Writing A Guide for College and Beyond, MLA Update Edition

For courses in English Composition.

This version of Writing: A Guide for College and Beyond has been updated to reflect the 8th Edition of the MLA Handbook (April 2016)*

Revealing the writing process through interactive learning
Writing: A Guide for College and Beyond presents writing, reading, and research processes dynamically, using a variety of visuals to illustrate how readers interact with texts and how writers compose. One of the first textbook authors to focus on multimedia  composing, Lester Faigley employs his own advice to engage readers in every step of the writing process--for everyday life--and pulls back the curtain on how writers work. In the 4th Edition, individuals can also practice and explore what they’ve learned chapter-by-chapter with interactive MyWritingLab tools, assignments, and projects.  

* The 8th Edition introduces sweeping changes to the philosophy and details of MLA works cited entries. Responding to the “increasing mobility of texts,” MLA now encourages writers to focus on the process of crafting the citation, beginning with the same questions for any source. These changes, then, align with current best practices in the teaching of writing which privilege inquiry and critical thinking over rote recall and rule-following.

PART 1: THE ACADEMIC WRITER

1 Thinking as an Academic Writer                
Explore Through Writing                    
Understand the Process of Writing
Understand the Rhetorical Situation
Analyze Your Assignment
Think About Your Genre
Think About Your Medium
Think About Your Topic
Think About What Your Readers Expect
Think About Your Credibility

2    Reading as an Academic Writer
Become a Critical Reader                    
Become a Critical Viewer
Annotate Academic Readings
Read Actively
Recognize Fallacies
Write a Summary
Write a Paraphrase
Move from Reading to Invention
Start an Annotated Bibliography
Synthesize Readings and Visuals

3    Planning
Move from a General Topic to a Writing Plan        
Narrow Your Topic
Write a Thesis
Make a Plan

4    Drafting
Draft with Strategies in Mind                
Write a Zero Draft
Draft From a Working Outline
Start Fast with an Engaging Title and Opening Paragraph
Develop Paragraphs
Conclude with Strength
Link Within and Across Paragraphs
Write an Essay Exam

5    Revising
Revising and Editing                    
Evaluate Your Draft
Respond to Others
Pay Attention to Details Last
Revise Using your Instructor’s Comments

PART 2: THE PERSUASIVE WRITER

6    Reflections
Writing a Reflection                    
What Makes a Good Reflection?
Reflections About Visuals
Reading Reflections
Sue Kunitomi Embrey, Some Lines for a Younger Brother . . .
David Sedaris, Let it Snow
Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, My Hips, My Caceras
Amy Tan, Mother Tongue
How to Write a Reflection

STUDENT EXAMPLE
Janine Carter, The Miracle Quilt

Projects

7    Observations
Writing an Observation                    
What Makes a Good Observation?
Visual Observations
Reading Observations
Kellie Schmitt, The Old Man Isn’t There Anymore
Gwendolyn Oxenham, Pelada
John Muir, Interview with the Bear
Ansel Adams, Photographs of Japanese-Americans at Manzanar
National Park Service, Yellowstone’s Geothermal Resources
 How to Write an Observation

STUDENT EXAMPLE (APA Style)
Sarah Cuellar, Playing in Traffic: How Parallel Play Helps Preschool Children "Merge" into Group Play

Projects

8    Informative Essays and Visuals
Reporting Information                    
What Makes Good Informative Writing?
Informative Visuals
Reading Informative Writing
            Katherine Mangan, Is Faster Always Better?
    Kheehong Song and Allison Cui, Understanding China’s Middle Class
    Shane D. Johnson, Aiden Sitebottom, and Adam Thorpe, Bicycle Theft
    National Aeronautics and Space Administration, The Current and Future Consequences of Climate Change
    US Department of Agriculture, MyPlate Brochure
    John Mitchell, A map of the British and French dominions in North America,
         1755
How to Write to Inform

STUDENT EXAMPLE
Lakshmi Kotra, The Life Cycle of Stars

Projects

9    Rhetorical, Visual, and Literary Analyses
Writing an Analysis                    
Writing a Rhetorical Analysis
Writing a Visual Analysis
Writing a Literary Analysis
Reading Analyses
Tim Collins, Straight from the Heart
David T. Z. Mindich, The Collapse of Big Media: The Young and the Restless
Frank Gehry, The Ray and Maria Stata Center, Massachusetts Institute of     Technology
     Kate Chopin, The Story of an Hour
    Dagoberto Gilb, Love in LA
Student Literary Analysis: Quandre Brown, Fender-bender Romance in Dagoberto Gilb’s “Love in L.A.”
How to Write an Analysis

STUDENT EXAMPLE
    Chris Gonzalez, Russell Lee’s Pie Town Photographs

Writing Arguments

10    Causal Arguments
Writing a Causal Argument                        
What Makes a Good Causal Argument?
Visual Causal Arguments
Reading Causal Arguments
Laura Fraser, The French Paradox
Emily Raine, Why Should I Be Nice To You? Coffee Shops and the Politics of
 Good Service
Kay S. Hymowitz, The New Girl Order
Tom Vanderbilt, Why I Became a Late Merger (and Why You Should Too)
How to Write a Causal Argument

STUDENT EXAMPLE
Armandi Tansel, Modern Warfare: Video Games’ Link to Real-World Violence

