The Elements of Basic Writing with Readings

The Elements of Basic Writing with Readings, Second Edition is a workbook intended for those courses with numerous objectives — from mastering grammatically correct sentence forms to achieving unity and coherence in paragraphs to learning the principles of essay writing. Through a motivating and respectful tone, it encourages accomplishment by teaching students that through an understanding of the elements of writing correct sentences and well-developed paragraphs, they will have a better chance of success in college and career. The text begins with a seven chapter sequence on finding subjects and limiting topics as well as a step-by-step introduction to prewriting, drafting, and revising. Part Two offers separate chapters on the common rhetorical strategies and encourages students to think critically about their purpose and audience when writing. Part Three offers a thorough chapter on moving from paragraphs to essays and an essay exam chapter that offers unique strategies for dealing with this common assignment. The sentence grammar and mechanics sections offer numerous and diverse exercises which are designed to help students create meaning as well as avoid errors. The final part is a selection of readings and images with writing apparatus, designed to inspire student writing.

Table of Contents:
I. AN INTRODUCTION TO WRITING 1. You As a Writer. Ease and Difficulty in Writing. Your Writing Profile. Part 1 - When You Began to Write Part 2 - Reading Part 3 - Overview of Your Writing Part 4 - Writing Attitudes Part 5 - Writing Habits. Recap - You as a Writer. 2. Getting Started. Starting to Write. Audience. Purpose. The Elements of Writing. Your Writing Processes. Recap - Getting Started. Reflect. 3. Finding and Narrowing Subjects. What Affects Subject Choice. Three Considerations in Choosing a Subject. Personal and Impersonal Subjects. Sources of Writing Subjects. Keeping an Idea Journal. Stages of Choosing a Subject. Books, Articles, and Short Essays. Narrowing for Paragraphs. Freewriting Brainstorming Clustering Asking Questions Tree Diagram Circle Diagram. Recap - Finding And Narrowing Subjects. Reflect. 4. Topic Sentences. Five Requirements of a Topic Sentence. Three Ways to Write Topic Sentences. Three Possible Places for Topic Sentences in Paragraphs. Recap - Topic Sentences. Reflect. 5. Planning Paragraphs. Supporting Topic Sentences. Order of Support. Order of Emphasis Time Order Space Order. Audience and Planning. Recap - Planning Paragraphs. Reflect. 6. Drafting a Paragraph. Using Specific Words. Expanding Sentences for Detail. Writing Examples. Transitions. Transitions Showing Equal Importance Transitions Showing Cause and Effect (Causality) Transitions Showing Time Transitions Showing Summary or Restatement Transitions Showing Example Transitions Showing Purpose Transitions Showing Emphasis Transitions Showing Location Recap of Transitions. Recap - Drafting Paragraphs. Reflect. 7. Revising and Proofing. Revising for Order. Revising Content for Information. Revising for Consistency in Person and Time. Revising to Eliminate Wordiness. Revising for Sentence Variety. Proofreading for Spelling, Grammar, Punctuation, and Capitalization. Recap - Revising and Proofreading. Reflect. II. KINDS OF PARAGRAPHS. 8. Description. Explanation. Audience and Purpose. Example of Description. Key to Description: Sensory Words. Direct Wording Indirect Wording: Similes. Topic Sentences in Description. Recap - Writing Description. Reflect. 9. Narration. Explanation. Examples of Narration. The Key to Narration: Time. The Point of a Narrative. Topic Sentences in Narratives. Narrative Transitions. Narration as Illustration. Recap - Writing Narration. Reflect. 10. Process. Explanation. Audience and Purpose. Examples of Process. The Key to Process: Sequence. Writing a Process Paragraph. 