Texts and Contexts A Contemporary Approach to College Writing

, by Robinson, William S.; Tucker, Stephanie

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ISBN: 9781413010459 | 1413010458
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 5/18/2005

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Write better essays with TEXTS AND CONTEXTS: A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO COLLEGE WRITING! With high-interest readings, tips for writing good essays both in and out of class, and a comprehensive grammar review, this developmental English text provides you with the skills you need for college success. Readings cover compelling topics such as censorship of high school newspapers, rating movies, analyzing the job market, and whether or not college athletics should be reformed. Selections written by students give you realistic expectations for your own writing and help you build on your own skills.

Preface: To the Student

xiii

Preface: To the Instructor

xvi

Part I Writing from the Top Down

(70)

Practice in developing the ability to read critically and to summarize; learning the fundamentals of the academic writing process through writing a short report; shaping texts and sentences.

Chapter 1 The Writing Process

(50)

Reading Actively and Efficiently

(8)

Writing Summaries

(1)

Steps in Writing a Summary

(1)

An Experienced Writer Writes a Summary

(11)

Analyzing and Evaluating Your Information

(1)

Organizing and Finding Your Point

(1)

Writing a Report

(6)

The Idea Draft

(2)

Later Drafts

(2)

Using Quotations

(2)

Paraphrasing

(3)

Sentence Combining

(13)

Shaping Sentences

(2)

Recognizing Verb Forms for Writing and Sentence Combining

(2)

Shaping Sentences with Adjectives and Verb Forms

(4)

Shaping Sentences with Prepositional Phrases

(5)

Chapter 2 The Shape of Texts

(20)

Introductions and Thesis Statements

(3)

Students at Work: Introductions

(3)

Paragraphs: Proving Your Points

(2)

Topic Sentences and the Organization Process

(3)

Students at Work: Paragraphs

(3)

Conclusions

(4)

Part II Discovering and Writing

(356)

Cases for reading and writing: pre-reading and post-reading; pre-writing and drafting; sentence combining and proofreading.

Chapter 3 Learning by Sorting It out

(70)

An Important Thinking Tool: Making Inferences

(2)

Inferences and Guesses

(1)

Good Inferences and Bad Inferences

(2)

Classifying to Discover

(3)

Assignments and Readings

(33)

Analyzing Television for Children

(1)

Reading Assignment

(1)

What Are TV Ads Selling to Children? by John J. O'Connor

(1)

Females and Minorities in TV Ads in 1987 Saturday Children's Programs by Daniel Riffe, Helene Goldson, Kelly Saxton, and Yang-Chou Yu

(3)

Essay Assignment

(1)

Analyzing the Job Market

(1)

Reading Assignment

(1)

U.S. Income Inequality Keeps on Rising by Robert B. Reich

(1)

Tomorrow's Jobs by Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor

(8)

Essay Assignment

103

(1)

Learning What Our Magazines Tell About Us

104

(1)

Reading Assignment

105

(1)

Help or Hindrance? Women's Magazines Offer Readers Little but Fear, Failure by Mary Kay Blakely

105

(1)

We've Come a Long Way, but Magazines Stayed Behind by Susan Dudash, Student

108

(4)

Essay Assignment

112

(1)

Assignments

113

(30)

How Do Advertisers Try to Manipulate Us?

113

(1)

Reading Assignment

113

(1)

Advertising's Fifteen Basic Appeals by Jib Fowles

114

(10)

Essay Assignment

124

(1)

The Writer's Checklist

125

(2)

Sentence Combining

127

(1)

Joining Ideas to Show Basic Logical Relationships

127

(1)

Subordinating Conjunctions

131

(1)

Transition Words

138

(5)

Chapter 4 Learning by Comparing

143

(107)

Comparing and Contrasting to Discover

143

(1)

Organizing Essays Based on Comparison and Contrast

144

(2)

Assignments and Readings

146

(91)

Controlling Political Campaign Expenses. Or Not.

146

(1)

Reading Assignment

147

(1)

Political Reform Issues by News Batch

148

(1)

The Current State of Campaign Finance Laws by Trevor Potter

152

(1)

The FEC: Administering and Enforcing Campaign Finance Law by Thomas E. Mann

159

(1)

Canada Elections Act and Income Tax Act in Force January 2004

164

(1)

Revitalizing Democracy: Clean Election Reform Shows the Way Forward by Marc Breslow, Janet Groat, and Paul Saba

165

(1)

Who's Buying Whom: How Money in Politics Really Works by Micah L. Sifry and Nancy Watzman

177

(1)

Shut Up, They Explained by David Frum

183

(1)

Governor Raises $17 Million in 6 Months by Matier and Ross

186

(2)

Essay Assignment

188

(1)

