The Write Start with Readings: Sentences to Paragraphs

With its flexible and effective organization, varied and focused practices, and interesting writing assignments, THE WRITE START: SENTENCES TO PARAGRAPHS WITH PROFESSIONAL AND STUDENT READINGS, International Edition combines writing and grammar instruction to help students build the core skills necessary for becoming effective writers. English as a Second Language pedagogy, from which all developing writers can benefit, informs the entire text. This new edition has been reorganized to better reflect the way that instructors teach the material; combining chapters was a logical and sensible strategy and will enhance the texts navigability. Exercises on sentence fragments and sentence combining have been added, as have new timely and thought-provoking professional and student readings, self-assessment questionnaires, and end-of-chapter Writing Opportunities that encourage students to see themselves as experts who will use writing in their careers.

Table of Contents:
Detailed Content: PREFACE. To the student. Getting Started. 1. The Import Elements of Good Writing. Avoiding the Two Major Problems of Poor Writing. Writing as a Life Skill. Understanding Good versus Poor Writing. Good Writing: Four Misconceptions. Good Writing Doesn't Have to Be Complicated. Good Writing Doesn't Have to Be Long. Good Writing Is More Formal than Talking. Good Writing Needs Proper Punctuation. The Computer, Writing, and You. Chapter Self-Assessment Test. Part 1: WRITING EFFECTIVE SENTENCES. 2. The Simple Sentence and the Independent Clause. [ESL] The Subject. Nouns. Pronouns. Using Pronouns to Eliminate Repetition. Identifying Subjects. [ESL] Subjects and Prepositional Phrases. [ESL] The Verb. Action Verbs. Linking Verbs. Helping Verbs. [ESL] Verb Tense (Time). Compound Subjects. Compound Verbs. Correcting Sentence Fragments. Chapter Self-Assessment Test. 3. Linking Independent Clauses Using the Comma and Coordinators. Coordinating Conjunctions. Correcting Run-on and Comma Splice Sentences. Run-on. Comma Splice. Chapter Self-Assessment Test. 4. Combining Independent Clauses Using the Semicolon. Chapter Self-Assessment Test. 5. Combining Independent Clauses Using the Adverbial Conjunction. Chapter Self-Assessment Test. 6. Adding a List. Punctuating and Placing the List. Parallelism in a Series. Adding a Colon for Variety. Chapter Self-Assessment Test. 7. The Dependent Clause. Independent versus Dependent Clauses. Punctuating Dependent Clauses. Chapter Self-Assessment Test. 8. Adding Information to Sentences. Introductory Phrase Variety. Punctuating the Introductory Word When to Use Introductory Words. Adding Interrupters to the Sentence. Chapter Self-Assessment Test. Part 2: WRITING EFFECTIVE PARAGRAPHS. Prewriting Activities. Listing. Clustering (Mind Mapping). Cubing. Cross-Examination. Brainstorming. 9. The Paragraph. The Topic Sentence. Support Sentences. Six Important Support Questions. Creating the Working Outline of a Paragraph. Writing the First Draft. Revising the First Draft. Proofreading: The Final Step. Chapter Self-Assessment Test. Topic Bank. Writing Opportunities. 10. Description. Types of Description. Dominant Impressions. Sensory Images. Comparisons. Simile. Metaphor. Personification. A Ten-Step Process for Writing the Descriptive. Paragraph. Writing the Descriptive Paragraph. Example of the Ten-Step Process at Work. Chapter Self-Assessment Test. Topic Bank. Writing Opportunities. 11. Narration. The Point of the Story. Developing the Narrative Paragraph. Model Narrative Paragraphs. Transitional Expressions: Showing Time Sequence. Chapter Self-Assessment Test. Topic Bank. Writing Opportunities. 12. Using Examples. The Topic Sentence. Transitional Expressions: Introducing Examples. Using One Extended Example. Chapter Self-Assessment Test. Topic Bank. Writing Opportunities. 13. Classification. Breaking Down a Topic. The Topic Sentence. Transitional Expressions: Showing Time Your Classifications. Chapter Self-Assessment Test. Topic Bank. Writing Opportunities. 