"College Writing Skills with Readings" offers students a practical guide to becoming better writers. From mastering the traditional five-paragraph essay and its variations to learning about the finer points of grammar and punctuation, "College Writing Skills with Readings" empowers students to take control of their writing and put it to work for them. Now, with the new online writing program Connect Writing and the soon-to-come Connect Langan, an online interactive version of "College Writing Skills with Readings", this new eighth edition brings writing closer to students and helps to take them where they need to go. Whether online or in class, "College Writing Skills with Readings" offers students the tools to succeed.

Table of Contents

Readings Listed by Rhetorical Mode xvii To the Instructor xxi Part 1: Essay Writing 1 Chapter 1 An Introduction to Writing 2 Point and Support 3 Structure of the Traditional Essay 7 Benefits of Writing the Traditional Essay 11 Writing as a Skill 11 Writing as a Process of Discovery 12 Writing as a Way to Communicate with Others 13 Keeping a Journal 14 Tips on Using a Computer 15 Review Activities 17 Using This Text 20 Chapter 2 The Writing Process 22 Prewriting 23 Writing a First Draft 31 Revising 33 Editing 35 Review Activities 38 Chapter 3 The First and Second Steps in Essay Writing 50 Step 1: Begin with a Point, or Thesis 51 Step 2: Support the Thesis with Specific Evidence 60 Practice in Advancing and Supporting a Thesis 67 Chapter 4 The Third Step in Essay Writing 83 Step 3: Organize and Connect the Specific Evidence 84 Introductions, Conclusions, and Titles 94 Practice in Organizing and Connecting Specifi c Evidence 102 Chapter 5 The Fourth Step in Essay Writing 110 Revising Sentences 111 Editing Sentences 130 Practice in Revising Sentences 133 Chapter6 Four Bases for Revising Essays 146 Base 1: Unity 147 Base 2: Support 150 Base 3: Coherence 154 Base 4: Sentence Skills 157 Practice in Using the Four Bases 161 Part 2: Patterns of Essay Development 175 Chapter 7 Introduction to Essay Development 176 Important Considerations in Essay Development 177 Patterns of Essay Development 182 Chapter 8 Description 184 READING: Lou's Place Beth Johnson 194 Chapter 9 Narration 209 READING: The Yellow Ribbon Pete Hamill 220 Chapter 10 Exemplifi cation 230 READING: Dad Andrew H. Malcolm 241 Chapter 11 Process 254 READING: How to Do Well on a Job InterviewGlenda Davis 263 Chapter 12 Cause and Effect 276 READING: Taming the Anger MonsterAnne Davidson 286 Chapter13 Comparison or Contrast 300 READING: Born to Be Different? Camille Lewis 311 Chapter 14 Definition 324 READING: Television Addiction Marie Winn 333 Chapter 15 Division-Classifi cation 343 READING: Wait Divisions Tom Bodett 352 Chapter 16 Argument 363 READING: Ban the Things. Ban Them All. Molly Ivins 376 Part 3: Special Skills 385 Chapter 17 Taking Essay Exams 386 Chapter 18 Writing a Summary 395 Chapter 19 Writing a Report 407 Chapter 20 Writing a Resume and Cover Letter 412 Chapter 21 Using the Library and the Internet 419 Chapter 22 Writing a Research Paper 433 Part 4: Handbook of Sentence Skills 457 SECTION 1: Grammar 458 Chapter 23 Subjects and Verbs 459 Chapter 24 Fragments 465 Chapter 25 Run-Ons 479 Chapter26 Regular and Irregular Verbs 492 Chapter27 Subject-Verb Agreement 502 Chapter 28 Additional Information about Verbs 508 Chapter 29 Pronoun Agreement and Reference 512 Chapter 30 Pronoun Types 518 Chapter 31 Adjectives and Adverbs 525 Chapter 32 Misplaced Modifi ers 531 Chapter 33 Dangling Modifi ers 535 SECTION 2: Mechanics 540 Chapter 34 Manuscript Form 541 Chapter 35 Capital Letters 544 Chapter 36 Numbers and Abbreviations 552 SECTION 3: Punctuation 556 Chapter 37 Apostrophe 557 Chapter 38 Quotation Marks 565 Chapter 39 Comma 573 Chapter40 Other Punctuation Marks 583 SECTION 4: Word Use 588 Chapter41 Spelling Improvement 589 Chapter42 Commonly Confused Words 594 Chapter43 Effective Word Choice 604 Chapter44 Editing Tests 611 Chapter45 ESL Pointers 625 Correction Symbols 639 Part 5: Readings for Writers 641 Introduction to the Readings 642 Looking Inward 647 Three Passions Bertrand Russell 647 Shame Dick Gregory 651 I Became Her Target Roger Wilkins 659 Stepping into the Light Tanya Savory 666 A Hanging George Orwell 675 Observing Others 684 The Professor Is a Dropout Beth Johnson 684 The Certainty of Fear Audra Kendall 694 What's Wrong with Schools? Teacher Plays Student, Learns to Lie and Cheat Casey Banas 701 Propaganda Techniques in Today's AdvertisingAnn McClintock 707 Confronting Problems 716 Single-Sex Schools: An Old Idea Whose Time Has ComeDiane Urbina 716 Here's to Your Health Joan Dunayer 723 Sleeping Your Way to the Top Sora Song 729 How to Make It in College, Now That You're HereBrian O'Keeney 734 College Lectures: Is Anybody Listening? David Daniels 744 Seven Ways to Keep the Peace at HomeDaniel A. Sugarman 751 In Praise of the F Word Mary Sherry 762 Is Sex All That Matters? Joyee Garity 768 A Scary Time to Raise a Daughter Steve Lopez 776 Reading Comprehension Chart 782 Instructor's Guide IG-1 Suggested Approaches and Techniques IG-2 A Model Syllabus IG-15 Suggested Answers to the Discussion Questions in Part Five IG-21 Diagnostic Tests IG-56 Appendix: A Writer's Journal (Student edition only) 000 Index 000

Author Biography

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