Comparing American Families in the Past and Present

188

(1)

Reading Assignment

189

(1)

The Social Order in Colonial New England by Edmund S. Morgan

190

(1)

The Role of Men and Women in Colonial New England by Edmund S. Morgan and Louis B. Wright

190

(1)

The Role of Children in Colonial New England by Edmund S. Morgan

192

(1)

Men Assuming Bigger Share at Home, New Survey Shows by Tamar Lewin

194

(1)

For First Time, Nuclear Families Drop Below 25% of Households by Eric Schmitt

196

(2)

Essay Assignment

198

(1)

Examining American and Asian Educational Methods

199

(1)

Reading Assignment

200

(1)

New Math-Science Study Rates U.S. Students Mediocre at Best by William S. Robinson

200

(1)

Why Are U.S. Kids Poor in Math? by Barbara Vobejda

202

(1)

Japan's School System by James Kilpatrick

203

(1)

We Should Cherish Our Children's Freedom to Think by Kie Ho

204

(1)

Strengths, Weaknesses, and Lessons of Japanese Education by James Fallows

206

(1)

School Here in the United States and There in Vietnam, Student Essay

211

(1)

Some Public Schools Don't Make the Grade by Richard Morin

212

(2)

Essay Assignment

214

(2)

The Health-Care Crisis: Examining Two Approaches to National Health

216

(1)

Reading Assignment

217

(1)

The American Health-Care System

218

(2)

The French Health-Care System

220

(1)

U.S. Spends Most on Health, but France No. 1 in Treatment by Lauran Neergaard

220

(1)

The Upward Drift of Health-Care Expenses in France by Baudouin Bollaert

221

(1)

The American Health Care Crisis by Sara Collins

223

(1)

Name-brand Drug Costs Soar, Senior Groups Say by Washington Post

226

(1)

The Incredible Shrinking Health Care Debate by Micah L. Sifry and Nancy Watzman

226

(1)

Drug Companies Increase Spending on Efforts to Lobby Congress and Governments by Robert Pear

230

(1)

Why the U.S. Needs a Single Payer Health System by David U. Himmelstein, and Steffie Woolhander,

231

(4)

Essay Assignment

235

(1)

The Writer's Checklist

235

(2)

Sentence Combining

237

(13)

Joining Ideas to Show Contrast and Concession

237

(1)

What Is Concession?

238

(1)

Summary of Comparison/Contrast Words

239

(1)

Using Joining Words to Show Emphasis

239

(11)

Chapter 5 Arguing

250

(90)

Facts and Opinions

250

(3)

Evaluating Evidence and Shaping Your Argument

253

(5)

Assignments and Readings

258

(62)

Deciding Carmen Herrera's Future

258

(1)

Reading Assignment

258

(1)

Various Comments on Carmen's Dilemma by her counselor, parents, boyfriend, employer, friend, sister, brother

259

(1)

Essay Assignment

260

(1)

Should High School Students Work?

261

(1)

Reading Assignment

262

(1)

Part-Time Work Ethic: Should Teens Go for It? by Dennis McLellan

262

(1)

McJobs by Ben Wildavsky

266

(1)

Why Fast-Food Joints Don't Serve Up Good Jobs for Kids by Amitai Etzioni

270

(1)

Why Not Ask the Students? Urban Teenagers Make the Case for Working by Katherine Cress

274

(7)

Essay Assignment

281

(1)

Should People Keep Handguns at Home?

282

(1)

Reading Assignment

282

(1)

The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

283

(1)

Firearm-Related Deaths in the United States and 35 Other High-and Upper-Middle-Income Countries by E.G. Krug, K.E. Powell, and L.L. Dahlberg

283

(1)

Handgun Regulations, Crime, Assaults, and Homicide: A Tale of Two Cities by Drs. J.H. Sloan, A.L. Kellermann, D.T. Reay, J.A. Ferris, T. Koepsell, E.P. Rivara, C. Rice, L. Gray, and J. LoGerfo

290

(1)

Crime Is the Basic Problem, Not Guns by Wayne LaPierre

295

(1)

Do Gun Laws Work? Study is Inconclusive by Kristen Wyatt

297

(1)

Of Killer Pens and AK-47s by Micah Sifry and Nancy Watzman

298

(1)

Why I Bought a Gun by Gail Buchalter

300

(1)

Man Shoots Own Son

303

(1)

Essay Assignment

304

(1)

Censorship of High School Newspapers

305

(1)

Reading Assignment

306

(1)

Pregnancy at Hazelwood High by Christine de Hass

306

(1)

Divorce's Impact on Kids May Have Lifelong Effects by Shari Gordon

308

(1)

A Limit on the Student Press by Jean Seligmann and Tessa Namuth

309

(1)