Projects

11    Evaluation Arguments
Writing an Evaluation Argument                        
What Makes a Good Evaluation Argument?
Visual Evaluations
Reading Evaluations
Bill McKibben, The Only Way to Have a Cow
Rachel Laudan, In Praise of Fast Food
Katharine Mieszkowski, We Paved Paradise
How to Write an Evaluation

STUDENT EXAMPLE
Jenna Picchi, Organic Foods Should Come Clean

Projects

12    Position Arguments
Writing a Position Argument                         
What Makes a Good Position Argument?
Visual Position Arguments
Reading Position Arguments
Ted Koppel, Take My Privacy, Please!
Frederick Douglass, What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?
    Michael Pollan, Eat Food, Food Defined
Jeff Speck, The Walkability Dividend
    James Paul Gee, Games, Not Schools, Are Teaching Kids to Think
     “Are You Pouring on the Pounds?”, Food Cops Bust Cookie Monster
How to Write a Position Argument

STUDENT EXAMPLE (MLA Style)
Patrice Conley, Flagrant Foul: The NCAA’s Definition of Student Athletes as Amateurs

Projects

13    Proposal Arguments
Writing a Proposal Argument
What Makes a Good Proposal Argument?
Visual Proposals
Reading Proposal Arguments
Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence
Sunni Brown, The Doodle Revolutionary’s Manifesto
Glenn Loury, A Nation of Jailers
Peter W. Huber, Bound to Burn
Chris Packham and Mark Wright, Should Pandas Be Left to Face
Extinction?
San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Connecting the City
How to Write a Proposal Argument

STUDENT EXAMPLE
Kim Lee, Let’s Make It a Real Melting Pot with Presidential Hopes for All

PART 3: THE MULTIMEDIA WRITER

14    Composing in Multimedia
Communicate With Visuals and words
Understanding the Process of Composing in Multimedia
Take Pictures That Aren’t Boring
Compose Images
Create Audience
Create Video
Create a Photo Essay

15    Designing for Print and Digital Readers
Start with Your Readers
Use Headings and Subheadings Effectively
Design Pages
Understand Typography
Evaluate Your Design

16    Delivering Presentations and Portfolios
Plan a Presentation
Design Effective Visuals
Deliver a Successful Presentation
Creating Portfolios

17    Writing for Online Courses
Keep Track of Online Coursework
Participate in Online Discussions
Manage Online Writing

18    Working as a Team
Organize a Team
Brainstorm as a Team
Work as a Team

PART 4: THE WRITER AS RESEARCHER
    
19    Planning Research
Analyze the Research Task
Ask a Question
Determine What You Need
Draft a Working Thesis

20    Finding Sources
Identify the Kinds of Sources That You Need
Search Using Keywords
Find Sources in Databases
Find Sources on the Web
Find Multimedia Sources
Find Print Sources
Create a Working Bibliography

21    Evaluating Sources
Determine the Relevance and Quality of Sources
Determine the Kind of Source
Determine If a Source Is Trustworthy

22    Exploring in the Field
Conduct Interviews
Administer Surveys
Make Observations

23    Writing the Research Project
Write a Draft
Avoid Plagiarism
Quote Sources Without Plagiarizing
Summarize and Paraphrase Sources Without Plagiarizing
Incorporate Quotations
Incorporate Visuals
Review Your Research Project

24    MLA Documentation
Elements of MLA Documentation
Entries in the Works-cited List
In-text Citations in MLA Style
Books in MLA-Style Works Cited
Sample Works-cited for Books
Periodicals in MLA-Style Works Cited
Sample Works-cited for Periodicals
Web Sources in MLA-Style Works Cited
Sample Works-cited for Online Sources
Other Sources in MLA-Style Works Cited
Visual Sources in MLA-Style Works Cited
Sample MLA Paper
George Abukar
It’s Time to Shut Down the Identity Theft Racket

25    APA Documentation
APA Citations
In-text Citations in APA Style
Books in APA-Style References List
Periodicals in APA-Style References List
Web Sources in APA-Style References List
Other Sources in APA-Style References List
Sample APA Paper
Blair Zacharias
Parking Design Recommendations for Publically Funded Commercial Redevelopment Projects

PART 5: THE WRITER AS EDITOR

26    Writing Effective Sentences
Pay Attention to Verbs       
Stay Active
Focus on People and Actors
Write Concise Sentences
Write Ethical Sentences
Match Structure with Ideas
Summary for Editing Sentences

27    Avoiding Errors
Fix Fragments       
Fix Run-on Sentences
Fix Comma Splices
Make Verbs Agree with Subjects
Make Pronouns Agree
Fix Shifts
Use Modifiers Correctly
Place Modifiers Carefully
Summary for Editing for Errors

28    Understanding Punctuation and Conventions
Identify Where Commas Are Needed
Place Commas Correctly with Modifiers
Place Commas Correctly with Clauses and Phrases
Use Semicolons and Colons Correctly
Use Hyphens, Dashes, and Parentheses Correctly
Use Quotation Marks Correctly
Use Other Punctuation Correctly
Understand Print Conventions
Summary for Punctuation and Conventions

29    Writing in a Second Language
Understand the Demands of Writing in a Second Language     
Understand Nouns in English
Understand Articles in English
Understand Verbs and Modifiers in English
Understand English Sentence Structure
Summary for Second-language Writers

Index