About the Book
Writing in a Changing World is an all-in-one writer's guide, reader, research guide, and handbook designed for today's very diverse student population.
Writing in a Changing World builds students' competence and confidence by guiding them through gradually more challenging writing tasks. This guide progresses from first-hand observation and personal experience to public issues, helping students build the bridge from personal writing to public discourse. It also moves from an early emphasis on critical reading and informal research through more sophisticated rhetorical and critical thinking strategies to formal research and the documented research paper.
Extensive readings, frequent assignments, chapters on writing about literature and writing on the job, and an editing guide with special help for ESL students make Writing in a Changing World an exceptionally rich resource for first-year students and instructors.
Table of Contents:
Preface: To the Instructor.
1. Orientation: To the Student.
How Writing Works for You.
Writing in a Changing World.
Your Progress as a Writer.
Computer Writing, Interactive Writing, Collaborative Writing.
Writing in a Diverse Society.
Assessment and Portfolio Evaluation.
Options for Writing l: Your Current Issues Paper.
Reading to Writing: Raising the Issues.
News Report: Matthew B. Stannard, “Threats in Creative School Work Taken Seriously.”
Sallie Tisdale, “Shoe and Tell.”
Nell Bernstein, “Learning to Love.”
Maurine Shores, “A Delayed Reaction to Bigotry.”
FORUM: Issues in Cyberspace.
The Writer's Tools 1: Journals: Getting Ready for Writing.
I. A PROGRAM FOR WRITING.
2. Writing and Rewriting: Planning, Drafting, Revising.
The Writing Process: An Overview.
Discovering Your Purpose.
Targeting Your Audience.
Searching: Brainstorming, Clustering, Discovery Frames.
Pushing Toward a Thesis.
Organizing Your Thinking.
Writing Your First Draft.
Revision: Rewriting and Rethinking.
Tracking a Complete Paper.
Options for Writing 2: Lining Up Examples.
Reading to Writing: Watching the Trend.
Fareed Zakaria, “The Character of Our Campuses.”
Richard Rodriguez, “Notes from a Changing America.”
George de Stefano, “Ungood Fellas and the Godfather Culture.”
Dian Judge (Liz Smith), “My Breakfast with Fergie.”
FORUM: Testing, Testing, Testing.
The Writer's Tools 2: Priorities for Editing.
3. Resources: Observation and Experience.
Drawing on Observation and Experience.
Description: The Closer Look.
Narration: The Story with a Point.
Experience: The Connecting Thread.
Finding Your Voice.
Revising Your Experience-Based Paper.
From Personal to Public Writing.
Options for Writing 3: Drawing on Personal Experience.
Reading to Writing: Reading Other Lives.
Jay Ruben Dayrit, “Old Chinese Ladies.”
Alex Fisher, “Tree Hugger.”
Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall, “A Day in the Life of a Lab Rat.”
Ana Veciana-Suarez, “A Place Where We Belong.”
Amanda Coyne, “Mother's Day in Federal Prison.”
FORUM: From Personal to Political.
The Writer's Tools 3: Word Choice: Putting It into Words.
4. Searching: Reading, Internet Search, Interviewing.
The Critical Reader.
From Reading to Writing.
Informal Internet Searches.
Drawing on Interviews.
Using a Mix of Sources.
Revising Your Background Paper.
Options for Writing 4: Mobilizing Your Resources.
Reading to Writing: The Informed Writer.
Tom Abate, “Biotech Faces Opposition.”
* Photos: “The Monarch Butterfly Habitat.”
Environmental Report: Michael Guth, “Saving the Monarch Butterflies.”
Ruth Coniff, “The Joy of Women's Sports.”
* Newspaper Coverage: Women's Sports.
Joanna Cagan and Neil deMause, “A Tale of Two Cities.”
FORUM: Enabling the Disabled.
The Writer's Tools 4: Sentence Power: Carrying the Message.
5. Comparing/Contrasting: Lining Up Your Data.
Writing to Compare.
Structuring Your Comparison.
Revising Your Comparison/Contrast Paper.
Options for Writing 5: Your Comparison/Contrast Paper.
Reading to Writing: Thinking About Difference.
Jonathan Cohn, “Amazon.com: The New and the Old Economy.”
Kioko Mori, “School as an American Opportunity.”
Jessica Hagedorn, “Asian Women in Film: No Joy, No Luck.”
FORUM: Rethinking Intelligence.
The Writer's Tools 5: Mini-Compositions: Writing Paragraphs.
6. STRATEGIES: Process, Classification, Cause and Effect.
Tracking a Process.
Classification: Testing the Categories.
Tracking Cause and Effect.
Revising Your Analysis Paper.
Options for Writing 6: Your Analysis Paper.
Reading to Writing: Sorting Things Out.
Marie de Santis, “The Last of the Wild Salmon.”
Kimberly Wozencraft, “Coed Prison: Notes from the Country Club.”
Robert Bly, “The Community of Men.”
William J. Doherty, “Private Lives, Public Values.”
