1. THE HONEST WRITER.
Professional Writing. The Struggle Against Silence. What Do You Know? The Honest Writer. An Exercise in Critical Analysis. Writing Suggestions and Class Discussions. Student Essay: "Chicken at Wegman's," Jennifer M. Horton. Discussion/Writing.
2. IDEAS AND DETAILS. Two-Part Secret of Good Writing.
Ideas. Details. What Makes a Good Idea. What Makes a Good Detail. The Difference Between a Topic and an Idea. Should You Start with Ideas or Details? The Three-to-One Ratio. Summarizing and Analyzing Texts. Summary Analysis. Student Essay: "The Unknown Children," Jodie Rosa. Sample Summary Analysis. Critical Analysis. Sample Critical Analysis of "The Unknown Children". Student Essay: "What Disney Movies Really Teach Children," Amy Seager. Discussion/Writing. Professional Essay: "Fueling a Contagion of Campus Violence," James Alan Fox. Discussion/Writing. Writing Suggestions and Class Discussions.
3. GETTING IDEAS. Brain Teasers to Help You Write on Almost Any Topic.
Improving Your Ideas. Eight Brainteasers.
1. Use Your Senses.
2. See the Topic from Alternative Viewpoints.
3. Attack Stereotypes, Unquestioned Ideas, and Slogans.
4. Create Metaphors.
5. List Examples.
6. Make a Bug List.
7. Use Humor and Fantasy.
8. Anticipate Your Audience. Sample Brain teasers. Analysis. Roadblocks to Good Ideas and Details. Fear of Risk. Insecurity About Your Ability to Think. Writing Suggestions and Class Discussions. Student Essay: "Spring Break: Mazatlan, Mexico," Tinamarie Ciccarone. "Sense Brain Teaser for Spring Break: Mazatlan, Mexico". Analysis. Professional Essay: "American Students Abroad Can't Be 'Global Citizens,'" Talya Zemach-Bersin. Discussion/Writing. Peer Review Checklist for Brain Teasers.
4. PARAGRAPHS. Ideas and Details in Miniature.
Three Ways to Build Paragraphs. Transitions. Writing Suggestions and Class Discussions. Student Paragraph: "Being Ghetto," Shawn'ta Brown. Discussion/Writing. Paragraph Peer Review Checklist.
5. ORDER FROM CHAOS.
Thesis and Outline. A Working Thesis. Unacceptable Theses. Sample: Creating a Working Thesis. The Topic Inventory. Visual Rhetoric. Looping. Strengthen Your Thesis with Critical Thinking. Outlines. The Scratch Outline. Use Bullets to Outline. Use Clustering, a Visual Diagram. Sample Draft from Outline: "The Fine Art of Dying". Analysis. Writing Suggestions and Class Discussions. Peer Review Checklist for Thesis/Outlines.
6. THE DRAFT. That Frenzy Near Madness.
The Concrete Introduction. Warm-ups Are for Leftovers. What to Focus on While Writing the Draft. What NOT to Focus on in the Draft. Nine Tips for When You Get Stuck. Blocks During Drafting. Fear of Messiness. Poor Work Environment. Nail Your Conclusion. Student Essay Introduction: "Tougher Punishment for Sex Offenders," Pamela Fleming. Analysis. Writing Suggestions and Class Discussions. Peer Review Checklist for Introductions.
7. REVISING DRAFTS.
Revision Myths and Realities. 1. Revise Ideas. 2. Revise Details. 3. Revise Organization. 4. Revise Word Use. 5. Revise Mechanics. Revising with Others: Peer Editing and Teacher Conferences. How to Critique Peer Papers. How to Receive Peer Criticism. A Sample Revision. Teacher Comments. The Final Draft. Revising on a Computer. Writing Suggestions and Class Discussions. Student Essay and Analysis: "Bastard," Miguel Martinez. Peer Review Checklist for Revision.
8. WRITING WITH STYLE.
Honesty. Vocabulary. Accuracy. Euphemisms and Crude Language. Cliches. Sexist Language. Vividness. Concreteness. Verbs. Adjectives and Adverbs. Metaphors. Stylish Sentence Structure. Sentence Variety. Parallel Structure. Conciseness. Using a Computer to Revise Words. Playing with Language. Writing Suggestions and Class Discussions. Three Ways to Revise Style. A Cyber Game for Style. Sample Revision for Style. Revised Student Essay and Analysis: "Good Intentions," Mary Updaw. Analysis. Final Draft. Peer Review Checklist for Style.
9. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER.
From Topic Choice to Published Essay. Professional Essay: "If God Breake My Bones," M. Garrett Bauman. Finding the Topic. Brain Teasers. Thesis Ideas. Thesis Brain Teaser. Scratch Outline. The Draft. The Draft's Conclusion. Revising on My Own. Revising with Peers and Editors. Writing Suggestions.
10. DESCRIPTION. Making Your Audience See.
Description Conveys Ideas as Well as Pictures. A Writer's Eye: Six Ways to Visualize Ideas. Reexperience: Don't Think in Words. Use Brain teasers to Train Your Eye. Use the Iceberg Principle. Try Other Eye-Training Tricks. Revising for Vivid Description. The Sense Test. The Specificity Test. The Freshness Test. The Theme Test. Writing Suggestions and Class Discussions. Student Essay and Analysis: "The Model," Nell Kuitems. Analysis Based on Peer Review Checklist. Sample Student Descriptive Essay for Analysis: "Simple Life," Debbie Geen. Discussion/Writing. Peer Review Checklist for Description.
11. NARRATION. Telling your Audience a Story.
Conflict. Complication. How to Ruin a Story. Describing People. Student Essay: "The Red Heart," Lisa Neal. Dialogue. Ending a Story. How to Say Something Worth Saying. Analysis. The Real Story is in the Second Draft. Writing Suggestions and Class Discussions. Sample Student Narrative Essay: "Live Abortion," Beatriz Valle. Analysis. Student Essay: "Holy Hell," Sherri White. Discussion/Writing. Peer Review Checklist for Narration.
12. INFORMATIVE WRITING. Telling your Audience What it Doesn't Know.
Audience and Tone. Analysis. Packing in Details. Surprise Value. Poor Informative Topics. Good Topics. Organizing Informative Writing. The Process or "How-To". The Essentials or "What-Is". Causes or "Why". Effects or "What's Next?". Comparison or Contrast. Classification. Drafting Informative Essays. Revising Informative Writing. Writing Suggestions and Class Discussions. Sample Student Informative Essay Using a Process Pattern: "Helping the Dead," Elizabeth Biroscak. Analysis. Sample Student Informative Essay Using an Effects Pattern: "Going to the Chair," Michele Myers. Discussion. Peer Review Checklist for Information. Analyzing Professional Informative Writing. Summary Analysis. Critical Analysis. Professional Informative Essay: "Why We Procrastinate," J. Peder Zane. Discussion/Writing.
13. PERSUASIVE WRITING. Seeking Agreement from an Audience.
Audience and Tone. Persuasive Topics. Raising Problems That Matter. Supporting Evidence. Facts. Appeals to the Reader's Values. When Values Collide. Get to the 'Why'. Logic. An Example of Support and Logic. Structuring the Persuasive Essay. Quick Guide to Creating Persuasive Writing. Rehearsing Your Paper's Appearance in Court. Visual Persuasion. Analyzing Professional Persuasive Writing. Summary Analysis. Critical Analysis. Sample Analysis: The Pros and Cons of Cloning Humans. Writing Suggestions and Class Discussions. Sample Student Persuasive Essay: "Helping Immigrants Is Our Right and Duty," San-dra Marcucci. Discussion/Writing. Sample Persuasive Paragraph: "Battling Obesity with Cocaine," Christopher J. Nes-bitt. Discussion/Writing. Peer Review Checklist for Persuasion. Professional Persuasive Essay: "Selling Organs for Transplants," Austin Cline.
14. THE LITERARY ESSAY AND REVIEW.
How Much Can You See? Brain Teasers for Literature. Brain Teasers for Explication. Why Don't Authors Just Say What Their Theme Is? Organizing Literary Essays. Drafting Literary Essays. Revising Literary Essays. The Review. Writing Suggestions and Class Discussions. Poems for Explication and Discussion. Sample Student Literary Essay: "Structure and Feeling in 'Childhood Is the Kingdom Where Nobody Dies,'" Carrie Gaynor. Analysis Based on Peer Review Checklist. Poem and Sample Student Literary Essay: "Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God," John Donne, and "Three-Personed God," Nancy L. Galleher. Discussion. Peer Review Checklist for Literary Essays. Sample Student Critical Review Using Sources: "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," Devra Whitaker. Discussion/Writing. Peer Review Checklist for Reviews.
