrated glossary, and over 70 multimedia arguments.

i·cite visualizing sources brings research to life through an animated introduc- tion, four tutorials, and hands-on source practice.

xii PREFACE FOR INSTRUCTORS

Course Management

CompClass for The St. Martin’s Guide (yourcompclass.com). An easy-to-use online course space designed for composition students and instructors, CompClass for The St. Martin’s Guide comes preloaded with the St. Martin’s Guide e-Book as well as other Bedford/St. Martin’s premium digital content, including VideoCentral. Powerful assignment and assessment tools make it easier to keep track of your stu- dents’ progress. CompClass for The St. Martin’s Guide can be purchased separately at yourcompclass.com or packaged with the print book at a significant discount. An activation code is required.

Content cartridges for WebCT, Angel, and other course management systems. Our content cartridges for course management systems — Blackboard, WebCT, Angel, and Desire2Learn — make it simple for instructors using this online learn- ing architecture to build a course around The Guide. The content is drawn from the Web site and includes activities, models, reference materials, and the Exercise Central gradebook.

Ordering Information (Package ISBNs)

To order any of the following items with the print text you order for your students, please use the ISBNs provided below. For different packages or a more complete listing of supplements, contact your Bedford/St. Martin’s sales representative, e-mail sales support at sales_support@bfwpub.com, or visit the Web site at bedfordstmartins .com/theguide/catalog.

9th Edition (hardcover) Short 9th Edition

The St. Martin’s Guide e-Book and

enhanced Web site

ISBN-10: 0-312-58408-3

ISBN-13: 978-0-312-58408-5

ISBN-10: 0-312-58409-1

ISBN-13: 978-0-312-58409-2

Re:Writing Plus ISBN-10: 0-312-63790-X

ISBN-13: 978-0-312-63790-3

ISBN-10: 0-312-62901-X

ISBN-13: 978-0-312-62901-4

Sticks and Stones and Other

Student Essays, Seventh Edition

ISBN-10: 0-312-62539-1

ISBN-13: 978-0-312-62539-9

ISBN-10: 0-312-63793-4

ISBN-13: 978-0-312-63793-4

Who Are We? Readings in Identity

and Community and Work

and Career

ISBN-10: 0-312-62532-4

ISBN-13: 978-0-312-62532-0

ISBN-10: 0-312-63791-8

ISBN-13: 978-0-312-63791-0

CompClass for

The St. Martin’s Guide

ISBN-10: 0-312-62533-2

ISBN-13: 978-0-312-62533-7

ISBN-10: 0-312-63792-6

ISBN-13: 978-0-312-63792-7

PREFACE FOR INSTRUCTORS xiii

Instructor Resources

You have a lot to do in your course. Bedford/St. Martin’s wants to make it easy for you to find the support you need — and to get it quickly.

Instructor’s Resource Manual (ISBN-10: 0-312-58260-9/ISBN-13: 978-0-312- 58260-9 (print); also available for download at bedfordstmartins.com/theguide). The Instructor’s Resource Manual includes helpful advice for new instructors, guide- lines on common teaching practices such as assigning journals and setting up group activities, guidelines on responding to and evaluating student writing, course plans, detailed chapter plans, an annotated bibliography in composition and rhetoric, and a selection of background readings.

Additional Resources for Teaching with The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing, available for download at bedfordstmartins.com/theguide, supports classroom in- struction with PowerPoint presentations offering lists of important features for each genre, critical reading guides, collaborative activities, and checklists, all adapted from the text. It also provides more than fifty exercises designed to accompany the Handbook section of the hardcover edition of The Guide.

The Elements of Teaching Writing (A Resource for Instructors in All Disciplines) (ISBN-10: 0-312-40683-5/ISBN-13: 978-0-312-40683-7). Written by Katherine Gottschalk and Keith Hjortshoj, The Elements of Teaching Writing provides time- saving strategies and practical guidance in a brief reference form. Drawing on their extensive experience training instructors in all disciplines to incorporate writing into their courses, Gottschalk and Hjortshoj offer reliable advice, accom- modating a wide range of teaching styles and class sizes, about how to design effective writing assignments and how to respond to and evaluate student writing in any course.

Teaching Central (bedfordstmartins.com/teachingcentral). Designed for the con- venience of instructors, this rich Web site lists and describes Bedford/St. Martin’s acclaimed print series of free professional sourcebooks, background readings, and bibliographies for teachers. In addition, Teaching Central offers a host of free online resources, including

Bits, a blog that collects creative ideas for teaching composition from a com- munity of teachers, scholars, authors, and editors. Instructors are free to take, use, adapt, and pass the ideas around, in addition to sharing new suggestions.

Just-in-Time Teaching and Adjunct Central — downloadable syllabi, hand- outs, exercises, activities, assignments, teaching tips, and more, organized by resource type and by topic

Take 20 — a 60-minute film for teachers, by teachers, in which 22 writing teachers answer 20 questions on current practices and emerging ideas in composition

xiv PREFACE FOR INSTRUCTORS

Acknowledgments We owe an enormous debt to all the rhetoricians and composition specialists whose theory, research, and pedagogy have informed The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing. We would be adding many pages to an already long book if we were to name everyone to whom we are indebted; suffice it to say that we have been eclectic in our bor- rowing.

We must also acknowledge immeasurable lessons learned from all the writers, professional and student alike, whose work we analyzed and whose writing we used in this and earlier editions.

So many instructors and students have contributed ideas and criticism over the years. The members of the advisory board for the ninth edition, a group of dedicated composition instructors from across the country, have provided us with extensive insights and suggestions on the eighth edition and have given us the benefit of their advice on new readings and other new features for the ninth. For their many contributions, we would like to thank Samantha Andrus-Henry, Grand Rapids Community College; Melissa Batai, Triton College; Mary Bishop, Holmes Junior College–Ridgeland; Jo Ann Buck, Guilford Technical Community College; Kevin Cantwell, Macon State College; Anne Dvorak, Longview Community College; Leona Fisher, Chaffey College; Diana Grahn, Longview Community College; Dawn Hubbell-Staeble, Bowling Green State University; Amy Morris-Jones, Baker College of Muskegon; Gray Scott, University of California, Riverside; and Susan Sebok, South Suburban College.

Many other instructors have also helped us improve the book. For responding to detailed questionnaires about the eighth edition, we thank Diana Agy, Jackson Community College; James Allen, College of DuPage; Eileen Baland, Texas Baptist University; Sydney Bartman, Mt. San Antonio College; Elisabeth Beccue, Erie Community College; Maria J. Cahill, Edison College; Lenny Cavallaro, Northern Essex Community College; Chandra Speight Cerutti, East Carolina University; Connie Chismar, Georgian Court University; Marilyn Clark, Xavier University; Lori Rios Doddy, Texas Woman’s University; Deborah Kay Ferrell, Finger Lakes Community College; April Gentry, Savannah State University; Diane Halm, Niagara University; Tammy Harosky, Virginia Highlands Community College; Anne Helms, Alamance Community College; Teresa Henning, Southwest Minnesota State University; Rick Jones, South Suburban College; Cristina Karmas, Graceland University; Glenda Lowery, Rappanannock Community College, Warsaw Campus; Rachel Jo Mack, Ball State University; Linda McHenry, Fort Hays State University; Jim McKeown, McLennan Community College; Michelle Metzner, Wright State University; Lisa Wiley Moslow, Erie Community College North Campus; Caroline Nobile, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania; Gordon Petry, Bradley University; Richard W. Porter, Cedarville University; Pamela J. Rader, Georgian Court University; Kim Salrin, Bradley University; Wanda Synstelien, Southwest Minnesota State University; Ruthe Thompson, Southwest Minnesota State University; Janice M. Vierk, Metropolitan Community College; Betsey Whited, Emporia State University; John M. Ziebell, College of Southern Nevada; and Susan Zolliker, Palomar College.

PREFACE FOR INSTRUCTORS xv

For this new edition of The Guide, we also gratefully acknowledge the spe- cial contributions of the following: Paul Tayyar, who drafted the new “Analyzing Visuals” chapter; Gray Scott, who drafted the new “Annotated Bibliographies and Literature Reviews” chapter; and Jill Markgraf, Judith Van Noate, Debbi Renfrow, Jaena Hollingsworth, and Beth Downs, who provided expert advice on the revised coverage of library and Internet research. We want especially to thank the many instructors at the University of California, Riverside, who offered advice and class tested new material, including Stephanie Kay, Leona Fisher, Gray Scott, Elizabeth Spies, Elissa Weeks, Rob d’Annibale, Kimberly Turner, Amanda Uvalle, Joshua Fenton, Benedict Jones, and Sandra Baringer. Finally, we are especially grateful to the student authors for allowing us to use their work in Sticks and Stones, Marriage 101, and The Guide.

We want to thank many people at Bedford/St. Martin’s, especially Senior Editor Alexis Walker, whose wisdom, skill, and tireless enthusiasm made this edition pos- sible, and our production team of Harold Chester, Shuli Traub, and Jenny Peterson. Denise Quirk made many valuable contributions to this revision with her careful copyediting, as did Diana Puglisi George with her meticulous proofreading. Cecilia Seiter managed and edited all of the most important ancillaries to the book: the Instructor’s Resource Manual, Sticks and Stones, Marriage 101, and the rest of the Guide Web site. Without the help of Dan Schwartz, the new media supplements to The Guide would not have been possible.

Thanks also to the immensely talented design team — book designer Jerilyn Bockorick as well as Bedford/St. Martin’s art directors Anna Palchik and Lucy Krikorian — for making the ninth edition so attractive and usable. Our gratitude also goes to Sandy Schechter and Warren Drabek for their hard work clearing permissions, and Martha Friedman and Naomi Kornhauser for imaginative photo research.

We wish finally to express our heartfelt appreciation to Nancy Perry for help- ing us to launch The Guide successfully so many years ago and continuing to stand by us. Over the years, Nancy has generously and wisely advised us on everything from planning new editions to copyediting manuscript, and now she is helping us develop the new customized publication of The Guide. We also want to thank Erica Appel, director of development, and Karen Henry, editor-in-chief, who offered valued advice at many critical stages in the process. Thanks as well to Joan Feinberg and Denise Wydra for their adroit leadership of Bedford/St. Martin’s, and to mar- keting director Karen Soeltz and marketing manager Molly Parke — along with the extraordinarily talented and hardworking sales staff — for their tireless efforts on behalf of The Guide.

xvi PREFACE FOR INSTRUCTORS

Features of The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing, Ninth Edition, Correlated to the WPA Outcomes Statement

Desired Student Outcomes Relevant Features of The St. Martin’s Guide

Rhetorical Knowledge

Focus on a purpose Each writing assignment chapter in Part One offers extensive discussion of the purpose(s) for the genre of writing covered in that chapter.

Respond to the needs of different audiences

Each chapter in Part One discusses the need to consider one’s audience for the particular genre covered in that chapter. In Chapters 6–10, which cover argument, there is also extensive discussion of the need to anticipate opposing positions and readers’ objections to the writer’s thesis.

Respond appropriately to different kinds of rhetorical situations

Each chapter in Part One gives detailed advice on responding to a particular rhetorical situation, from remembering an event (Chapter 2) to analyzing stories (Chapter 10).

Use conventions of format and structure appropriate to the rhetorical situation

Each chapter in Part One points out features of effectively structured writing, and the Guides to Writing help students systematically develop their own effective structures. Document design is covered in two sections in each of these chapters, as well as in a dedicated Chapter 21, “Designing Documents.”

Adopt appropriate voice, tone, and level of formality

Many of the Sentence Strategies sections in each chapter in Part One deal with these issues. Also, see purpose and audience coverage mentioned previously.

Understand how genres shape reading and writing

Each chapter in Part One offers student and professional readings accompanied by annotations, questions, and commentary that draw students’ attention to the key features of the genre and stimulate ideas for writing. Each chapter’s Guide to Writing offers detailed, step-by-step advice for writing in the genre and for offering constructive peer criticism. In addition, “In College Courses,” “In the Community,” and “In the Workplace” sections that open each Part One chapter, as well as “Beyond the Traditional Essay” sections later in the chapter, show how the various genres are used outside the composition course.

Write in several genres The Guides to Writing in each of the nine chapters in Part One offer specific advice on writing to remember an event; to profile a person, activity, or place; to explain a concept; to analyze opposing positions and find common ground; to argue a position; to propose a solution; to justify an evaluation; to speculate about causes; and to analyze literature. In addition, Chapters 22–25 cover research strategies that many students will use while writing in the genres covered in Part One.

PREFACE FOR INSTRUCTORS xvii

Desired Student Outcomes Relevant Features of The St. Martin’s Guide

Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing

Use writing and reading for inquiry, learning, thinking, and communicating

Each Writing Assignment chapter in Part One emphasizes the connection between reading and writing in a particular genre: Each chapter begins with a group of readings whose apparatus introduces students to thinking about the features of the genre; then a Guide to Writing leads them through the process of applying these features to an essay of their own. Chapter 11, “A Catalog of Invention Strategies,” and Chapter 12, “A Catalog of Reading Strategies” prompt students to engage actively in invention and reading. Other Part Two chapters include coverage of specific invention, reading, and writing strategies useful in a variety of genres.