1. Choosing the Right Subject 2. Specifying Steps in a Process 3. Listing What is Needed to Describe the Process. Topic Sentences in Process Writing. Connecting Steps of a Sequence. Recap - Writing Process. Reflect. 11. Classification. Explanation. Audience and Purpose. Examples of Classification. Key to Classification: Grouping. Topic Sentences for Classification. Recap - Writing Classification. Reflect. 12. Definition. Explanation. Simple Definition. Extended Definition. Synonyms. Audience and Purpose. Three Keys to Writing Definition. Topic Sentences for Extended Definitions. Recap - Writing a Definition. Reflect. 13. Comparison and Contrast. Explanation. Audience and Purpose. Examples of Comparison and Contrast. Key #1: Something in Common. Key #2: Finding Specifics. Specific Differences. Key #3: Organization. Topic Sentences in Comparing and Contrasting. Transitions. Recap - Writing Comparison and Contrast. Reflect. 14. Cause and Effect. Explanation. Audience and Purpose. Example of Cause and Effect. Keys to Cause and Effect: “Why?” and “What if?”. Cause to Effect. Four Cautions in Writing Cause and Effect. Problems. Topic Sentences for Cause and Effect. Organizing Cause and Effect. Words that Show Cause and Effect Relationship. Recap - Writing Cause and Effect. Reflect. 15. Persuasion. Explanation. Audience and Purpose. Example of Persuasion. Four Keys to Writing Persuasion. Key #1: Making Claims. Key #2: Emotional and Rational Appeals. Key #3: Four Rational Ways to Support Claims. Key #4: Meeting Objections. Topic Sentences for Persuasion. Organizing to Write Persuasion. Recap - Writing Persuasion. Reflect. III. LONGER FORMS OF WRITING. 16. Essays. Differences Between Paragraphs and Essays. An Example: Paragraph and Essay. Applying Paragraph Ideas to Essays. Expanding Ideas to Develop Essays. Choosing Thesis Statements. Planning the Content of Essays. Outlines for Order in an Essay. Effective Openings for Essays. Linking Paragraphs in the Body of an Essay. Linking Devices. Effective Closings for Essays. Revising an Essay. Proofreading. A Word About Grammar and Spell Checkers. Recap - Writing Essays. Reflect. 17. Essay Tests. What's Special About Essay Tests. Audience and Purpose. Three Important DON'Ts. Three Important DOs—Before You Write. Information Words. Response Words. When Instructions Don't Have Response Words. Five Steps to Writing Effective Test Answers. Recap - Answering Essay Questions. Reflect. IV. SENTENCE GRAMMAR. 18. Subjects, Verbs, And Completers. Subjects. Verbs. Action Verbs. Linking Verbs. Sentence Completers. Predicate Adjectives and Predicate Nouns Direct and Indirect Objects. Reflect and Write. 19. Phrases, Clauses, and Conjunctions. Phrases. Clauses. Conjunctions. 1. Coordinating Conjunctions 2. Subordinating Conjunctions. Four Kinds of Sentences. Reflect and Write. 20. Fragments and Run-Ons. Sentence Fragments. Run-On Sentences: Comma Splices and Fused Sentences. Reflect and Write. 21. Nouns. How Nouns Work in Sentences. Common and Proper Nouns. Collective and Compound Nouns. Singular and Plural Nouns. Plurals of Compound Nouns. Possessive Forms of Nouns. Reflect and Write. 22. Pronouns. Pronouns and Antecedents. Pronouns Without Antecedents. Pronouns With Confusing Antecedents. Singular and Plural Pronouns and Gender Fairness. Collective Nouns and Their Pronouns. Pronouns and Case. Personal Pronouns Relative Pronouns Interrogative Pronouns Other Pronouns: Reflexive, Intensive, and Demonstrative. Consistent Person (Point of View). Reflect and Write. 23. Regular Verbs, Voice, and Tense. Active and Passive Voice. When Passive Voice Might be Preferable. Tense and Time: An Overview. Using The Present Tense Using the Past Tense Using the Future Tense. More Ways of Controlling Time with Verbs. Principal Parts of Verbs. Combining an Auxiliary with a Principal Part to Show Time. Reflect and Write. 