High School Papers Grow Up by Jerry Carroll

311

(1)

High Court Gives a Civics Lesson by Fred M. Hechinger

313

(1)

Censorship: A Fact of Life Students Are Forced to Face by Jonathan Yardley

314

(4)

Essay Assignment

318

(1)

The Writer's Checklist

318

(2)

Sentence Combining

320

(20)

Shaping Sentences to Show Relationships: Appositives

320

(1)

Punctuating Noun Phrases in Sentences

321

(3)

Creating Noun Phrase Modifiers

324

(6)

Shaping Sentences to Show Relationships: Adjective Clauses

330

(2)

Special Rules

332

(8)

Chapter 6 Discussing

340

(82)

Argument and Discussion in School and on the Job

340

(1)

Writing Discussion Essays

341

(1)

Assignments and Readings

342

(62)

Who Should Care for the Children?

342

(1)

Reading Assignment

343

(1)

Who's Taking Care of the Children? by Michael Ryan

343

(1)

Home Day Care Providers Face Increasing Demand by Tammy Hansen

347

(1)

High Staff Turnover Imperils Child Care, Researcher Says by Anastasia Hendrix

348

(1)

An Interview with Mary S.

350

(1)

Canada Takes Steps Toward Universal Child Care by Colin Nickerson

351

(1)

Child Care Sacred as France Cuts Back the Welfare State by Marlise Simons

352

(4)

Essay Assignment

356

(1)

Rating the Movies

356

(1)

Reading Assignment

357

(1)

The Motion Picture Association Movie Rating System by Jack Valenti

358

(1)

The Big Chill by Lois P. Sheinfeld

362

(1)

The Rating Game by Paul Attanasio

365

(1)

Give Movie Raters a PG, for Pigheadedness by Tom Shales

367

(1)

A Major Studio Tests the (Sexy) Waters of NC-17 by Joel Topcik

368

(3)

Essay Assignment

371

(1)

Is Hate Speech Free Speech?

372

(1)

Reading Assignment

373

(1)

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

373

(1)

The Debate Over Placing Limits on Racist Speech Must Not Ignore the Damage It Does to Its Victims by Charles R. Lawrence III

374

(1)

Free Speech on the Campus by Nat Hentoff

378

(1)

Hate Speech on Campus by Joseph S. Tuman

383

(1)

Rethinking Campus Speech Codes by Ben Wildavsky

385

(4)

Essay Assignment

389

(1)

Should College Athletics Be Reformed?

389

(1)

Reading Assignment

390

(1)

Helping Top Athletes Meet Minimum Standards by Kate Zernike

391

(1)

Graduation Rates at Top-Tier Football Programs Poor by Steve Wieberg

393

(1)

2003 N.C.A.A. Tournament: Academics; Study Finds Top Teams Failing in the Classroom by Frank Litsky

394

(1)

Big Spenders on Campus Spending Your Money by Selena Roberts

395

(1)

NCAA Board of Directors Adopts Landmark Academic Reform Package

396

(1)

Plan Creates Loopholes, Not Educated Athletes by Marc Isenberg

397

(1)

The Ivy League at 30: A Model for College Athletics or an Outmoded Antique? by Douglas Lederman

399

(3)

Essay Assignment

402

(1)

The Writer's Checklist

402

(2)

Sentence Combining

404

(18)

Shaping Sentences to Show Relationships: Verbal Phrases

404

(10)

Shaping Sentences to Show Relationships: Parallelism

414

(8)

Chapter 7 Writing the In-Class Essay

422

(6)

The Essay Exam

422

(2)

The Writing Test

424

(1)

Planning Your Time

425

(2)

Part III Proofreading Skills Workbook

427

(76)

Self-teaching assignments for common usage problems.

Introduction

428

(1)

Proofreading Quiz

429

(1)

1. Identifying Subjects and Verbs

432

(1)

2. Agreement Between Subjects and Verbs

437

(1)

3. Past Tense and Past Participles

444

(1)

4. The Past-to-Present Tense (Present Perfect)

449

(1)

5. The Past-Before-Past Tense (Past Perfect)

453

(1)

6. Comma-Splice Errors

458

(1)

7. Sentence Fragments

461

(1)

8. Pronouns

466

(1)

9. Using A and An

475

(1)

10. Noun Plurals

476

(2)

11. Noncountable Nouns

478

(1)

12. Dropped Contractions of Is and Are

479

(2)

13. Forming Direct Questions

481

(4)

14. Forming Indirect Questions

485

(1)

15. Apostrophes to Show Possession

486

(4)

16. Homophones

490

(6)

17. Capitalization

496

(7)

Credits

503

(6)

Index

509

(6)

Index of Authors and Titles

515

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Texts and Contexts A Contemporary Approach to College Writing

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials