Real Skills with Readings Sentences and Paragraphs for College, Work, and Everyday Life

Using real-world examples, assignments, and readings, Real Skills with Readings connects writing to all aspects of your life in order to show you that writing is both an essential and achievable skill.

*New to This Edition

Thematic Table of Contents xv
Preface xvii
A Note to Students from the Authors xxxv

Part 1
Writing Paragraphs 1

1. Reading and Critical Thinking: Keys to Successful Writing 3
Recognize What You Already Know 3
Improve Your Reading Skills 6
■ 2PR: The Critical Reading Process 6
     Preview the Reading 6
     Read the Piece, Finding the Main Point and Support 6
     Pause to Think 8
     Review 9
     Think Critically 11
FOUR BASIC CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS 11
Write and Edit Your Own Work 14
Chapter Review 15

2. Understanding the Basics of Good Writing: How to Write in College and Other Formal  
    Settings 16
*Reading Roadmap
Understand the Basics of Good Writing 16
FOUR BASICS OF GOOD WRITING 16
     Purpose and Audience: Considering Your Writing Situation 16
     Main Point and Support 18
Understand What a Paragraph Is 18
FOUR BASICS OF A GOOD PARAGRAPH 19
Understand the Writing Process 19
Write and Edit Your Own Work 20
Chapter Review 22
*Reflecting on the Journey 

3. Narrowing and Exploring Your Topic: How to Decide What to Write About 24
*Reading Roadmap
Narrow Your Topic 24
Explore Your Topic 26
     Freewrite 26
     Brainstorm 26
     Map or Cluster 27
     Keep a Journal 28
     Use the Internet 28
Write and Edit Your Own Work 29
Chapter Review 31
*Reflecting on the Journey

4. Writing Your Paragraph: How to Put Your Ideas Together 32
*Reading Roadmap
Make a Point 32
FOUR BASICS OF A GOOD TOPIC SENTENCE
Support Your Point 37
FOUR BASICS OF GOOD SUPPORT 37
Make a Plan 39
Write a Draft 40
FOUR BASICS OF A GOOD DRAFT 41
Write and Edit Your Own Work 43
Chapter Review 45
*Reflecting on the Journey

5. Improving Your Paragraph: How to Make It the Best It Can Be 46
*Reading Roadmap
Understand What Revision Is 46
FOUR BASICS OF REVISION 46
Get Feedback 46
Improve Your Support 47
Check the Arrangement of Your Ideas 49
     Time Order 50
     Space Order 53
     Order of Importance 54
Title Your Paragraph 57
Check for the Four Basics of a Good Paragraph 57
FOUR BASICS OF A GOOD PARAGRAPH 57
Edit Your Paragraph 59
Write and Edit Your Own Work 60
Chapter Review 61
*Reflecting on the Journey

*6. Developing Narration, Illustration, and Description Paragraphs: Different Ways to
      Present Your Ideas 62
*Reading Roadmap
Narration 63
FOUR BASICS OF NARRATION 63
     Guided Outline: Narration 64
     Write a Narration Paragraph 65
     Explore Narration Further: Life-Changing Moments 66
     *STUDENT PARAGRAPH  Alieh Alfakeeh, What Girls Are For
     PROFESSIONAL PARAGRAPH Womenshealth.gov, A 911 Call Saved My Life
     Understanding Narration
     *STUDENT ESSAY  Christina Mevs, How My Community College Experience Has
     Changed My Life
     *PROFESSIONAL ESSAY  Sandra Cisneros, Only Daughter
Illustration 66
FOUR BASICS OF ILLUSTRATION 66
     Guided Outline: Illustration 68
     Write an Illustration Paragraph 68
     Explore Illustration Further: Family Ties 69
     *STUDENT PARAGRAPH  Mary Adams, From Embarrassing Stories to Favorite Memories
     *PROFESSIONAL PARAGRAPH  Arnold Brown, Relationships, Community, and Identity 
     in the New Virtual Society
     STUDENT ESSAY Sabina Pajazetovic, My Mother, My Hero
     *PROFESSIONAL ESSAY  Wil Haygood, Underground Dads
Description 70
FOUR BASICS OF DESCRIPTION 70
     Guided Outline: Description 71
     Write a Description Paragraph 72
     Explore Description Further: The People We Meet and the Places We Go 73
     *STUDENT PARAGRAPH  Faye Phelps, The Bachelor Life
     *PROFESSIONAL PARAGRAPH Scott Russell Sanders, Excerpt from The Men We Carry
     In Our Minds
     STUDENT ESSAY  Andrew Dillon Bustin, Airports Are for People Watching
     *PROFESSIONAL ESSAY  Amy Tan, Fish Cheeks
     *Reflecting on the Journey

*7. Developing Process-Analysis, Classification, and Definition Paragraphs: Three More
      Ways to Present Your Ideas 97
*Reading Roadmap
Process Analysis 73
FOUR BASICS OF PROCESS ANALYSIS 73
     Guided Outline: Process Analysis 74
     Write a Process-Analysis Paragraph 75
     Explore Process Analysis Further: Skills for Success 76
     *STUDENT PARAGRAPH  Jonathan Simon-Valdez, Impossible, Difficult, Done
     PROFESSIONAL PARAGRAPH Federal Trade Commission, Building a Better Credit
     Report
     STUDENT ESSAY  Rashad Brown, When I Grow Up I Wanna Be…
    *PROFESSIONAL ESSAY  Ron Friedman, When to Schedule Your Most Important Work
Classification 76
FOUR BASICS OF CLASSIFICATION 76
     Guided Outline: Classification 78
     Write a Classification Paragraph 78
     Explore Classification Further: Types of People We Meet 79
     *STUDENT PARAGRAPH  Kristy Fouch, Servers
     *PROFESSIONAL PARAGRAPH  Marvin Montgomery, Types of Sales People
     *STUDENT ESSAY  Lauren Woodrell, Cheating
     PROFESSIONAL ESSAY  Stephanie Dray, Five Kinds of Friends Everyone Should Have
Definition 79
FOUR BASICS OF DEFINITION 79
     Guided Outline: Definition 81
     Write a Definition Paragraph 81
     Explore Definition Further: Identity 83
     *STUDENT PARAGRAPH  Sydney Tasey, Sex vs. Gender
     *PROFESSIONAL PARAGRAPH  Douglas Main, Who Are the Millennials?
     *STUDENT ESSAY  Spencer Rock, Mask-ulinity: The Price of Becoming a Man
     *PROFESSIONAL ESSAY  Roque Planas, Chicano: What Does the Word Mean and
     Where Does It Come From?
     Chapter Review
     *Reflecting on the Journey

*8. Developing Comparison and Contrast, Cause and Effect, and Argument Paragraphs: 
     Additional Ways to Present Your Ideas 97
*Reading Roadmap
Comparison and Contrast 83
FOUR BASICS OF COMPARISON AND CONTRAST 83
    Guided Outline: Comparison and Contrast 85
     Write a Comparison-and-Contrast Paragraph 85
     Explore Comparison and Contrast Further: Our Changing Culture 86
     *STUDENT PARAGRAPH  Yolanda Castaneda Vasquez, Classroom Culture, Then and
     Now
     *PROFESSIONAL PARAGRAPH CNN iReport, Brick and Mortar vs. Online Shopping
     *STUDENT ESSAY James Sellars, His and Hers
     *PROFESSIONAL ESSAY Jenny Deam, E-books vs. Print: What Parents Need to Know
Cause and Effect 86
FOUR BASICS OF CAUSE AND EFFECT 87
     Guided Outline: Cause and Effect 88
     Write a Cause-and-Effect Paragraph 89
      Explore Cause and Effect Further: Health 90
     *STUDENT PARAGRAPH  Kendal Rippel, We Need Sleep
     *PROFESSIONAL PARAGRAPH  Wayne Weiten and Margaret Lloyd, What Makes Us
     Happy
     STUDENT ESSAY  Delia Cleveland, Champagne Taste, Beer Budget
     *PROFESSIONAL ESSAY Natalie McGill, Caffeine: Don’t Let Your Pick-me-up Drag You
     Down
Argument 90
FOUR BASICS OF ARGUMENT 90
     Guided Outline: Argument 92
     Write an Argument Paragraph 92
     Explore Argument Further: How We Eat and the Language We Speak 93
     PROFESSIONAL PARAGRAPH  Michael Pollan, Vegetarians and Human Culture
     PROFESSIONAL PARAGRAPH  Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Eating
     Healthy
     STUDENT ESSAY  Sheena Ivey, English as an Official Language: One Language for One
     Nation
     STUDENT ESSAY  Tony Felts, English as an Official Language: The Injustice of One
     Language
Chapter Review 96
*Reflecting on the Journey

9. Moving from Paragraphs to Essays: How to Write Longer Papers 97
Understand Essay Structure 97
Write an Essay 99
     Narrow Your Topic 100
     Write a Thesis Statement 101
     Support Your Thesis Statement and Write Topic Sentences 103
     Make a Plan 104
     Write, Revise, and Edit 104
FOUR BASICS OF A GOOD DRAFT 105
Chapter Review 108
*Reflecting on the Journey

Part 2
Grammar Basics 113

10. The Parts of Speech: A Brief Review  115
*Reading Roadmap
Nouns 115
Pronouns 117
     Personal Pronouns 117
     Indefinite Pronouns 121
     Other Types of Pronouns 123
Verbs 126
     Action Verbs 126
     Linking Verbs 128
     Main Verbs and Helping Verbs 129
Adjectives 130
Adverbs 132
Prepositions 134
Conjunctions 136
     Coordinating Conjunctions 136
     Subordinating Conjunctions 137
Interjections 138
Write and Edit Your Own Work 138
Chapter Review 140
*Reflecting on the Journey

11. Simple Sentences: Key Parts to Know 141
 *Reading Roadmap
Understand What a Sentence Is 141
Find Subjects 141
     Subject Nouns 142
     Subject Pronouns 142
     Simple and Complete Subjects 144
     Singular and Plural Subjects 145
     Prepositional Phrases 146
Find Verbs 148
Decide If There Is a Complete Thought 149
Six Basic English Sentence Patterns 150
Write and Edit Your Own Work 152
Chapter Review 153
*Reflecting on the Journey

12. Longer Sentences: Joining Related Ideas 154
 *Reading Roadmap
Compound Sentences 154
Complex Sentences 155
Compound-Complex Sentences 158
Write and Edit Your Own Work 158
Chapter Review 160
*Reflecting on the Journey

Part 3
Editing for the Four Most Serious Errors 167

13. Fragments: Sentences That Are Missing a Key Part 169
 *Reading Roadmap
The Four Most Serious Errors 169
Understand What Fragments Are 169
     In the Real World, Why Is It Important to Correct Fragments? 170
Find and Correct Fragments 171
     Trouble Spot 1: Fragments That Start with a Prepositional Phrase 171
     Trouble Spot 2: Fragments That Start with a Dependent Word 174
     Trouble Spot 3: Fragments That Start with an -ing Verb 178
     Trouble Spot 4: Fragments That Start with to and a Verb 181
     Trouble Spot 5: Fragments That Start with an Example or Explanation 185
Edit Fragments in Everyday Life 187
Write and Edit Your Own Work 189
Chapter Review 190
*Reflecting on the Journey

14. Run-Ons and Comma Splices: Two Sentences Joined Incorrectly 194
 *Reading Roadmap
Understand What Run-Ons and Comma Splices Are 194
     In the Real World, Why Is It Important to Correct Run-Ons and Comma Splices? 195
Find and Correct Run-Ons and Comma Splices 196
     Add a Period or a Semicolon 197
     Add a Comma and a Coordinating Conjunction 200
     Add a Subordinating Conjunction (Dependent Word) 204
Edit Run-Ons and Comma Splices in Everyday Life 208
Write and Edit Your Own Work 210
Chapter Review 211
*Reflecting on the Journey

15. Subject-Verb Agreement Problems: Subjects and Verbs That Do Not Match   215
 *Reading Roadmap
Understand What Subject-Verb Agreement Is 215
     In the Real World, Why Is It Important to Correct Subject-Verb Agreement Errors? 218
Find and Correct Errors in Subject-Verb Agreement 219
     The Verb Is a Form of Be, Have, or Do 219
     Words Come between the Subject and the Verb 226
     The Sentence Has a Compound Subject 230
     The Subject Is an Indefinite Pronoun 233
     The Verb Comes before the Subject 236
Edit Subject-Verb Agreement Problems in Everyday Life 239
Write and Edit Your Own Work 242
Chapter Review 243
*Reflecting on the Journey

16. Verb-Tense Problems: The Past Tense and the Past Participle 247
*Reading Roadmap
Understand Regular Verbs in the Past Tense 247
     In the Real World, Why Is It Important to Use the Correct Tense? 248
Understand Irregular Verbs in the Past Tense 251
Understand Four Very Irregular Verbs 253
     The Verb Be 253
     The Verb Have 255
     Can / Could and Will / Would 256
Understand the Past Participle 259
     Past Participles of Regular Verbs 259
     Past Participles of Irregular Verbs 260
Use the Past Participle Correctly 265
     Present-Perfect Tense 265
     Past-Perfect Tense 268
     Passive versus Active Voice 271
Edit Verb-Tense Errors in Everyday Life 273
Verb-Tense Reference Chart 276
Write and Edit Your Own Work 282
Chapter Review 284
*Reflecting on the Journey

Part 4
Editing for Other Errors and Sentence Style 297

17. Pronoun Problems: Using Substitutes for Nouns  299
*Reading Roadmap
Make Pronouns Agree with Their Antecedents 299
     Indefinite Pronouns 300
     Collective Nouns 304
Check Pronoun Reference 306
Use the Right Pronoun Case 309
     Pronouns in Sentences with More Than One Subject or Object 310
     Pronouns Used in Comparisons 313
     Who versus Whom 315
Edit Pronouns in Everyday Life 316
Write and Edit Your Own Work 318
Chapter Review 320
*Reflecting on the Journey

18. Adjective and Adverb Problems: Describing Which One? or How? 325
*Reading Roadmap
Choose between Adjectives and Adverbs 325
Adjectives and Adverbs in Comparisons 328
Good, Well, Bad, and Badly 331
Edit Adjectives and Adverbs in Everyday Life 334
Write and Edit Your Own Work 336
Chapter Review 337
*Reflecting on the Journey

19. Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers: Avoiding Confusing Descriptions 341
*Reading Roadmap
Understand What Misplaced Modifiers Are 341
Find and Correct Misplaced Modifiers 343
Understand What Dangling Modifiers Are 345
Find and Correct Dangling Modifiers 346
Edit Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers in Everyday Life 348
Write and Edit Your Own Work 350
Chapter Review 351
*Reflecting on the Journey

20. Illogical Shifts: Avoiding Inconsistencies 356
*Reading Roadmap
Understand Consistent Tense 356
Find and Correct Inconsistent Tenses 357
Understand Consistent Person 359
Find and Correct Inconsistent Person 359
Edit Illogical Shifts in Everyday Life 361
Write and Edit Your Own Work 362
Chapter Review 364
*Reflecting on the Journey

21. Choppy Sentences: Using Coordination and Subordination 368
*Reading Roadmap
Use Coordination to Join Sentences 368
     Using Coordinating Conjunctions 369
     Using Semicolons 372
Use Subordination to Join Sentences 374
Edit for Choppy Sentences in Everyday Life 379
Write and Edit Your Own Work 382
Chapter Review 383
*Reflecting on the Journey

22. Parallelism: Balancing Ideas 389
Understand What Parallelism Is 389
Use Parallel Structure 390
     Parallelism in Pairs and Lists 390
     Parallelism in Comparisons 391
     Parallelism with Certain Paired Words 393
Edit for Parallelism in Everyday Life 395
Write and Edit Your Own Work 398
Chapter Review 400
*Reflecting on the Journey