24. Irregular Verbs. Principal Parts of Some Irregular Verbs. Using Past Participles of Irregular Verbs. Three Special Verbs. For the Verb “To Be” For the Verb “To Do” For the Verb “To Have”. Reflect and Write. 25. Agreement. Subject and Verb Agreement. Subject-Verb Agreement in Special Uses. Sentences That Begin with “Here” or “There” Sentences with Phrases Between the Subject and Verb Sentences with Compound Subjects Joined by “And,” “Or,” and “Nor”. Subject-Verb Agreement in Questions. Compound Antecedents and Pronoun Agreement. Indefinite Pronouns and Verb Agreement. Reflect and Write. 26. Modifiers. A Reminder of Terms. Adjectives and Adverbs. More Reminders of Terms. Dangling Modifiers. Misplaced Modifiers. Good/Well; Bad/Badly; Real/Really. Words That Make Comparisons. Other Forms of Comparatives and Superlatives. Reflect and Write. 27. Parallelism in Sentence Structure. Reflect and Write. V. MECHANICS. 28. Commas. Commas to Separate a Series of Items. Commas to Separate Modifiers (Adjectives). Commas After Introductory Words, Phrases, and Clauses. Commas with a Conjunction Between Independent Clauses. Commas for Phrases or Clauses that are NOT Needed for Meaning in a Sentence. Appositives. Other Uses of the Comma. 29. Other Punctuation Marks. Apostrophes for Possession. Showing Possession Without an Apostrophe: Possessive Pronouns. A Note About Contractions. Quotation Marks. End Punctuation Marks. End Punctuation with Quotation Marks. Colons. Parentheses and Dashes. 30. Capitalization. Capitals for First Words. Capitals for Naming People and Their Titles. Capitals for Geographic Locations, their People, and the Languages. Capitals for the Names of Particular Times, Groups, Events, and Documents. VI. WORDS. 31. Word Choice. Word Reference Sources: Dictionaries. Word Reference Sources: Thesauruses. Using Homophones (Sound-Alikes). Words Often Confused. 32. Spelling. How to Become a Good Speller. General Aids to Improve Spelling. Self-Help Activities to Improve Spelling. The Building Blocks of Spelling. Forming Plurals of Nouns. To Form Regular Plurals To Form Irregular Plurals. “Seed” Sound Words. Spelling Rules. The I Before E Rule The Silent Final “E” Rule The Final “Y” Rule. Final Consonants. Root Word Spelling. Root Word Pronunciation. Prefixes. 33. About These Readings. Description. Where I Come From Is Like This, Paula Gunn Allen From An American Childhood, Annie Dillard Image: Children and War. Narration. I Guess This Is a Save, Judith Matz Knives, Forks...& Dragon's Teeth, Jill Thacker Image: Flamenco Dancers. Process. Writing Around Rules, Mike Rose Voladores: The Flying Men of Papantla, Sabine Vendrely Image: Graduation. Classification. Doublespeak, William Lutz You Are How You Eat, Enid Nemy Image: Basketball. Definition. Cyberspace Newbies: Lurk Before You Leap-or You'll be %-(, Jackie Potts We're Not Really Equal, Thomas Sowell Image: Fire Fighters. Comparison and Contrast. And Here He Is, the Miscast Star of Our Show, John Cancalosi Just the Facts vs. All the Facts, Sidney Harris Image: Junkyard. Cause and Effect. The Clothing of the White Man from the Land of the Spotted Eagle, Chief Luther Standing B. Project Benefits Local People, from World Wildlife Fund Focus Male-Female Conversation is Cross-Cultural Communication, Deborah Tannen Look! Up in the Sky! It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superjunk!, Angela Posada Swofford Image: Men on Bench. Persuasion. To 27 Million People, Both Sides of this Page Look Identical, SI for Kids The Pioneer Women, Fabiola Cabeza de Baca The Death Penalty is a Step Backward, Coretta Scott King Channel One/Misconceptions Three, Hugh Rank Image: Operating Room.