The little eagle handbook with exercises

Informative Research Report

The Little Seagull Handbook

Richard Bullock WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY

Michal Brody SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY

Francine Weinberg

B

WRITE

RESEARCH

EDIT

T H I R D E D I T I O N

W. W. Norton & Company New York • London

W. W. Norton & Company has been independent since its founding in 1923, when William Warder Norton and Mary D. Herter Norton first published lectures delivered at the People’s Institute, the adult education division of New York City’s Cooper Union. The firm soon expanded its program beyond the Institute, publishing books by celebrated academics from America and abroad. By mid-century, the two major pillars of our publishing program — trade books and college texts — were firmly established. In the 1950s, the Norton family transferred control of the com- pany to its employees, and today — with a staff of 400 and a comparable number of trade, college, and professional titles published each year — W. W. Norton stands as the largest and oldest publishing house owned wholly by its employees.

Copyright © 2017, 2014, 2011 by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

All rights reserved Printed in Canada

Editor: Marilyn Moller Associate editor: Tenyia Lee Assistant editor: Claire Wallace Project editor: Christine D’Antonio Manuscript editors: Beth Burke, Rebecca Caine, and Connie Parks Managing editor, College: Marian Johnson Managing editor, College Digital Media: Kim Yi Production manager: Ashley Horna Media editor: Erica Wnek Media project editor: Cooper Wilhelm Media editorial assistant: Ava Bramson Marketing manager, Composition: Megan DeBono Zwilling Design director: Rubina Yeh Text design: Lisa Buckley / Anna Palchik Photo editor: Nelson Colón Photo research: Dena Digilio Betz Page layout: Carole Desnoes Composition: Jouve Manufacturing: TransContinental

ISBN: 978-0-393-60263-0

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Preface

This book began as an attempt to create a small handbook that would provide help with the specific kinds of writing college students are assigned to do, and to make it as user- friendly as possible. It’s been more successful than we ever imagined possible, and much to our surprise, it’s been adopted by many instructors who had been using much larger handbooks. These teachers tell us they like it because it’s got “just enough detail,” it’s easy to use, and it costs less than half what their former books cost. From our own experience as teachers, we’ve seen how much students prefer smaller books, and so, to paraphrase Elmore Leon- ard, we’ve tried to give the information college writers need — and to leave out the details they skip. We’ve also seen how important it is that a handbook be easy to use. To that end, the book is organized around the familiar categories of writing, researching, and editing, and it includes menus, directories, a glossary / index, and more to help students find the help they need. We’re pleased now to offer a third edition, with a new section on “Editing the Errors That Matter,” an updated MLA chapter that covers the new style introduced in 2016, two new genre chapters, and new coverage of the use of “singular they.”

Highlights

Help with the kinds of writing students are assigned — argu- ments, analyses, reports, narratives, and more. Brief chapters cover nine common genres, with models demonstrating each genre on the companion website.

Easy to use. Menus, directories, a glossary / index, and color- coded parts help students find the information they need. And a simple three- part organization — Write, Research, Edit — makes it easy for them to know where to look. Even the cover flaps are useful, with an Index of guidelines for Editing the Errors That Matter on the front flap and a Checklist for Revising and Editing on the back.

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Just enough detail, but with color- coded links that refer students to the glossary / index for more information if they need it.

User- friendly documentation guidelines for MLA, APA, Chicago, and CSE styles. Documentation directories lead students to the examples they need, color- coded templates show what information to include, and documentation maps show where to find the required detail. Model papers demonstrate each style, with a complete MLA paper and brief examples of the other three styles in the book and complete papers on the companion website.

A full chapter on paragraphs, a subject that other pocket hand- books cover in much less detail. But students write in paragraphs — and they’ll find the help they need in this handbook. [W-4]

Customizable. We’ve created templates to make it easy for you to add your own materials to the book—course outcomes statements, syllabi, school policies, student writing, and so on. And you can even customize the title and cover to replace our little seagull with your school mascot. We’ve already published a Little Duck Handbook, a Little Bobcat, Little Eagle, Little Aztec, and three Little Tigers—and we’ll be happy to do one for your school.

A full chapter on Englishes, from standard edited English to the varieties spoken in specific regions, communities, and academic contexts. [L-10]

Uniquely helpful guidance for students whose first language isn’t English, including chapters on idioms [L-3] and prepositions [L-5] and additional detail on articles, phrasal verbs, and modal verbs. The companion website and mobile version include links to glossa- ries of idioms and phrasal verbs, and the Coursepack includes exer- cises and handouts.

What’s New?

A new section on “Editing the Errors That Matter.” Covering 14 errors that teachers identified as ones that undermine a writer’s

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authority and weaken an argument, these chapters explain why each of these errors matters, describe how to spot them in a draft, and walk students through some ways of editing them out [E-1 to E-6].

New MLA style. The MLA chapter has been updated to explain the new core principles introduced in 2016 and to provide color-coded templates and models for documenting the kinds of sources college students most often cite [MLA-a to MLA-d].

Two new genre chapters. We’ve added new chapters on “Propos- als” and “Reflections,” two genres that students are often assigned or expected to write [W-12 and W-13].

New guidance on the use of “singular they.” We’ve tried to help students navigate the use of pronouns in academic writing in light of evolving conventions and notions of gender. You’ll find this new material in the chapter on “Pronouns” [S-6], of course, as well as in the chapters on “Words That Build Common Ground” [L-9] and “Editing Pronouns” [E-2].

What’s Online?

The entire handbook is available as as ebook — and is free when packaged with the print book (and comes with four years of access). Allows students to highlight, bookmark, and take notes — and includes exercises and links to full glossaries of idioms and phrasal verbs. Access it at digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3.

A companion website includes model papers, exercises and quiz- zes, links to glossaries of idioms and phrasal verbs, and more. Access the site at digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3.

InQuizitive for Writers, an adaptive learning tool that provides students with personalized practice editing out common errors— comma splices, pronoun reference, mixed constructions, and more, including all the topics found in the new handbook chapters on “Editing the Errors That Matter.” Personalized feedback and links to

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the Little Seagull ebook help students learn to edit what they write, and gamelike elements even make working with grammar fun. InQuizitive can be used to diagnose issues students need to practice or assigned to provide practice with particular issues you identify in your students’ writing.

A Norton Coursepack is available for most learning management systems, including Blackboard, Canvas, Moodle, Sakai, and D2L, pro- viding diagnostic quizzes; exercises; handouts for students whose primary language isn’t English; documentation guidelines; and more. Because it all works within your existing LMS, there’s no new system to learn. And it’s yours to customize and edit — you choose the con- tent you want to use, for your course. No extra costs, no registration codes. Access the coursepack at wwnorton.com/instructors.

norton/write. A free-and-open site with plagiarism tutorials, writing tips, model student writing, documentation guidelines, exercises — and more. Access the site at digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3.

Acknowledgments

It takes a big team to publish even a small handbook. We have benefitted from the astute comments and suggestions by a num- ber of reviewers: Gillian Andersen, Eastern New Mexico University; Evan Balkan, Community College of Baltimore County–Catonsville; Jason Barr, Blue Ridge Community College; Josh M. Beach, Univer- sity of Texas at San Antonio; Carole Chapman, Ivy Tech Community College–Southwest; Thomas Chester, Ivy Tech Community College– Marion; Jesseca Cornelson, Alabama State University; Michael Cripps, University of New England; Syble Davis, Houston Community Col- lege; Laura Ann Dearing, Jefferson Community and Technical College; Darren DeFrain, Wichita State University; Joann K. Deiudicibus, State University of New York at New Paltz; Christie Diep, Cypress College; Allison Dieppa, Florida Gulf Coast University; Clark Draney, College of Southern Idaho; Brenna Dugan, Owens Community College; Megan Egbert, Utah State University; Megan Fulwiler, The College of Saint

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Rose; Jonathan C. Glance, Mercer University; Carey Goyette, Clin- ton Community College; Opal Greer, Eastern New Mexico Univer- sity; Kendra Griffin, Aims Community College; Clinton Hale, Blinn College; Ann C. Hall, Ohio Dominican University; Joel B. Henderson, Chattanooga State Community College; Robert Hurd, Anne Arundel Community College; Geri (Geraldine) Jacobs, Jackson College; Anne Marie Johnson, Utah State University; Jo Johnson, Ivy Tech Commu- nity College–Fort Wayne; Debra S. Knutson, Shawnee State Univer- sity; Brian Leingang, Edison State Community College; Joseph Lemak, Elmira College; Matthew Masucci, State College of Florida–Venice; L. Adam Mekler, Morgan State University; Lora Meredith, Western Wyoming Community College; Tracy Ann Morse, East Carolina Uni- versity; Amy Nawrocki, University of Bridgeport; Eden Pearson, Des Moines Area Community College; Heather Pristash, Western Wyo- ming Community College; Glenda Pritchett, Quinnipiac University; Jonathan Purkiss, Pulaski Technical College; Paula Rash, Caldwell Community College; Louis Riggs, Hannibal-LaGrange University; Tony Russell, Central Oregon Community College; David Salomon, The Sage Colleges; Anthony Sams, Ivy Tech Community College; Karen Schwarze, Utah State University; Dixie A Shaw-Tillmon, The Univer- sity of Texas at San Antonio; Carol Singletary, Eastern New Mexico University; Linda Strahan, University of California, Riverside; Hannah Sykes, Rockingham Community College; Jarrod Waetjen, Northern Virginia Community College—Alexandria; Christy Wenger, Shepherd University; Jenny Williams, Spartanburg Community College. We are especially grateful to the following reviewers for their very helpful feedback on the new materials on “Editing the Errors That Matter”: Jason Barr, Blue Ridge Community College; Jesseca Cornelson, Alabama State University; Michael Cripps, University of New England; Syble Davis, Houston Community College; Laura Ann Dearing, Jefferson Community and Technical College; Darren DeFrain, Wichita State University; Allison Dieppa, Florida Gulf Coast University; Brenna Dugan, Owens Community College; Shonette Grant, Northern Virginia Community College; Kendra Griffin, Aims Community College; Anne Marie Johnson, Utah State University; Brian

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Leingang, Edison State Community College; Matthew Masucci, State College of Florida–Venice; L. Adam Mekler, Morgan State University; Lora Meredith, Western Wyoming Community College; Eden Pearson, Des Moines Area Community College; Glenda Pritchett, Quinnipiac University; Jonathan Purkiss, Pulaski Technical College; Paula Rash, Caldwell Community College; Tony Russell, Central Oregon Com- munity College; Dixie A. Shaw-Tillmon, The University of Texas at San Antonio; Hannah Sykes, Rockingham Community College; Jarrod Waetjen, Northern Virginia Community College–Alexandria. We owe a big thank you to all our friends at Norton, starting with Claire Wallace for her excellent editorial work on both the new chapters in the book and the editing exercises in InQuizitive for Writers. We are grateful as well to Tenyia Lee for her incredibly detailed work on all the documentation chapters. A deep bow goes to Erica Wnek for all her work on InQuizitive, the companion website, the coursepack, and the ebook—and to Ava Bramson as well. We are once again grateful to Carin Berger and Debra Morton Hoyt for yet another charming cover design. And we thank Megan DeBono Zwilling and Maureen Connelly for their work getting the word out about this book. Little books are always more complex than they look, and we are especially grateful to Christine D’Antonio and Ashley Horna for their expertise managing and producing The Little Seagull Handbook. Finally, we thank Marilyn Moller, the guiding intelligence behind all our textbooks. Rich thanks his students and colleagues at Wright State for all they’ve taught him about teaching and writing over the years, and the many writing teachers using the Little Seagull who have offered suggestions or invited him to campus: Kelly Ritter, Kristi McDuffie, and their graduate teaching assistants at the University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign; Collie Fulford, Kathryn Wymer, and their stu- dents in ENG 3040 at North Carolina Central University; Kevin Moore at SUNY Cobleskill; and Mary S. Tuley at Fayetteville Technical Com- munity College. Finally, he thanks his wife, Barb, for her unwavering and good-humored support. Michal thanks her families and students

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in the United States and Mexico for always keeping her thinking. Fran thanks Marilyn for trading places with her so many years ago and her husband, Larry Strauss, for his confidence in her at all times. Hats off to you all.

Richard Bullock Michal Brody Francine Weinberg

How to Use This Book

Write. Research. Edit. Perhaps you’ve been assigned to write a paper that makes a case for why parking on campus should be free. Maybe you need to find sources for a report on organic farming in your state. Or you may just want to make sure that the punctuation in your cover letter is perfect before you apply for a new job. Whether you need to write, research, edit — or all three — this little handbook can help.

Ways of Using the Book

Menus. If you are looking for a specific chapter, start with the Brief Menu on the inside front cover; if you are looking for a specific sec- tion in a chapter, start with the Detailed Menu on the inside back cover.

Glossary / index. If you’re looking for definitions of key terms and concepts, turn to the combined glossary and index at the back of the book. Be aware also that words highlighted in tan throughout the book are defined in the glossary / index. Check the glossary / index when you aren’t sure which chapter covers a topic you’re looking for — for instance, guidance on when to use a and when to use the.

Color-coded organization. The parts of this book are color-coded for easy reference: red for write , blue for research , and yellow for editing .

Guidelines for common writing assignments. Chapters W-7 to W-15, cover nine kinds of writing you’ll likely be expected to do in many college classes. And you’ll find model papers demonstrating each of these kinds of writing on the companion website: digital .wwnoPton.aom/littleseagull3.

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Checklist for revising and editing. On the back flap is a list of prompts to guide you as you revise and edit a draft — and that lead you to pages in the book where you’ll find help.

Help editing common errors that matter. We all make mistakes and need to learn how to edit them out. The front flap lists some of the ones that really matter and leads you to places in the book where you’ll find help spotting them in your writing and strategies for edit- ing them out.

MLA, APA, Chicago, and CSE guidelines. Color-coded chapters cover each style, with directories in the back of the book that lead to the specific examples you need. Color-coded templates show what information to include, and documentation maps show you where to find the information required. You’ll find a full MLA paper on pages 161–69 and model papers demonstrating each of the other styles on the companion website: digital.wwnoPton.aom/littleseagull3.

Scanning for information. Sometimes you may simply turn to a part of the book where you know that information you’re looking for is located. You could scan the red headings to find where the topic is explained. Or if you just want to find an example showing you what to do, you’ll find that examples are all marked by little red pointers ( ▶) to make them easy to spot.

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I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper.

— Steve Martin

Write

2

W-1 Writing Contexts

Whenever we write, whether it’s an email to a friend, a toast at a wed- ding, or an essay, we do so within some kind of context — a rhetorical situation that helps shape our choices as writers. Whatever our topic, we have a purpose, a certain audience, a particular stance, a genre, and a medium to consider — and often as not, a design. This chapter discusses each of these elements and provides some questions that can help you think about some of the choices you have to make as you write.

W-1a Purpose

All writing has a purpose. We write to explore our thoughts, express our- selves, and entertain; to record words and events; to communicate with others; to persuade others to think or behave in certain ways. Here are some questions to help you think about your purpose(s) as you write:

• What is the primary purpose of the writing task — to entertain? inform? persuade? demonstrate knowledge? something else?

• What are your own goals?

• What do you want your audience to do, think, or feel? How will they use what you tell them?

• What does this writing task call on you to do? Do you have an assignment that specifies a certain genre or strategy — to argue

a position? report on an event? compare two texts?

• What are the best ways to achieve your purpose? Should you take a particular stance ? write in a particular medium ? use certain design elements?

W-1b Audience

What you write, how much you write, and how you phrase it are all influenced by the audience you envision. For example, as a student

3W-1c Genre

writing an essay for an instructor, you will be expected to produce a text with few or no errors, something you may worry less about in an email to a friend.

• What audience do you want to reach? What expectations do they have from you? What’s your relationship with them, and how does it affect your tone ?

