Sourcework : Academic Writing from Sources

Sourceworkis an advanced ESL writing textbook designed to help students write solid academic papers from outside sources. Divided into two sections, "The Writing Process" and "The Sources," the text focuses on the mechanics of writing an essay and then introduces students to thematically organized readings to support them as they hone their writing skills. The 31 university-level readings, organized into four themes--heroes, non-violent social change, globalization, and bioethics--give students the content they need to write complex and sophisticated pieces. As students produce and revise papers based on sources,Sourceworkguides them through the stages of writing, such as note-taking from readings, analyzing information, outlining structures, creating thesis statements, authoring introductions and conclusions, and writing and refining drafts. At each stage, students learn how to document evidence, integrate references, paraphrase, synthesize, and summarize--all the skills necessary to support their own ideas while employing outside sources. Several individual and group activities help students master their essay-writing skills. A rich, cohesive set of thematically organized readings gives students the opportunity to learn about different disciplines. In-depth practice in analyzing information teaches students to synthesize concepts, select evidence, avoid plagiarism, and support their own ideas in academic writing. Instructors can choose from a variety of activities ranging from short, immediate practice of specific skills to more complex practice of related skills to best suit the needs of their students. An abundance of exercises taken from actual student essays offers students the opportunity to critique strong and weak writing and see how others apply the writing process to their essays. TheSourceworkWeb Site provides instructors with assessment tools to evaluate full essays and skills-based components. For students, the site offers support to assess their classmates' writing and their own work.