15. RESEARCH. Written with Christopher Otero.
Why Should I Write a Research Paper? Great Research Topics for College. Create Your Key Research Questions. Use Brain teasers. Think Actively toward a Thesis. Library Resources. Librarians. The Reference Section. Books. Articles. Computer Indexes and Databases for Articles. Tips for Using Computer Indexes and Databases. World Wide Web. Reliable and Unreliable Web Sites. Searching the Web. E-mails to Experts, Newsgroups, and Blogs. Tips for Electronic Communication. Multimedia on the Web. Overlooked Sources. Your Community. Smart Friends. Tips for Personal Interviews. Note-Taking Strategies. Annotated Bibliographies. Organizing Research Papers. Formulate a Working Thesis. Rough Outline. Write an Abstract. "Hip-Hop" Essay Abstract. Writing Research Papers. Sample Introduction: "Hip-Hop: The Lyrical Phoenix." Research Ethics. Avoiding Plagiarism. Citing Sources: MLA Style. Taglines. Paraphrase or Quotation of Sources. Commentary/Critical Analysis. Handling and Interpreting Statistics. Parenthetical Citations: MLA Style. A Quick Guide to MLA Works Cited. Sample MLA Works Cited List. Missing Works Cited Information. Additional MLA Works Cited Formats. Electronic Sources. Citing Sources: APA Style. Parenthetical Citations: APA Style. A Quick Guide to the APA Reference List. Sample APA Reference List. Missing Reference List Information. Additional APA Reference List Formats. Electronic Sources. Revising Research Writing. Writing Suggestions and Class Discussions. Student Essay Using MLA Documentation: "Quakers: America's First Feminists," Carol Nobles. Analysis. Peer Review Checklist for Research.
16. A COLLECTION OF STUDENT WRITINGS.
Journals and Blogs. "Journal," Richard L. Shields. Discussion. "Journal," Tina Thompson. Discussion. Narrative Essays. "Pa's Secret," Carol Nobles. Discussion. "Bastard," Miguel Martinez (Revised: Original in Chapter 7). Discussion. "Midnight Diner," Michael Y. Rodgers. Discussion. "Daddy Dearest," Christina Kennison. Discussion. "49 Hours in Afghanistan," Christopher Butler. Discussion. Informative Essays. Informative Contrast Essay: "Food for Thought," Yeou-jih Yang. Discussion. Informative Process Essay: "The Autopsy," Gregory F. Matula. Discussion. Informative Classification Essay: "Marijuana Smokers," Jacqueline M. Mathis. Discussion/Writing. Career Research Paper: Using the Interview and MLA-Style Documentation. "Mental Health Counseling," Judy Robbins. Discussion. The Persuasive Letter. Professional E-mail. E-mail or Snail Mail? Persuasive Letters. "Letter to Brad A. Walker," Craig Lammes. Discussion. "Letter to Shirl Bonaldi," Tina Maenza. Discussion. "Letter to Mr. Goodman," Willie F. Nelson. Discussion. Personal Persuasive Letter: "Dear Greg," Britni Bellwood. Discussion. The Persuasive Essay: "The Beginning of the End of Freedom," Kevin Giunta 432. Discussion. Essay Presenting Both Sides of a Controversy: "Sterilization for Sale," Lauren Weaver. Discussion/Writing. Researched Persuasive Essay Using MLA-Style Documentation: "Genetically Modified Food," Caroline Ward. Discussion.
17. HANDBOOK OF ENGLISH.
Myths About the English Language. Myths About English Usage. Punctuation. Comma. Semicolon. Colon. Other Punctuation. Quotation Marks. Apostrophe. Capitalization. Sentence Structure. Sentence Fragment. Run-On Sentence (Comma Splice). Misplaced Modifiers. Agreement. Tense. Subject-Verb Agreement. Noun-Pronoun Agreement. Spelling. Numbers. Weird Words. Weird Singulars and Plurals. Irregular Verbs. Odd Pairs. Mechanics. Format for College Papers. Dictionary of Usage. The 25 Most Commonly Misused Words in English.
Appendix. The Real Rules for Writing Classes (And Maybe Life).
M. Garrett Bauman has been a college professor and professional writer for over thirty years. He has won three national teaching awards, including a Leavy Award presented by the Chief Justice of the United States. His writing has appeared in THE NEW YORK TIMES, SIERRA, YANKEE, THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, and many literary magazines. His essays have won three national writing competitions and been nominated for Pushcart and Best American Essays awards. He is currently a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship holder in creative nonfiction.