• What is your audience’s background — their education and life experiences?

• What are their interests? What motivates them? Do they have any political attitudes or interests that may affect the way they read your piece?

• Is there any demographic information that you should keep in mind, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or economic status?

• What does your audience already know — or believe — about your topic? What do you need to tell them?

• What kind of response do you want from your audience? Do you want them to do or believe something? accept what you say? Something else?

• How can you best appeal to your audience? What kind of infor- mation will they find interesting or persuasive? Are there any design elements that will appeal to them?

W-1c Genre

Genres are kinds of writing. Reports, position papers, poems, letters, instructions — even jokes — are genres. Each one has certain features and follows particular conventions of style and presentation. Aca- demic assignments generally specify the genre, but if it isn’t clear, ask your instructor. Then consider these issues:

• What are the key elements and conventions of your genre? How do they affect the type of content you should include?

4 W-1d WritinG Contexts

• Does your genre require a certain organization or medium? Does it have any design requirements?

• How does your genre affect your tone , if at all?

• Does the genre require formal (or informal) language?

W-1d Topic

An important part of any writing context is the topic — what you are writing about. As you choose a topic, keep in mind your rhetorical situation and any requirements specified by your assignments.

• If your topic is assigned, what do the verbs in the assignment ask you to do: analyze ? compare ? summarize ? Something else?

• Does the assignment offer a broad subject area (such as the envi- ronment) that allows you to choose a limited topic within it (such as a particular environmental issue)?

• What do you need to do to complete the assignment? Do you need to do research? find illustrations?

• If you can choose a topic, think about what you are interested in. What do you want to learn more about? What topics from your courses have you found intriguing? What local, national, or global issues do you care about?

• Do you need to limit your topic to fit a specified time or length?

W-1e Stance and Tone

Whenever you write, you have a certain stance, an attitude toward your topic. For example, you might be objective, critical, passionate, or indifferent. You express (or downplay) that stance through your tone — the words you use and the other ways your text conveys an attitude toward your subject and audience. Just as you likely alter what you say depending on whether you’re speaking to a boss or a good friend, so you need to make similar adjustments as a writer. Ask yourself these questions:

5W-1f Media / Design

• What is your stance, and how can you best present it to achieve your purpose?

• How should your stance be reflected in your tone? Do you want to be seen as reasonable? angry? thoughtful? ironic? Something else? Be sure that your language — and even your font — convey that tone.

• How is your stance likely to be received by your audience ? Should you openly reveal it, or would it be better to tone it down?

W-1f Media / Design

We communicate through many media, both verbal and nonverbal: our bodies (we wave), our voices (we shout), and various technolo- gies (we write with a pencil, send email, tweet). No matter what the medium, a text’s design affects the way it is received and understood. Consider these questions:

• Does your assignment call for a certain medium or media — a printed essay? an oral report with visual aids? a blog?

• How does your medium affect the way you write and organize your text? For example, long paragraphs may be fine on paper, but bulleted phrases work better on slides.

• How does your medium affect your language? Do you need to be more formal or informal ?

• What’s the appropriate look for your writing situation? Should it look serious? whimsical? personal? Something else?

• What fonts and other design elements suit your writing context? Is there anything you should highlight by putting it in a box or italics?

• Would headings help you organize your material and help read- ers follow the text? Does your genre or medium require them?

• Will your audience expect or need any illustrations? Is there any information that would be easier to understand as a chart?

6

W-2 Academic Contexts

An argument on a psychology exam debating whether genes or envi- ronment do more to determine people’s intelligence, a report for a science course on the environmental effects of electricity- generating windmills on wildlife, a proposal for a multi media sales campaign in a marketing course — all of these are kinds of writing that you might be assigned to do in college classes. This chapter describes some of the elements expected in academic writing.

W-2a Key Elements of Academic Writing

Evidence that you’ve carefully considered the subject. You can use a variety of ways to show that you’ve thought seriously about the subject and done any necessary research, from citing authoritative sources to incorporating information you learned in class to pointing out connections among ideas.

A clear, appropriately qualified thesis. In academic writing, you’re expected to state your main point explicitly, often in a thesis statement, as MIT student Joanna MacKay does in an essay about selling human organs: “Governments should not ban the sale of human organs; they should regulate it.”

Often you’ll need to qualify your thesis statement to acknowl- edge exceptions or other perspectives. Here’s a qualified thesis from an essay by Michaela Cullington, a student at Marywood University: “Although some believe that texting has either a positive or negative effect on writing, it in fact seems likely that texting has no significant effect on student writing.” By adding qualifying words like seems likely and significant, the writer indicates that she’s not making a definitive claim about texting’s influence on student writing.

A response to what others have said. Whatever your topic, it’s likely that others have written or spoken about it. It’s almost

7W-2a Key elements of Academic Writing

always best to present your ideas as a response to what others have said — quoting , paraphrasing , or summarizing their ideas and then agreeing, disagreeing, or both.

For example, in an essay arguing that the American Dream is alive and well, University of Cincinnati student Brandon King presents the views of two economists who say that because wealth is concentrated in the hands “of a rich minority,” “the American Dream is no longer possible for most Americans.” He then responds by disagreeing, argu- ing that “the American Dream . . . is based on perception, on the way someone imagines how to be successful.”

Good reasons supported by evidence. You need to provide good reasons for your thesis and evidence to support those reasons. Joanna MacKay offers several reasons that sales of human kidneys should be legalized: a surplus exists; the risk to the donor is not great; and legalization would enable the trade in kidneys to be regulated, thereby helping many patients and donors. For that third reason, her evidence includes statistics about death from renal failure.

Acknowledgment of multiple perspectives. In any academic writing, you need to investigate and represent fairly the range of perspectives on your topic — to avoid considering issues in an overly simple “pro/con” way and, instead, to explore multiple positions as you research and write. Brandon King, for instance, looks at the American Dream from several angles: the ways it is defined, the effects of government policies on achieving it, the role of education, and so on.

Carefully documented sources. Clearly acknowledging sources and documenting them correctly both in your text and in a works cited or references list at the end is a basic requirement of aca- demic writing. If your text will appear online, you can direct readers to online sources by using hyperlinks, but your instructor may want you to document them formally as well.

A confident and authoritative stance . Your tone should convey confidence and establish your authority to write about your topic.

8 W-2b ACADeMiC Contexts

To do so, use active verbs (“X claims,” “Y and Z have found”), avoid such phrases as “I think,” and write in a direct style. Michaela Cul- lington establishes an authoritative stance in her essay on texting this way: “On the basis of my own research, expert research, and personal observations, I can confidently state that texting is not interfering with students’ use of standard written English and has no effect on their writing abilities in general.” Her simple, declarative sentences and strong, unequivocal language (”I can confidently state,” “has no effect”) send the message that she knows what she’s talking about.

An indication of why your topic matters. Help your readers understand why your topic is worth exploring — and why your writ- ing is worth reading. In an essay called “Throwing Like a Girl,” James Fallows explains why that topic matters, noting that his title reflects attitudes about gender that have potentially serious consequences.

Careful attention to correctness. You should almost always write in complete sentences, use appropriate capitalization and punctua- tion, check that your spelling is correct — and avoid any abbreviations used in texting.

W-2b Thinking about the Writing Context

• What genre does the assignment suggest — or require?

• What is your instructor’s purpose for this assignment? What is your purpose, apart from fulfilling those expectations?

• Who is your audience ?

• How can you convey a confident, authoritative stance ?

• What media are available, permitted, and appropriate? Are any required?

• What design issues need to be considered?

❯❯ To read the student essays cited in this chapter, go to digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3.

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9

W-3 Writing Processes

To create anything, we generally break the work down into a series of steps. We follow a recipe (or the directions on a box) to bake a cake; we divide a piece of music into various singing parts to arrange it for a choir. So it is when we write. We rely on various processes to get from a blank page to a finished product. This chapter offers advice on some of these processes — from generating ideas to drafting to revising and editing.

W-3a Generating Ideas

The activities that follow can help you explore a topic — what you already know about it or how you might look at it in new ways.

• Brainstorming. Jot down everything that comes to mind about your topic, working either alone or with others. Look over your list, and try to identify connections or patterns.

• Freewriting. Write as quickly as you can without stopping for 5 to 10 minutes. Then underline interesting passages. Write more, using an underlined passage as your new topic.

• Looping. Write for 5 to 10 minutes, jotting down whatever you know about your subject. Then write a one-sentence summary of the most important idea. Use this summary to start another loop. Keep looping until you have a tentative focus.

• Clustering. Clustering is a way of connecting ideas visually. Write your topic in the middle of a page, and write subtopics and other ideas around it. Circle each item, and draw lines to connect related ideas.

• Questioning. You might start by asking What? Who? When? Where? How? and Why? You could also ask questions as if the topic were a play: What happens? Who are the participants? When does the action take place? How? Where? Why does this happen?

10 W-3b WritinG ProCesses

• Keeping a journal. Jotting down ideas, feelings, or the events of your day in a journal is a good way to generate ideas — and a journal is a good place to explore why you think as you do.

• Starting some research. Depending on your topic and purpose, you might do a little preliminary research to get basic information and help you discover paths you might follow.

W-3b Developing a Tentative Thesis

A thesis is a statement that indicates your main point, identifying your topic and the claim you are making about it. Here are some steps for developing a tentative thesis statement:

1. State your topic as a question. You may have a topic, such as “gaso- line prices.” But that doesn’t make a statement. To move from a topic to a thesis statement, start by turning your topic into a question: What causes fluctuations in gasoline prices?

2. Then turn your question into a position. A thesis statement is an assertion — it takes a stand or makes a claim. One way to estab- lish a thesis is to answer your own question: Gasoline prices fluctu- ate for several reasons.

3. Narrow your thesis. A good thesis is specific, telling your audience exactly what your essay will cover: Gasoline prices fluctuate because of production procedures, consumer demand, international politics, and oil companies’ policies. A good way to narrow a thesis is to ask and answer questions about it: Why do gasoline prices fluctuate? The answer will help you craft a narrow, focused thesis.

4. Qualify your thesis. Though you may sometimes want to state your thesis strongly and bluntly, often you need to acknowledge that your assertion may not be unconditionally true. In such cases, consider adding qualifying words such as may, very likely, and often to qualify your statement: Gasoline prices very likely fluctu- ate because of production procedures, consumer demand, international politics, and oil companies’ policies.

11W-3c organizing and Drafting

Whatever tentative thesis you start with, keep in mind that you may want to modify it as you proceed.

W-3c Organizing and Drafting

Organizing. You may want to use an outline to help organize your ideas before you begin to draft. You can create an informal outline by simply listing your ideas in the order in which you want to write about them.

Thesis statement

First main idea Supporting evidence or detail Supporting evidence or detail

Second main idea Supporting evidence or detail Supporting evidence or detail

An outline can help you organize your thoughts and see where more research is needed. As you draft and revise, though, stay flexible — and be ready to change direction as your topic develops.

Drafting. At some point, you need to write out a draft. As you draft, you may need to get more information, rethink your thesis, or explore some new ideas. But first, you just need to get started.

• Write quickly in spurts. Try to write a complete draft, or a complete section of a longer draft, in one sitting. If you need to stop in the middle, jot down some notes about where you’re headed so that you can pick up your train of thought when you begin again.

• Expect surprises. Writing is a form of thinking; you may end up somewhere you didn’t anticipate. That can be a good thing — but if not, it’s okay to double back or follow a new path.

• Expect to write more than one draft. Parts of your first draft may not achieve your goals. That’s okay — as you revise, you can fill in gaps and improve your writing.

12 W-3d WritinG ProCesses

• Don’t worry about correctness. You can check words, dates, and spelling at a later stage. For now, just write.

W-3d Getting Response

As writers, we need to be able to look at our work with a critical eye, to see if our writing is doing what we want it to do. We also need to get feedback from other readers. Here is a list of questions for read- ing a draft closely and considering how it should or could be revised:

• Will the opening paragraph grab readers’ attention? If so, how does it do so? If not, how else might the piece begin?

• What is the thesis ? Is it stated directly? If not, should it be?

• Are there good reasons and sufficient evidence to support the thesis? Is there anywhere you’d like to have more detail?

• Are all quotations introduced with a signal phrase and docu- mented? Are they accurately quoted, and have any changes and omissions been indicated with brackets and ellipses?

• Is there a clear pattern of organization? Does each part relate to the thesis? Are there appropriate transitions to help readers follow your train of thought? Are there headings that make the structure of the text clear — and if not, should there be?

• Are there any visuals — tables, charts, photos? If so, are they clearly labeled with captions? If you did not create them yourself, have you cited your sources?

• Will the text meet the needs and expectations of its audience ? Where might they need more information or guidance?

• Is your stance on the topic clear and consistent throughout? Is the tone appropriate for your audience and purpose?

• Is the conclusion satisfying? What does it leave readers think- ing? How else might the text end?

• Is the title one that will attract interest? Does it announce your topic and give some sense of what you have to say?

13W-3f editing and Proofreading

W-3e Revising

Once you’ve studied your draft with a critical eye and gotten response from other readers, it’s time to revise. Start with global (whole-text) issues, and gradually move to smaller, sentence-level details.

• Give yourself time to revise. Set deadlines that will give you plenty of time to work on your revision. Try to get some distance. If you can, step away from your writing for a while and think about something else.

• Revise to sharpen your focus. Examine your thesis to make sure it matches your purpose and clearly articulates your main point. Does each paragraph contribute to your main point? Does your beginning introduce your topic and provide any necessary contex- tual information? Does your ending provide a satisfying conclusion?

• Revise to strengthen the argument. Make sure that all your key ideas are fully explained. If readers find some of your claims unconvincing, you may need to qualify them — or provide more reasons or evidence . If you add evidence, make sure that it all supports your point and includes any needed documentation.

• Revise to improve the organization. You may find it helpful to out- line your draft to see all the parts readily. If anything seems out of place, move it — or if need be, cut it completely. Check to see if you’ve included appropriate transitions or headings.

• Revise to be sure readers will understand what you’re saying. Make sure that you’ve defined any terms they may not know. If you don’t state a thesis directly, consider whether you should. Look closely at your title to be sure it gives a sense of what your text is about.

W-3f Editing and Proofreading

Your ability to produce clear, error-free writing shows something about your ability as a writer, so you should be sure to edit and proofread your work carefully. Editing is the stage when you work on

14 W-3f WritinG ProCesses

the details of your paragraphs, sentences, language, and punctuation to make your writing as clear, precise, and correct as possible. The following guidelines can help you check the paragraphs, sentences, and words in your drafts.

Editing paragraphs

• Does each paragraph focus on one point and have a topic sentence that announces that point? Does every sentence in the paragraph relate to that point?

• Where is the most important information in each paragraph — at the beginning? the end? in the middle?

• Check to see how your paragraphs fit together. Does each one follow smoothly from the one before it? Do you need to add . transitions ?

• How does the opening paragraph catch readers’ attention? How else might you begin?

• Does the conclusion provide a satisfactory ending? How else might you conclude?

For more help with paragraphs, see W-4 .

Editing sentences

• Check to see that each sentence is complete, with a subject and a verb , and that it begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, question mark, or exclamation point.

• Are your sentences varied? If they all start with the subject or are all the same length, try varying them by adding transitions or introductory phrases — or by combining some sentences.

• Be sure that lists or series are parallel in form — all nouns (lions, tigers, bears), all verbs (hop, skip, jump), and so on.

• Do many of your sentences begin with It or There? Sometimes these words help introduce a topic, but often they make a text vague.

15W-3f editing and Proofreading

For more help with sentences, see s-1 through s-9 .

Editing language

• Are you sure of the meaning of every word?

• Do your words all convey the appropriate tone?

• Is any of your language too general? For example, do you need to replace verbs like be or do with more specific verbs?

• Check all pronouns to see that they have clear antecedents.

• Have you used any clichés ? Your writing will almost always be better without such predictable expressions.

• Be careful with language that refers to other people. Edit out language that might be considered sexist or would otherwise stereotype any individual or group.

• Check for it’s and its. Use it’s to mean “it is” and its to mean “belonging to it.”

For more help with language, see L-1 through L-10 .

Proofreading

This is the final stage of the writing process, the point when you check for misspelled words, mixed-up fonts, missing pages, and so on.

• Use your computer’s grammar and spelling checkers, but be aware that they’re not very reliable. Computer programs rely on formulas and banks of words — so what they flag (or not) as mis- takes may not be accurate. For example, if you were to write “sea you soon,” the word sea would not be flagged as misspelled.

• Place a ruler or piece of paper under each line as you read. Use your finger or a pencil as a pointer.

• Try beginning with the last sentence and working backward.

• Read your text out loud to yourself — or better, to others. Ask someone else to read your text.

16 W-3g WritinG ProCesses

W-3g Collaborating

Even if you do much of your writing alone, you probably spend a lot of time working with others, either face-to-face or online. Here are some guidelines for collaborating successfully.

Working in a group

• For face-to-face meetings, make sure everyone is facing one another and is physically part of the group.

• Be respectful and tactful. This is especially important when col- laborating online. Without tone of voice, facial expressions, and other body language, your words carry all the weight. Remember also that what you write may be forwarded to others.

• When collaborating online, decide as a group how best to exchange drafts and comments. Group members may not all have access to the same equipment and software. Name files carefully.

• Each meeting needs an agenda — and careful attention to the clock. Appoint one person as timekeeper and another person as group leader; a third member should keep a record of the discus- sion and write a summary afterward.

Working on a group writing project

• Define the overall project as clearly as possible, and divide the work into parts.

• Assign each group member specific tasks with deadlines.

• Try to accommodate everyone’s style of working, but make sure everyone performs.

• Work for consensus, if not necessarily total agreement.

17

W-4 Developing Paragraphs

Paragraphs help us organize our writing for our readers. Here one writer recalls when he first understood what a paragraph does.

I can remember picking up my father’s books before I could read. The words themselves were mostly foreign, but I still remem- ber the exact moment when I first understood, with a sudden clarity, the purpose of a paragraph. I didn’t have the vocabulary to say “paragraph,” but I realized that a paragraph was a fence that held words. The words inside a paragraph worked together for a common purpose. They had some specific reason for being inside the same fence. . . .

— Sherman Alexie, “The Joy of Reading and Writing”

This chapter will help you build “fences” around words that work together on a common topic. It offers tips and examples for compos- ing strong paragraphs.

W-4a Focusing on the Main Point

All the sentences in a paragraph should focus on one main idea, as they do in this paragraph from an article about the Mall of America.

There is, of course, nothing naturally abhorrent in the human impulse to dwell in marketplaces or the urge to buy, sell, and trade. Rural Americans traditionally looked forward to the excitement and sensuality of market day; Native Americans traveled long distances to barter and trade at sprawling, festive encampments. In Persian bazaars and in the ancient Greek agoras the very soul of the com- munity was preserved and could be seen, felt, heard, and smelled as it might be nowhere else. All over the planet the humblest of people have always gone to market with hope in their hearts and in expectation of something beyond mere goods — seeking a place where humanity is temporarily in ascendance, a palette for the senses, one another. — David Guterson, “Enclosed. Encyclopedic. Endured. One Week at the Mall of America”

18 W-4a DeveLoPinG PArAGrAPhs

Topic sentences. To help you focus a paragraph on one main point, state that point in a topic sentence . Often, but not always, you might start a paragraph with a topic sentence, as in this example from an essay about legalizing the sale of human kidneys.

Dialysis is harsh, expensive, and, worst of all, only temporary. Acting as an artificial kidney, dialysis mechanically filters the blood of a patient. It works, but not well. With treatment sessions lasting three hours, several times a week, those dependent on dialysis are, in a sense, shackled to a machine for the rest of their lives. Adding excessive stress to the body, dialysis causes patients to feel increasingly faint and tired, usually keeping them from work and other normal activities.

— Joanna MacKay, “Organ Sales Will Save Lives”

Sometimes, you may choose to put the topic sentence at the end of the paragraph. See how this strategy works in another paragraph in the essay about kidneys.

In a legal kidney transplant, everybody gains except the donor. The doctors and nurses are paid for the operation, the patient receives a new kidney, but the donor receives nothing. Sure, the donor will have the warm, uplifting feeling associ- ated with helping a fellow human being, but this is not enough reward for most people to part with a piece of themselves. In an ideal world, the average person would be altruistic enough to donate a kidney with nothing expected in return. The real world, however, is run by money. We pay men for donating sperm, and we pay women for donating ova, yet we expect others to give away an entire organ with no compensation. If the sale of organs were allowed, people would have a greater incentive to help save the life of a stranger.

Occasionally, the main point is so obvious that you don’t need a topic sentence. Especially in narrative writing, you may choose only to imply — not state — the main idea, as in this paragraph from an essay about one Latina writer’s difficulty in learning Spanish.

I came to the United States in 1963 at age 3 with my family and immediately stopped speaking Spanish. College-educated and

19W-4b strategies for Developing the Main Point

seamlessly bilingual when they settled in west Texas, my parents (a psychology professor and an artist) wholeheartedly embraced the notion of the American melting pot. They declared that their two children would speak nothing but inglés. They’d read in Eng- lish, write in English, and fit into Anglo society beautifully.

— Tanya Maria Barrientos, “Se Habla Español”

Sticking to the main point. Whether or not you announce the main point in a topic sentence, be sure that every sentence in a paragraph relates to that point. Edit out any sentences that stray off topic, such as those crossed out below.

In “Se Habla Español,” Tanya Maria Barrientos notes some of

the difficulties she encounters as a Latina who is not fluent in

Spanish. Previous generations of immigrants were encouraged to

speak only English. When someone poses a question to her in

Spanish, she often has to respond in English. In other instances,

she tries to speak Spanish but falters over the past and future

tenses. Situations like these embarrass Barrientos and make her

feel left out of a community she wants to be part of. Native Gua-

temalans who are bilingual do not have such problems.

W-4b Strategies for Developing the Main Point

A good paragraph provides enough good details to develop its main point — to fill out and support that point. Following are some com- mon strategies for fleshing out and organizing paragraphs — and sometimes even for organizing an entire essay.

Analyzing cause and effect. Sometimes, you can develop a para- graph on a topic by analyzing what causes it — or what its effects might be. The following paragraph about air turbulence identifies some of its causes.

A variety of factors can cause turbulence, which is essentially a disturbance in the movement of air. Thunderstorms, the jet

20 W-4b DeveLoPinG PArAGrAPhs

stream, and mountains are some of the more common natural culprits, while what is known as wake turbulence is created by another plane. “Clear air turbulence” is the kind that comes up unexpectedly; it is difficult to detect because there is no moisture or particles to reveal the movement of air.

— Susan Stellin, “The Inevitability of Bumps”

Classifying and dividing. When we classify something, we group it with things that share similar characteristics. See how two social scientists use classification to explain the ways that various types of social network websites (SNSs) make user profiles visible.

The visibility of a profile varies by site and according to user dis- cretion. By default, profiles on Friendster and Tribe.net are crawled by search engines, making them visible to anyone, regardless of whether or not the viewer has an account. Alternatively, LinkedIn controls what a viewer might see based on whether she or he has a paid account. Sites like MySpace allow users to choose whether they want their profile to be public or “friends only.” Facebook takes a different approach — by default, users who are part of the same “network” can view each other’s profiles, unless a profile owner has decided to deny permission to those in their network. Structural variations around visibility and access are one of the primary ways that SNSs differentiate themselves from each other.

—danah boyd and Nicole Ellison, “Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship”

As a writing strategy, division is a way of separating something into parts. See how the following paragraph divides the concept of pres- sure into four kinds.

I see four kinds of pressure working on college students today: economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self- induced pressure. It is easy to look around for villains — to blame the colleges for charging too much money, the professors for assigning too much work, the parents for pushing their children too far, the students for driving themselves too hard. But there are no villains; only victims.

— William Zinsser, “College Pressures”

21W-4b strategies for Developing the Main Point

Comparing and contrasting. Comparing things looks at their similarities; contrasting them focuses on their differences — though often we use the word comparison to refer to both strategies. You can structure a paragraph that compares and contrasts in two ways. One is to shift back and forth between each item point by point, as in this paragraph contrasting the attention given to a football team and to academic teams.

The football team from Mountain View High School won the Arizona state championship last year. Again. Unbeknownst to the vast majority of the school’s student body, so did the Science Bowl Team, the Speech and Debate Team, and the Academic Decathlon team. The football players enjoyed the attentions of an enthralled school, complete with banners, assemblies, and even video announcements in their honor, a virtual barrage of praise and downright deification. As for the three champion academic teams, they received a combined total of around ten minutes of recogni- tion, tacked onto the beginning of a sports assembly. Nearly all of the graduating seniors will remember the name and escapades of their star quarterback; nearly none of them will ever even real- ize that their class produced Arizona’s first national champion in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. After all, why should they? He and his teammates were “just the nerds.” — Grant Penrod,

“Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids”

Another way to compare and contrast two items is to use the block method, covering all the details about one and then all the details about the other. See how this approach works in the following exam- ple, which contrasts photographs of Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton on the opening day of the 1994 baseball season.

The next day photos of the Clintons in action appeared in newspapers around the country. Many papers, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, chose the same two photos to run. The one of Bill Clinton showed him wearing an Indians cap and warm-up jacket. The President, throwing lefty, had turned his shoulders sideways to the plate in preparation for delivery. He was bringing the ball forward from behind his head in a clean-looking throwing action as the photo was snapped. Hillary Clinton was pictured wearing a dark jacket, a scarf, and an oversized Cubs

22 W-4b DeveLoPinG PArAGrAPhs

hat. In preparation for her throw she was standing directly facing the plate. A right-hander, she had the elbow of her throwing arm pointed out in front of her. Her forearm was tilted back, toward her shoulder. The ball rested on her upturned palm. As the picture was taken, she was in the middle of an action that can only be described as throwing like a girl.

— James Fallows, “Throwing Like a Girl”

Another way to make a comparison is with an analogy , explain- ing something unfamiliar by comparing it with something familiar. See how one writer uses analogy to explain the way DNA encodes genetic information.

Although the complexity of cells, tissues, and whole organisms is breathtaking, the way in which the basic DNA instructions are written is astonishingly simple. Like more familiar instruction sys- tems such as language, numbers, or computer binary code, what matters is not so much the symbols themselves but the order in which they appear. Anagrams, for example, “derail” and “redial,” contain exactly the same letters but in a different order, and so the words they spell out have completely different meanings. . . . In exactly the same way the order of the four chemical symbols in DNA embodies the message. “ACGGTA” and “GACAGT” are DNA anagrams that mean completely different things to a cell, just as “derail” and “redial” have different meanings for us. — Bryan Sykes, “So, What Is DNA and What Does It Do?”

Defining. When you define something, you put it in a general cat- egory and then add characteristics that distinguish it from others in that group. The following paragraph provides brief definitions of three tropical fruits.

My grandfather died some years ago and, as is natural, my memories of our childhood spitting games receded from memory until this May, when I visited a friend’s house in Mérida, in the Yucatán peninsula of Mexico. I walked onto a patio speckled with dark stains, as if the heavens had been spitting down on it. I looked up; there were the two trees responsible. One was a lollipop mango tree. Lollipop mangos are little heart-shaped mangos that you eat not by peeling and slicing the flesh, but by biting off their heads

23W-4b strategies for Developing the Main Point

and sucking out the juices. The other was a nispero tree. A nispero (called a loquat in English) is a golf-ball-sized tropical fruit, with a thin rind the color of a deer’s coat and sweet golden flesh. Beyond the patio, I saw a mammee tree, which bears large, football-shaped fruit. The fruit’s flesh is just as sweet as the nispero’s, but it’s much more suggestive — with its carmine hues and its ominous single black seed. My friend’s black-spotted patio would have made my grandmother pull out all three of her mop buckets.

— Ernesto Mestre-Reed, “A Spitting Image of Cuba”

Describing. A descriptive paragraph provides specific details to show what something looks like — and perhaps how it sounds, feels, smells, and tastes. Here a paragraph weaves together details of back- ground, appearance, and speech to create a vivid impression of Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier.

Yeager grew up in Hamlin, West Virginia, a town on the Mud River not far from Nitro, Hurricane, Whirlwind, Salt Rock, Mud, Sod, Crum, Leet, Dollie, Ruth, and Alum Creek. His father was a gas driller (drilling for natural gas in the coalfields), his older brother was a gas driller, and he would have been a gas driller had he not enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1941 at the age of eighteen. In 1943, at twenty, he became a flight officer, i.e., a non-com who was allowed to fly, and went to England to fly fighter planes over France and Germany. Even in the tumult of the war Yeager was somewhat puzzling to a lot of other pilots. He was a short, wiry, but muscular little guy with dark curly hair and a tough-looking face that seemed (to strangers) to be saying: “You best not be lookin’ me in the eye, you peckerwood, or I’ll put four more holes in your nose.” But that wasn’t what was puz- zling. What was puzzling was the way Yeager talked. He seemed to talk with some older forms of English elocution, syntax, and conjugation that had been preserved uphollow in the Appala- chians. There were people up there who never said they disap- proved of anything, they said: “I don’t hold with it.” In the present tense they were willing to help out, like anyone else; but in the past tense they only holped. “H’it weren’t nothin’ I hold with, but I holped him out with it, anyways.”

— Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff

24 W-4b DeveLoPinG PArAGrAPhs

Explaining a process. Sometimes you might write a paragraph that explains a process — telling someone how to do something, such as how to parallel park — or how something is done, such as how bees make honey. Cookbooks explain many processes step-by-step, as in this explanation of how to pit a mango.

The simplest method for pitting a mango is to hold it hori- zontally, then cut it in two lengthwise, slightly off-center, so the knife just misses the pit. Repeat the cut on the other side so a thin layer of flesh remains around the flat pit. Holding a half, flesh-side up, in the palm of your hand, slash the flesh into a lattice, cutting down to, but not through, the peel. Carefully push the center of the peel upward with your thumbs to turn it inside out, opening the cuts of the flesh. Then cut the mango cubes from the peel. — Paulette Mitchell, Vegetarian Appetizers

Narrating. When you write a narrative paragraph in an essay, you tell a story to support a point. In the following paragraph, one author tells about being mistaken for a waitress and how that incident of stereotyping served “as a challenge” that provoked her to read her poetry with new confidence.

One such incident that has stayed with me, though I recognize it as a minor offense, happened on the day of my first public poetry reading. It took place in Miami in a boat-restaurant where we were having lunch before the event. I was nervous and excited as I walked in with my notebook in my hand. An older woman motioned me to her table. Thinking (foolish me) that she wanted me to autograph a copy of my brand-new slender volume of verse, I went over. She ordered a cup of coffee from me, assuming that I was the waitress. Easy enough to mistake my poems for menus, I suppose. I know that it wasn’t an intentional act of cruelty, yet of all the good things that happened that day, I remember that scene most clearly, because it reminded me of what I had to over- come before anyone would take me seriously. In retrospect, I understand that my anger gave my reading fire, that I have almost always taken doubts in my abilities as a challenge — and that the result is, most times, a feeling of satisfaction at having won a convert when I see the cold, appraising eyes warm to my words, the body language change, the smile that indicates that I have opened some avenue for communication. That day I read to that

25W-4c Making Paragraphs Flow

woman and her lowered eyes told me that she was embarrassed at her little faux pas, and when I willed her to look up at me, it was my victory, and she graciously allowed me to punish her with my full attention. We shook hands at the end of the reading, and I never saw her again. She has probably forgotten the whole thing but maybe not. — Judith Ortiz Cofer, The Latin Deli

Using examples. Illustrating a point with one or more examples is a common way to develop a paragraph, like the following one, which uses lyrics as examples to make a point about the similarities between two types of music.

On a happier note, both rap and [country-and-western] fea- ture strong female voices as well. Women rappers are strong, con- fident, and raunchy: “I want a man, not a boy / to approach me / Your lame game really insults me. . . . I’ve got to sit on my feet to come down to your level,” taunt lady rappers Entice and Barbie at Too Short in their duet / duel, “Don’t Fight the Feeling.” Like- wise, Loretta Lynn rose to C&W fame with defiant songs like “Don’t Come Home a-Drinkin’ with Lovin’ on Your Mind” and “Your Squaw Is on the Warpath Tonight.”

— Denise Noe, “Parallel Worlds: The Surprising Similarities (and Differences) of Country-and-Western and Rap”

W-4c Making Paragraphs Flow

There are several ways to make your paragraphs coherent so that readers can follow your train of thought. Repetition, parallelism, and transitions are three strategies for making paragraphs flow.

Repetition. One way to help readers follow your train of thought is to repeat key words and phrases, as well as pronouns referring to those key words.

Not that long ago, blogs were one of those annoying buzz words that you could safely get away with ignoring. The word blog — it works as both noun and verb — is short for Web log. It was coined in 1997 to describe a website where you could post daily scribblings, journal-style, about whatever you like — mostly critiquing and linking to other articles online

26 W-4c DeveLoPinG PArAGrAPhs

that may have sparked your thinking. Unlike a big media out- let, bloggers focus their efforts on narrow topics, often rising to become de facto watchdogs and self-proclaimed experts. Blogs can be about anything: politics, sex, baseball, haiku, car repair. There are blogs about blogs . — Lev Grossman, “Meet Joe Blog”

Instead of repeating one word, you can use synonyms.

Predictably, the love of cinema has waned. People still like going to the movies , and some people still care about and expect something special, necessary from a film . And wonderful films are still being made. . . . But one hardly finds anymore, at least among the young, the distinctive cinephilic love of movies , which is not simply love of but a certain taste in films .

— Susan Sontag, “A Century of Cinema”

Parallel structures. Putting similar items into the same grammati- cal structure helps readers see the connection among those elements and follow your sentences — and your thoughts.

The disease was bubonic plague, present in two forms: one that infected the bloodstream, causing the buboes and internal bleeding and was spread by contact; and a second, more virulent pneumonic type that infected the lungs and was spread by respi- ratory infection. The presence of both at once caused the high mortality and speed of contagion. So lethal was the disease that cases were known of persons going to bed well and dying before they woke , of doctors catching the illness at a bedside and dying before the patient . So rapidly did it spread from one to another that to a French physician, Simon de Covino, it seemed as if one sick person “could infect the whole world.”

— Barbara Tuchman, “‘This Is the End of the World’: The Black Death”

Transitions help readers follow your train of thought — and move from sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph. Here are some common ones:

• To show causes and effects: accordingly, as a result, because, con- sequently, hence, so, then, therefore, thus

• To show comparison: along the same lines, also, in the same way, like, likewise, similarly

27W-4c Making Paragraphs Flow

• To show contrasts or exceptions: although, but, even though, how- ever, in contrast, instead, nevertheless, nonetheless, on the con- trary, on the one hand . . . on the other hand, still, yet

• To show examples: for example, for instance, indeed, in fact, of course, such as

• To show place or position: above, adjacent to, below, beyond, else- where, here, inside, near, outside, there

• To show sequence: again, also, and, and then, besides, finally, first, furthermore, last, moreover, next, too

• To show time: after, as soon as, at first, at last, at the same time, before, eventually, finally, immediately, later, meanwhile, next, simultaneously, so far, soon, then, thereafter

• To signal a summary or conclusion: as a result, as we have seen, finally, in a word, in any event, in brief, in conclusion, in other words, in short, in the end, in the final analysis, on the whole, therefore, thus, to summarize

See how Julia Alvarez uses several transitions to show time and to move her ideas along.

Yolanda, the third of the four girls, became a schoolteacher but not on purpose. For years after graduate school, she wrote down poet under profession in questionnaires and income tax forms, and later amended it to writer-slash-teacher. Finally , acknowledging that she had not written much of anything in years , she announced to her family that she was not a poet any- more. — Julia Alvarez, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

Transitions can also help readers move from paragraph to paragraph; they can even signal connections between paragraphs.

Today the used-book market is exceedingly well organized and efficient. Campus bookstores buy back not only the books that will be used at their university the next semester but also those that will not. Those that are no longer on their lists of required books they resell to national wholesalers, which in turn sell them to college book- stores on campuses where they will be required. This means that even if a text is being adopted for the first time at a particular college, there is almost certain to be an ample supply of used copies.

28 W-4d DeveLoPinG PArAGrAPhs

As a result , publishers have the chance to sell a book to only one of the multiple students who eventually use it. Hence, publish- ers must cover their costs and make their profit in the first semes- ter their books are sold — before used copies swamp the market. That’s why the prices are so high.

— Michael Granof, “Course Requirement: Extortion”

W-4d When to Start a New Paragraph

Paragraphs may be long or short, and there are no strict rules about how many sentences are necessary for a well-developed paragraph. But while a brief, one- or two-sentence paragraph can be used to set off an idea you want to emphasize, too many short paragraphs can make your writing choppy. Here are some reasons for beginning a new paragraph:

• to introduce a new subject or idea

• to signal a new speaker (in dialogue)

• to emphasize an idea

• to give readers a needed pause

W-4e Opening and Closing Paragraphs

A good opening engages readers and provides some indication of what’s to come; a good closing leaves them feeling satisfied — that the story is complete, the questions have been answered, the argu- ment has been made.

Opening paragraphs. Sometimes, you may begin with a general statement that provides context or background for your topic, and then proceed to state your thesis . In the following opening para- graph, the writer begins with a generalization about academic archi- tecture, then ends with a specific thesis stating what the rest of the essay will argue.

Academic architecture invariably projects an identity about campus and community to building users and to the world beyond.

29W-4e opening and Closing Paragraphs

Some institutions desire new buildings to be stand-alone state- ments, with ultramodern exteriors to symbolize the cutting-edge research to be conducted within. Yet in other cases, the architec- tural language established in surrounding precedents may be more appropriate, even for high-tech facilities. Simon Hall, a new $46.6 million interdisciplinary science building on the Indiana University campus, designed by Flad Architects of Madison, Wisconsin, inserts state-of-the-art research infrastructure in a building mass and exte- rior crafted to respond to their surroundings in the established vernacular of the historic Bloomington campus.

— Gregory Hoadley, “Classic Nuance: Simon Hall at Indiana University”

OTHER WAYS OF opening AN ESSAY

• with an anecdote

• with a quotation

• with a question

• with a startling fact or opinion

Concluding paragraphs. One approach is to conclude by summa- rizing the text’s argument. The following paragraph reiterates the writer’s main point and then issues a call for action.

The bottom line is that drastically reducing both crime rates and the number of people behind bars is technically feasible. Whether it is politically and organizationally feasible to achieve this remains an open question. It would be tragic if the politics proved prohibitive, but it would be genuinely criminal if we didn’t even try. — Mark A. R. Kleiman, “The Outpatient Prison”

OTHER WAYS OF CONCLUDING AN ESSAY

• by discussing the implications of your argument

• by asking a question

• by referring to something discussed at the beginning

• by proposing action

❯❯ SEE W-3f for help editing paragraphs.

30

W-5 Designing What You Write

Whether you’re putting together your résumé, creating a web- site for your intramural soccer league, or writing a research essay for a class, you need to think about how to design what you write. Sometimes you can rely on established design conven- tions: in academic writing, there are specific guidelines for head- ings, margins, and line spacing. (This book includes guidelines for MLA , APA , Chicago , and Cse styles. If you’re unsure what spe- cific style is required for your discipline, check with your instructor.)

But often you’ll have to make design decisions on your own — and not just about words and spacing but also about integrating your written text with visuals (and sometimes video and audio clips and hyperlinks) in the most attractive and effective way. No matter what your text includes, its design will influence how your audi- ence responds to it and therefore how well it achieves your purpose. This chapter offers advice on designing print and online texts to suit your purpose , audience , and the rest of your writing context .

W-5a Some Basic Principles of Design

Be consistent. To keep readers oriented as they browse multipage documents or websites, use design elements consistently. In a print academic essay, choose a single font for your main text and use bold- face or italics for headings. In writing for the web, place navigation buttons and other major elements in the same place on every page. In a presentation, use the same background and font for each slide unless there’s a good reason for differences.

Keep it simple. Help readers see quickly — even intuitively — what’s in your text and where to find specific information. Add headings to help them see the parts, use consistent colors and fonts to help them recognize key elements, set off steps in lists, and use white

31W-5b some elements of Design

space to set off blocks of text or highlight certain elements. Resist the temptation to fill pages with unnecessary graphics or animations.

Aim for balance. Create balance through the use of margins, images, headings, and spacing. MLA, APA, Chicago, and CSE styles have specific design guidelines for academic research papers that cover these elements. A website or magazine might balance a large image with a narrow column of text or use pull quotes and illustra- tions to break up columns of dense vertical text.

Use color and contrast carefully. Academic readers usually expect black text on a white background, with perhaps one other color for headings. Presentation slides and webpages are most read- able with dark text on a plain, light- colored background. Make sure your audience will be able to distinguish any color variations in your text well enough to grasp your meaning. Remember that an online text with several colors might be printed out and read in black and white and that not everyone can see all colors; red- green contrasts can be particularly challenging for some people.

Use available templates. To save time and simplify design deci- sions, take advantage of templates. In Microsoft Word, for example, you can customize font, spacing, indents, and other features that will automatically be applied to your document. Websites that host personal webpages and presentation software also offer templates that you can use or modify.

W-5b Some Elements of Design

Whatever your text, you have various design decisions to make. The following guidelines will help you make those decisions.

Fonts. The fonts you choose will affect how well readers can read your text. For most academic writing, you’ll want to use 10- or 11- or 12-point type. It’s usually a good idea to use a serif font (such as Times New Roman or Bookman) for your main text, reserving sans serif (such as Calibri, Verdana, or Century Gothic) for headings and parts

32 W-5b DesiGninG WhAt You Write

you want to highlight. Decorative fonts (such as ) should be used sparingly. If you use more than one font, use each one consistently: one for headings, one for captions, one for the main body of your text. You won’t often need more than two or three fonts in any one text.

Every common font has regular, bold, and italic forms. In general, use regular for the main text, bold for major headings, and italic for titles of books and other long works. If, however, you are following a specific discipline’s style, be sure you conform to its requirements.

Layout. Layout is the way text is arranged on a page. An academic essay, for example, will usually have a title centered at the top and one-inch margins all around. Items such as lists, tables, headings, and images should be arranged consistently.

Line spacing. Generally, academic writing is double-spaced, whereas letters and résumés are usually single-spaced. In addition, you’ll often need to add an extra space to set off parts of a text — lists, for instance, or headings.

Paragraphs. In general, indent paragraphs five spaces when your text is double-spaced; either indent or skip a line between paragraphs that are single-spaced. When preparing a text intended for online use, single-space your document, skip a line between paragraphs, and begin each paragraph flush left (no indent).

Lists. Use a list format for information that you want to set off and make easily accessible. Number the items when the sequence matters (in instructions, for example); use bullets when the order is not impor- tant. Set off lists with an extra line of space above and below, and add extra space between the items on a list if necessary for legibility.

White space and margins. To make your text attractive and readable, use white space to separate its various parts. In general, use one-inch margins for the text of an essay or report. Unless you’re following a format that has specific guidelines (such as APA), include space above headings, above and below lists, and around photos, graphs, and other visuals.

33W-5c visuals

Headings. Headings make the structure of a text easier to follow and help readers find specific information. Some academic fields require standard headings — announcing a list of works cited , for example, to follow MLA format. Whenever you include headings, you need to decide how to phrase them, what fonts to use, and where to position them.

Phrase headings consistently. Make your headings succinct and paral- lel in structure. For example, you might make all the headings nouns (Mushrooms), noun phrases (Kinds of Mushrooms), gerund phrases (Rec- ognizing Kinds of Mushrooms), or questions (How Do I Identify Mush- rooms?). Whatever form you decide on, use it consistently.

Make headings visible. Consider setting headings in bold or italics, or with an underline — or in a different, or slightly larger, font. When you have several levels of headings, use capitalization, bold, and italics to distinguish among the various levels:

First-Level head

Second-Level Head

Third-level head

Some academic fields have specific requirements about formatting headings; see the MLA , APA , Chicago , and Cse chapters for details.

Position headings appropriately. If you’re following APA or MLA for- mat, center first-level headings. If you are not following a prescribed format, you get to decide where to position the headings: centered, flush with the left margin, or even alongside the text, in a wide left- hand margin. Position each level of head consistently.

W-5c Visuals

Visuals (including video) can help make a point in ways that written words alone cannot. In print documents, you can often use photos, charts, graphs, and diagrams. Online or in spoken presentations, your options expand to include video and printed handouts. But choose carefully — and be sure that any items you incorporate contribute to your point and are appropriate for your purpose and audience.

34 W-5c DesiGninG WhAt You Write

Photographs can support an argument,

illustrate events and processes, present

other points of view, and help readers

place your information in time and

space. A discussion of Google Glass

might be clearer when accompanied by

this photo.

Pie charts can be used to show how a

whole is divided into parts or how parts

of a whole relate to one another. Percent-

ages in a pie chart should always add up

to 100. Each segment should be labeled

clearly, as in these two charts about

English football league finances.

tables are useful for displaying numeri-

cal information concisely, especially

when several items are being compared.

Presenting information in columns and

rows permits readers to find data and

identify relationships among the items.

35W-5c visuals

Line graphs are a good way of showing

changes in data over time. Each line here

represents a different social- networking

site. Plotting the lines together enables

readers to compare the data at different

points in time. Be sure to label the x and

y axes and limit the number of lines to

four at the most.

Bar graphs are useful for comparing

quantitative data — measurements of

how much or how many. Bars can be

horizontal or vertical; this one uses verti-

cal bars to show IKEA’s earnings over the

course of twelve years. Some software

offers 3-D and other special effects, but

simple graphs are often easier to read.

Diagrams and flowcharts are ways of

showing relationships and processes.

This diagram shows how carbon moves

between the Earth and its atmosphere.

Flowcharts can be made by using widely

available templates; diagrams, on the

other hand, can range from simple draw-

ings to works of art.

36 W-5c DesiGninG WhAt You Write

SOME TIPS FOR USING VISUALS

• Choose visuals that relate directly to your subject, support your assertions, and add information that words alone can’t provide as clearly or easily. Avoid clip art.

• In academic writing, number each image, using separate sequences for figures and tables: Fig. 1, Table 1.

• Refer to the visual before it appears. Position images as close as possible to the relevant discussion. Explain the information you’re presenting — don’t expect it to speak for itself: “As Table 1 shows, Italy’s economic growth rate has been declining for thirty years.”

• Provide a title or caption for each image to identify it and explain its significance for your text: “Table 1. Italian Economic Growth Rate, 1980–2010.”

• Label the parts of charts, graphs, and diagrams clearly — sections of a pie chart, colors in a line graph, items in a diagram — to ensure that your audience will understand what they show.

• document any visual you found or adapted from another source. If you use data to create a graph or chart, include source informa- tion directly below.

• Consider linking to a file rather than embedding it. Large files may be hard to upload without altering quality and can clog email inboxes. Linking also allows readers to see the original context.

• Integrate a video clip by pasting its URL into your text or adding an image from the video that you’ve hyperlinked to the source. To include your own video, upload it to YouTube; choose the Pri- vate setting to limit access.

• Obtain permission if you publish a visual in any form, including on the web. If you’re in doubt about whether or not you can use an item, check “fair use” guidelines online.

If you alter a visual in some way — such as darkening a photo or crop- ping to include only a portion of it — tell readers what you’ve changed and why. Be sure to represent the original content accurately, and provide relevant information about the source. Be careful with charts and graphs as well — changing the scale on a bar graph, for example, may mislead readers.

37

W-6 Giving Presentations

Whether in class as part of a research project, on campus in a campaign for student government, or at a wedding in a toast to the newlyweds, you may be called on to give spoken presentations — sometimes, in combination with print and electronic media. What- ever the occasion, you need to make your points clear and memo- rable. This chapter offers guidelines to help you prepare and deliver effective presentations.

W-6a Key Elements of Spoken Presentations

A clear structure. Spoken texts need a clear organization so that your audience can follow you. The beginning needs to engage their interest, make clear what you will talk about, and perhaps forecast the central points of your talk. The main part should focus on a few key points — only as many as your audience can be expected to absorb. The ending should leave your audience something to remem- ber, think about, or do.

In the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln follows a chrono- logical structure. He begins with a reference to the past (“Four score and seven years ago”), segues to the present (“Now we are engaged in a great civil war”), looks to the future (“to the great task remaining before us”), and ends with a dramatic resolution: “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Signpost language to keep your audience on track. Provide cues, especially transitions from one point to the next, to help your audience follow what you’re saying. Sometimes, you’ll also want to summarize a complex point.

A tone to suit the occasion. Lincoln was speaking at a serious, formal event, the dedication of a national cemetery , and his tone

38 W-6b GivinG PresentAtions

was formal and solemn. In a presentation to a panel of professors, you probably would want to avoid too much slang and speak in com- plete sentences. Speaking on the same topic to a neighborhood group, however, you would likely want to speak more informally .

Repetition and parallel structure can lend power to a presenta- tion, making it easy to follow — and likely to be remembered. In the Gettysburg Address, the repetition and parallel structure in “We can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow” cre- ate a rhythm that engages listeners and at the same time unifies the text — one reason these words stay with us more than 150 years after they were written and delivered.

Slides and other media. Depending on the topic and occasion, you may need to use slides, video or audio clips, handouts, flip charts, whiteboards, and so on to present certain information or highlight key points.

W-6b Tips for Composing a Presentation

Budget your time. A five- minute presentation calls for about two and a half double-spaced pages of writing, and ten minutes means four or five pages. Your introduction and conclusion should each take about one- tenth of the total time available; audience responses (if the format allows), about one- fifth; and the main part of the talk, the rest.

Organize and draft your presentation. Structure and word your presentation so that your audience can easily follow it — and remem- ber what you say.

• Draft an introduction that engages your audience’s interest and tells them what to expect. Depending on the writing context , you may decide to begin with humor, with an anecdote , or with something about the occasion for your talk. Provide any back- ground information the audience needs, summarize your main points, and outline how you’ll proceed.

39W-6b tips for Composing a Presentation

• In the main part of your talk, present your key points in more detail, and support them with reasons and evidence . If in drafting you find you have too many points for the time available, leave out the less important ones.

• Let your listeners know when you’re concluding (but try to avoid saying “in conclusion”). Then restate your main points, and explain why they’re important. Thank your listeners, and offer to take questions and comments if the format allows.

Consider whether to use visuals. Especially when you’re present- ing complex information, it helps to let your audience see it as well as hear it. Remember, though, that visuals should be a means of conveying information, not mere decoration.

• Slides are useful for listing main points and projecting illustra- tions, tables, and graphs.

• Videos, animations, and audio can add additional information.

• Flip charts, whiteboards, or chalkboards enable you to create visu- als as you speak or to track audience comments.

• Posters can serve as the main part of a presentation, providing a summary of your points. You then offer only a brief introduction and answer questions.

• Handouts can provide additional information, lists of works cited, or copies of your slides.

What visual tools (if any) you decide to use is partly determined by how your presentation will be delivered: face to face? through a pod- cast? a web conference? Make sure that any necessary equipment, programs, and electrical and internet connections are available — and that they work. You may also have to move furniture or the screen to make sure everyone can see your visuals. Finally, have a backup plan. Computers fail; the internet may not work. Have an alternative in case of problems.

Presentation software. PowerPoint or other presentation software enables you to include images, video, and sound in addition to writ-

40 W-6b GivinG PresentAtions

ten text. Prezi allows you to arrange slides in various designs, and zoom in and out. Here are some tips for writing and designing slides.

• Use lists or images, not paragraphs. Use slides to emphasize your main points, not to reproduce your talk. A list of brief points, presented one by one, reinforces your words; charts and images can provide additional information that the audience can take in quickly.

• Make your text easy for the audience to read. fonts should be at least 18 points. On slides, sans serif fonts like Arial and Helvetica are easier to read than serif fonts like Times New Roman. Avoid using all capital letters, which are hard to read.

This slide about the 1948 presidential election uses a sans- serif font and includes an image. Using red is fine, as long as the contrast is clear and the text will be legible to those who can’t see the color.

41W-6c Delivering a Presentation

• Choose colors carefully. Your text and illustrations need to contrast with the background. Dark content on a light background is eas- ier to see and read than the reverse. And remember that not everyone sees all colors; be sure your audience doesn’t need to see particular colors in order to get your meaning. Red- green and blue- yellow contrasts are hard for some people to see.

• Use bells and whistles sparingly, if at all. Decorative backgrounds, letters that fade in and out or dance across the screen, and sound effects can be more distracting than helpful; use them only if they help to make your point.

• Mark your text. Indicate in your notes each place where you need to advance to the next slide.

Handouts. Label handouts with your name and the date and title of the presentation. Unless your audience needs to consult them during the presentation, distribute them after you’ve finished.

W-6c Delivering a Presentation

Practice. Practice, practice, and then practice some more. The bet- ter you know your talk, the more confident you’ll be. Your audience will respond positively to that confidence. If you’re reading a pre- pared text rather than using notes, practice by recording it as you read it; listen for spots that sound as if you’re reading, and try to sound more relaxed. Time your talk to be sure you don’t go beyond your limit. If possible, practice with a small group of friends to get used to having an audience.

Speak clearly. If listeners miss important words or phrases because you don’t pronounce them distinctly, your talk will not succeed. Often you’ll have to make yourself speak more slowly than usual.

Pause for emphasis. In writing, you have white space and punctua- tion to show readers where an idea or discussion ends. When speak- ing, a pause helps to signal the end of a thought, gives the audience

42 W-6c GivinG PresentAtions

a moment to consider what you’ve just said, or prepares them for a surprising or amusing statement.

Stand up (or sit up) straight, and look at your audience. If you’re in the same room as your audience, try to maintain eye con- tact. If that’s uncomfortable, fake it: focus on the wall just above someone in the back of the room. If you stand or sit up straight, you’ll project confidence in what you’re saying — and your audience will trust that you know what you’re talking about.

Use gestures for emphasis. To overcome any nervousness and stiffness, take some deep breaths, try to relax, and move your arms and the rest of your body as you would if you were talking to a friend. Use your hands for emphasis; watch politicians on C- SPAN to see how people who speak on a regular basis use gestures as part of their delivery.

❯❯ SEE W-1 for help analyzing your writing context. See W-3 for guidelines on drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading. To read an example presentation, go to digital.wwnorton.com /littleseagull3.

http://digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3
http://digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3
43

W-7 Arguments

Everything we say or do presents some kind of argument, takes some kind of position. Often we take overt positions: “Everyone in the United States is entitled to affordable health care.” “Photoshopped images should carry disclosure notices.” In college course work, you are constantly called on to argue positions: in an English class, you may argue for a certain interpretation of a poem; in a business course, you may argue for the merits of a flat tax. All of those positions are arguable — people of goodwill can agree or disagree with them. This chapter provides a description of the key elements of an essay that argues a position and tips for writing one.

W-7a Key Elements of an Argument

A clear and arguable position. At the heart of every argument is a claim with which people may reasonably disagree. Some claims are not arguable because they’re matters of taste or opinion (“I love kale”), of fact (“The first Star Wars movie came out in 1977”), or belief or faith (“There is life after death”). To be arguable, a position must reflect one of at least two points of view, making reasoned argument neces- sary: file sharing should (or should not) be considered fair use; selling human organs should be legal (or illegal). In college writing, you will often argue not that a position is correct but that it is plausible — that it is reasonable, supportable, and worthy of being taken seriously.

Necessary background information. Sometimes, we need to pro- vide some background on a topic so that readers can understand what is being argued. To argue that file sharing should be considered fair use, for example, you might begin by describing the rise in file sharing and explaining fair-use laws.

Good reasons. By itself, a position does not make an argument; the argument comes when a writer offers reasons to support the position. There are many kinds of good reasons . You might argue that file

44 W-7a ArGuMents

sharing should be fair use by comparing, showing many examples of so-called piracy in other media. You might base an argument in favor of legalizing the sale of human organs on the fact that transplants save lives and that regulation would protect impoverished people who currently sell their organs on the black market.

Convincing evidence. Once you’ve given reasons for your position, you then need to offer evidence for your reasons: facts, statistics, testimony, anecdotes, textual examples, and so on. For example, to support your position that fast food should be taxed, you might cite a nutrition expert who links obesity to fast food, offer facts that demonstrate the health-care costs of widespread obesity, and provide statistics that show how taxation affects behavior.

Appeals to readers’ values. Effective arguments appeal to readers’ values and emotions. For example, arguing that legalizing organ sales will save the lives of those in need of transplants appeals to compas- sion — a deeply held value. To appeal to readers’ emotions, you might describe the plight of those who are dying in want of a transplant. Keep in mind, however, that emotional appeals can make readers feel manipulated — and then less likely to accept an argument.

A trustworthy tone . Readers need to trust the person who’s mak- ing the argument. There are many ways of establishing yourself (and your argument) as trustworthy: by providing facts that dem- onstrate your knowledge of the subject, by indicating that you have some experience with it, by demonstrating that you’ve considered perspectives other than your own, and by showing that you’re fair and honest.

Careful consideration of other positions. No matter how reason- able you are in arguing your position, others may disagree or hold other positions. So you need to acknowledge any likely counter- arguments and, if possible, refute them. For example, you might acknowledge that some people object to file sharing because they think “piracy” is inherently wrong, but then you could counter that

45W-7b tips for Writing an Argument

some types of content piracy have historically been productive for an industry in general, including the pirated firms — and give examples.

W-7b Tips for Writing an Argument

Choosing a topic. A fully developed argument requires significant work and time, so choosing a topic in which you’re interested is very important. Widely debated topics such as animal rights or gun control can be difficult to write on if you have no personal connection to them. Better topics include those that interest you right now, are focused, and have some personal connection to your life. Here’s one good way to generate ideas for a topic that meets those three criteria:

Start with your roles in life. Make four columns with the headings “Personal,” “Family,” “Public,” and “School.” Then list the roles you play in life that relate to each heading. Under “School,” for example, your list might include college student, dorm resident, chemistry major, and work-study employee.

Identify issues that interest you. Pick a few of the roles you list, and identify the issues that interest or concern you. Try wording each issue as a question starting with should: Should college cost less than it does? Should student achievement be measured by standardized tests?

Try framing your topic as a problem: Why has college tuition risen so rapidly in recent years? What would be better than standardized tests for measuring student achievement? This strategy will help you think about the issue and find a clear focus for your essay.

Choose one issue to write about. It is a preliminary choice; if you find later that you have trouble writing about it, you’ll be able to go back to your list and choose another.

Generating ideas and text. Most essays that successfully argue a position share certain features that make them interesting and persuasive. Remember that your goal is to stake out a position and convince your readers that it’s plausible.

46 W-7b ArGuMents

Explore the issue. Write out whatever you know about the issue, per- haps by freewriting or making an outline . Consider what interests you about the topic and what more you may need to learn in order to write about it. It may help to do some preliminary research; start with one general source of information (a news magazine or Wikipedia, for example) to find out the main questions raised about your issue and to get some ideas about how you might argue it. Make sure your issue is arguable — and worth arguing about.

Draft a thesis . Once you’ve explored the issue thoroughly, decide your position on it, and write it out as a sentence — for example, “Baseball players who use steroids should not be eligible for the Hall of Fame.” In most cases you’ll then want to qualify your thesis — to acknowledge that yours is not the only plausible position, and to limit your topic and make it manageable. There are various ways to qualify your thesis: in certain circumstances, under certain conditions, with these limitations, and so on. For example,“Though baseball players who use steroids should not be eligible for the Hall of Fame, their records and achievements will still stand.”

Come up with good reasons . You need to convince your readers that your thesis is plausible. Start by stating your position and then answering the question why?

THESIS: Baseball players who use steroids should not be eligible for the Hall of Fame.

REASON: (Because) Using steroids gives athletes unfair advantages.

Keep in mind that you will likely have a further reason, a principle that underlies the reason you give for your claim .

UNDERLYING REASON: Gaining an unfair advantage is cheating.

UNDERLYING REASON: Cheating is wrong.

This analysis can continue indefinitely as the underlying reasons grow more and more general and abstract. When you’ve listed several reasons, consider which are the most persuasive ones given your purpose and audience .

47W-7b tips for Writing an Argument

Find evidence to support your reasons. Here are some kinds of evi- dence you can offer as support: facts; statistics; testimony by authori- ties and experts; anecdotes; case studies and observations; textual evidence; and visual evidence like photos, graphs, and videos.

Identify other positions. Think about positions that differ from yours and about the reasons that might be given for those positions. Even if you can’t refute such doubts about and objections to your position, you need to acknowledge them to show that you’ve considered other perspectives. To refute other positions, state them as clearly and as fairly as you can, and then show why you believe they are wrong. Per- haps the reasoning is faulty or the supporting evidence is inadequate. Acknowledge their merits, if any, but emphasize their shortcomings.

Ways of organizing an argument. Sometimes, you’ll want to give all the reasons for your argument first, followed by discussion of all the counterarguments. Alternatively, you might discuss each reason and any counterargument to it together. And be sure to consider the order in which you discuss your reasons. Usually, what comes last makes the strongest impression on readers, and what comes in the middle makes the weakest impression.

[Reasons to support your argument, followed by counterarguments]

Introduce

the issue,

and provide

any

background

information. End with

a call to

action, a

restatement

of your

thesis, or a

statement of

implications.

State your

thesis.

Give the

first reason,

with

support.

Give the

second

reason, with

support.

Continue as

needed.

Acknowledge

and / or

refute other

arguments.

48 W-7b ArGuMents

[Reason / counterargument, reason / counterargument]

Introduce the

issue, and

provide

background

information.

End with

a call to

action, a

restatement,

of your

thesis, or a

statement of

implications.

State your

thesis.

Give the first

reason, with

support.

Give the second

reason, with

support.

Acknowledge

and / or refute

other arguments.

Acknowledge

and / or refute

other arguments.

❯❯ SEE W-1 for help analyzing your writing context. See W-3 for guidelines on drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading your argument. See W-16b for guidelines on analyzing an argument. To read an example argument essay, go to digital.wwnorton.com /littleseagull3.

Continue

this pattern

as needed,

discussing

each reason

and other

arguments

one by one.

http://digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3
http://digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3
49

W-8 Rhetorical Analyses

Both the Huffington Post and National Review cover the same events, but they each interpret them differently. All toothpaste ads claim to make teeth “the whitest.” Those are just a couple of examples that demonstrate why we need to be careful, analytical readers of magazines and newspapers, websites, ads, political documents, even textbooks — to understand not only what texts say but also how they say it. Assignments in many disciplines call for a rhetorical analysis: you may be asked to analyze the use of color and space in Edward Hopper’s painting Nighthawks for an art history course, or to analyze a set of data to find the standard deviation in a statistics course. This chapter describes the key elements of an essay that analyzes a text and provides tips for writing one.

W-8a Key Elements of a Rhetorical Analysis

A summary of the text. Your readers may not know the text you are analyzing, so you need to include it or tell them about it before you can analyze it. A well-known text such as the Gettysburg Address may require only a brief description, but less well-known texts require a more detailed summary . For an analysis of several advertisements, for example, you’d likely show several ads and also describe them in some detail.

Attention to the context. All texts are part of ongoing conversa- tions, controversies, or debates, so to understand a text, you need to understand its larger context. To analyze the lyrics of a new hip-hop song, you might need to introduce other artists that the lyrics refer to or explain how the lyrics relate to aspects of hip-hop culture.

A clear interpretation or judgment. Your goal is to lead readers through a careful examination of the text to some kind of interpreta- tion or reasoned judgment, generally announced clearly in a thesis

50 W-8b rhetoriCAL AnALYses

statement. When you interpret something, you explain what you think it means. If you’re analyzing the TV show Family Guy, you might argue that a particular episode is a parody of the political controversy over health care. In an analysis of a cologne advertisement, you might explain how the ad encourages consumers to objectify themselves.

Reasonable support for your conclusions. You’ll need to sup- port your analysis with evidence from the text itself and sometimes from other sources. You might support your interpretation by quoting passages from a written text or referring to images in a visual text. To argue that Barack Obama’s eulogy for Reverend Pinckney aligns him with Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln, you might trace the ways his wording echoes that of “I Have a Dream” and Lin- coln’s second inaugural address, for example. Note that the support you offer need only be “reasonable” — there is never only one way to interpret something.

W-8b Tips for Writing a Rhetorical Analysis

Choosing a text to analyze. Most of the time, you will be assigned a text or a type of text to analyze: the work of a political philosopher in a political science class, a speech in a history or communications course, a painting or sculpture in an art class, and so on. If you must choose a text to analyze, look for one that suits the assignment — one that is neither too large or complex to analyze thoroughly nor too brief or limited to generate sufficient material. You might also analyze three or four texts by examining elements common to all.

Generating ideas and text. In analyzing a text, your goal is to understand what it says, how it works, and what it means. To do so, you may find it helpful to follow a certain sequence for your analysis: read, respond, summarize, analyze, and draw conclusions.

Read to see what the text says. Start by reading carefully, noting the main ideas, key words and phrases, and anything that seems note- worthy or questionable.

51W-8b tips for Writing a rhetorical Analysis

Once you have a sense of what the text says, consider your initial response. What’s your reaction to the argument, the tone, the language, the images? Do you find the text difficult? puzzling? Do you agree with what the writer says? Whatever your reaction, think about how you react — and why.

Then consolidate your understanding of the text by summarizing or describing it in your own words.

Decide what you want to analyze. Think about what you find most interesting about the text and why. Does the language interest you? the imagery? the larger context? Something else? You might begin your analysis by exploring what attracted your notice.

Think about the larger context. All texts are part of larger conversa- tions, and academic texts include documentation partly to weave in voices from the conversation. Being aware of that larger context can help you better understand what you’re reading; here are some things to consider:

• What larger conversation does the text respond to? What’s moti- vated the writer? Does he or she respond to something others have said?

• Who else cares about this topic? Those cited could be assumed to care, but does the author indicate who else cares — and why the topic matters in the first place?

• Where is the writer coming from? Is there any terminology that suggests that he or she is allied with a particular intellectual school or academic discipline? Words like false consciousness or hegemony, for instance, would suggest that the text was written by a Marxist scholar.

Consider what you know about the writer or artist. The credentials, other work, reputation, stance, and beliefs of the person who cre- ated the text are all useful windows into understanding it. Write a sentence or two summarizing what you know about the creator and how that information affects your understanding of the text.

52 W-8b rhetoriCAL AnALYses

Study how the text works. Written texts are made up of various com- ponents, including words, sentences, headings, punctuation — and sometimes images as well. Visual texts might be made up of images, lines, angles, color, light and shadow, and sometimes words. Look for patterns in the way these elements are used. Write a sentence or two describing the patterns you discover and how they contribute to what the text says.

Analyze the argument. An important part of understanding any text is to recognize its argument — what the writer or artist wants the audience to believe, feel, or do.

• What is the claim? What is the main point the writer is trying to make? Is there a clearly stated thesis , or is it merely implied?

• What support does the writer offer for the claim? What reasons are given to support the claim, and what evidence backs up those reasons? Are the reasons plausible and sufficient?

• How evenhandedly does the writer present the issues? Are the argu- ments appropriately qualified? Is there any mention of counter- arguments — and if so, how does the writer deal with them?

• What authorities or other sources of information are cited? How credible and current are they?

• Do you see any logical fallacies ? Arguments that rely on faulty reasoning can seem plausible, and they can be persuasive — but they’re misleading.

After considering these questions, write a sentence or two summariz- ing the argument and your reactions to it.

Come up with a thesis. Once you’ve studied the text thoroughly, you need to identify your analytical goal. Do you want to show that the text has a certain meaning? uses certain techniques to achieve its purposes? tries to influence its audience in particular ways? relates to some larger context in some significant manner? Something else? Come up with a tentative thesis to guide you — but be aware that your thesis may change as you work.

53W-8b tips for Writing a rhetorical Analysis

Ways of organizing a rhetorical analysis. Consider how to orga- nize the information you’ve gathered to best support your thesis. Your analysis might be structured in at least two ways. You might discuss patterns or themes that run through the text. Alternatively, you might analyze each text or section of text separately.

[Thematically]

Analyze the text

• identify a theme or pattern

• use examples from the text

and appropriate contexts

as evidence

Continue as needed.

Conclude by

restating the

thesis and / or

explaining what

your analysis

reveals about the

text.

Introduce your

analysis:

• summarize or

describe the text

• provide any

necessary context

State your thesis.

[Part by part, or text by text]

Conclude by

restating the

thesis and / or

explaining what

your analysis

reveals about the

text.

Introduce your

analysis:

• summarize or

describe the text

• provide any

necessary context

State your thesis.

Analyze first section of text.

Analyze next section of text.

Continue

as needed.

❯❯ SEE W-1 for help analyzing your writing context. See W-3 for guidelines on drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading a textual analysis. To read an example rhetorical analysis, go to digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3.

http://digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3
54

W-9 Reports

Many kinds of writing report information. Newspapers report on local and world events; textbooks give information about biology, history, writing; websites provide information about products ( jcrew.com), people ( lebronjames.com), institutions (smithsonian.org). You’ve likely done a lot of writing that reports information, from a third- grade report on the water cycle to an essay for a history class report- ing on migrants during the Great Depression. Very often this kind of writing calls for research: you need to know your subject in order to report on it. This chapter describes the key elements found in most reports and offers tips for writing one.

W-9a Key Elements of a Report

A tightly focused topic. The goal of this kind of writing is to inform readers about something without digressing — and without, in gen- eral, bringing in the writer’s own opinions. If you’re writing a report on the causes of air turbulence, for example, you probably shouldn’t get into complaints about the delays on your last flight.

Accurate, well-researched information. Reports usually require some research. The kind of research depends on the topic. Library research may be necessary for some topics—for a report on migrant laborers during the Great Depression, for example. Most current top- ics, however, require internet research. Some topics may require field research — interviews, observations, and so on. For a report on local farming, for example, you might interview some local farmers.

Various writing strategies. You’ll usually use a number of organiz- ing strategies — to describe something, explain a process, and so on. For example, a report on the benefits of exercise might require that you classify types of exercise, analyze the effects of each type, and compare the benefits of each.

http://www.jcrew.com
http://www.smithsonian.org
http://www.lebronjames.com
55W-9b tips for Writing a report

Clear definitions. Reports need to provide clear definitions of any key terms that the audience may not know. For a report on the 2008 financial crisis for a general audience, for example, you might need to define terms such as mortgage-backed security and predatory lending.

Appropriate design. Some information is best presented in para- graphs, but other information may be easier to present (and to read) in lists, tables, diagrams, and other visuals . Numerical data, for instance, can be easier to understand in a table than in a paragraph. A photograph can help readers see a subject, such as an image of someone texting while driving in a report on car accidents.

W-9b Tips for Writing a Report

Choosing a topic. If you get to choose your topic, consider what interests you and what you wish you knew more about. The pos- sible topics for informational reports are limitless, but the topics that you’re most likely to write well on are those that engage you. They may be academic in nature or reflect your personal interests, or both.

If your topic is assigned, be sure to understand what you’re required to do. Some assignments are specific: “Explain the physics of roller coasters.” If, however, your assignment is broad — “Explain some aspect of the US government” — try focusing on a more limited aspect of that topic, preferably one that interests you: federalism, the electoral college, filibusters. Even if an assignment seems to offer little flexibility, you will need to decide how to research the topic and how to develop your report to appeal to your audience. And some- times even narrow topics can be shaped to fit your own interests.

Generating ideas and text. Start by exploring whatever you know or want to know about your topic, perhaps by freewriting , looping , or clustering , all activities that will help you come up with ideas. Then you’ll need to narrow your focus.

56 W-9b rePorts

Narrow your topic. You may know which aspect of the topic you want to focus on, but often you’ll need to do some research first — and that research may change your thinking and your focus. Start with sources that can give you a general sense of the subject, such as a Wikipedia entry or an interview with an expert. Your goal at this point is to find topics to report on and then to focus on one that you will be able to cover.

Come up with a tentative thesis. Once you narrow your topic, write out a statement saying what you plan to report on or explain. A good thesis is potentially interesting (to you and your readers) and limits your topic enough to be manageable. For a report on the ben- efits of exercise, for instance, your thesis might be “While weight lift- ing can build strength and endurance, regular cardiovascular exercise offers greater overall health benefits.”

Do any necessary research. Focus your efforts by outlining what you expect to discuss. Identify any aspects you’ll need to research. Think about what kinds of information will be most informative for your audience, and be sure to consult multiple sources and perspectives. Revisit and finalize your thesis in light of your research findings.

Ways of organizing a report

[Reports on topics that are unfamiliar to readers]

Provide

background,

and state

your thesis.

Explain by

comparing,

classifying,

analyzing

causes or

effects,

explaining

processes,

and so on.

Conclude by

restating

your thesis

or referring

to your

beginning.

Begin

with an

anecdote,

quote, or

other

means of

interesting

your

readers.

Describe

your topic,

defining

any key

terms.

57W-9b tips for Writing a report

[Reports on an event]

Narrate the first event or procedure.

Narrate the second event or procedure.

Narrate the third event or procedure.

Repeat as necessary.

Introduce the

topic; provide

any necessary

background

information;

state your

thesis.

Conclude by

telling what

happened,

stating the

implications,

or some other

means.

[Reports that compare by the block method]

Describe one item.

Describe the other items, following

the same structure used to describe

the first.

Conclude by

restating your

thesis.

Introduce the

topic; provide

any necessary

background

information;

state your

thesis.

[Reports that compare by the point-by-point method]

Identify the first point of comparison,

and discuss how each item relates to

that point.

Identify the second point of compari-

son, and discuss how each item

relates to that point, following the

same order used for the first point. Conclude by

restating your

thesis.

Introduce the

topic; provide

any necessary

background

information;

state your

thesis.

Repeat as necessary.

❯❯ SEE W-1 for help analyzing your writing context. See W-3 for guidelines on drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading your report. To read an example report, go to digital.wwnorton.com /littleseagull3.

http://digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3
http://digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3
58

W-10 Personal Narratives

Narratives are stories, and we read and tell them for many different purposes. Parents read their children bedtime stories as an evening ritual. Preachers base their sermons on religious stories to teach les- sons about moral behavior. Grandparents tell how things used to be, sometimes telling the same stories year after year. College applicants write about significant moments in their lives. Writing students are often called on to compose narratives to explore their personal expe- riences. This chapter describes the key elements of personal narra- tives and provides tips for writing one.

W-10a Key Elements of a Personal Narrative

A well-told story. Most narratives set up some sort of situation that needs to be resolved. That need for resolution makes readers want to keep reading. You might write about a challenge you’ve over- come, for example, such as learning a new language or dealing with some kind of discrimination.

Vivid detail. Details can bring a narrative to life by giving readers vivid mental images of the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures of the world in which your story takes place. The details you use when describing something can help readers picture places, people, and events; dialogue can help them hear what is being said. To give readers a picture of your childhood home in the country, you might describe the gnarled apple trees in your backyard and the sound of crickets chirping on a spring night. Similarly, dialogue that lets read- ers hear your father’s sharp reprimand after you hit a ball through the back window can help them understand how you felt at the time. Depending on your topic and your medium, you may want to provide some of the details in audio or visual form.

Some indication of the narrative’s significance. Narratives usu- ally have a point; you need to make clear why the incident mat-

59W-10b tips for Writing a Personal narrative

ters to you, or how the narrative supports a larger argument. You may reveal its significance in various ways, but try not to state it too directly, as if it were a kind of moral of the story. A story about the lasting impression of a conversation with your grandfa- ther about the novel he started but never finished would likely be less effective if you were to end by saying, “He taught me to value creative writing.”

W-10b Tips for Writing a Personal Narrative

Choosing a topic. In general, it’s a good idea to focus on a single event that took place during a relatively brief period of time:

• an event that was interesting, humorous, or embarrassing

• something you found (or find) especially difficult or challenging

• the origins of an attitude or belief you hold

• a memory from your childhood that remains vivid

Make a list of possible topics, and then choose one that you think will be interesting to you and to others — and that you’re willing to share.

Generating ideas and text. Start by writing out what you remem- ber about the setting and those involved, perhaps brainstorming , looping , or questioning to help you generate ideas.

Describe the setting. List the places where your story unfolds. For each place, write informally for a few minutes, describing what you remember seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feeling.

Think about the key people. Narratives include people whose actions play an important role in the story. To develop your understand- ing of the people in your narrative, you might begin by describing them — their movements, their posture, their bearing, their facial expressions. Then try writing several lines of dialogue between two people in your narrative, including distinctive words or phrases they used. If you can’t remember an actual conversation, make up one that could have happened.

60 W-10b PersonAL nArrAtives

Write about what happened. At the heart of every good narrative is the answer to the question “What happened?” The action may be as dramatic as winning a championship or as subtle as a conversation between two friends; both contain action, movement, or change that the narrative dramatizes for readers. Try narrating the action using active and specific verbs (pondered, shouted, laughed) to capture what happened.

Consider the significance. You need to make clear why the event you are writing about matters. How did it change or otherwise affect you? What aspects of your life now can you trace to that event? How might your life have been different if this event had not happened?

Ways of organizing a personal narrative. Don’t assume that the only way to tell your story is just as it happened. That’s one way — starting at the beginning of the action and continuing to the end. You might also start in the middle — or even at the end.

[Chronologically, from beginning to end]

[Beginning in the middle]

Start in the

middle of the

action, giving

enough

information

to provide an

overview of

what happened.

Fill in details:

setting, people,

specific actions.

Make clear

how the

situation was

resolved.

Say something

about the

significance.

Introduce

the story.

Describe

the setting

and

people.

Tell about

what happened.

Say how

the conflict

was

resolved.

Say

something

about the

significance.

61W-10b tips for Writing a Personal narrative

[Beginning at the end]

Go back to the

beginning of the story,

telling what happens

chronologically and

describing the setting

and people.

Conclude by saying

something about the

story’s significance.

Start by telling how

the story ends up;

then introduce the

subject.

