EasyWriter

When your students need reliable, easy-to-find writing advice for college and beyond, EasyWriter gives them what they need in a format that’s easy to afford. Andrea Lunsford meets students where they are with friendly advice, research-based tips for solving the Top Twenty writing problems, and an emphasis on making effective rhetorical choices. The seventh edition puts even more emphasis on empowering students to become critical thinkers and ethical communicators with new advice about fact checking and evaluating sources and more advice about choosing language that builds common ground. In addition, the seventh edition offers more support for writing in a variety of disciplines and genres and more models of student writing to help students make effective choices in any context.

EasyWriter can be packaged at a significant discount with LaunchPad Solo for Lunsford Handbooks, which includes dozens of additional writing models as well as exercises, LearningCurve adaptive quizzing, videos, and podcasts.

*New to this edition

Brief Table of Contents
*Quick Start Menu
*How This Book Can Help You
WRITING PROCESSES
1 A Writer’s Choices
 

*1a Understanding expectations for academic writing
 1b Moving between informal and formal writing
 1c Email and other “in-between” writing
 1d Considering the assignment and purpose
 1e Choosing a topic
 1f Considering audiences
 1g Considering stance and tone
 1h Considering time, genre, medium, and format
 1i Collaborating

2 Exploring, Planning, and Drafting
 

2a Exploring a topic
 2b Developing a working thesis
 2c Gathering evidence and doing research
 2d Planning and drafting
 2e Developing paragraphs

3 Making Design Decisions
 

3a Design principles
 3b Appropriate formats
 3c Visuals and media 
 3d  Ethical use of visuals and media

4 Reviewing, Revising, and Editing
 

4a Reviewing
 4b Revising
 4c Editing and proofreading 

Top Twenty Tips for Editing Your Writing
5 Sharing and Reflecting on Your Writing
 

5a Sharing with audiences
 *5b Creating a portfolio
 5c Reflecting on your own work
 *5d Student writing: Reflection

*CONTEXTS FOR READING, WRITING, AND SPEAKING
6 Learning from Low-Stakes Writing
 

6a The value of low-stakes writing
 6b Types of low-stakes assignments

7 Reading and Listening Analytically, Critically, and Respectfully
 

7a Previewing
 7b Annotating
 7c Summarizing
 7d Analyzing
 7e Student writing: Rhetorical analysis

8 Arguing Ethically and Persuasively
 

*8a Listening (and reading) purposefully and openly
8b Identifying basic appeals in an argument
 8c Analyzing the elements of an argument
 8d Arguing purposefully
 8e Making an argument
 8f Organizing an argument
 *8g Student writing: Argument essay

*9 Writing in a Variety of Disciplines and Genres
 

*9a Recognizing expectations of academic disciplines
 *9b Understanding and using genres
 *9c Adapting genre structures
 *9d Choosing genres for public writing
 *9e Student writing: Samples in a variety of disciplines and genres

10 Creating Presentations
 

10a Considering task, purpose, and audience
 10b Writing a memorable introduction and conclusion
 10c Using explicit structure and signpost language
 10d Preparing a script for ease of presentation
 10e Planning visuals
 10f Practicing
 10g Delivering the presentation
 *10h Student writing: Excerpts from a presentation

RESEARCH
11 Conducting Research
 

*11a Understanding challenges to research today
11b Beginning the research process
 11c Choosing among types of sources
 11d Using library resources
 11e Finding credible Internet sources
 11f Doing field research

12 Evaluating Sources and Taking Notes
 

*12a Checking facts
 12b Evaluating the usefulness and credibility of potential sources
 12c Reading and analyzing sources
 12d Synthesizing sources
 *12e Keeping track of sources
 12f Working with quotations, summaries, and paraphrases
*12g Creating an annotated bibliography
*12h Student writing: Annotated bibliography entries

13 Integrating Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism
 

*13a Using sources ethically
13b Integrating quotations, paraphrases, and summaries
 13c Integrating visuals and media
 13d Knowing which sources to acknowledge
 13e Avoiding plagiarism

14 Writing a Research Project

 14a Drafting your text, including illustrations
 14b Reviewing and revising a research project
 14c Preparing a list of sources
 14d Editing and proofreading
 *14e Student writing: Outline of a research project

DOCUMENTATION
15 MLA Style

 15a Understanding MLA citation style
 15b Considering the context of your sources
15c Following MLA manuscript format
 15d Creating MLA in-text citations
  List of examples: In-text citations in MLA style
 15e Creating an MLA list of works cited
  List of examples: Works cited in MLA style
  15f  Student writing: Research-based argument, MLA style

16 APA Style
 

16a Understanding APA citation style
 16b Following APA manuscript format
 16c Creating APA in-text citations
  List of examples: In-text citations in APA style
 16d Creating an APA list of references
  List of examples: References in APA style
 16e Student writing: Causal analysis essay with abstract, APA style

17 Chicago Style
 

17a Understanding Chicago citation style
 17b Following Chicago manuscript format
 17c Creating Chicago notes and bibliographic entries
  List of examples: Notes and bibliographic entries in Chicago style
 17d Student writing: Research-based history essay (excerpts), Chicago style

18 CSE Style

 18a Following CSE manuscript format
 18b Creating CSE in-text citations
 18c Creating a CSE list of references
  List of examples: References in CSE style
 18d Student writing: Biology literature review (excerpts), CSE style

