EXPLORING WRITING: SENTENCES AND PARAGRAPHS, 3/e

By John Langan

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE xx

PART ONE WRITING: SKILLS AND PROCESS 2

1. An Introduction to Writing 4

Understanding Point and Support 5

An Important Difference Between Writing and Talking 5

Point and Support in Two Cartoons 6

Point and Support in a Paragraph 8

Writing as a Skill 10

Why Does Your Attitude toward Writing Matter? 10

Writing as a Process of Discovery 12

Keeping a Journal 13

2. The Writing Process 16

How Do You Reach the Goals of Effective Writing? 17

Prewriting 17

Technique 1: Freewriting 17

Technique 2: Questioning 20

Technique 3: Making a List 21

Technique 4: Clustering 22

Technique 5: Preparing a Scratch Outline 23

Writing a First Draft 25

Writing a First Draft: A Student Model 25

Revising 27

Revising: A Student Model 28

Editing and Proofreading 29

Editing Tips 30

Proofreading Tips 30

Editing and Proofreading: A Student Model 31

Tips on Using a Computer 32

Using a Computer at Each Stage of the Writing Process 33

Using Peer Review 35

1. Identification 35

2. Scratch Outline 35

3. Comments 36

Review Activities 36

Prewriting 37

Outlining, Drafting, and Revising 37

Taking a Writing Inventory 39

Chapter Review 40

PART TWO WRITING EFFECTIVE PARAGRAPHS 44

3.Four Steps for Writing, Four Bases for Revising 46

What Are The Steps to Writing Effective Paragraphs? 47

Step 1: Make a Point 47

Step 2: Support Your Point 50

Step 3: Organize the Support 67

Step 4: Write Clear, Error-Free Sentences 73

Four Bases for Revising Writing 73

Base 1: Unity 73

Base 2: Support 74

Base 3: Coherence 76

Base 4: Sentence Skills 77

4. Nine Patterns of Paragraph Development 85

Important Considerations in Paragraph Development 86

Knowing Your Subject 86

Knowing Your Purpose and Audience 86

Patterns of Development 87

Exemplification 88

A Paragraph to Consider 89

Writing an Exemplification Paragraph 90

Description 92

A Paragraph to Consider 92

Writing a Descriptive Paragraph 93

Narration 97

A Paragraph to Consider 97

Writing a Narrative Paragraph 98

Process 100

A Paragraph to Consider 100

Writing a Process Paragraph 101

Cause and Effect 104

A Paragraph to Consider 105

Writing a Cause-and-Effect Paragraph 106

Comparison or Contrast 108

Two Paragraphs to Consider 108

Writing a Comparison or Contrast Paragraph 110

Definition 113

A Paragraph to Consider 113

Writing a Definition Paragraph 114

Division-Classification 116

A Paragraph to Consider 116

Writing a Division-Classification Paragraph 118

Argument 120

A Paragraph to Consider 120

Writing an Argument Paragraph 121

5. Moving From Paragraph to Essay 125

What Is an Essay? 126

Differences between an Essay and a Paragraph 126

The Form of an Essay 126

A Model Essay 127

Important Points about the Essay 128

Introductory Paragraph 128

Supporting Paragraphs 130

Transitional Sentences 130

Concluding Paragraphs 131

Essays to Consider 131

Planning the Essay 134

Outlining the Essay 134

Form for Planning the Essay 135

Practice in Writing the Essay 135

Understanding the Two Parts of a Thesis Statement 135

Supporting the Thesis with Specific Evidence 136

Identifying Introductions 138

Revising an Essay for All Four Bases: Unity, Support, Coherence,and Sentence Skills 139