❯❯ SEE W-1 for help analyzing your writing context. See W-3 for guidelines on drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading your narrative. To read an example narrative, go to digital.wwnorton .com/littleseagull3.

http://digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3
http://digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3
62

W-11 Literary Analyses

Literary analyses are essays in which we examine literary texts closely to understand their messages, interpret their meanings, and appreciate their writers’ techniques. You might look for a pattern in the images of blood in Shakespeare’s Macbeth or point out the dif- ferences between Stephen King’s The Shining and Stanley Kubrick’s screenplay based on that novel. In both cases, you go below the sur- face to deepen your understanding of how the texts work and what they mean. This chapter describes the key elements expected in most literary analyses and provides tips for writing one.

W-11a Key Elements of a Literary Analysis

An arguable thesis. In a literary analysis, you are arguing that your analysis of a work is valid. Your thesis, then, should be argu- able. You might argue, for example, that the dialogue between two female characters in a short story reflects current stereotypes about gender roles. But a mere summary — “In this story, two women discuss their struggles to succeed” — would not be arguable and therefore is not a good thesis. (See W-7a for help developing an arguable thesis.)

Careful attention to the language of the text. Specific words, images, metaphors — these are the foundation of a text’s meaning, and are where analysis begins. You may also bring in contextual information or refer to similar texts, but the words, phrases, and sentences that make up the text you’re analyzing are your primary source. That’s what literature teachers mean by “close reading”: read- ing with the assumption that every word of a text is meaningful.

Attention to patterns or themes. Literary analyses are usually built on evidence of meaningful patterns or themes within a text or among several texts. For example, you might analyze how the images of snow, ice, and wind and the repetition of the word nothing

63W-11b tips for Writing a Literary Analysis

contribute to a sense of loneliness and desolation in a poem about a winter scene.

A clear interpretation . When you write a literary analysis, you show one way the text may be understood, using evidence from the text and, sometimes, relevant contextual evidence to support what you think the text means.

MLA style. Literary analyses usually follow MLA style.

W-11b Tips for Writing a Literary Analysis

Generating ideas and text. Start by considering whether your assignment specifies a particular kind of analysis or critical approach. Look for words that say what to do: analyze, compare, interpret, and so on. Then you’ll want to take a close look at the literary work.

Choose a method for analyzing the text. If your assignment doesn’t specify a particular method, three common approaches are to focus on the text itself; on your own experience reading it; and on other cultural, historical, or literary contexts:

• The text itself. Trace the development and expression of themes, characters, and language through the work. How do they help to create particular meaning, tone, or effects?

• Your own response as a reader. Explore the way the text affects you as you read through it. Read closely, noticing how the ele- ments of the text shape your responses, both intellectual and emotional. How has the author evoked your response?

• Context. Analyze the text as part of some larger context — as part of a certain time or place in history or of a certain culture; or as one of many other texts like it, a representative of a genre.

Read the work more than once. When you first experience a piece of literature, you usually focus on the story, the plot, the overall mean- ing. By experiencing the work repeatedly, you can see how its effects

64 W-11b LiterArY AnALYses

are achieved, what the pieces are and how they fit together, where different patterns emerge, and how the author crafted the work.

Compose a strong thesis. The thesis of a literary analysis should be specific, limited, and open to potential disagreement. In addition, it should be analytical , not evaluative . Your goal is not to pass judg- ment but to suggest one way of seeing the text.

Do a close reading. Find specific, brief passages that support your interpretation; then analyze those passages in terms of their lan- guage, their context, and your reaction to them as a reader. Do a close reading, questioning as you go:

• What does each word (phrase, passage) mean exactly? Why does the writer choose this language, these words?

• What images or metaphors are used? What is their effect?

• What patterns of language, imagery, or plot do you see? If some- thing is repeated, what significance does the pattern have?

• What words, phrases, or passages connect to a larger context?

• How do these various elements of language, image, and pattern support your thesis?

Support your argument with evidence. The parts of the text you exam- ine in your close reading become the evidence you use to support your interpretation. Treat your analysis like any other argument : discuss how the text creates an effect or expresses a theme, and then show evidence from the text — significant plot or structural elements; important characters; patterns of language, imagery, or action — to back up your argument.

Paying attention to matters of style. Literary analyses have cer- tain conventions for using pronouns and verbs. In informal papers, it’s okay to use the first person: “I believe Frost’s narrator provides lit- tle basis for claiming that one road is ‘less traveled.’ ” In more formal essays, make assertions directly: “Frost’s narrator provides no basis for claiming that one road is ‘less traveled.’ ” Discuss textual features

65W-11b tips for Writing a Literary Analysis

in the present tense even if quotations from the text are in another tense. Describe the historical context of the setting in the past tense.

One way of organizing a literary analysis

Introduce

the text

you’re

analyzing,

and state

your thesis.

Cite passages from the

text, one by one,

explaining how each

one supports your thesis and your interpretation.

Sum up your interpretation

in light of

your analysis.

Document

your

sources.

❯❯ SEE W-1 for help analyzing your writing context. See W-16 for more help reading with a critical eye. For guidelines on drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading, see W-3 . To read an example literary analysis, go to digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3.

http://digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3
66

W-12 Proposals

You need a car, so you propose paying half the cost of a car and insurance if your parents will pay the other half. Lovers propose mar- riage; students propose that colleges provide healthier food options in campus cafeterias. These are all examples of proposals, ideas put forward that offer solutions to some problem. All proposals are argu- ments: when you propose something, you are trying to persuade others to consider—and hopefully to accept—your solution to the problem. This chapter describes the key elements of a proposal and provides tips for writing one.

W-12a Key Elements of Proposals

A well-defined problem. Some problems are self-evident and rela- tively simple, and you would not need much persuasive power to make people act. While some might not see a problem with colleges discarding too much paper, for example, most are likely to agree that recycling is a good thing. Other issues are more controversial: some people see them as problems while others do not. For example, some believe that motorcycle riders who do not wear helmets risk serious injury and also raise the cost of health care for all of us, but others think that wearing a helmet—or not—should be a personal choice; you would have to present arguments to convince your readers that not wearing a helmet is indeed a problem needing a solution. Any written proposal must establish that there is a problem—and that it’s serious enough to require a solution.

A solution to the problem. Once you have defined the problem, you need to describe the solution you are suggesting and to explain it in enough detail for readers to understand what you are propos- ing. Sometimes you might suggest several possible solutions, analyze their merits, and then say which one you think will most likely solve the problem.

67W-12b tips for Writing a Proposal

A convincing argument for your proposed solution. You need to provide evidence to convince readers that your solution is fea- sible—and that it will, in fact, solve the problem. If, for example, you’re proposing that motorcycle riders be required to wear helmets, you might provide data about the serious injuries suffered by those not wearing helmets—and note that insurance rates are tied to the costs of dealing with such injuries. Sometimes you’ll want to explain in detail how your proposed solution would work.

A response to questions readers may have. You need to con- sider any questions readers may have about your proposal—and to show how its advantages outweigh any disadvantages. A proposal for recycling paper, for example, would need to address questions about the costs of recycling bins and separate trash pickups.

A call to action. The goal of a proposal is to persuade readers to accept your proposed solution—and perhaps to take some kind of action. You may want to conclude your proposal by noting the out- comes likely to result from following your recommendations.

An appropriate tone. Since you’re trying to persuade readers to act, your tone is important. Readers will always react better to a rea- sonable, respectful presentation than to anger or self-righteousness.

W-12b Tips for Writing a Proposal

Choosing a topic. Choose a problem that can be solved. Large, com- plex problems such as poverty, hunger, or terrorism usually require large, complex solutions. Most of the time, focusing on a smaller problem or a limited aspect of a large problem will yield a more man- ageable proposal. Rather than tackling the problem of world poverty, for example, think about the problem faced by people in your com- munity who have lost jobs and need help until they find employment.

Generating ideas and text. Most successful proposals share cer- tain features that make them persuasive. Remember that your goal is

68 W-12b ProPosALs

to identify a problem that matters, come up with a feasible solution, and convince readers that it will solve the problem.

Explore several possible solutions to the problem. Many problems can be solved in more than one way, and you need to show your readers that you’ve examined several potential solutions. You may develop solutions on your own; more often, though, you’ll need to do research to see how others have solved—or tried to solve—simi- lar problems. Don’t settle on a single solution too quickly; you’ll need to compare the advantages and disadvantages of several solutions in order to argue convincingly for one.

Decide on the most desirable solution(s). One solution may be head and shoulders above others, but be open to rejecting all the possible solutions on your list and starting over if you need to, or to combin- ing two or more potential solutions in order to come up with an acceptable fix.

Think about why your solution is the best one. What has to be done to enact it? What will it cost? What makes you think it can be done? Why will it work better than others?

Ways of organizing a proposal. You can organize a proposal in various ways, but you should always begin by establishing that there is a problem. You may then identify several possible solutions before recommending one of them or a combination of several. Sometimes, however, you might discuss only a single solution.

[Several possible solutions]

Identify possible

solutions and

consider their pros

and cons one by one.

Call for action,

or reiterate

your proposed

action.

Introduce

and explain

the problem.

Propose a

solution and

give reasons

why it is best.

69W-12b tips for Writing a Proposal

[A single solution]

Explain the

proposed

solution.

Call for action,

or reiterate

your proposal.

Introduce

and explain

the problem.

Give reasons why it is

the best solution.

Anticipate and answer

questions.

❯❯ SEE W-1 for help analyzing your writing context. See W-3 for guidelines on drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading your argument. To read an example proposal, go to digital.wwnorton .com/littleseagull3.

http://digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3
http://digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3
70

W-13 Reflections

Sometimes we write essays just to think about something—to specu- late, ponder, probe; to play with an idea; to develop a thought; or simply to share something that’s on our mind. Such essays are our attempt to think something through by writing about it and to share our thinking with others. If such essays make an argument, it is about things we’re thinking about more than about what we believe to be “true.” This chapter describes the key elements of a reflective essay and tips for writing one.

W-13a Key Elements of a Reflection

A topic that intrigues you. A reflective essay has a dual pur- pose: to ponder something you find interesting or puzzling and to share your thoughts with an audience. Your topic may be any- thing that interests you — someone you’re curious about, some- thing that happened that’s got you thinking, some idea you want to contemplate. Whatever your subject, your goal is to explore it in a way that will interest others. One way to do that is to start by considering your own experience and then moving on to think about more universal experiences that your readers may share. For example, you might write about your dog, and in doing so you could raise questions and offer insights about the ways that people and animals interact.

Some kind of structure. A reflective essay can be organized in many ways, but it needs to have a clear structure. Whether you move from detail to detail or focus your reflection on one central question or insight about your subject, all your ideas need to relate, one way or another. The challenge is to keep your readers interested as you explore your topic and to leave them satisfied that the journey was interesting and thought-provoking.

71W-13b tips for Writing a reflection

Specific details. You’ll need to provide concrete details to help read- ers understand and connect with your subject. In an essay about his dog, Jonathan Safran Foer offers a wealth of descriptive details (“She mounts guests, eats my son’s toys . . . lunges at skateboarders and Hasids. . . .”). anecdotes can bring your subject to life, as Foer shows when he tells us that sometimes his dog will “tear into a full sprint” and that “Other dog owners can’t help but watch her. Every now and then someone will cheer her on.” You might explore causes (why are Labrador Retrievers so popular?) or make comparisons (how’s your dog better than all the others?). Details such as these will help your readers understand and care about your subject.

A questioning, speculative tone. In a reflective essay, you’re usu- ally looking for answers, not providing them neatly organized and ready for consumption. So your tone will often be tentative and open, demonstrating a willingness to entertain, try out, accept, and reject various ideas as your essay progresses from beginning to end, maybe even asking questions for which you can provide no direct answers.

W-13b Tips for Writing a Reflection

Choosing a topic. Choose a subject you want to explore. Make a list of things that you think about, wonder about, find puzzling or annoying. They may be big things (work, relationships) or little things (a friend’s quirky behavior, an everyday event). Begin by freewriting to see what comes to mind as you write, and then try clustering to see how your ideas relate to one another.

Generating ideas and text. Start by exploring your topic, perhaps by brainstorming , looping , questioning , even doodling—all activi- ties that will help you come up with ideas.

Explore your subject in detail. Reflections often include descriptive details that provide a base for the speculations to come. Foer, for example, describes the many ways he encounters dogs in New York:

72 W-13b reFLeCtions

“Retrievers in elevators, Pomeranians on No. 6 trains, Bull mastiffs crossing the Brooklyn Bridge.” You may also use other strategies to explore your subject: defining , comparing , classifying , and so on.

Back away. Ask yourself why your subject matters: why is it impor- tant or intriguing or otherwise significant? You may try listing or outlining possible answers, or you may want to start drafting to see where it takes your thinking. Your goal is to think on screen or paper about your subject, to see where it leads you.

Think about how to keep readers with you. Reflections must be care- fully crafted so that readers can follow your train of thought. It’s a good idea to sketch out a rough thesis to help focus your thoughts. Even if you don’t include the thesis in the essay itself, every part of the essay should in some way relate to it.

Ways of organizing a reflective essay. Reflections may be orga- nized in many ways because they mimic the way we think, some- times associating one idea with another in ways that make sense but do not necessarily follow the kinds of logical progression found in academic arguments or reports. Here are two ways you might organize a reflection.

[Exploring a subject using various strategies]

Begin by defining

or describing your

subject or lead with

an anecdote or

observation.

Explore your

topic with

• questions

• observations

• examples

• speculations

End with

• some insight about what you

think about your topic

• material for further thought

• a statement about the

implications of your topic

73W-13b tips for Writing a reflection

[Presenting a series of reflections on your subject]

End with a

thought

about the

implications

of your

reflections.

Introduce

your

subject.

Present a

reflection

on your

subject.

Present

another

reflection

on your

subject.

Continue

presenting

reflections

on your

subject.

❯❯ SEE W-1 for help analyzing your writing context. See W-3 for guidelines on drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading your reflection. To read an example reflective essay, go to digital .wwnorton.com/littleseagull3.

http://digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3
http://digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3
74

W-14 Annotated Bibliographies

Annotated bibliographies describe, give publication information for, and sometimes evaluate each work on a list of sources. You may be assigned to create annotated bibliographies to weigh the potential use- fulness of sources and to document your search efforts. This chapter describes the key elements of an annotated bibliography and provides tips for writing two kinds of annotations: descriptive and evaluative.

Descriptive annotations simply summarize the contents of each work, without comment or evaluation. They may be very short, just long enough to capture the flavor of the work, like this excerpt from a bibliography of books and articles on teen films, documented with MLA style and published in the Journal of Popular Film and Television.

Doherty, Thomas. Teenagers and Teenpics: The Juvenilization of American Movies in the 1950s. Unwin Hyman, 1988.

A historical discussion of the identification of teenagers as a targeted film market.

Foster, Harold M. “Film in the Classroom: Coping with Teen Pics.” English Journal, vol. 76, no. 3, Mar. 1987, pp. 86-88.

An evaluation of the potential of using teen films such as Sixteen Candles and The Karate Kid to instruct adolescents on the differ- ence between film as communication and film as exploitation.

— Michael Benton, Mark Dolan, and Rebecca Zisch, “Teen Film$”

Evaluative annotations offer opinions on each source as well as describe it. They are often helpful in assessing how useful a source will be for your own writing. The following evaluative annotation is from an APA-style bibliography written by a student.

Gore, A. (2006). An inconvenient truth: The planetary emergency of global warming and what we can do about it. New York, NY: Rodale.