Part 5
Editing Words in Sentences 411

23. Word Choice 413
*Reading Roadmap
Understand the Importance of Choosing Words Carefully 413
     Dictionary 413
     Thesaurus 414
Avoid Four Common Word-Choice Problems 415
     Vague Words 415
     Slang 416
     Wordy Language 417
     Clichés 419
Edit for Word Choice in Everyday Life 421
Write and Edit Your Own Work 423
Chapter Review 424
*Reflecting on the Journey

24. Commonly Confused Words 428
*Reading Roadmap
Understand Strategies for Editing Soundalike Words 428
Use Commonly Confused Words Correctly 428
Edit Commonly Confused Words in Everyday Life 438
Write and Edit Your Own Work 439
Chapter Review 440
*Reflecting on the Journey

25. Spelling 443
*Reading Roadmap
Understand the Importance of Spelling Correctly 443
Practice Spelling Correctly 443
Follow These Steps to Better Spelling 444
     Remember Ten Troublemakers 444
     Defeat Your Personal Spelling Demons 445
     Learn about Commonly Confused Words 445
     Learn Seven Spelling Rules 445
     Check a Spelling List 452
Edit Spelling Errors in Everyday Life 454
Write and Edit Your Own Work 456
Chapter Review 457
*Reflecting on the Journey

Part 6
Editing for Punctuation and Mechanics 467

26. Commas ( , )  469
*Reading Roadmap
Understand What Commas Do 469
Use Commas Correctly 469
     Commas between Items in a Series 469
     Commas in Compound Sentences 471
     Commas after Introductory Words 473
     Commas around Appositives and Interrupters 474
     Commas around Adjective Clauses 477
     Other Uses for Commas 479
Edit Commas in Everyday Life 482
Write and Edit Your Own Work 484
Chapter Review 485
*Reflecting on the Journey

27. Apostrophes ( ’ )  489
 *Reading Roadmap
Understand What Apostrophes Do 489
Use Apostrophes Correctly 489
     Apostrophes to Show Ownership 489
     Apostrophes in Contractions 492
     Apostrophes with Letters, Numbers, and Time 494
Edit Apostrophes in Everyday Life 495
Write and Edit Your Own Work 497
Chapter Review 498
*Reflecting on the Journey

28. Quotation Marks ( “ ” ) 501
*Reading Roadmap
Understand What Quotation Marks Do
Use Quotation Marks Correctly
     Quotation Marks for Direct Quotations
     No Quotation Marks for Indirect Quotations
     Quotation Marks for Certain Titles
Edit Quotation Marks in Everyday Life
Write and Edit Your Own Work
Chapter Review
*Reflecting on the Journey

29. Other Punctuation ( ; : ( ) — - ) 
 *Reading Roadmap
Understand What Punctuation Does
Use Punctuation Correctly
     Semicolon ( ; )
     Colon ( : ) 
     Parentheses ( ( ) ) 
     Dash ( — ) 
     Hyphen ( - )
Edit Other Punctuation in Everyday Life
Write and Edit Your Own Work
Chapter Review
*Reflecting on the Journey

30. Capitalization: Using Capital Letters  
*Reading Roadmap
Understand Capitalization
Use Capitalization Correctly
     Capitalization of Sentences
     Capitalization of Names of Specific People, Places, Dates, and Things
     Capitalization of Titles
Edit for Capitalization in Everyday Life
Write and Edit Your Own Work
Chapter Review
*Reflecting on the Journey 

Part 7
ESL Concerns

31. Subjects
Include a Subject in Every Sentence
More Than One Subject
Chapter Review

32. Verbs
Understand Verbs
Use Be to Show Age, Emotion, or Physical Condition
Form Negatives Correctly
Form Questions Correctly
Form the Present-Progressive Tense Correctly
Use Modal Auxiliaries / Helping Verbs Correctly
Use Gerunds and Infinitives Correctly
Include Prepositions after Verbs When Needed
Chapter Review

33. Nouns and Articles
Count and Noncount Nouns
Articles
Chapter Review

Editing Review Tests
Appendix: Succeeding on Tests
Index
Editing and Proofreading Marks
For Easy Reference: Selected Lists and Charts

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