FORUM: The Fencing In of Cyberspace.
The Writer's Tools 6: Working Outline to Formal Outline.
II. WRITING AND CRITICAL THINKING.
7. Defining: Drawing the Line.
Language in a Changing World.
Defining Your Key Terms.
Writing the Operational Definition.
Writing the Extended Definition.
Revising Your Definition Paper.
Options for Writing 7: Writing to Define.
Reading to Writing: Marking Off Boundaries.
News story: Zachary Coyle, “Senate OKs Campaign Finance Overhaul.”
Barbara Ehrenreich, “The Next Wave.”
Amoja Three Rivers, “Cultural Etiquette: A Guide.”
*Mural Art, “Virginia Declaration of Religious Freedom.”
Student Essay: Emily Lesk, “My 60-Second Protest in the Hallway.”
FORUM: Bilingualism or English First.
The Writer's Tools 7: Writing Plain English.
8. Alternatives: Weighing the Options.
Listening to More than One Side.
Weighing Opposing Arguments.
Structuring Papers Examining Alternatives.
Revising Papers Examining Alternatives.
Options for Writing 8: Reconciling Alternative Views.
Reading to Writing: Hearing the Other Side.
James Q. Wilson, “In Praise of Asphalt Nation.”
Andrew Brownstein, “A Battle over a Name in the Land of the Sioux.”
Cynthia Tucker, “Black Males Can't Pin Hopes on Athletics.”
Review: Herbert Kohl, “A Case for Considering Race.”
FORUM: Openly Gay.
The Writer's Tools 8: Transitions as Thought Links.
9. Persuading: Changing Minds.
Reaching Your Audience.
The Strategies of Persuasion.
Revising Your Persuasion Paper.
Options for Writing 9: Your Persuasion Paper.
Reading to Writing: Reaching the Audience.
*Full-page ad: “Styles Change. Values Don't.”
Joan Beck, “The Government Cannot Protect You.”
Student Essay: Neema Buruku, “Is Television Violence Inflaming Our Youth?”
Scott Russel Sanders, “The Spell of the High Country.”
Interview: Noam Chomsky, “Sports.”
FORUM: Guns in Our Lives.
The Writer's Tools 9: Editing for Inappropriate Language.
10. Arguing: Designing an Argument.
Thinking Strategies for Writers.
Writing and Thinking Inductively.
Writing and Thinking Deductively.
Alternative Strategies: Narrowing the Choices.
Checking Your Logic.
Options for Writing 10: Your Argument Paper.
Reading to Writing: Arguing Your Case.
Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Case against Censorship.”
Jonathan Kozol, “Distancing the Homeless.”
David Gelernter, “What Do Murderers Deserve?”
Robert Zubrin, “Seeing Red.”
FORUM: Death with Dignity.
The Writer's Tools 10: Revising for Logical Fallacies.
III. SPECIAL AGENDAS.
11. Workplace English: Writing on the Job.
Communicating at Work.
Effective Workplace Writing.
Reaching the Target Audience.
Writing to a Format.
Providing Supporting Documentation.
Designing a Website.
Surviving in the Business World.
Options for Writing 11: Workplace Writing Tasks.
Reading to Writing: On the Job.
* cartoon: Scott Adams, “Dilbert.”
Joanne Jacobs, “Job One: Education.”
Interview: Joe Gutierrez, “On the Job.”
John Greenwald, “Rank and Fire.”
FORUM: Women at Work.
The Writer's Tools 11: Applications and Rsums.
12. Imagining: Responding to Literature.
The Truth of Fiction.
The Voice of Poetry.
The Heart of Drama.
Writing Your Critical Paper.
Revising Your Critical Paper.
Drawing on Critical Sources.
Options for Writing 12: Your Critical Paper.
Reading to Writing: Interacting with Literature.
Short story: Sandra Cisneros, “Mericans.”
Short story: Alice Walker, “Everyday Use.”
Poem: David Wagoner, “The Other House.”
Poem: Linda Pastan, “The Seven Deadly Sins: Anger.”
Poem: Sharon Olds, “The Possessive.”
Poem: Emily Dickinson, “Hope Is the Thing with Feathers.”
*Website: Death of a Salesman for the Millennium.
The Writer's Tools 12: Sentence Style: Energizing the Sentence.
13. Research: The Documented Paper.
Getting Ready for Research.
Research Topics: General Audience, Special Disciplines, Short Investigative Papers.
Tracking and Evaluating Sources: Internet, Periodicals, Books.
Note Taking: Building a File.
Organizing Your Material.
From Notes to First Draft—Revising Your First Draft.
Documenting Your Sources: MLA, APA, CBE, CMS.
Documentation Styles: MLA Style.
Works Cited Directory-MLA.
Sample Research Paper-MLA.
Documentation Styles: APA 2001.
References List Directory-APA 2001.
Sample Research Paper-APA.
CASEBOOK: Saving the Big Birds.
IV. EDITING GUIDE.
14. Handbook: Sentences—Words—Mechanics.
15. ESL: Writing English as a Second Language.