75W-14a Key elements of Annotated Bibliographies

This publication, which is based on Gore’s slide show on global warming, stresses the urgency of the global warming crisis. It centers on how the atmosphere is very thin and how greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide are making it thicker. The thicker atmosphere traps more infrared radiation, causing warming of the Earth. Gore argues that carbon dioxide, which is created by burning fossil fuels, cutting down forests, and producing cement, accounts for 80% of greenhouse gas emissions. He includes several examples of problems caused by global warming. Penguins and polar bears are at risk because the glaciers they call home are quickly melting. Coral reefs are being bleached and destroyed when their inhabitants overheat and leave. Global warming is now affecting human’s lives as well. For example, many highways in Alaska are only frozen enough to be driven on fewer than 80 days of the year. In China and elsewhere, record- setting floods and droughts are taking place. Hurricanes are on the rise. This source’s goal is to inform its audience about the global warming crisis and to inspire change. It is useful because it relies on scientific data that can be referred to easily and it provides a solid foundation for me to build on. For example, it explains how carbon dioxide is produced and how it is currently affecting plants and animals. This evidence could potentially help my research on how humans are biologically affected by global warming. It will also help me structure my essay, using its general information to lead into the specifics of my topic. For example, I could introduce the issue by explaining the thinness of the atmosphere and the effect of greenhouse gases, then focus on carbon dioxide and its effects on organisms. — Jessica Ann Olson, “Global Warming”

W-14a Key Elements of Annotated Bibliographies

A statement of scope. You may need a brief introductory state- ment to explain what you’re covering. This might be one paragraph or several — but it should establish a context for the bibliography and announce your purpose for compiling it.

76 W-14b AnnotAteD BiBLioGrAPhies

Complete bibliographic information. Provide all the informa- tion about each source using one documentation system ( MLA , APA , Chicago , Cse , or another one) so that your readers or other researchers will be able to find the source easily.

A concise description of the work. A good annotation describes each item as carefully and objectively as possible, giving accurate, spe- cific information and showing that you understand the source — and how it relates to your topic.

Relevant commentary. If you write an evaluative bibliography, your comments should be relevant to your purpose and audience. To achieve relevance, consider what questions a potential reader might have about the sources. Your evaluation might also focus on the text’s suitability as a source for your writing.

Consistent presentation. All annotations should be consistent in content, sentence structure, and format. If you’re evaluating, don’t evaluate some sources and just describe others. If one annotation is written in complete sentences, they should all be. Also be sure to use one documentation style — and to treat all book titles consistently, all italicized and following a consistent capitalization style.

W-14b Tips for Annotating a Bibliography

Generating ideas and text. You’ll need to do some research to locate potential sources for your bibliography. As you consider which to include, keep your audience and purpose in mind.

Decide what sources to include. Though you may be tempted to include every source you find, a better strategy is to include only those sources that you or your readers may find useful in researching your topic. Consider these qualities:

• Appropriateness. Is this source relevant to your topic? Is it a primary or secondary source ? Is it general or specialized?

77W-14b tips for Annotating a Bibliography

• Credibility. Are the author and the publisher or sponsor reputable? Do their ideas agree with those in other sources you’ve read?

• Balance. Does the source present enough evidence? Does it show any particular bias? Does it present counterarguments ?

• Timeliness. Does the source reflect current thinking or research?

Decide whether the bibliography should be descriptive or evaluative. If you’re writing a descriptive bibliography, your reading goal will be just to understand and capture each writer’s message clearly. If you’re writing an evaluative bibliography, you’ll also need to assess the source as you read in order to include your own opinions of it.

Read carefully. To write an annotation, you must understand the source’s argument, but for some assignments, you may have neither the time nor the need to read the whole text. To quickly determine whether a source is likely to serve your needs, first check the pub- lisher or sponsor; then read the preface, abstract, or introduction; skim the table of contents or the headings; and read the parts that relate specifically to your topic.

Research the writer, if necessary. You may need to find information about the writer’s credentials; try looking him or her up online or in Contemporary Authors. In any case, information about the writer should take up no more than one sentence in your annotation.

Summarize the work. Sumarize it as objectively as possible: even if you are writing an evaluative annotation, you can evaluate the central point of a work better by stating it clearly first. Your summary should be concise, but try to be specific and detailed enough to give readers a clear understanding not only of the scope and content of the source, but also of the author’s perspective on the topic. If you’re writing a descriptive annotation, you’re done after completing this step.

If you’re writing an evaluative bibliography, evaluate your sources in terms of their usefulness for your project, their stance , and their overall credibility. If you can generalize about the worth of the entire

78 W-14b AnnotAteD BiBLioGrAPhies

work, fine. You may find, however, that some parts are useful while others are not, and your evaluation should reflect that mix.

Ways of organizing an annotated bibliography. Depending on their purpose, annotated bibliographies may or may not include an introduction. Consult the documentation system you’re using for details about alphabetizing works appropriately.

List first

alphabeti-

cal entry,

and anno-

tate it.

List third

alphabeti-

cal entry,

and anno-

tate it.

List final

alphabeti-

cal entry,

and anno-

tate it.

State

scope.

List second

alphabeti-

cal entry,

and anno-

tate it.

Sometimes an annotated bibliography needs to be organized into several subject areas (or genres, periods, or some other category); if so, the entries are listed alphabetically within each category.

[Multicategory bibliography]

Explain

category 1.

Category 1 Category 2

Explain

category 2.

List entries

alphabeti-

cally, and

annotate

them.

State

scope;

identify

categories.

List entries

alphabeti-

cally, and

annotate

them.

❯❯ SEE W-1 for help analyzing your writing context. See W-3 for guidelines on drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading your bibliography. For help finding and evaluating sources , see R-1 and R-2 . To read an example annotated bibliography, go to digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3.

http://digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3
79

W-15 Abstracts

Abstracts are brief summaries written to give readers the gist of a report or presentation. You may be required to include an abstract in a report or as a preview of a presentation you plan to give at an academic or professional conference. This chapter provides tips for writing three common kinds: informative, descriptive, and proposal.

Informative abstracts state in one paragraph the essence of a whole paper about a study or a research project. That one paragraph must mention all the main points or parts of the paper: a description of the study or project, its methods, the results, and the conclusions. Here is an example of the abstract accompanying a seven-page essay that appeared in 2002 in the Journal of Clinical Psychology:

The relationship between boredom proneness and health-symp- tom reporting was examined. Undergraduate students (N 5 200) completed the Boredom Proneness Scale and the Hopkins Symp- tom Checklist. A multiple analysis of covariance indicated that individuals with high boredom-proneness total scores reported significantly higher ratings on all five subscales of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (Obsessive -Compulsive, Somatization, Anxiety, Interpersonal Sensitivity, and Depression). The results suggest that boredom proneness may be an important element to consider when assessing symptom reporting. Implications for determining the effects of boredom proneness on psychological- and physical- health symptoms, as well as the application in clinical settings, are discussed. — Jennifer Sommers and Stephen J. Vodanovich, “Boredom Proneness”

Descriptive abstracts are usually much briefer than informative abstracts; they provide a quick overview that invites the reader to read the whole paper. They usually do not summarize the entire paper, give or discuss results, or set out the conclusion or its implica- tions. A descriptive abstract of the boredom-proneness essay might

80 W-15a ABstrACts

simply include the first sentence from the informative abstract plus a final sentence of its own:

The relationship between boredom proneness and health-symp- tom reporting was examined. The findings and their application in clinical settings are discussed.

Proposal abstracts contain the same basic information as infor- mative abstracts. You prepare them to persuade someone to let you write on a topic, pursue a project, conduct an experiment, or present a paper at a scholarly conference; often the abstract is written before the paper itself. Titles and other aspects of the proposal deliberately reflect the theme of the proposed work, and you may use the future tense to describe work not yet completed. Here is a possible proposal for doing research on boredom and health problems:

Undergraduate students will complete the Boredom Proneness Scale and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist. A multiple analysis of covariance will be performed to determine the relationship between boredom-proneness total scores and ratings on the five subscales of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (Obsessive- Compulsive, Somatization, Anxiety, Interpersonal Sensitivity, and Depression).

W-15a Key Elements of an Abstract

A summary of basic information. An informative abstract includes enough information to substitute for the report itself; a descriptive abstract offers only enough information to let the audi- ence decide whether to read further; and a proposal abstract gives an overview of the planned work.

Objective description. Abstracts present information on the con- tents of a report or a proposed study; they do not present arguments about or personal perspectives on those contents.

Brevity. Although the length of abstracts may vary, journals and organizations often restrict them to 120–200 words — meaning you must carefully select and edit your words.

81W-15b tips for Writing an Abstract

W-15b Tips for Writing an Abstract

Generating ideas and text. Unless you are writing a proposal abstract, you should write the paper first. You can then use the fin- ished work as the guide for the abstract, which should follow the same basic structure.

Copy and paste key statements. If you’ve already written the work, highlight your thesis , objective, or purpose; basic information on your methods; your results; and your conclusion. Copy and paste those sentences into a new document to create a rough draft.

Pare down the rough draft. summarize the key ideas, edit ing out any nonessential words and details. Introduce the overall scope of your study, and include any other information that seems crucial to understanding your work. In general, you prob ably won’t want to use “I”; an abstract should cover ideas, not say what you personally think or will do.

Conform to any length requirements. In general, an informative abstract should be at most 10 percent as long as the original and no longer than the maximum length allowed. Descriptive abstracts should be shorter still, and proposal abstracts should conform to the requirements of the organization calling for the proposal.

Ways of organizing an abstract

[An informative abstract]

State

nature of

study.

Summarize

method of

study.

Summarize

results or

findings of

study. .

State

conclusions

of study.

State

implica-

tions of

study.

and/or Summarize

discussion

of results

or findings.

82 W-15b ABstrACts

[A descriptive abstract]

Announce

subject of

study.

Give brief

overview of

full paper.

[A proposal abstract]

Announce

subject of study.

Summarize

method to

be used.

❯❯ SEE W-1 for help analyzing your writing context. See W-3 for guidelines on drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading your abstract. To read an example abstract, go to digital.wwnorton .com/littleseagull3.

http://digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3
http://digital.wwnorton.com/littleseagull3
83

W-16 Reading Strategies

We read newspapers and websites to learn about the events of the day. We read cookbooks to find out how to make brownies; we read textbooks to learn about history, biology, and other academic top- ics. We read short stories for pleasure — and, in literature classes, to analyze plot, theme, and the like. And as writers, we read our own drafts to make sure they say what we mean. In other words, we read for many different purposes. This chapter offers strategies for reading texts — and the arguments they make — with a critical eye.

W-16a Reading with a Critical Eye

Different texts require different strategies. Some can be read quickly, if you’re reading to get a general overview. But most of the time you’ll need to read carefully, skimming to get the basic ideas, then reading again to absorb the details. Following are some strategies for reading with a critical eye.

What do you know about the topic — and what do you want to learn? It always helps to approach new information in the context of what we already know. Before you begin reading, brainstorm what you already know about the topic. List any terms or phrases that come to mind, and group them into categories. Then, or after read- ing a few paragraphs, list any questions that you expect, want, or hope to be answered as you read, and number them according to their importance to you. Finally, after you read the whole text, list what you learned from it. Compare your second and third lists to see what you still want or need to know — and what you learned that you didn’t expect.

Preview the text. Start by skimming to get the basic ideas; read the title and subtitle, any headings, the first and last paragraphs, the first sentences of all the other paragraphs. Study any visuals.

84 W-16a reADinG strAteGies

Consider the writing context. What is the purpose of the text — to inform? persuade? entertain? Who is the intended audience ? If you’re not a member of that group, are there terms or concepts you’ll need to look up? What is the genre — a report? an analysis? some- thing else? What do you know about the writer, and what is his or her stance — critical? objective? something else? Is the text print or electronic — and how does the medium affect what it says?

Think about your initial response. Read the text to get a sense of it; then jot down brief notes about your initial reaction, and think about why you reacted as you did. What aspects of the text account for this reaction?

Annotate. Highlight key words and phrases, connect ideas with lines or symbols, and write comments or questions in the margins. What you annotate depends on your purpose. If you’re analyzing an argument, you might underline any thesis statement and the rea- sons and evidence that support it. If you’re looking for patterns, try highlighting each one in a different color.

One simple way of annotating is to use a coding system, such as a check mark to indicate passages that confirm what you already thought, an X for ones that contradict your previous thinking, a ques- tion mark for ones that are puzzling or confusing, an exclamation point or asterisk for ones that strike you as important, and so on. You might also circle new words that you need to look up.

Play the believing and doubting game. Regardless of how you actually feel about what the writer says, list or freewrite as many reasons as you can think of for believing it, given the writer’s per- spective, and then as many as you can for doubting it. This exercise helps you consider new ideas and question your current ideas — as well as clarify where you stand in relation to the ideas in the text.

Analyze how the text works. Outline the text paragraph by paragraph. If you’re interested in analyzing its ideas, identify what

85W-16a reading with a Critical eye

each paragraph says. Are there any patterns in the topics the writer addresses? How has the writer arranged ideas, and how does that arrangement develop the topic? If, however, you’re concerned with the way the ideas are presented, pay attention to what each para- graph does: does it introduce a topic? provide background? describe something? entice you to read further?

Summarize. Restate a text’s main ideas in your own words, leaving out most examples and other details. This approach can help you both to see the relationships among those ideas and to understand what they’re saying.

Identify patterns. Look for notable patterns in the text: recurring words and their synonyms, repeated phrases and metaphors, and types of sentences. Does the author rely on any particular writing strategies? Is the evidence offered more opinion than fact? nothing but statistics? Is there a predominant pattern to how sources are presented? As quotations? paraphrases? summaries? In visual texts, are there any patterns of color, shape, and line? What isn’t there that you would expect to find? Is there anything that doesn’t really fit in?

Consider the larger context. All texts are part of a conversation with other texts, and that larger context can help you better under- stand what you’re reading. What’s motivating the writer? What other arguments is he or she responding to? Who is cited?

Be persistent with difficult texts. For texts that are especially challenging or uninteresting, first try skimming the headings, the abstract or introduction, and the conclusion to look for something that relates to knowledge you already have. Then read through the text once just to understand what it’s saying and again to look for parts that relate to other parts, to other texts or course information, or to other knowledge you have. Treat such a text as a challenge: “I’m going to keep working on this until I make sense of it.”

W-16b Analyzing an Argument

All texts make some kind of argument, claiming something and then offering reasons and evidence as support for the claim. As a critical reader, you need to look closely at the argument a text makes.

• What is the claim? What is the main point the writer is trying to make? Is there a clearly stated thesis , or is it merely implied?

• What support does the writer offer for the claim? What reasons are given to support the claim, and what evidence backs up those reasons? Are the reasons plausible and sufficient?

• How evenhandedly does the writer present the issues? Are the argu- ments appropriately qualified? Is there any mention of counter- arguments — and if so, how does the writer deal with them?

• What authorities or other sources of information are cited? How credible and current are they?

• How does the writer address you as the reader? Does the writer assume that you know something about what’s being discussed? Does his or her language include you, or not? (Hint: if you see the word we, do you feel included?)

Be sure to check for fallacies , arguments that rely on faulty reason- ing. Such arguments can seem plausible, and they can be persuasive — but they’re misleading.

W-16c Reading Visual Texts

Photos, drawings, graphs, diagrams, and charts are frequently used to help convey important information and often make powerful argu- ments themselves. So learning to read and interpret visual texts is just as necessary as it is for written texts.

Take visuals seriously. Remember that visuals are texts them- selves, not just decoration. When they appear as part of a written text, they may introduce information not discussed elsewhere in the text.

86 W-16b reADinG strAteGies

87W-16c reading visual texts

Or they might illustrate concepts hard to grasp from words alone. In either case, it’s important to pay close attention to any visuals in a written text.

Looking at any title, caption, or other written text that’s part of a visual will help you understand its main idea. It might also help to think about its purpose: Why did the writer include it? What informa- tion does it add or emphasize? What argument is it making?

How to read charts and graphs. To read the information in charts and graphs, you need to look for different things depending on what type of chart or graph you’re considering. A line graph, for example, usually contains certain elements: title, legend, x-axis, y-axis, and source information. Figure 1 shows one such graph taken from a sociology textbook.