Essay Assignments 141

PART THREE SENTENCE SKILLS 150

SECTION 1: SENTENCES 152

6. Subjects and Verbs 153

A Simple Way to Find a Subject 154

A Simple Way to Find a Verb 154

More about Subjects and Verbs 157

Distinguishing Subjects from Prepositional Phrases 157

Verbs of More Than One Word 158

Compound Subjects and Verbs 159

7. Fragments 162

What Fragments Are 163

Dependent-Word Fragments 163

How to Correct Dependent-Word Fragments 164

-ing and to Fragments 167

How to Correct -ing Fragments 167

How to Correct to Fragments 168

Added-Detail Fragments 170

How to Correct Added-Detail Fragments 170

Missing-Subject Fragments 172

How to Correct Missing-Subject Fragments 172

8. Run-Ons 179

What are Run-Ons? 180

A Warning: Words That Can Lead to Run-Ons? 180

Correcting Run-Ons 181

Method 1: Period and a Capital Letter 181

Method 2: Comma and a Joining Word 184

Method 3: Semicolon 186

Semicolon Alone 186

Semicolon with a Transition 186

Transitional Words 187

Method 4: Subordination 188

Dependent Words 188

9. Sentence Variety I 195

Four Traditional Sentence Patterns 195

The Simple Sentence 195

The Compound Sentence 196

The Complex Sentence 197

The Compound-Complex Sentence 201

Review of Subordination and Coordination 202

SECTION 2: VERBS, PRONOUNS, AND AGREEMENT 209

10. Standard English Verbs 210

Regular Verbs: Dialect and Standard Forms 210

Present Tense Endings 211

Past Tense Endings 213

Three Common Irregular Verbs: Dialect and Standard Forms 214

11. Irregular Verbs 220

A Brief Review of Regular Verbs 220

List of Irregular Verbs 221

Troublesome Irregular Verbs 226

12. Subject-Verb Agreement 231

Words between the Subject and the Verb 232

Verb before the Subject 233

Indefinite Pronouns 234

Compound Subjects 235

Who, Which, and That 236

13. Consistent Verb Tense 241

Keeping Tenses Consistent 241

14. Additional Information about Verbs 245

Verb Tense 245

Present Perfect (have or has + past participle) 246

Past Perfect (had + past participle) 246

Present Progressive (was or were + the -ing form) 246

Past Progressive (was or were + the -ing form) 246

Verbals 247

Infinitive 247

Participle 248

Gerund 248

Active and Passive Verbs 249

15. Pronoun Reference, Agreement, and Point of View 252

Pronoun Reference 253

Pronoun Agreement 255

Indefinite Pronouns 256

Pronoun Point of View 258

16. Pronoun Types 263

Subject and Object Pronouns 263

Subject Pronouns 264

Object Pronouns 265

Relative Pronouns 267

Points to Remember about Relative Pronouns 268

Possessive Pronouns 269

Demonstrative Pronouns 270

Reflexive Pronouns 272

Points to Remember about Reflexive Pronouns 272

SECTION 3: MODIFIERS AND PARALLELISM 276

17. Adjectives and Adverbs 277

Adjectives 277

What are Adjectives? 277

Using Adjectives to Compare 278

Points to Remember about Adjectives 278

Adverbs 280

What are Adverbs? 279

A Common Mistake with Adjectives and Adverbs 280

Well and Good 281

18. Misplaced Modifiers 284

What Misplaced Modifiers Are and How to Correct Them 284

19. Dangling Modifiers 290

What Dangling Modifiers Are and How to Correct Them 290

20. Faulty Parallelism 296

Parellelism Explained 296

21. Sentence Variety II 305

-ing Word Groups 305

-ed Word Groups 306

-ly Openers 307

To Openers 309

Prepositional Phrase Openers 310

Series of Items 312

Adjectives in Series 312

Verbs in Series 314

SECTION 4: PUNCTUATION AND MECHANICS 319

22. Paper Format 320

Guidelines for Preparing a Paper 321

23. Capital Letters 325

Main Uses of Capital Letters 326

First Word in a Sentence or Direct Quotation 326

Names and Titles 326

Other Uses of Capital Letters 328

Names and Titles 329

Names that Show Family Relationships 328

Miscellaneous Categories 329

Unnecessary Use of Capitals 331

24. Numbers and Abbreviations 335

Numbers 335

Abbreviations 337

25. End Marks 340

Period (.) 340

Question Mark (?) 340

Exclaimation Point (!) 341

26. Apostrophes 343

Apostrophes in Contractions 344

Four Contractions to Note Carefully 345

Apostrophes to Show Ownership or Possession 346

Points to Remember 347

Apostrophes versus Possessive Pronouns 349

Apostrophes versus Simple Plurals 349

Apostrophes with Plural Words Ending in -s 351

27. Quotation Marks 355

Quotation Marks to Set Off the Words of a Speaker or Writer 356

Indirect Quotations 359

Quotation Marks to Set Off the Titles of Short Works 360

Other Uses of Quotation Marks 362

28. Commas 366

Six Main Uses of the Comma 367

Commas between Items in a Series 367

Commas after Introductory Material 368

Commas around Words Interupting the Flow of Thought 369

Commas between Complete Thoughts Connected by Joining Words 371

Commas with Direct Quotations 373

Commas with Everyday Material 374

Unnecessary Use of Commas 375

29. Other Punctuation Marks 380

Colons (:) 380

Semicolons (;) 381

Dashes (-) 382

Hyphens (-) 383

Parentheses () 383

SECTION 5: WORD USE 386

30. Dictionary Use 387

Spelling 388

Syllabication 388

Pronunciation 389

Vowel Sounds 389

The Schwa 390

Accent Marks 390

Full Pronunciation 390

Other Information about Words 391

Parts of Speech 391

Principal Parts of Irregular Verbs 391

Plural Forms of Irregular Nouns 392

Meanings 392

Etymology 393

Usage Labels 394

Synonyms 394

31. Spelling Improvement 396

Step 1: Using the Dictionary 396

Step 2: Keeping a Personal Spelling List 397

Step 3: Mastering Commonly Confused Words 397

Step 4: Using a Computer's Spell-Checker 397

Step 5: Understanding Basic Spelling Rules 397

Step 6: Understanding Plurals 398

Step 7: Mastering a Basic Word List 400

32. Omitted Words and Letters 403

Finding Omitted Words and Letters 403

Omitted Words 404

Omitted -s Endings 404

33. Commonly Confused Words 408

Homonyms 408

Other Words Frequently Confused 415

Incorrect Word Forms 420

34. Effective Word Choice 424

Slang 425

Cliches 426

Inflated Words 427

Wordiness 429

PART FOUR:READINGS FOR WRITERS 438

Introduction to the Readings 440

The Format of Each Selection 440

How to Read Well: Four General Steps 441

1. Concentrate as You Read 441

2. Skim Material before You Read It 441

3. Read the Selection Straight through with a Pen Nearby 442

4. Work with the Material 442

How to Answer the Vocabulary in Context Questions 442

How to Answer the Reading Comprehension Questions 443

GOALS AND VALUES 444

Sister Helen Mrosla, “All the Good Things” 444

Paul Logan, "Rowing the Bus" 450

Rick Bragg, "All She Has - $150,000 - Is Going to a University 457

Mee Her, "Bowling to Find a Lost Father" 464

Rose Del Castillo Guilbault, The Conveyor Belt Ladies 470

Firoozah Duma, The F Word 477

EDUCATION AND SELF-IMPROVEMENT 485

Ben Carson, “Do It Better!” 485

Janny Scott, “How They Get You to Do That” 494

Grant Berry, “A Change of Attitude” 503

Beth Johnson, “Let’s Get Specific!” 513

B.J. Penn, "Stance" 523

Tony Hawk, "Do What You Love" 527

Edward P. Jones, "The First Day" 531

HUMAN GROUPS AND SOCIETY 539

Katherine Barrett, “Old Before Her Time” 539

Amy Tan, “The Most Hateful Words” 548

Bill Wine, “Rudeness at the Movies” 553

Luis J. Rodriquez, "Turning Youth Gangs Around" 560

Barbara Kingsolver, "Somebody's Baby" 569

Al Gore, "Consume Less, Conserve More" 577

James Weldon Johnson, "Outcasts in Salt Lake City" 584

Appendixes 589

A. Parts of Speech 590

B. ESL Pointers 601

C. Sentence-Skills Diagnostic Test 613

D. Sentence-Skills Achievement Test 618

Credits 623

Index 624

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.