Understand a writing assignment as a series of tasks, including finding, evaluating, analyzing, and synthesizing appropriate primary and secondary sources

The Guides to Writing in each chapter in Part One break writing assignments down into doable focused thinking and writing activities that engage students in the recursive process of invention and research to find, analyze, and synthesize information and ideas. “Working with Sources” sections teach specific strategies of evaluating and integrating source material. Chapter 12, “A Catalog of Reading Strategies,” covers various strategies useful in working with sources, including annotating, summarizing, and synthesizing. Chapter 24, “Using Sources,” offers detailed coverage of finding, evaluating, using, and acknowledging primary and secondary sources, while Chapter 25, “Annotated Bibliographies and Literature Reviews,” helps students master these essential research-based tasks.

Integrate their own ideas with those of others

Chapter 24, “Using Sources,” offers detailed advice on how to integrate and introduce quotations, how to cite paraphrases and summaries so as to distinguish them from the writer’s own ideas, and how to avoid plagiarism. “Sentence Strategy” and “Working with Sources” in several Part One chapters offer additional support.

Understand the relationships among language, knowledge, and power

“Making Connections,” a recurring section in the apparatus following the professional readings in Part One chapters, encourages students to put what they’ve read in the context of the world they live in. These preliminary reflections come into play in the Guides to Writing, where students are asked to draw on their experiences in college, community, and career in order to begin writing. “Thinking Critically about What You Have Learned” sections that conclude Part One chapters ask students to reconsider what they have learned, often in a social/political context.

Processes

Be aware that it usually takes multiple drafts to create and complete a successful text

The need for a critical reading of a draft and for revision is emphasized in Chapter 1 as well as in the Guides to Writing in each chapter of Part One. Case studies of particular students’ writing processes are offered in “Writer at Work” sections in each Part One chapter.

(continued)

xviii PREFACE FOR INSTRUCTORS

Desired Student Outcomes Relevant Features of The St. Martin’s Guide

Processes (continued)

Develop flexible strategies for generating ideas, revising, editing, and proofreading

The Guides to Writing in each Part One chapter offer genre-specific coverage of invention and research, getting a critical reading of a draft, revising, editing, and proofreading. Also in each Part One chapter, “Ways In” invention activities encourage students to start from their strengths, and “Starting Points” and “Troubleshooting Your Draft” charts offer specific, targeted advice for students with different challenges. A dedicated Chapter 11, “A Catalog of Invention Strategies,” offers numerous helpful suggestions for idea generation.

Understand writing as an open process that permits writers to use later invention and rethinking to revise their work

The Guides to Writing in each Part One chapter offer extensive, genre-specific advice on rethinking and revising at multiple stages. “Ways In” activities, “Starting Points” charts, and “Troubleshooting Your Draft” charts in Part One chapters encourage students to discover, review, and revise their own process(es) of writing.

Understand the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes

Each chapter in Part One includes several opportunities for and guides to collaboration: “Practice” activities at the beginning of the chapter, “Making Connections” activities after the readings, and, in the Guides to Writing, “Testing Your Choice” activities and the Critical Reading Guide.

Learn to critique their own and others’ works

The Critical Reading Guide and Revising sections in the Guides to Writing in each Part One chapter offer students specific advice on constructively criticizing — and praising — their own work and the work of their classmates. Peer review is also covered in depth in Chapter 29, “Working with Others.”

Learn to balance the advantages of relying on others with the responsibility of doing their part

This goal is implicit in several collaborative activities: “Practice” activities at the beginning of the chapter, “Making Connections” activities after the readings, and, in the Guides to Writing, “Testing Your Choice” activities and the Critical Reading Guide. Group work is also covered in depth in Chapter 29, “Working with Others.”

Use a variety of technologies to address a range of audiences

Each Guide to Writing in Part One chapters includes advice on using the Web for various stages of the writing process, as well as “sidebars” providing information and advice about grammar- and spell-checkers and software-based commenting tools. See also Chapter 23, “Library and Internet Research,” for extensive coverage of finding, evaluating, and using print and electronic resources and of responsibly using the Internet, e-mail, and online communities for research, and Chapter 21, “Designing Documents,” which offers advice on creating visuals on a computer or downloading them from the Web. Finally, The Guide’s electronic ancillaries include a robust companion Web site and an e-Book.

PREFACE FOR INSTRUCTORS xix

Desired Student Outcomes Relevant Features of The St. Martin’s Guide

Knowledge of Conventions

Learn common formats for different kinds of texts

Document design is covered in a dedicated Chapter 21 as well as in two sections in each of the Writing Assignment chapters in Part One. Examples of specific formats for a range of texts appear on pp. 787–94 (research paper); p. 704 (memo); p. 705 (business letter); p. 706 (e-mail); p. 708 (résumé); p. 710 (job application letter); pp. 712–13 (lab report); and pp. 696–702 (table, diagrams, graphs, charts, map, and other figures).

Develop knowledge of genre conventions ranging from structure and paragraphing to tone and mechanics

Each chapter in Part One presents several basic features of a specific genre, which are introduced up front and then consistently reinforced throughout the chapter. Genre-specific issues of structure, paragraphing, tone, and mechanics are also addressed in the “Sentence Strategies” and “Editing and Proofreading” sections of each Guide to Writing.

Practice appropriate means of documenting their work

Chapter 24, “Using Sources,” offers detailed advice on how to integrate and introduce quotations, how to cite paraphrases and summaries so as to distinguish them from the writer’s own ideas, and how to avoid plagiarism. This chapter also offers coverage of MLA and APA documentation in addition to an annotated sample student research paper. Chapter 20, “Analyzing Visuals,” also offers a complete student paper with MLA documentation. In addition, “Working with Sources” sections in each Guide to Writing in the Part One chapters help students with the details of using and appropriately documenting sources by providing genre-specific examples of what (and what not) to do.

Control such surface features as syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling

Genre-specific editing and proofreading advice is given in two sections in each Guide to Writing in the Part One chapters: “Sentence Strategies” and “Editing and Proofreading.” The hardcover version of The Guide also includes a concise yet remarkably comprehensive handbook with coverage of syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

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We have written this book with you, the student reading and using it, always in the forefront of our minds. Although it is a long book that covers many different topics, at its heart is a simple message: The best way to become a good writer is to study ex- amples of good writing, then to apply what you have learned from those examples to your own work. Accordingly, we have provided numerous carefully selected examples of the kinds of writing you are likely to do both in and out of college, and we have ac- companied them with detailed advice on writing your own essays. In this Preface, we explain how the various parts of the book work together to achieve this goal.

The Organization of the Book Following Chapter 1 — an introduction to writing that gives general advice about how to approach different parts of a writing assignment — The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing is divided into six major parts:

Part One: Writing Activities (Chapters 2–10)

Part Two: Critical Thinking Strategies (Chapters 11 and 12)

Part Three: Writing Strategies (Chapters 13–21)

Part Four: Research Strategies (Chapters 22–25)

Part Five: Writing for Assessment (Chapters 26 and 27)

Part Six: Writing and Speaking to Wider Audiences (Chapters 28–30)

This hardcover version of the book also includes a Handbook that you can refer to for help with grammar, punctuation, word choice, common ESL problems, and similar issues.

The Part One Chapters

For now, to understand how to use the book effectively to improve your writing, you first need to know that the most important part — the part that all of the rest depends on — is Part One, Chapters 2 through 10. Each of these chapters is orga- nized to teach you about one important specific genre, or type of writing:

autobiography

profile of a person, activity, or place

Preface for Students: How to Use The St. Martin’s Guide

xxi

xxii PREFACE FOR STUDENTS

explanation of a concept

analysis of opposing positions seeking common ground

argument supporting your position

proposal to solve a problem

evaluation

analysis of possible causes

analysis of a short story

Each Part One chapter follows essentially the same structure, beginning with three scenarios that provide examples of how that kind of writing could be used in a college course, in a workplace, and in a community setting such as a volunteer program or civic organization.

Next come a brief introduction to the genre, a collaborative activity to get you thinking about the genre, and an introduction to the genre’s basic features, each of which is assigned a specific color.

2 IN COLLEGE COURSES In a linguistics course, students are assigned a paper in which they are to discuss published research in the context of their own experience. The class had recently read Deborah Tannen’s Gender and Discourse, in which Tannen discusses differences in how men and women talk about problems: according to Tannen, women tend to spend a lot of time talking about the problem and their feelings about it, while men typi- cally cut short the analysis of the problem and focus on solutions.

One student decides to write about Tannen’s findings in light of a conversation she recently had

Remembering an Event

Short chapter-opening scenarios provide examples of how the kind of writing covered in the chapter is used in other college courses, in your job, and in your community.

PREFACE FOR STUDENTS xxiii

Next, you’ll find a series of readings, essays that will help you see how writers deploy the basic features of the genre for different purposes and audiences. The first reading in each chapter is always one written by a first-year college student who was using The St. Martin’s Guide. These readings include color coding that highlights the writer’s use of the basic features of the genre, as well as marginal questions that ask you to analyze the essay and also call your attention to particular writing strategies — such as quoting sources, using humor, providing definitions, and giving examples — that the writer used.

Reading Remembered Event Essays

Basic Features As you read remembered event essays in this chapter, you will see how different authors incorporate the basic features of the genre.

A Well-Told Story

Read first to enjoy the story. Remembered event essays are autobiographical stories that recount an important event in the writer’s life; the best ones are first and fore- most a pleasure to read. A well-told story

arouses curiosity and suspense by structuring the narrative around conflict, building to a climax, and leading to a change or discovery of some kind;

is set in a specific time and place, often using dialogue to heighten immediacy d d

Basic Features

The genre’s basic features are introduced toward the beginning of the chapter, so you know what to look for in the readings. Each basic feature is assigned a color, which is used whenever that basic feature is discussed later in the chapter.

1

2

Calling Home

Jean Brandt

As we all piled into the car, I knew it was going to be a fabulous day. My grand-

mother was visiting for the holidays; and she and I, along with my older brother and

sister, Louis and Susan, were setting off for a day of last-minute Christmas shopping.

On the way to the mall, we sang Christmas carols, chattered, and laughed. With

Christmas only two days away, we were caught up with holiday spirit. I felt light-headed

and full of joy. I loved shopping — especially at Christmas.

The shopping center was swarming with frantic last-minute shoppers like our-

selves. We went first to the General Store, my favorite. It carried mostly knickknacks

and other useless items which nobody needs but buys anyway. I was thirteen years

old at the time, and things like buttons and calendars and posters would catch my

fancy. This day was no different. The object of my desire was a 75-cent Snoopy button.

As you read, look for places where Brandt lets us know how she felt at the time the event occurred. Also consider the questions in the margin. Your instructor may ask you to post your answers or bring them to class.

Basic Features

Color-coded highlighting in the chapter’s first essay calls attention to the student writer’s use of the basic features of the genre; questions in the margin ask you to analyze and reflect on the writer’s use of various strategies.

xxiv PREFACE FOR STUDENTS

Usually, the remaining readings in the chapter are by professional writers. Each of these additional essays is accompanied by the following groups of questions and activities to help you learn how essays in that genre work:

Making Connections invites you to explore an issue raised by the reading that is related to your own experience and often to broader social or cultural issues.

Analyzing Writing Strategies helps you examine closely some specific strate- gies the writer used. The questions in this section are organized according to the basic features of the genre, to help you keep track of different aspects of the essay’s construction. Following essays that include visuals, an Analyzing Visuals section asks you to examine what graphics, photographs, and the like contrib- ute to the written text.

Considering Topics for Your Own Essay suggests subjects that you might write about in your own essay.

Following the readings, each assignment chapter also includes the following sections:

a “Beyond the Traditional Essay” section that provides examples of that chap- ter’s genre of writing drawn from unexpected contexts — advertising, blogs, museums, even public parks

a Guide to Writing that will help you write an effective essay in the genre for your particular audience and purpose. The Guides to Writing, the most impor- tant parts of the entire book, will be explained fully in the next section.

a Writer at Work narrative showing key elements of the writing process of one student whose essay appears in the chapter

a concluding section titled Thinking Critically about What You Have Learned, which invites you to reflect on the work you did for that chapter and to consider some of its wider social and cultural implications.

Beyond the Traditional Essay: Remembering an Event

Our culture commemorates events in many ways that are likely familiar to you. Physical memorials such as statues, plaques, monu- ments, and buildings are traditional means of ensuring that important events remain in our collective memory: Relatively recent examples include the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the planned commem- orative complex at the site of the 9/11 World Trade Center attack in New York City. Though such memorials function primarily visually, rather than textually, they can also be seen to exhibit the basic features we’ve discussed in essays remembering an event. The Vietnam memorial is a dramatic, V-shaped black gran- ite wall partly embedded in the earth, which

reflects the images of visitors reading the names of the dead and missing inscribed there; the names are presented in chronological order, telling the story of the con-

“Beyond the Traditional Essay” sections provide examples of that chapter’s genre of writing drawn from unexpected contexts — advertising, blogs, museums, even public parks.

PREFACE FOR STUDENTS xxv

The Guides to Writing

Just as the Part One assignment chapters are the heart of the book, the heart of each assignment chapter is the Guide to Writing.