STYLE:  EFFECTIVE LANGUAGE
*19 Writing across Cultures and Communities

19a Thinking about what seems “normal” 
 19b Clarifying meaning
 19c Meeting audience expectations

20 Language That Builds Common Ground
 

20a Examining assumptions and avoiding stereotypes
 *20b Examining assumptions about gender and pronouns
 20c Examining assumptions about race and ethnicity
 *20d Considering abilities and disabilities

21 Varieties of Language
 

21a Using “standard” English appropriately
 *21b Using varieties of English

22 Word Choice
 

22a Using appropriate formality
 22b Considering denotation and connotation
 22c Using general and specific language effectively
 22d Using figurative language effectively
 22e Making spell checkers work for you

STYLE:  EFFECTIVE SENTENCES
*23 Varying Sentences
 

*23a Varying sentence length
 *23b Varying sentence openings

24 Consistency, Completeness, and Effectiveness
 

24a Revising confusing sentence structure
 24b Matching subjects and predicates
 24c Using consistent compound structures
 24d Making complete comparisons

25 Coordination and Subordination
 

25a Relating equal ideas
 25b Distinguishing main ideas

26 Conciseness
 

26a Eliminating redundant words
 26b Eliminating empty words
 26c Replacing wordy phrases
 26d Simplifying sentence structure

27 Parallelism
 

27a Making items in a series or list parallel
 27b Making paired ideas parallel
 27c Using words necessary for clarity

28 Shifts
 

28a Revising shifts in tense
 28b Revising shifts in voice
 28c Revising shifts in point of view
 28d Revising shifts between direct and indirect discourse

GRAMMAR
29 Verbs and Verb Phrases

29a Using regular and irregular verb forms
 29b Building verb phrases
 29c Using infinitives and gerunds
 29d Using lie and lay, sit and set, rise and raise
 29e Using verb tenses
 29g Using active and passive voice
 29h Using mood appropriately
 29i Using conditional sentences appropriately

30 Nouns and Noun Phrases
 

30a Understanding count and noncount nouns
 30b Using determiners
 30c Using articles

31 Subject-Verb Agreement

 31a Checking for words between subject and verb
 31b Checking agreement with compound subjects
 31c Making verbs agree with collective nouns
 31d Making verbs agree with indefinite pronouns
 31e Making verbs agree with who, which, and that
 31f Making linking verbs agree with subjects
 31g Making verbs agree with subjects that end in –s
 31h Checking for subjects that follow the verb
 31i Making verbs agree with titles and words used as words
 31j Considering spoken forms of be in varieties of English

32 Adjectives and Adverbs
 

32a Using adjectives after linking verbs
 32b Using comparatives and superlatives

33 Modifier Placement
 33a Revising misplaced modifiers
 33b Revising disruptive modifiers
 33c Revising dangling modifiers

34 Pronouns
 34a Considering a pronoun’s role in the sentence 
 34b Making pronouns agree with antecedents
 34c Making pronouns refer to clear antecedents

35 Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases
 

35a Choosing the right preposition
 35b Using two-word verbs idiomatically

36 Comma Splices and Fused Sentences
 36a Separating the clauses into two sentences
 36b Linking the clauses with a comma and a coordinating conjunction
 36c Linking the clauses with a semicolon
 36d Rewriting the two clauses as one independent clause
 36e Rewriting one independent clause as a dependent clause
 36f Linking the two clauses with a dash

37 Sentence Fragments

 37a Revising phrase fragments
 37b Revising compound-predicate fragments
 37c Revising clause fragments

PUNCTUATION/MECHANICS
38 Commas

 38a Setting off introductory elements
 38b Separating clauses in compound sentences
 38c Setting off nonrestrictive elements
 38d Separating items in a series
 38e Setting off parenthetical and transitional expressions
 38f Setting off contrasting elements, interjections, direct address, and tag questions
 38g Setting off parts of dates and addresses
 38h Setting off quotations
 38i Avoiding unnecessary commas

39 Semicolons

 39a Linking independent clauses
 39b Separating items in a series containing other punctuation
 39c Avoiding misused semicolons

40 End Punctuation
 

40a Using periods
 40b Using question marks
 40c Using exclamation points
 40d Using end punctuation in informal writing

41 Apostrophes
 

41a Signaling possessive case
 41b Signaling contractions
 41c Understanding apostrophes and plural forms

42 Quotation Marks
 

42a Signaling direct quotation
 42b Identifying titles of short works and definitions
 42c Using quotation marks with other punctuation
 42d Avoiding misused quotation marks 

43 Other Punctuation
 

43a Using parentheses
 43b Using brackets
 43c Using dashes
 43d Using colons
 43e Using slashes
 43f Using ellipses

44 Capital Letters

 44a Capitalizing the first word of a sentence
 44b Capitalizing proper nouns and proper adjectives
 44c Capitalizing titles before proper names
 44d Capitalizing titles of works
 44e Revising unnecessary capitalization

45 Abbreviations and Numbers
 

45a Using abbreviations
 45b Using numbers

46 Italics
 

46a Italicizing titles
 46b Italicizing words, letters, and numbers used as terms
 46c Italicizing non-English words
 46d Italicizing names of aircraft, ships, and trains
 46e Using italics for emphasis

47 Hyphens
 

47a Using hyphens with compound words
 47b Using hyphens with prefixes and suffixes
 47c Avoiding unnecessary hyphens

Glossary of Usage
Index/Glossary of Terms
Revision Symbols
For Multilingual Writers

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