14. Process. Types of Process. Organizing the Process Paragraph. Transitional Expressions: Connecting the Steps. The Topic Sentence. Chapter Self-Assessment Test. Topic Bank. Writing Opportunities. 15. Comparison and Contrast. Deciding to Compare or Contrast. The Topic Sentence. Organizing Comparisons and Contrasts. Block Method. Point-by-Point Method. Transitional Expressions: Connecting Your Comparisons and Contrasts. Chapter Self-Assessment Test. Topic Bank. Writing Opportunities. 16. Definition. Simple Definitions. Extended Definition. The Topic Sentence of an Extended Definition. Chapter Self-Assessment Test. Topic Bank. Writing Opportunities. 17. Persuasion (Including Cause and Effect). Building the Persuasive Paragraph. The Pro/Con List. Support in Persuasion Paragraphs. Organization Patterns. Transitional Expressions for Persuasion. Persuasive Logic: Cause-and-Effect Reasoning. Causal Chains. Problems to Avoid. Transitional Expressions for Cause/Effect Writing. The Topic Sentence in a Cause/Effect Paragraph. Chapter Self-Assessment Test. Topic Bank. Writing Opportunities. Part 3: WRITING EFFECTIVE ESSAYS. 18. The Essay. The Five-Paragraph Essay. The Introductory Paragraph. The Thesis Sentence. Expressing an Attitude in the Thesis Sentence. The Essay Map in the Thesis Sentence. Putting It All Together. Introductory Sentences. The Body Paragraphs. The Topic Sentence. Support Sentences. Six Important Support Questions. The Concluding Paragraph. Sample Student Essay. Chapter Self-Assessment Test. Topic Bank. Writing Opportunities. THE WRITERS RESOURCES. GRAMMAR: Nouns. Pronouns. Personal Pronouns. Relative Pronouns. Demonstrative Pronouns. Indefinite Pronouns. Reflexive Pronouns. Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement. Verbs. Present Tense. Past Tense. The Verb Be. Additional Practice for Complex Verb Forms. Subject/Verb Agreement. Compound Subject/Verb Agreement. Adjectives. Adverbs. Conjunctions. Interjections. Clauses and Phrases. Independent and Dependent Clauses. Phrases. Types of Sentences. The Simple Sentence. The Compound Sentence. The Complex Sentence. The Compound-Complex Sentence. Additional Practice with Sentences. Correcting Comma Splices and Run-Ons. Combining Sentences. Preposition Combinations. Articles. CAPITALIZATION AND NUMBERS: Capitalization. Numbers. ADDITIONAL PUNCTUATION RULES: The Apostrophe. Quotation Marks. Parentheses. Brackets. The Dash. The Hyphen. Underlining or Italics. Interrupters: Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses and Phrases. (Modifiers). WORDS AND MEANING: Commonly Misspelled Words. Words That Sound Alike. Contractions That Sound Like Other Words. Words That Sound or Look Almost Alike. Confusing Verbs That Sound Alike: Lie/Lay; Rise/Raise; Sit/Set. Two- and Three-Word Verb Phrases. READINGS. DESCRIPTION: Deep Cold, Verlyn Klinkenborg. The Ice Cream Truck, Luis J. Rodriguez. Halloween Havoc, Erin Nelson (Student). NARRATION: The Roommate's Death, Jan Harold Brunvand. The Eye of the Beholder, Grace Suh. Andriyivsky Descent, Oksana Taranova (Student). EXAMPLE: Extremely Cool, A. J. Jacobs. Online Schools Provide New Education Options, The Associated Press. Benefits of Large Corporations, Shelly Nanney (Student). CLASSIFICATION: Why We Carp and Harp, Mary Ann Hogan. The Plot Against People, Russell Baker. Michelangelo Madness, Martin Brink (Student). PROCESS: Conversational Ballgames, Nancy Masterson Sakamoto. Strive to Be Fit, Not Fanatical, Timothy Gower. How to Become a Successful Student, Aaron Breite (Student). COMPARISON AND CONTRAST: Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts, Bruce Catton. Living on Tokyo Time, Lynnika Butler. The Family Sedan Versus Dad's Sports Car, Yvonne Olson (Student). DEFINITION: Discrimination Is a Virtue, Robert Keith Miller. The Handicap of Definition, William Raspberry. What Is Success?, Hannah Glascock (Student). PERSUASION: The Recoloring of Campus Life, Shelby Steele. Indistinguishable from Magic, Robert L. Forward. Unconditional Support, Beth Glenn (Student). The Family Collective, Denise Hillis (Student). Limited Answer Key. Glossary. Credits. Index.