Writing an essay does not usually proceed in a smooth, predictable se- quence — often, for example, a writer working on a draft will go back to what is usually an earlier step, such as invention and research, or jump ahead to what is usually a later one, such as editing and proofreading. But to make our help with the process more understandable and manageable, we have divided each Guide to Writing into the same elements that appear in the same order:

the Writing Assignment;

Invention and Research;

Planning and Drafting;

a Critical Reading Guide;

Revising;

and Editing and Proofreading.

The Writing Assignment. Each Guide to Writing begins with an assignment that defines the general purpose and basic features of the genre you have been studying in the chapter.

Starting Points chart. Each Guide to Writing opens with an easy-reference Starting Points chart, which is designed to help you efficiently find the advice you need for getting past writer’s block and other early-stage difficulties.

Starting Points: Explaining a Concept Basic Features

A Focused Explanation

Choosing a Concept

Question Where to Look

Each Guide to Writing opens with an easy-reference Starting Points chart, with advice for getting started.

xxvi PREFACE FOR STUDENTS

Invention and Research. Every Guide to Writing includes invention activities designed to help you

find a topic

discover what you already know about the topic

consider your purpose and audience

research the topic further — in the library, on the Internet, through observa- tion and interviews, or some combination of these methods

explore and develop your ideas, and

compose a tentative thesis statement to guide your planning and drafting.

Because we know that different students start writing at different places, we’ve offered different “ways in” to many of the Invention activities: specifically, their new layout (as shown in the example below) is meant to suggest the different possible paths through the processes of generating and shaping material.

The colors used correspond to the basic features of the genre that were introduced in the chapter’s first few pages, which is meant to help you see how in composing in a particular genre, writers use the same basic features but may use them differently to achieve specific purposes for their readers.

“Ways In” activities suggest different ways of coming up with material for your essay.

Ways In: Constructing a Well-Told Story

Once you’ve made a preliminary choice of an event, the following activities will help you begin to construct a well-told story, with vivid descriptions of people and places. You can begin with whichever basic activity you want, but wherever you begin, be sure to return to the other activities to fill in the details.

Sketch the Story. Write a quick sketch telling roughly what happened. Don’t worry about what you’re leaving out; you can fill in the details later.

Explore a Revealing or Pivotal Moment. Write for a few minutes developing a moment of surprise, confrontation, crisis, change, or discovery that may become the climax of your story. To dramatize it, try using specific narrative actions and dialogue.

Reimagine the Place. Identify the place where the event occurred and describe it. What do you see, hear, or smell? Use details — shape, color, texture — to evoke the scene.

Research Visuals. Try to locate visuals you could include in your essay: Look through memorabilia such as family photographs, yearbooks, newspaper articles, concert programs, ticket stubs, or T-shirts — anything that might stimulate your memory and help you reflect on the place. If you submit your essay electronically or post it online, also consider adding

i h i i h h

Describe People. Write about people who played a role in the event. For each person, name and detail a few distinctive physical features, mannerisms, dress, and so on.

Create a Dialogue. Reconstruct one important conversation you had during the event. You will probably not remember exactly what was said, but try to re-create the spirit of the interaction. Consider adding speaker tags (see p. 36) to show people’s tone of voice, attitude, and gestures.

Research People Do someReflect on the Conflict and Its

Shaping the Story Describing the Place Recalling Key People

Basic Features

PREFACE FOR STUDENTS xxvii

Planning and Drafting. To get you started writing a draft of your essay, each Guide to Writing includes suggestions for planning your essay. The section is divided into three parts:

Refining Your Purpose and Setting Goals involves reviewing what you have discovered about your subject, purpose, and audience and helps you think about your goals for the various parts of your essay.

Outlining Your Draft suggests some of the ways you might organize your essay.

Drafting launches you on the writing of your draft, providing both general advice and suggestions about one or two specific sentence strategies that you might find useful for the particular genre.

The Planning and Drafting section also includes a section called Working with Sources, which offers advice (using examples from one or more of the readings) on a particular issue related to incorporating materials from research sources into your essay.

Critical Reading Guide. Once you have finished a draft, you may want to make an effort to have someone else read the draft and comment on how to improve it. Each Guide to Writing includes a Critical Reading Guide, color-coded to correspond to that genre’s basic features, which will help you get good advice on improving your draft as well as help you make helpful suggestions to improve others’ drafts. (These Guides break out suggestions for both praise and critique — because we all sometimes need reminding that pointing out what works well can be as helpful as pointing out what needs improvement in a piece of writing.)

Critical Reading

Guide

For a printable version of this Critical Reading Guide, go to bedfordstmartins .com/theguide.

Your instructor may arrange a peer review session in class or online where you can exchange drafts with your classmates and give each other a thoughtful criti- cal reading, pointing out what works well and suggesting ways to improve the draft. This Critical Reading Guide can also be used productively by a tutor in the writing center or by a roommate or family member. A good critical reading does three things: it lets the writer know how well the reader understands the point of the story, praises what works best, and indicates where the draft could be improved.

1. Assess how well the story is told.

Praise: Give an example in the story where the storytelling is especially effective — for example, where the speaker tags help make a dialogue dra- matic or where specific narrative actions show people in action.

Critique: Tell the writer where the storytelling could be improved — for example, where the suspense slackens, the story lacks drama, or the chronol- ogy is confusing.

2. Consider how vividly people and places are described.

Basic Features

Critical Reading Guides suggest ways of giving constructive criticism, as well as praise, for your classmates’ drafts.

xxviii PREFACE FOR STUDENTS

Revising. Each Guide to Writing includes a Revising section to help you get an overview of your draft, consider readers’ comments, chart a plan for revision, and carry out the revisions.

A new easy-reference chart in the Revising section called “Troubleshooting Your Draft” offers specific advice for problems many students encounter at this critical stage of the writing process.

Following this chart, a section called “Thinking about Document Design” illustrates the ways in which one writer (author of one of the chapter’s opening scenarios) used visuals and other elements of document design to make the essay more effective.

Troubleshooting Your Draft charts offer specific advice for revising your essay.

Troubleshooting Your Draft Basic Features

Problem Suggestions for Revising the Draft

Vivid Description

of People and Places

Name objects in the scene. Add sensory detail. Try out a comparison to evoke a particular mood. Consider adding a visual — a photograph or other memorabilia.

Places are hard to visualize.

Describe a physical feature or mannerism that gives each person individuality. Add speaker tags to characterize people and show their feelings. Liven up the dialogue with faster repartee.

People do not come alive.

Omit extraneous details. Add a simile or metaphor to strengthen the dominant impression. Rethink the impression you want your writing to convey and the significance it suggests.

Some descriptions weaken the dominant impression.

Tell about your background or the particular context.

A Well-Told Story

Shorten the exposition. Move a bit of dialogue or specific narrative action up front. Start with something surprising. Consider beginning with a flashback or flashforward.

The story starts too slowly.

Add dramatized dialogue or specific narrative actions. Clarify your remembered feelings or thoughts. Reflect on the conflict from your present perspective.

The conflict is vague or seems unconnected to the significance.

Add remembered feelings and thoughts to heighten anticipation. Add dialogue and specific narrative action. Build rising action in stages with multiple high points. Move or cut background information and description.

The suspense slackens or the story lacks drama.

The chronology is confusing.

Add or change time transitions. Clarify verb tenses.

PREFACE FOR STUDENTS xxix

Editing and Proofreading. Each Guide to Writing ends with a section to help you recognize and fix specific kinds of problems in grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure that are common in essays in that genre of writing.

The Other Parts of the Book

Parts Two through Five provide more help and practice with specific strategies for reading critically, analyzing visuals, designing documents, and many other key aspects of writing and research.

Also included are up-to-date guidelines for choosing, using, and documenting dif- ferent kinds of sources (library sources, the Internet, and your own field research); writing annotated bibliographies and literature reviews; taking essay exams; and assembling a portfolio of your writing.

Chapter 20, “Analyzing Visuals,” helps you approach visual texts critically and analytically.

674 CHAPTER 20: ANALYZING VISUALS

created it? Where was it published? What audience is it addressing? What is it trying to get this audience to think and feel about the subject? How does it attempt to achieve this aim?

Let's look, for example, at the following visual text: a public service announcement (PSA) from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

The central image in this PSA is a photo of an attractive, smiling young couple. Most of us will immediately recognize the dress, posture, and facial expressions of the young man and woman as those of a newly married couple; the photo-mounting corners make the image seem like a real wedding album photo, as opposed to an ad agency’s creation (which would be easier to ignore). After noting these things, however, we are immediately struck by what is wrong with the picture: a hurricane rages in the background, blowing hair, clothing, and the bride’s veil forcefully to one side, showering the bride’s pure white dress with spots (of rain? mud?), and threaten- ing to rip the bridal bouquet from her hand.

So what do we make of the disruption of the con- vention (the traditional wedding photo) on which the PSA image is based? In trying to decide, most of us will look next to the text below the image: “Ignoring global warming won’t make it go away.” The disjunc- tion between the couple’s blissful expression and the storm raging around them turns out to be the point of the PSA: like the young couple in the picture, the PSA implies, we are all blithely ignoring the impend-

ing disaster that global warming represents. The reputable, nonprofit WWF’s logo and

Figure 20.2 “Wedding,” from the WWF’s 2007 “Beautiful Day U.S.” Series

xxx PREFACE FOR STUDENTS

Cristina Dinh

Professor Cooper

English 100

15 May 2009

Educating Kids at Home

Every morning, Mary Jane, who is nine, doesn’t have to worry about

gulping down her cereal so she can be on time for school. School for

Mary Jane is literally right at her doorstep.

In this era of serious concern about the quality of public education,

increasing numbers of parents across the United States are choosing

to educate their children at home. These parents believe they can do a

better job teaching their children than their local schools can. Home

schooling, as this practice is known, has become a national trend over

the past thirty years, and, according to education specialist Brian D.

Ray, the home-schooled population is growing at a rate between 5%

and 12% per year. A 2008 report by the U.S. Department of Education’s

Institute of Education Sciences estimated that, nationwide, the number

of home-schooled children rose from 850,000 in 1999 to approximately

1.5 million in 2007 (1.5 million 1). Some home-schooling advocates be-

lieve that even these numbers may be low because not all states require

formal notification when parents decide to teach their children at home.

What is home schooling, and who are the parents choosing to be

home schoolers? David Guterson, a pioneer in the home-schooling move-

ment, defines home schooling as “the attempt to gain an education

outside of institutions” (5). Home-schooled children spend the majority

of the conventional school day learning in or near their homes rather

than in traditional schools; parents or guardians are the prime educa-

tors. Former teacher and home schooler Rebecca Rupp notes that home-

schooling parents vary considerably in what they teach and how they

teach, ranging from those who follow a highly traditional curriculum

within a structure that parallels the typical classroom to those who

AN ANNOTATED RESEARCH PAPER 787

1 1/2

Dinh 1

1

1

Double-spaced

Double-spaced

Title centered; no underlining, quotes, or italics

Paragraphs indented one-half inch

Author named in text; no parenthetical page reference because source not paginated

Author named in text; parenthetical page reference falls at end of sentence

Abbreviated title used in parenthetical citation because works cited lists two sources by government author (named in text); no punctuation between title and page number

1

Key features of Chapter 24, “Using Sources,” are color coded for easy reference. The pages tinted beige contain a sample research paper using MLA format and documentation style.

PREFACE FOR STUDENTS xxxi

To make them easy to find, the pages explaining how to use MLA documentation have a teal stripe down the side. The pages covering APA documentation have a reddish-orange stripe down the side.

766 CHAPTER 24: USING SOURCES

The MLA System of Documentation

Citations in Text

A WORK WITH A SINGLE AUTHOR

The MLA author-page system generally requires that in-text citations include the author’s last name and the page number of the passage being cited. There is no punctuation between author and page. The parenthetical citation should follow the quoted, paraphrased, or summarized material as closely as possible without dis- rupting the flow of the sentence.

Dr. James is described as a “not-too-skeletal Ichabod Crane” (Simon 68).

One reviewer compares Dr. James to Ichabod Crane (Simon 68).

Note that the parenthetical citation comes before the final period. With block quo- tations, however, the citation comes after the final period, preceded by a space (see p. 760 for an example). If you mention the author’s name in your text, supply just the page reference in parentheses.

Simon describes Dr. James as a “not-too-skeletal Ichabod Crane” (68).

Simon compares Dr. James to Ichabod Crane (68).

A WORK WITH MORE THAN ONE AUTHOR

To cite a source by two or three authors, include all the authors’ last names; for works with more than three authors, use all the authors’ names or just the first author’s name followed by et al., meaning “and others,” in regular type (not italicized or underlined).

Dyal, Corning, and Willows identify several types of students, including the “Authority- Rebel” (4)

The APA System of Documentation

Citations in Text

AUTHOR INDICATED IN PARENTHESES

The APA author-year system calls for the last name of the author and the year of pub- lication of the original work in the citation. If the cited material is a quotation, you also need to include the page number(s) of the original. If the cited material is not a quotation, the page reference is optional. Use commas to separate author, year, and page in a parenthetical citation. The page number is preceded by p. for a single page or pp. for a range. Use an ampersand (&) to join the names of multiple authors.

The conditions in the stockyards were so dangerous that workers “fell into the vats; and when they were fished out, there was never enough of them left to be worth exhibit- ing” (Sinclair, 2005, p. 134).

Racial bias does not necessarily diminish through exposure to individuals of other races (Jamison & Tyree, 2001).

xxxii PREFACE FOR STUDENTS

Part Six presents three brief chapters that will help you in making oral presen- tations, consulting and writing with others, and writing in the community.

Finding Your Way around the Book

In a book as large and complex as this one, it can sometimes be hard to tell where you are or to find the information you need on a particular topic in the book. To help you find your way around, look at the information provided at the tops of the pages: in addition to page numbers, you’ll find chapter titles on the left-hand pages, and the title of the specific section you’re in on the right-hand pages.

Also, take advantage of the following color cues used for different sections of the book:

Guides to Writing in every chapter have yellow-edged pages.

MLA documentation sections have teal-edged pages.

APA documentation sections have reddish-orange-edged pages.

Handbook pages are tinted beige.

To locate information or additional material on particular topics, besides using the table of contents in the front of the book and the index in the back, you can benefit from the cross-references that appear in the margins throughout the book. Some marginal notes refer you to the companion Web site, where related material or electronic versions of material in the book are available.

50 CHAPTER 2: REMEMBERING AN EVENTGUIDE TO WRITING

In writing assignment chapters, the left-hand page will tell you what major part of the chapter you’re in, what page you’re on, and the chapter title . . .

PLANNING AND DRAFTING 51 GUIDE TO WRITING

. . . and the right-hand page will tell you the title of the specific section you’ve opened to.

PREFACE FOR STUDENTS xxxiii

The Handbook

The Handbook offers a complete reference guide to grammar, word choice, punctu- ation, capitalization, use of numbers and abbreviations, spelling, ESL troublespots, sentence structure, and words that are frequently misused. We have designed the Handbook so that you can find the answers you need quickly, and we have provided examples from a nationwide study we did of college students’ writing. The examples appear in regular black type, with the corrections in blue in a different font. The grammatical and other specialized terms that are used in the Handbook are all highlighted in white boxes in the text and defined in white boxes in the margins, so that you never have to look elsewhere in the book to understand the explanation. In addition to a section on ESL problems, blue boxes throughout the rest of the Handbook offer specific support for ESL students.

Marginal annotations refer to other parts of the book and to helpful online resources.

Coach Kernow told me I ran faster than ever before.

ESL Note: It is important to remember that the past perfect is formed with had followed by a past participle. Past participles usually end in -ed, -d, -en, -n, or -t: worked, hoped, eaten, taken, bent.

Before Tania went to Moscow last year, she had not really speak Russian.

For practice, go to bedfordstmartins.com/ theguide/exercisecentral and click on The Past Perfect and/or A Common ESL Problem: Forming the Past Perfect.

In the Handbook, corrections appear in blue type (A); white boxes in the text highlight terms that are defined in the margins (B); blue boxes offer ESL support (C); and codes for different sections offer a convenient shorthand for you and your instructor (D).

vb

G5

progressive tense A tense that shows ongo- ing action, consisting of a form of be plus the -ing form of the main verb: I am waiting.

The past action identified by the verb had called occurred before the past action identified by the verb claimed.

G5-b Use the correct verb endings and verb forms.

The five basic forms of regular verbs (such as talk) follow the same pattern, add- ing -s, -ed, and -ing as shown here. The forms of irregular verbs (such as speak) do not consistently follow this pattern in forming the past and the past participle. (See R2-a.)

Infinitive or base: talk or speak

Every day I talk on the phone and speak to my friends.

Third person singular present ( s form): talks or speaks

VERBS H-21

For ESL Writers

Certain verbs — ones that indicate existence, states of mind, and the senses of sight, smell, touch, and so on — are rarely used in the progressive tense. Such verbs include appear, be, belong, contain, feel, forget, have, hear, know, mean, prefer, remember, see, smell, taste, think, understand, and want.

I am belonging to the campus group for foreign students.A

B

D

C

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Brief Contents

xxxv

1 Introduction: Thinking about Writing 1

PART 1 Writing Activities 2 Remembering an Event 14 3 Writing Profiles 64 4 Explaining a Concept 126 5 Finding Common Ground 184 6 Arguing a Position 264 7 Proposing a Solution 320 8 Justifying an Evaluation 384 9 Speculating about Causes 446

10 Analyzing Stories 504

PART 2 Critical Thinking Strategies 11 A Catalog of Invention Strategies 562 12 A Catalog of Reading Strategies 575

PART 3 Writing Strategies 13 Cueing the Reader 600 14 Narrating 615

xxxvi BRIEF CONTENTS

15 Describing 628 16 Defining 639 17 Classifying 647 18 Comparing and Contrasting 653 19 Arguing 659 20 Analyzing Visuals 673 21 Designing Documents 688

PART 4 Research Strategies 22 Field Research 716 23 Library and Internet Research 728 24 Using Sources 755 25 Annotated Bibliographies and Literature Reviews 795

PART 5 Writing for Assessment 26 Essay Examinations 814 27 Writing Portfolios 832

PART 6 Writing and Speaking to Wider Audiences

28 Oral Presentations 838 29 Working with Others 843 30 Writing in Your Community 848

HANDBOOK H-1

Preface for Instructors v

Preface for Students xxi

1 INTRODUCTION: THINKING ABOUT WRITING 1 Why Writing Is Important 1 Writing Influences the Way You Think Writing Helps You Learn Writing Fosters Personal Development Writing Connects You to Others Writing Promotes Success in College and at Work

How Writing Is Learned 4 Learning to Write by Reading Learning Writing Strategies Using the Guides to Writing Thinking Critically

PART 1 Writing Activities

2 REMEMBERING AN EVENT 14 A Collaborative Activity: Practice Remembering an Event 16

Reading Remembered Event Essays 17

Basic Features 17

Purpose and Audience 18

Contents

xxxvii

Readings 18

Jean Brandt, “Calling Home” (annotated student essay) 18 Annie Dillard, “An American Childhood” 22 Trey Ellis, “When the Walls Came Tumbling Down” 28 Saira Shah, “Longing to Belong” 34

Beyond the Traditional Essay: Remembering an Event 38

Guide to Writing 40

The Writing Assignment 40 Starting Points: Remembering an Event 41

Invention and Research 42 Choosing an Event to Write About 42

Ways In: Constructing a Well-Told Story 44

Creating a Dominant Impression Testing Your Choice A Collaborative Activity: Testing Your Choice Exploring Memorabilia

Ways In: Reflecting on the Event’s Autobiographical Significance 46

Defining Your Purpose and Audience Considering Your Thesis

Planning and Drafting 47 Refining Your Purpose and Setting Goals Outlining Your Draft Drafting Working with Sources: Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

Critical Reading Guide 52

Revising 53 Troubleshooting Your Draft 54

Thinking about Document Design: Integrating Visuals 55

Editing and Proofreading 56 Missing Commas after Introductory Elements Using the Past Perfect Fused Sentences

A Writer at Work 57

Jean Brandt’s Essay from Invention to Revision 57 Invention The First Draft Critical Reading and Revision

xxxviii CONTENTS

Thinking Critically about What You Have Learned 62

Reflecting on Your Writing 62

Considering the Social Dimensions: Autobiography and Self-Discovery 63

3 WRITING PROFILES 64 A Collaborative Activity: Practice Conducting an Interview 66

Reading Profiles 67

Basic Features 67

Purpose and Audience 68

Readings 69

Brian Cable, “The Last Stop” 69 John T. Edge, “I’m Not Leaving Until I Eat This Thing” 74 Susan Orlean, “Show Dog” 81 Amanda Coyne, “The Long Good-Bye: Mother’s Day in

Federal Prison” 90

Beyond the Traditional Essay: Writing Profiles 97

Guide to Writing 99

The Writing Assignment 99 Starting Points: Writing a Profile 100

Invention and Research 101 Choosing a Subject to Profile

Ways In: Finalizing Your Choice 103

Testing Your Choice A Collaborative Activity: Testing Your Choice Setting Up a Tentative Schedule

Ways In: Collecting Information from Field Research 106

Ways In: Reflecting on Your Purpose and the Profile’s Perspective 108

Considering Your Thesis Designing Your Document

CONTENTS xxxix

Planning and Drafting 109 Refining Your Purpose and Setting Goals Outlining Your Draft Drafting Working with Sources: Integrating Quotations from Your Interviews

Critical Reading Guide 114

Revising 115 Troubleshooting Your Draft 116

Thinking about Document Design: Creating Web-Based Essays 118

Editing and Proofreading 118 Checking the Punctuation of Quotations A Common ESL Problem: Adjective Order

A Writer at Work 120

Brian Cable’s Interview Notes and Write-Up 120 The Interview Notes The Interview Write-Up

Thinking Critically about What You Have Learned 124

Reflecting on Your Writing 124

Considering the Social Dimensions: Entertaining Readers, or Showing the Whole Picture? 125

4 EXPLAINING A CONCEPT 126 A Collaborative Activity: Practice Explaining a Concept 129

Reading Concept Explanations 129

Basic Features 129

Purpose and Audience 131

Readings 131

Linh Kieu Ngo, “Cannibalism: It Still Exists” (annotated student essay) 131

Anastasia Toufexis, “Love: The Right Chemistry” 136 Richard A. Friedman, “Born to Be Happy, Through a Twist

of Human Hard Wire” 143 Jeffrey Kluger, “What Makes Us Moral” 148

Beyond the Traditional Essay: Explaining a Concept 159

xl CONTENTS

CONTENTS xli

Guide to Writing 160

The Writing Assignment 160 Starting Points: Explaining a Concept 161

Invention and Research 162 Choosing a Concept to Write About

Ways In: Gaining an Overview of a Concept 164

Ways In: Focusing the Concept 165

Testing Your Choice A Collaborative Activity: Testing Your Choice Designing Your Document Defining Your Purpose for Your Readers Formulating a Tentative Thesis Statement

Planning and Drafting 168 Refining Your Purpose and Setting Goals Outlining Your Draft Drafting Working with Sources: Using Descriptive Verbs to Introduce Information

Critical Reading Guide 173

Revising 174 Troubleshooting Your Draft 175

Thinking about Document Design: Designing Surveys and Presenting Results 178

Editing and Proofreading 180 Using Punctuation with Adjective Clauses Using Commas with Interrupting Phrases

A Writer at Work 181

Linh Kieu Ngo’s Use of Sources 181

Thinking Critically about What You Have Learned 182

Reflecting on Your Writing 182

Considering the Social Dimensions: Concept Explanations and the Nature of Knowledge 183

5 FINDING COMMON GROUND 184 A Collaborative Activity: Practice Finding Common Ground 187

Reading Essays That Seek Common Ground 188

Basic Features 188

Purpose and Audience 190

Readings 191

Jeremy Bernard, “Lost Innocence” (annotated student essay) 191 Melissa Mae, “Laying Claim to a Higher Morality”

(student essay) 195 Athena Alexander, “No Child Left Behind: ‘Historic Initiative’

or ‘Just an Empty Promise’?” (student essay) 201

Beyond the Traditional Essay: Finding Common Ground 210

Guide to Writing 212

The Writing Assignment 212 Starting Points: Finding Common Ground 213

Invention and Research 214 Choosing a Set of Argument Essays to Write About Testing Your Choice A Collaborative Activity: Testing Your Choice Thinking about Your Readers Researching the Issue Designing Your Document Defining Your Purpose for Your Readers Formulating a Tentative Thesis Statement

Planning and Drafting 221 Refining Your Purpose and Setting Goals Outlining Your Draft Drafting Working with Sources: Weaving Quoted Materials into Your Own Sentences

Critical Reading Guide 227

Revising 228 Thinking about Document Design: Helping Readers Visualize a Solution 228

Troubleshooting Your Draft 230

Editing and Proofreading 231 Using Commas around Interrupting Phrases Correcting Vague Pronoun Reference

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A Writer at Work 232

Melissa Mae’s Analysis 232 Annotating and Charting Annotations 232 Mirko Bagaric and Julie Clarke, “A Case for Torture” 233 Kermit D. Johnson, “Inhuman Behavior: A Chaplain’s View

of Torture” 235

Thinking Critically about What You Have Learned 241

Reflecting on Your Writing 242

Considering the Social Dimensions: Being Fair and Impartial 242

Appendix: Two Debates 243

Debate 1: Torture 244 Understanding the Torture Debate 244

Ross Douthat, “Thinking about Torture” 245 Glenn Greenwald, “Committing War Crimes for the ‘Right

Reasons’” 248 Maryann Cusimano Love, “An End to Torture” 251

Debate 2: Same-Sex Marriage 255 Understanding the Debate over Same-Sex Marriage 255

La Shawn Barber, “Interracial Marriage: Slippery Slope?” 256 Anna Quindlen, “The Loving Decision” 258 National Review Editorial, “The Future of Marriage” 260 Andrew Sullivan, “The Right’s Contempt for Gay Lives” 261

6 ARGUING A POSITION 264 A Collaborative Activity: Practice Arguing a Position 267

Reading Essays Arguing a Position 267

Basic Features 267

Purpose and Audience 269

Readings 270

Jessica Statsky, “Children Need to Play, Not Compete” (annotated student essay) 270

Richard Estrada, “Sticks and Stones and Sports Team Names” 274

CONTENTS xliii

Amitai Etzioni, “Working at McDonald’s” 280 Amy Goldwasser, “What’s the Matter with Kids Today?” 286

Beyond the Traditional Essay: Arguing a Position 291

Guide to Writing 293

The Writing Assignment 293 Starting Points: Arguing a Position 294

Invention and Research 294 Choosing an Issue to Write About 295

Ways In: Bringing the Issue and Your Audience into Focus 297

Testing Your Choice A Collaborative Activity: Testing Your Choice

Ways In: Developing Your Argument and Counterargument 299

Researching Your Argument Designing Your Document Defining Your Purpose for Your Readers Formulating a Tentative Thesis Statement

Planning and Drafting 302 Refining Your Purpose and Setting Goals Outlining Your Draft Drafting Working with Sources: Fairly and Accurately Quoting Opposing Positions

Critical Reading Guide 308

Revising 309 Troubleshooting Your Draft 310

Thinking about Document Design: Adding Visuals 311

Editing and Proofreading 312 Using Commas before Coordinating Conjunctions Using Punctuation with Conjunctive Adverbs A Common ESL Problem: Subtle Differences in Meaning

A Writer at Work 315

Jessica Statsky’s Response to Opposing Positions 315 Listing Reasons for the Opposing Position Accommodating a Plausible Reason Refuting an Implausible Reason

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Thinking Critically about What You Have Learned 317

Reflecting on Your Writing 317

Considering the Social Dimensions: Suppressing Dissent 318

7 PROPOSING A SOLUTION 320 A Collaborative Activity: Practice Proposing a Solution to a Problem 323

Reading Essays Proposing a Solution 323

Basic Features 323

Purpose and Audience 325

Readings 326

Patrick O’Malley, “More Testing, More Learning” (annotated student essay) 326

Karen Kornbluh, “Win-Win Flexibility” 331 Matt Miller, “A New Deal for Teachers” 338 Robert Kuttner, “Good Jobs for Americans Who

Help Americans” 346

Beyond the Traditional Essay: Proposing a Solution 355

Guide to Writing 356

The Writing Assignment 356 Starting Points: Proposing a Solution 357

Invention and Research 358 Choosing a Problem to Write About 358

Ways In: Bringing the Problem and Your Audience into Focus 361

Ways In: Exploring Your Tentative Solution 362

Testing Your Choice A Collaborative Activity: Testing Your Choice

CONTENTS xlv

Ways In: Counterarguing Alternative Solutions 364

Researching Your Proposal Designing Your Document Defining Your Purpose for Your Readers Formulating a Tentative Thesis Statement

Planning and Drafting 366 Refining Your Purpose and Setting Goals Outlining Your Draft Drafting A Sentence Strategy: Rhetorical Questions Working with Sources: Establishing the Problem’s Existence and Seriousness

Critical Reading Guide 373

Revising 374 Troubleshooting Your Draft 375

Thinking about Document Design: Following Formatting Conventions 376

Editing and Proofreading 377 Avoiding Ambiguous Use of This and That Revising Sentences That Lack an Agent

A Writer at Work 379

Patrick O’Malley’s Revision Process 379

Thinking Critically about What You Have Learned 381

Reflecting on Your Writing 381

Considering the Social Dimensions: The Frustrations of Effecting Real Change 382

8 JUSTIFYING AN EVALUATION 384 A Collaborative Activity: Practice Evaluating a Subject 386

Reading Essays Justifying Evaluations 387

Basic Features 387

Purpose and Audience 388

Readings 389

Wendy Kim, “Grading Professors” (annotated student essay) 389 Ann Hulbert, “Juno and the Culture Wars” 395

xlvi CONTENTS

Christine Romano, “‘Children Need to Play, Not Compete,’ by Jessica Statsky: An Evaluation” (student essay) 402

Christine Rosen, “The Myth of Multitasking” 409

Beyond the Traditional Essay: Justifying an Evaluation 417

Guide to Writing 419

The Writing Assignment 419 Starting Points: Justifying an Evaluation 420

Invention and Research 421 Choosing a Subject to Write About

Ways In: Bringing the Subject and Your Audience into Focus 423

Making a Tentative Judgment Testing Your Choice A Collaborative Activity: Testing Your Choice

Ways In: Developing Your Argument and Counterargument 426

Researching Your Argument Designing Your Document Defining Your Purpose for Your Readers Formulating a Tentative Thesis Statement

Planning and Drafting 429 Refining Your Purpose and Setting Goals Outlining Your Draft Drafting Working with Sources: Using Summary to Support Your Evaluative Argument

Critical Reading Guide 436

Revising 437 Troubleshooting Your Draft 438

Thinking about Document Design: Using Images to Support an Argument 439

Editing and Proofreading 441 Complete, Correct Comparisons Combining Sentences

A Writer at Work 443

Christine Romano’s Counterargument of Objections 443

Thinking Critically about What You Have Learned 444

Reflecting on Your Writing 444

CONTENTS xlvii

Considering the Social Dimensions: Evaluators’ Hidden Assumptions 445

9 SPECULATING ABOUT CAUSES 446 A Collaborative Activity: Practice Speculating about Causes 449

Reading Essays That Speculate about Causes 449

Basic Features 449

Purpose and Audience 451

Readings 451

Sheila McClain, “Fitness Culture: A Growing Trend in America” (annotated student essay) 451

Stephen King, “Why We Crave Horror Movies” 456 Erica Goode, “The Gorge-Yourself Environment” 461 Jeremy Hsu, “The Secrets of Storytelling: Why We Love a

Good Yarn” 471

Beyond the Traditional Essay: Speculating about Causes 477

Guide to Writing 479

The Writing Assignment 479 Starting Points: Speculating about Causes 480

Invention and Research 481 Considering Subjects and Their Possible Causes Exploring What You Know and Need to Find Out about Your Subject Analyzing Your Readers Testing Your Choice A Collaborative Activity: Testing Your Choice

Ways In: Developing Your Argument and Counterargument 485

Designing Your Document Defining Your Purpose for Your Readers Formulating a Tentative Thesis Statement

Planning and Drafting 487 Refining Your Purpose and Setting Goals Outlining Your Draft Drafting Working with Sources: Citing a Variety of Sources to Support Your Causal Speculations

Critical Reading Guide 493

xlviii CONTENTS

Revising 494 Troubleshooting Your Draft 495

Thinking about Document Design: Adding Graphs and Photos 496

Editing and Proofreading 498 Checking Your Use of Numbers Checking for Reason Is Because Constructions

A Writer at Work 500

Sheila McClain’s Analysis of Possible Causes 500

Thinking Critically about What You Have Learned 501

Reflecting on Your Writing 502

Considering the Social Dimensions: Causal Speculation and the Power of Authority and Ideology 502

10 ANALYZING STORIES 504 A Collaborative Activity: Practice Analyzing a Story 505

Reading Essays That Analyze Stories 506

Basic Features 506

Purpose and Audience 507

Readings 508

Sally Crane, “Gazing into the Darkness” (annotated student essay) 508

David Ratinov, “From Innocence to Insight: ‘Araby’ as an Initiation Story” (student essay) 511

Beyond the Traditional Essay: Analyzing Stories 516

Guide to Writing 517

The Writing Assignment 517 Starting Points: Analyzing Stories 518

Invention and Research 519 Finding a Story to Write About Analyzing the Story Annotating with the Suggestions for Analysis in Mind

CONTENTS xlix

Ways In: Developing Your Analysis 524

Testing Your Choice A Collaborative Activity: Testing Your Choice Formulating a Tentative Thesis Statement Researching Your Story Designing Your Document

Planning and Drafting 528 Refining Your Purpose and Setting Goals Outlining Your Draft Drafting Working with Sources: Quoting from the Story to Support Your Analysis

Critical Reading Guide 536

Revising 537 Troubleshooting Your Draft 538

Editing and Proofreading 539 Using Parallel Structure Using Ellipsis Marks Correctly

A Writer at Work 541

David Ratinov’s Invention Work 541 Annotating Examining Patterns in the Story Listing Ideas

Thinking Critically about What You Have Learned 545

Reflecting on Your Writing 545

Considering the Social Dimensions: Writing for a Specialized Audience 545

An Anthology of Short Stories 546

Kate Chopin, “The Story of an Hour” 547 James Joyce, “Araby” 549 William Carlos Williams, “The Use of Force” 554 Sherman Alexie, “A Good Story” 557

PART 2 Critical Thinking Strategies

11 A CATALOG OF INVENTION STRATEGIES 562 Mapping 562 Clustering Listing Outlining

Writing 568 Cubing Dialoguing Dramatizing Keeping a Journal Looping Questioning Quick Drafting

l CONTENTS

12 A CATALOG OF READING STRATEGIES 575 Annotating 576 Martin Luther King Jr., An Annotated Sample from “Letter from

Birmingham Jail” 576

Taking Inventory 583

Outlining 583

Paraphrasing 586

Summarizing 587

Synthesizing 588

Contextualizing 589

Exploring the Significance of Figurative Language 590

Looking for Patterns of Opposition 592

Reflecting on Challenges to Your Beliefs and Values 593

Evaluating the Logic of an Argument 594 Testing for Appropriateness Testing for Believability Testing for Consistency and Completeness

Recognizing Emotional Manipulation 596

Judging the Writer’s Credibility 597 Testing for Knowledge Testing for Common Ground Testing for Fairness

PART 3 Writing Strategies

13 CUEING THE READER 600 Orienting Statements 600 Thesis Statements Forecasting Statements

Paragraphing 602 Paragraph Cues Topic Sentence Strategies

Cohesive Devices 606 Pronoun Reference Word Repetition Synonyms Sentence Structure Repetition Collocation

CONTENTS li

Transitions 610 Logical Relationships Temporal Relationships Spatial Relationships

Headings and Subheadings 613 Heading Systems and Levels Headings and Genres Frequency and Placement of Headings

14 NARRATING 615 Narrating Strategies 615 Calendar and Clock Time Temporal Transitions Verb Tense Specific Narrative Action Dialogue

Narrating a Process 623 Explanatory Process Narratives Instructional Process Narratives

15 DESCRIBING 628 Naming 628

Detailing 629

Comparing 631

Using Sensory Description 632 The Sense of Sight The Sense of Hearing The Sense of Smell The Sense of Touch The Sense of Taste

Creating a Dominant Impression 637

16 DEFINING 639 Sentence Definitions 640

Extended Definitions 641

Historical Definitions 643

Stipulative Definitions 645

17 CLASSIFYING 647 Organizing Classification 647

Illustrating Classification 649

Maintaining Clarity and Coherence 652

l i i CONTENTS

18 COMPARING AND CONTRASTING 653 Two Ways of Comparing and Contrasting 653

Analogy 657

19 ARGUING 659 Asserting a Thesis 659 Arguable Assertions Clear and Precise Wording Appropriate Qualification

Giving Reasons and Support 662 Examples Statistics Authorities Anecdotes Textual Evidence

Counterarguing 668 Acknowledging Readers’ Concerns Accommodating Readers’ Concerns Refuting Readers’ Objections

Logical Fallacies 671

20 ANALYZING VISUALS 673 Criteria for Analyzing Visuals 675

A Sample Analysis 677

21 DESIGNING DOCUMENTS 688 The Impact of Document Design 688

Considering Context, Audience, and Purpose 689

Elements of Document Design 690 Font Style and Size Headings and Body Text Numbered and Bulleted Lists Colors White Space

Visuals 695 Choose Appropriate Visuals and Design the Visuals with Their Final Use in Mind Number and Title Your Visuals Label the Parts of Your Visuals and Include Descriptive Captions Cite Your Visual Sources Integrate the Visual into the Text Use Common Sense When Creating Visuals on a Computer

CONTENTS liii

Sample Documents 703 Memos Letters E-mail Résumés Job-Application Letters Lab Reports Web Pages

PART 4 Research Strategies

22 FIELD RESEARCH 716 Observations 716 Planning the Visit Observing and Taking Notes Reflecting on Your Observations Writing Up Your Notes Preparing for Follow-Up Visits

Interviews 719 Planning and Setting Up the Interview Taking Notes during the Interview Reflecting on the Interview Writing Up Your Notes

Questionnaires 723 Focusing Your Study Writing Questions Designing the Questionnaire Testing the Questionnaire Administering the Questionnaire Writing Up the Results

23 LIBRARY AND INTERNET RESEARCH 728 Orienting Yourself to the Library 728 Taking a Tour Consulting Librarians

Getting Started 730 Knowing Your Research Task Finding Out What Your Library Offers Consulting Encyclopedias Consulting Bibliographies

Keeping Track of Your Research 733 Keeping a Working Bibliography Taking Notes

Finding Library Sources 735 General Search Strategies Finding Books: Using the Online Library Catalog Finding Articles Finding Government and Statistical Information Finding Other Library Sources

l iv CONTENTS

Determining the Most Promising Sources 746

Using the Web for Research 747 Finding the Best Information Online Using E-mail and Online Communities for Research

Evaluating Sources 752 Selecting Relevant Sources Identifying Bias

24 USING SOURCES 755 Acknowledging Sources 755

Avoiding Plagiarism 756

Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing 756 Deciding Whether to Quote, Paraphrase, or Summarize Quoting Integrating Quotations Introducing Quotations Punctuating within Quotations Avoiding Grammatical Tangles Paraphrasing and Summarizing

Documenting Sources 764 The MLA System of Documentation The APA System of Documentation

Some Sample Research Papers 785

An Annotated Research Paper 786

25 ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES AND LITERATURE REVIEWS 795

Annotated Bibliographies and Literature Reviews: An Overview 796 Purpose and Audience

Annotated Bibliographies 798 Different Types of Annotation Writing an Annotated Bibliography

Literature Reviews 805 Writing a Literature Review

CONTENTS lv

PART 5 Writing for Assessment

26 ESSAY EXAMINATIONS 814 Preparing for an Exam 814

Reading the Exam Carefully 815

Some Typical Essay Exam Questions 816 Define or Identify Recall Details of a Specific Source Explain the Importance or Significance Apply Concepts Comment on a Quotation Compare and Contrast Synthesize Information from Various Sources Analyze Causes Criticize or Evaluate

Planning Your Answer 824

Writing Your Answer 825

Model Answers to Some Typical Essay Exam Questions 826 Short Answers Paragraph-Length Answers Long Answers

27 WRITING PORTFOLIOS 832 The Purposes of a Writing Portfolio 832

Assembling a Portfolio for Your Composition Course 833 Selecting Work Reflecting on Your Work and Your Learning Organizing the Portfolio

PART 6 Writing and Speaking to Wider Audiences

28 ORAL PRESENTATIONS 838 Be Ready Understand the Kind of Oral Presentation You Have Been Asked to Give Assess Your Audience and Purpose

lvi CONTENTS

Determine How Much Information You Can Present in the Allotted Time Use Cues to Orient Listeners Prepare Effective and Appropriate Visuals Verify That You Will Have the Correct Equipment and Supplies Rehearse Your Presentation Deliver the Oral Presentation Professionally End Your Presentation Graciously

29 WORKING WITH OTHERS 843 Working with Others on Your Individual Writing Projects 843

Working with Others on Joint Writing Projects 845

30 WRITING IN YOUR COMMUNITY 848 Using Your Service Experience as Source Material 848 Finding a Topic Gathering Sources Writing about Your Service Experience Writing for Your Service Organization

HANDBOOK How to Use This Handbook H-1

Keeping a Record of Your Own Errors H-3

S SENTENCE BOUNDARIES H-5 S1 Comma Splices S2 Fused Sentences S3 Sentence Fragments

G GRAMMATICAL SENTENCES H-11 G1 Pronoun Reference G2 Pronoun Agreement G3 Relative Pronouns G4 Pronoun Case G5 Verbs G6 Subject-Verb Agreement G7 Adjectives and Adverbs

CONTENTS lvii

E EFFECTIVE SENTENCES H-30 E1 Missing Words E2 Shifts E3 Noun Agreement E4 Modifiers E5 Mixed Constructions E6 Integrated Quotations, Questions, and Thoughts E7 Parallelism E8 Coordination and Subordination

W WORD CHOICE H-47 W1 Concise Sentences W2 Exact Words W3 Appropriate Words

P PUNCTUATION H-57 P1 Commas P2 Unnecessary Commas P3 Semicolons P4 Colons P5 Dashes P6 Quotation Marks P7 Apostrophes P8 Parentheses P9 Brackets P10 Ellipsis Marks P11 Slashes P12 Periods P13 Question Marks P14 Exclamation Points

M MECHANICS H-85 M1 Hyphens M2 Capitalization M3 Spacing M4 Numbers M5 Underlining (Italics) M6 Abbreviations M7 Titles and Headings M8 Special Design Features M9 Spelling

L ESL TROUBLESPOTS H-104 L1 Articles L2 Verbs L3 Prepositions L4 Omitted or Repeated Words L5 Adjective Order L6 Participles

R REVIEW OF SENTENCE STRUCTURE H-115 R1 Basic Sentence Structure R2 Basic Sentence Elements

lviii CONTENTS

GL GLOSSARY OF FREQUENTLY MISUSED WORDS H-132

Author and Title Index I-1

Subject Index I-4

Index for ESL Writers I-29

CONTENTS lix

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1

1Introduction: Thinking about Writing

Philosopher Edmund Burke once said that “reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting.” We believe that what Burke said about reading applies to writing as well, and that reflecting on writing is one of the best ways to become a better and more versatile writer. That is why quotes from writers are sprinkled throughout this chapter. That is also why in this chapter and throughout this book, we ask you to write brief reflections, ultimately constructing a literacy narrative, a multifaceted story about yourself as a writer.

Reflection 1. A Literacy Story

Take five to ten minutes to write a story of your experience with writing. Consider the following suggestions, but do not be limited by them:

Recall an early experience of writing: What did you write? Did anyone read it? What kind of feedback did you get? How did you feel about yourself?

Think of a turning point when your attitude toward writing changed or crystallized. What happened? What changed?

Recall a person — a teacher, classmate, family member, published writer, or someone else — who influenced your writing, for good or ill. How was your writing affected?

Cast yourself as the main character of a story about writing. How would you de- scribe yourself — as a “natural” writer; as someone who struggles to write well; or somewhere in between? Consider your trajectory or “narrative arc”: Over the years, would you say you have showed steady improvement; ups and downs; more downs than ups; a decline?

Why Writing Is Important Writing helps you think and learn, enhances your chances of success, contrib- utes to your personal development, and strengthens your relationships with other people.

Writing Influences the Way You Think

The very act of writing encourages you to be creative as well as organized and logical in your thinking. When you write sentences, paragraphs, and whole essays,

2 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION: THINKING ABOUT WRITING

you generate ideas and connect these ideas in systematic ways. By combining words into phrases and sentences with conjunctions, you create complex new ideas: for example, and brings out similarities, but emphasizes differences, and because supports general ideas with specific reasons, facts, and examples.

By writing essays for different purposes as you work through The St. Martin’s Guide, you will develop your thinking in different ways. For example, writing about a remembered event will inspire you to reflect on what happened and why it is memorable; finding common ground will deepen your ability to analyze and syn- thesize different points of view; arguing for a position on a controversial issue will hone your reasoning skills; and making evaluations will help you examine under- lying assumptions about what you value and why.

The mere process of writing is one of the most powerful tools we have for clarifying our own thinking. I am never as clear about any matter as when I have just finished writing about it. — JAMES VAN ALLEN

Writing Helps You Learn

Writing contributes to learning by helping you remember what you are studying, by leading you to analyze and connect information and ideas from different sources, and by inspiring new insights and understanding. Writing as you read — taking notes, annotating the text, and responding in writing to the text’s assumptions and arguments — makes you a better reader. Reflecting in writing on what you are learning consolidates your understanding of and response to new material.

Different kinds of writing contribute to learning in different ways. Writing es- says of various kinds, or genres, as you work through The Guide will help you orga- nize and present what you have learned and, in the process, clarify and extend your own ideas. Arguing a position teaches you not only to support your reasons but also to refute objections to your argument. Researching a profile, you learn to make precise observations and ask pertinent questions. Explaining a concept requires you to inform yourself about your subject and organize the information in a way that makes it clear to readers.

Writing has been for a long time my major tool for self-instruction and self-development. — TONI CADE BAMBARA

Writing Fosters Personal Development

In addition to influencing the ways you think and learn, writing can help you grow as an individual. Writing leads you to reflect on your experience, for exam- ple, when you write to understand the significance of a particular life event. Writing about a controversial issue can make you examine some of your most

WHY WRITING IS IMPORTANT 3

basic beliefs. Writing an evaluation requires that you think about what you val- ue and how your values compare to those of others. Perhaps most important, becoming an author confers authority on you; it gives you confidence to assert your own ideas and feelings.

In a very real sense, the writer writes in order to teach himself, to under- stand himself, to satisfy himself. . . . — ALFRED KAZIN

Some of the things that happen to us in life seem to have no meaning, but when you write them down, you find the meanings for them. . . .

— MAXINE HONG KINGSTON

Writing Connects You to Others

Nearly all of us use writing in one form or another — whether via e-mail, text mes- saging, instant messaging, blogging, Twitter, or Facebook — to keep in touch with friends and family. Many of us also use writing to take part in academic discussions and participate in civic debate and decision making. By writing about our experi- ences, ideas, and observations, we reach out to readers, offering them our own points of view and inviting them to share theirs in return.

The writing you do for your composition class will likewise help you connect with others. In writing an argument, for example, as you clarify your perspective and reexamine your own reasoning, you may ultimately influence other people’s opinions on your topic. Their responses to your writing may, in turn, cause you to reevaluate your own ideas. Collaborative writing — as, for example, if you are as- signed to write a proposal with a group of classmates — enables you to work di- rectly with others to invent new ways of solving complex problems.

Writing is the act of saying I, of imposing oneself upon other people, of saying listen to me, see it my way, change your mind. — JOAN DIDION

It’s the sense of being in contact with people who are part of a particular audience that really makes a difference to me in writing.

— SHERLEY ANNE WILLIAMS

Writing Promotes Success in College and at Work

As a student, you are probably aware of the many ways writing can contribute to your success in school. Students who learn to write for different readers and purposes do well in courses throughout the curriculum. Eventually, you will need to use writing to advance your career by writing persuasive application letters for jobs or graduate school admission. At work, you will be expected to write effective e-mail messages,

4 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION: THINKING ABOUT WRITING

memos, and reports that present clear explanations, well-reasoned arguments, con- vincing evaluations, and constructive proposals.

People think it’s sort of funny that I went to graduate school as a biologist and then became a writer. . . . What I learned [in science] is how to formu- late or identify a new question that hasn’t been asked before and then to set about solving it, to do original research to find the way to an answer. And that’s what I do when I write a book. — BARBARA KINGSOLVER

Reflection 2. Writing That Mattered

Write a page or two describing an occasion when writing helped you accomplish some- thing. Here are some possibilities to consider:

an occasion when you used writing to prepare for a test or otherwise help you remember critical material

an occasion when writing helped you better understand a difficult subject or reading

an occasion when you worked through a personal or an intellectual problem by writing

an occasion when you used writing to influence someone else

an occasion when writing enabled you to express your feelings or made you feel connected

an occasion when your writing helped you get a better grade or succeed in some way

an occasion when your writing made others take notice

How Writing Is Learned There are many myths about writing and writers. For example, some people assume that people who are good at writing do not have to spend a lot of time learning to write — that they just naturally know how. Others assume that “real” writers write perfectly the first time, every time, dashing off an essay with minimal effort. Writers’ testimonies, however, together with extensive research on how people write and learn to write, show that writing can — indeed, must — be learned. All writers work at their writing. Some writers may be more successful and influential than others. Some may find writing easier and more satisfying than others. But no one is born knowing how to write.

Learning to write well takes time and much effort, but it can be done. — MARGARET MEAD

It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way. — ERNEST HEMINGWAY

HOW WRITING IS LEARNED 5

Reflection 3. How You Became Literate

Write a page or two describing how and why you became literate and what happened as a result. You may choose to write about your early memories of learning to read and write either at home or at school. Or you could think of literacy more broadly, focusing, for example, on one or more of the following:

computer literacy — learning how to program, how to “read” the Web efficiently, or how to communicate through text messaging, blogging, and so on

workplace literacy, perhaps including ways of talking to customers, colleagues, and managers

academic literacy, perhaps focusing on learning to think, talk, and write as a scientist, historian, literary critic, and so on

sports literacy, as a player, coach, or fan

music literacy, as a musician or as a fan of certain kinds of music

community literacy — learning to communicate with people of different ages or with people who speak different languages or dialects

In reflecting on the results of your learning to be literate, you might want to consider the following:

how your new literacy changed you or changed your relationships

ways in which you may have had more power in certain contexts — and perhaps less power in others

how you felt about being bilingual or multiliterate, and how you used your new literacy

The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing has helped many students become more thoughtful, effective, confident writers. From reading and analyzing an array of dif- ferent kinds of essays, you will learn how other writers make their texts work. From writing for different audiences, you will learn to compose texts that readers want to read. To help you take full advantage of what you are learning, The Guide will also help you reflect on your learning so that you will be able to remember, apply, and build on what you have learned.

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut. — STEPHEN KING

Learning to Write by Reading

Believe it: Reading will help you become a better writer. In fact, most professional writers are avid readers who read not only for enjoyment and information but also to refine their craft.

Reading to Understand How Texts Work

Readers will have specific expectations of a text as soon as they recognize it as a par- ticular genre or type of writing. For example, readers of a story about a past event

6 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION: THINKING ABOUT WRITING

in the writer’s life will likely recognize it as a form of autobiography, which leads them to expect a story that changes, challenges, or complicates the writer’s sense of self or connection with others. If the event seems trivial or the story lacks inter- est, then readers’ expectations will be disappointed, and the text will not succeed. Similarly, if the text takes a position on a controversial issue, readers will recognize it as an opinion piece and expect it to not only assert and support that position, but also to refute possible objections. If the argument lacks credible support or ignores thoughtful objections or alternative points of view, readers are likely to decide that the essay is not convincing.

Although individual texts within the same genre vary a great deal — no two pro- posals, even those arguing for the same solution, will be identical — they nonetheless follow a general pattern that provides a certain amount of predictability without which communication would be difficult, if not impossible. But these language patterns, also called conventions, should not be thought of as rigid formulas. Conventions are broad frameworks within which writers are free to be creative. Most writers, in fact, find that working within a framework allows them to be more creative, not less so.

You would learn very little in this world if you were not allowed to imitate. And to repeat your imitations until some solid grounding . . . was achieved and the slight but wonderful difference — that made you and no one else — could assert itself. — MARY OLIVER

Reading to Write Texts That Work

To learn the conventions of a particular genre, you need to read examples of that genre so that you begin to recognize its predictable patterns as well as the possibili- ties for innovation. At the same time, you should also practice writing in the genre.

Read, read, read. . . . Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! — WILLIAM FAULKNER

The Guide provides an array of sample essays in the genres you are learning to write and helps you analyze patterns in these essays. It also helps you practice using these patterns in your own writing to achieve your own purposes. Seeing, for example, how writers define key terms and integrate quotations from their sources in an essay explaining a concept introduces you to strategies you may use when you write in this genre.

I practiced writing in every possible way that I could. I wrote a pastiche of other people. Just as a pianist runs his scales for ten years before he gives his concert: because when he gives that concert, he can’t be thinking of his fingering or of his hands, he has to be thinking of his interpretation. He’s thinking of what he’s trying to communicate. — KATHERINE ANNE PORTER

I went back to the good nature books that I had read. And I analyzed them. I wrote outlines of whole books — outlines of chapters — so that

HOW WRITING IS LEARNED 7

I could see their structure. And I copied down their transitional sen- tences or their main sentences or their closing sentences or their lead sentences. — ANNIE DILLARD

Reading to Design Texts That Work

Writers have long recognized that no matter how well organized, well reasoned, or compelling a piece of writing may be, the way it looks on the page influences to some extent how well it works for readers. Today, writers have more options for designing their documents than ever before. Digital photography, scanning, and integrated word processing and graphics programs make it relatively easy for writers to heighten the visual impact of the page. For example, they can change type fonts and add colors, charts, diagrams, and photographs to written documents. In constructing Web pages or DVDs, writers can add sound, video, and active hyperlinks.

These multiple possibilities, however, do not guarantee a more effective docu- ment. In order to design effective texts, writers need to study documents that capture readers’ attention and enhance understanding. As someone who has likely grown up watching television and movies, playing computer games, and surfing the Internet, you are already a sophisticated visual consumer who has unconsciously learned many of the conventions of document design for different genres and writing situa- tions. This book will help you become aware of what you already know and help you make new discoveries about document design that you may be able to use in your own writing.

Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works. — STEVE JOBS

Reflection 4. Your Experience with Different Genres of Writing

Make two lists: one of the genres you have read — for example, Tweets from your friends; music reviews on iTunes — and another of genres you have written — for example, e-mails to your parents; job applications; or a paper for your American his- tory class. Try to come up with at least five entries for each list. Include reading and writing you have done in school, at work, at home, and at play.

Genres You Have Read Genres You Have Written

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

4. 4.

5. 5.

6. 6.

7. 7.

8 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION: THINKING ABOUT WRITING

Learning Writing Strategies

It might sound strange, but it’s true: One of the best ways to become a better writer is by writing. Practice will make your writing more thoughtful and productive. By offering guidance and support as you practice, The Guide will help you develop a richer and more flexible repertoire of writing strategies to meet the demands of dif- ferent writing situations.

Strategies for Getting Started

We all know what it’s like to stare at a blank computer screen or stark white page of paper waiting for inspiration. As a student, however, you’re in the position of all those who write under deadlines — you can’t simply sit back and wait for inspira- tion. Instead, you need an array of reliable thinking and writing strategies that you can use not only to write the paper by the due date, but also to help you write it analytically, critically, and creatively.

Invention is the word used since the time of Plato and Aristotle to describe the process of thinking as we compose. Invention includes deciding on your purpose in writing to a particular audience and figuring out how best to achieve your purpose; analyzing and questioning other people’s ideas as well as your own; assimilating information from different sources; and organizing it logically.

As writers we cannot choose whether to invent; we can only choose how to invent. The Guide offers many invention strategies from which to choose, strategies that will help you meet the demands of each kind of writing you attempt.

Inspiration usually comes during work, rather than before it. — MADELEINE L’ENGLE

Strategies for Discovering New Ideas

Few writers begin writing with a complete understanding of a subject. Most use writ- ing as a means of discovery — that is, as a way to learn about the subject, trying out ideas and information they have collected, exploring connections and implications, and reviewing what they have written in order to expand and develop their ideas.

When I start a project, the first thing I do is write down, in longhand, everything I know about the subject, every thought I’ve ever had on it. This may be twelve or fourteen pages. Then I read it through, for quite a few days . . . then I try to find out what are the salient points that I must make. And then it begins to take shape. — MAYA ANGELOU

Writing, then, is not something you do after thinking, but in order to help you think. Writers often reflect on this so-called generative aspect of writing, echoing E. M. Forster’s much repeated adage: “How do I know what I think until I see what I say?” Here are some other versions of the same insight:

Every book that I have written has been an education, a process of discovery. — AMITAV GHOSH

HOW WRITING IS LEARNED 9

I don’t see writing as a communication of something already discovered, as “truths” already known. Rather, I see writing as a job of experiment. It’s like any discovery job; you don’t know what’s going to happen until you try it. — WILLIAM STAFFORD

Don’t tear up the page and start over again when you write a bad line — try to write your way out of it. Make mistakes and plunge on. . . . Writing is a means of discovery, always. — GARRISON KEILLOR

Writers obviously do not give birth to a text as a whole, but must work cumula- tively, focusing first on one thing, then on another. Writing therefore may seem to progress in a linear, step-by-step fashion. But in fact it almost always proceeds recursively, which means that writers return over and over again to ideas that they are trying to clarify or extend, or to gaps in their information or logic that they are trying to fill. Most writers plan and then revise their plans, draft and revise their drafts, write and read what they have written, and then write and revise some more. In this way, the experience of writing is less like marching in a straight line from first sentence to last and more like exploring an uphill trail with frequent switch- backs. It may appear that you are retracing old ground, but you are really rising to new levels as you learn the terrain.

It’s a matter of piling a little piece here and a little piece there, fitting them together, going on to the next part, then going back and gradually shaping the whole piece into something. — DAVE BARRY

Strategies for Organizing Your Ideas

Writers need strategies that make writing systematic but do not stifle inventiveness. For this reason, most writers begin drafting with some type of plan — a list, a scratch outline, or a detailed storyboard like that used by filmmakers. Outlines can be very helpful, but they must be tentative and flexible if writers are to benefit from writing’s natural recursiveness.

I began [Invisible Man] with a chart of the three-part division. It was a con- ceptual frame with most of the ideas and some of the incidents indicated.

— RALPH ELLISON

You are always going back and forth between the outline and the writing, bringing them closer together, or just throwing out the outline and making a new one. — ANNIE DILLARD

Strategies for Drafting and Revising

While composing a draft, writers benefit from frequent pauses to reread what they have written. Rereading often leads to further discovery — adding an example, choosing different words that unpack or separate ideas, filling in a gap in the logic

10 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION: THINKING ABOUT WRITING

of an argument. In addition, rereading frequently leads to substantial rethinking and revising: cutting, reorganizing, rewriting whole sections to make the writing more effective.

You have to work problems out for yourself on paper. Put the stuff down and read it — to see if it works. — JOYCE CARY

As a writer, I would find out most clearly what I thought, and what I only thought I thought, when I saw it written down. — ANNA QUINDLEN

Rereading your own writing in order to improve it can be difficult, though, because it is hard to see what the draft actually says, as opposed to what you were trying to say. For this reason, most writers also give their drafts to others to read. Students generally seek advice from their teachers and other students in the class because they understand the assignment. Published writers also share their work in progress with others. Poets, novelists, historians, scientists, newspaper reporters, magazine essayists, and even textbook writers actively seek constructive critical comments by joining writers’ workshops or getting help from editors.

I was lucky because I was always going to groups where the writers were at the same level or a little better than me. That really helped.

— MANIL SURI

[Ezra Pound] was a marvelous critic because he didn’t try to turn you into an imitation of himself. He tried to see what you were trying to do.

— T. S. ELIOT

Using the Guides to Writing

As you have seen, students learning to write need to be flexible and yet systematic. The Guides to Writing in Part One of this book are designed to meet this need. The first few times you write in a new genre, you can rely on these guides. They provide scaffolding to support your work until you become more familiar with the demands and possibilities of each genre. The Guides will help you develop a reper- toire of strategies for creatively solving problems in your writing, such as deciding how to interest readers, how to refute opposing arguments, what to quote from a source, and how to integrate quotations into your writing.

When people engage in any new and complex activity — driving, playing an instrument, skiing, or writing — they may divide it into a series of manageable tasks. In learning to play tennis, for example, you might concentrate separately on lobbing, volleying, or serving, before putting your skills together in a game. Similarly, in writing an argument on a controversial issue, you can focus at first on separate tasks such as defining the issue, developing your reasons, and anticipating readers’ objections. Dividing your writing in this way enables you to tackle a com- plex subject without either oversimplifying it or becoming overwhelmed.

HOW WRITING IS LEARNED 11

Here is a writer’s quotation that has been especially helpful for us as we have written and revised The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing :

You know when you think about writing a book, you think it is over- whelming. But, actually, you break it down into tiny little tasks any moron could do. — ANNIE DILLARD

Reflection 5. Your Last Writing Project

Write a couple of pages describing how you went about writing the last time you wrote an essay (or something else) that took time and effort. Use the following questions to help you recall what you did, but feel free to write about any other aspects of your writ- ing that you think are important.

What did you write, and when?

Who were you writing for, and why were you writing? What did you hope to accom- plish?

What technologies did you use (a computer? a pen?), and how do you think using these technologies affected the way you wrote?

What kinds of planning did you do, if any, before you began writing the first draft?

If you discussed your ideas and plans with someone, how did discussing them help you? If you had someone read your draft, how did getting a response help?

If you rewrote, moved, added, or cut anything in your first draft, describe what you changed.

Did you write pretty much the way you usually do or did you do something differ- ently? If you did it differently, why did you make the change?

Were you satisfied with your writing process and with the final draft that resulted? What would you have changed if you had more time or knew what you know now?

Thinking Critically

As we said at the beginning, reflecting on your literacy experiences helps you become a better, more versatile writer. Reflecting makes you aware of what you already know and what you still need to learn. Reflecting enhances metacognition, which is a scholarly word for awareness of your own thinking processes.

As young children, we learn to use language primarily from hearing others talk and from being talked to. Learning language seems magical because we are not con- scious of being taught. But we learn because others are modeling language use for us all the time, and sometimes they even correct our pronunciation, word choice, and grammar.

We learn the most common types of communicating such as storytelling in the same way. We listen to others tell stories and read to us; we watch stories por- trayed on television, in film, and in video games; and eventually we read stories for ourselves. Being immersed in storytelling, we learn conventional ways of beginning

12 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION: THINKING ABOUT WRITING

and ending, strategies for building suspense, techniques for making time sequences clear, methods for using dialogue to develop character, and so on. As we get older, we can reinforce and increase our repertoire of storytelling strategies by analyzing stories and by consciously trying the strategies in our own oral and written stories. This is true of all literacy learning. We learn from a combination of modeling, im- mersion, and thinking critically about what we are learning.

In addition to modeling good writing and guiding you in writing on your own, The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing helps you think critically about your writing. Each writing assignment chapter in Part One of the Guide includes many opportunities for you to think critically and reflect on your understanding of the rhetorical situation — the context, composed of genre, purpose, and audience — in which you are writing. In addition, a section titled Thinking Critically about What You Have Learned concludes each chapter, giving you an opportunity to look back and reflect on how you used your writing process creatively and how you expanded your understanding of the genre.

Reflection 6. Your Literacy Experience, through Metaphor and Simile

Write two or three similes (comparisons using like or as) or metaphors (implied com- parisons, not using like or as) that express some aspect of your literacy experience. Then write a page or so explaining and expanding on the ideas and feelings you expressed in one or more of them. Here are some examples from professional writers:

Writing is like exploring . . . as an explorer makes maps of the country he has explored, so a writer’s works are maps of the country he has explored.

— LAWRENCE OSGOOD

The writer must soak up the subject completely, as a plant soaks up water, until the ideas are ready to sprout.

— MARGUERITE YOURCENAR

Writing is manual labor of the mind: a job, like laying pipe. — JOHN GREGORY DUNNE

If we had to say what writing is, we would define it essentially as an act of courage.

— CYNTHIA OZICK

To get at the meanings in your metaphors and similes, it may help also to write ones that express opposite ideas. For example, if you begin with “writing is like building a house,” you could also try “writing is taking things apart, brick by brick” to get at both the constructive and analytical aspects of the process. Or you could try “writing is walk- ing into a new house” to move from the work involved in composing to the discovery of something new.

Writing Activities

PART1

2

14

IN COLLEGE COURSES In a linguistics course, students are assigned a paper in which they are to discuss published research in the context of their own experience. The class had recently read Deborah Tannen’s Gender and Discourse, in which Tannen discusses differences in how men and women talk about problems: according to Tannen, women tend to spend a lot of time talking about the problem and their feelings about it, while men typi- cally cut short the analysis of the problem and focus on solutions.

One student decides to write about Tannen’s findings in light of a conversation she recently had with her brother about their father’s drinking. Before writing, she rereads a diary entry she had written shortly after the conversation, which she found frustrating. She begins her essay by reconstructing the conversation, quoting some dialogue from her diary and paraphrasing other parts from memory. Then she analyzes the conversation, using Tannen’s categories. She discovers that what bothered her about the conversation was less its content than her brother’s way of communicating.

Remembering an Event

15

IN THE COMMUNITY As part of a local his- tory series in a newspaper serving a small western ranching community, an amateur historian volun- teers to help an elderly rancher write about the win- ter of 1938, when a six-foot snowstorm isolated the rancher’s family for nearly a month. The historian tapes the rancher talking about how he, his wife, and his infant son survived, including an account of how he snowshoed eight miles to a logging train track in order to get a message to relatives. On a second visit, the historian and the rancher listen to the tape recording and brainstorm on further details to make the event more complete and dramatic for readers.

The historian writes a rough outline, which he and the rancher discuss, and then a draft, which the rancher reads and elaborates on. The rancher also offers several photos for possible inclusion. The historian revises and edits the story and sub- mits it, along with two photos, to the project’s editor for publication. (For more information on the layout of the published version, turn to Thinking about Document Design, p. 55).

IN THE WORKPLACE A respected longtime regional manager for a state’s highway department has been asked to give the keynote speech at a meeting on workplace safety. The manager has long considered employee relations of paramount impor- tance in keeping the workplace safe, so he decides to open his speech by recounting his recent dra- matic confrontation with an unhappy employee who complained bitterly about the work schedule he had been given and threatened to harm the manager and his family if the manager did not give him a bet- ter schedule.

The manager reflects on his fear and on his frustration over not knowing how to handle the con- frontation: the department’s published procedures on workplace safety offered no specific advice on such a situation. Finally, the manager summarizes data he compiled on the nature and frequency of such work- place incidents nationwide and concludes by calling for new guidelines on how to handle them.

16 CHAPTER 2: REMEMBERING AN EVENT

People write about their experiences in various contexts, for different purposes and audiences. For example, you may keep a private diary, a Facebook page for friends, or a public blog where you write about important events in your life. The scenarios opening this chapter show people from different walks of life reflecting on events that have significance not only for them personally, but for their readers as well. For local history buffs, stories like the rancher’s reveal some the challenges of living in an earlier era. The manager uses what was undoubtedly a disturbing experience to convince colleagues that workplace safety procedures need to be revamped. The student turns an assignment into an opportunity to make sense of a family conflict. If you wrote about your personal experience in your college application, you may have tried to impress admissions officers with remembered events that show you at your best.

Not only can writing about your experiences serve different purposes, but im- mersing yourself in the sights, sounds, and sensations of memory can be pleasurable in itself. Even when the memories arouse mixed feelings, reflecting on the events and people important in your life can be deeply satisfying. Writing can help you understand and come to terms with the influences in your family and community that have helped shape who you are and what’s important to you.

Similarly, reading about other people’s experiences can be entertaining as well as challenging. As readers, we often take pleasure in seeing reflections of our own experience in other people’s stories, but encountering unfamiliar experiences can also be fascinating and lead us to question some of the ways we have learned to think about ourselves and others. For example, one of the writers in this chapter remembers that when she was arrested for shoplifting she felt excited, as if she were acting in a movie. Another writer makes the eye-opening discovery that her father’s cultural traditions are not her own.

From readings like these, you will learn how to make your own story interest- ing, even exciting to read. The Guide to Writing will support you as you compose your remembered event essay, showing you ways to use the basic features of the genre to tell your story vividly and dramatically, entertaining readers but also giv- ing them insight into the event’s significance — its meaning and importance — in your life.

Part 1. Take turns telling a story about an important event in your life. Each story should

take just a few minutes to tell. Prepare by choosing an event you feel comfortable describing

in this situation, and quickly plan how you will describe it. Then get together with two or

three other students, and take turns telling your stories.

Part 2. Discuss what happened when you told about a remembered event:

To think about your purpose and audience, see whether the students in your group

understand why the event is important to you. What in your story, if anything,

helped them identify with you?

A Collaborative Activity: Practice Remembering an Event

BASIC FEATURES 17

Compare your thoughts with the others in your group on what was easiest and hard-

est about telling the story: for example, making the story dramatic; balancing your

account of what happened with your feelings and thoughts about it; deciding how

much to tell about the people involved.

Reading Remembered Event Essays

Basic Features As you read remembered event essays in this chapter, you will see how different authors incorporate the basic features of the genre.

A Well-Told Story

Read first to enjoy the story. Remembered event essays are autobiographical stories that recount an important event in the writer’s life; the best ones are first and fore- most a pleasure to read. A well-told story

arouses curiosity and suspense by structuring the narrative around conflict, building to a climax, and leading to a change or discovery of some kind;

is set in a specific time and place, often using dialogue to heighten immediacy and drama;

lets readers into the narrator’s point of view (written in the first person I ) and enables readers to empathize and possibly identify with the writer.

Vivid Description of People and Places

Read for the author’s description of people and places. In the essays in this chapter, notice

the specific details describing what people look like, how they dress, gesture, and talk;

the sensory images showing what the narrator saw, heard, smelled, touched, and tasted.

Autobiographical Significance

Read also to understand the story’s autobiographical significance. This is the point the writer is trying to make — the purpose for writing to a particular audience. Effective writers both tell and show

by remembering feelings and thoughts from the time the event took place;

by reflecting on the past from the present perspective;

by choosing details and words that create a dominant impression.

Basic Features

18 CHAPTER 2: REMEMBERING AN EVENT

Purpose and Audience Whatever the writing situation, writers usually have various purposes in mind, including both self-discovery and self-presentation. Keep in mind, however, that the remembered event essay is a public genre meant to be read by others. Sometimes the audience is specific, as in a personal essay composed for a college or job application. Often, however, the audience is more general, as in an academic essay written in a college course to be read by the instructor and fellow students.

As you read remembered event essays, ask yourself what seems to be the writer’s purpose in writing about this particular experience. For example, does the writer seem to be writing

to understand what happened and why, perhaps to confront unconscious and possibly uncomplimentary motives;

to relive an intense experience, perhaps to work though complex and ambiva- lent feelings;

to win over readers, perhaps to justify or rationalize choices made, actions taken, words used?

You should be aware that as an insightful reader, you may be able to see larger themes or deeper implications — what we call significance — beyond those the writer consciously intends or even acknowledges.

As you read, also try to grasp the writer’s assumptions about the audience. For example, does the writer

expect readers to be impressed by the writer’s courage, honesty, ability, and so on;

assume readers will have had similar experiences and therefore appreciate what the writer went through and not judge the writer too harshly;

try to convince the reader that the writer was innocent, well intended, a victim, or something else;

hope readers will laugh with and not at the writer, seeing the writer’s failings as amusing foibles and not serious shortcomings?

READINGS

Readings

JEAN BRANDT wrote this essay as a first-year college student. In it, she tells about a memorable event that occurred when she was thirteen. Reflecting on how she felt at the time, Brandt writes, “I was afraid, embarrassed, worried, mad.” In disclosing her tumultu- ous and contradictory remembered feelings, Brandt makes her story dramatic and reso- nant. Even if readers have not had a similar experience, they are likely to empathize with Brandt and grasp the significance of this event in her life.

READINGSBRANDT / CALLING HOME 19

1

2

3

4

Calling Home

Jean Brandt

As we all piled into the car, I knew it was going to be a fabulous day. My grand-

mother was visiting for the holidays; and she and I, along with my older brother and

sister, Louis and Susan, were setting off for a day of last-minute Christmas shopping.

On the way to the mall, we sang Christmas carols, chattered, and laughed. With

Christmas only two days away, we were caught up with holiday spirit. I felt light-headed

and full of joy. I loved shopping — especially at Christmas.

The shopping center was swarming with frantic last-minute shoppers like our-

selves. We went first to the General Store, my favorite. It carried mostly knickknacks

and other useless items which nobody needs but buys anyway. I was thirteen years

old at the time, and things like buttons and calendars and posters would catch my

fancy. This day was no different. The object of my desire was a 75-cent Snoopy button.

Snoopy was the latest. If you owned anything with the Peanuts on it, you were “in.”

But since I was supposed to be shopping for gifts for other people and not myself, I

couldn’t decide what to do. I went in search of my sister for her opinion. I pushed my

way through throngs of people to the back of the store where I found Susan. I asked

her if she thought I should buy the button. She said it was cute and if I wanted it to

go ahead and buy it.

When I got back to the Snoopy section, I took one look at the lines at the cashiers

and knew I didn’t want to wait thirty minutes to buy an item worth less than one dollar.

I walked back to the basket where I found the button and was about to drop it when

suddenly, instead, I took a quick glance around, assured myself no one could see, and

slipped the button into the pocket of my sweatshirt.

I hesitated for a moment, but once the item was in my pocket, there was no

turning back. I had never before stolen anything; but what was done was done. A

few seconds later, my sister appeared and asked, “So, did you decide to buy the

button?” “No, I guess not.” I hoped my voice didn’t quaver. As we headed for the

As you read, look for places where Brandt lets us know how she felt at the time the event occurred. Also consider the questions in the margin. Your instructor may ask you to post your answers or bring them to class.

Basic Features

How does Brandt set the stage for her story? How does she try to get you to identify with her?

- tail would help you visualize the place and people?

- titude toward her younger self?

action verbs (highlighted) in pars. 3–5?

20 CHAPTER 2: REMEMBERING AN EVENTREADINGS

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

entrance, my heart began to race. I just had to get out of that store. Only a few

more yards to go and I’d be safe. As we crossed the threshold, I heaved a sigh of

relief. I was home free. I thought about how sly I had been and I felt proud of my

accomplishment.

An unexpected tap on my shoulder startled me. I whirled around to find a middle-aged

man, dressed in street clothes, flashing some type of badge and politely asking me to empty

my pockets. Where did this man come from? How did he know? I was so sure that no one

had seen me! On the verge of panicking, I told myself that all I had to do was give this man

his button back, say I was sorry, and go on my way. After all, it was only a 75-cent item.

Next thing I knew, he was talking about calling the police and having me arrested

and thrown in jail, as if he had just nabbed a professional thief instead of a terrified

kid. I couldn’t believe what he was saying.

“Jean, what’s going on?”

The sound of my sister’s voice eased the pressure a bit. She always managed to get

me out of trouble. She would come through this time too.

“Excuse me. Are you a relative of this young girl?”

“Yes, I’m her sister. What’s the problem?”

“Well, I just caught her shoplifting and I’m afraid I’ll have to call the police.”

“What did she take?”

“This button.”

“A button? You are having a thirteen-year-old arrested for stealing a button?”

“I’m sorry, but she broke the law.”

The man led us through the store and into an office, where we waited for the

police officers to arrive. Susan had found my grandmother and brother, who, still

shocked, didn’t say a word. The thought of going to jail terrified me, not because of jail

itself, but because of the encounter with my parents afterward. Not more than ten min-

utes later, two officers arrived and placed me under arrest. They said that I was to

be taken to the station alone. Then, they handcuffed me and led me out of the store.

I felt alone and scared. I had counted on my sister being with me, but now I had to

muster up the courage to face this ordeal all by myself.

As the officers led me through the mall, I sensed a hundred pairs of eyes staring

at me. My face flushed and I broke out in a sweat. Now everyone knew I was a criminal.

In their eyes I was a juvenile delinquent, and thank God the cops were getting me off

the streets. The worst part was thinking my grandmother might be having the same

from her remembered thoughts in pars. 5–8?

How does your understanding of Brandt deepen or change through what she writes in pars. 16–18?

READINGSBRANDT / CALLING HOME 21

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

How does the dialogue in pars. 21–24 add to the drama?

- ing storytelling and describing with remembering thoughts and feelings in par. 35?

thoughts. The humiliation at that moment was overwhelming. I felt like Hester Prynne

being put on public display for everyone to ridicule.

That short walk through the mall seemed to take hours. But once we reached the

squad car, time raced by. I was read my rights and questioned. We were at the police

station within minutes. Everything happened so fast I didn’t have a chance to feel

remorse for my crime. Instead, I viewed what was happening to me as if it were a movie.

Being searched, although embarrassing, somehow seemed to be exciting. All the movies

and television programs I had seen were actually coming to life. This is what it was

really like. But why were criminals always portrayed as frightened and regretful? I was

having fun. I thought I had nothing to fear — until I was allowed my one phone call.

I was trembling as I dialed home. I didn’t know what I was going to say to my parents,

especially my mother.

“Hi, Dad, this is Jean.”

“We’ve been waiting for you to call.”

“Did Susie tell you what happened?”