ISE Exploring Writing: Paragraphs and Essays

John Langan has taught reading and writing at Atlantic Cape Community College for more than 25 years. The author of a popular series of college textbooks on both writing and reading, John enjoys the challenge of developing instructive materials that are clear and lively. Before teaching, he earned advanced degrees in writing at Rutgers University and in reading at Rowan University. He also spent a year writing fiction that is now at the back of a drawer waiting to be discovered and acclaimed posthumously. While in school, he supported himself by working as a truck driver, a machinist, a battery assembler, a hospital attendant, and an apple packer. In addition to his wife and Philly sports teams, his passions include reading and conveying to nonreaders the pleasure and power of books. Through Townsend Press, his educational publishing company, he has developed the nonprofit Townsend Librarya collection of more than 100 new and classic stories that appeal to readers of any age.

Now in its 4th edition, Exploring Writing emphasizes writing skills and process. By referring to a set of four skills for effective writing, Exploring Writing encourages new writers to see writing as a skill that can be learned and a process that must e explored. The four skills, or bases, for effective writing are as follows: Unity: Discover a clearly stated point or topic sentence, and make sure that all other information in the paragraph or essay supports that point. Support: Support the points with specific evidence, and plenty of it. Coherence: Organize and connect supporting evidence so that paragraphs and essays transition smoothly from one bit of supporting information to the next. Sentence skills: Revise and edit so that sentences are error-free for clearer and more effective communication. The four bases are essential to effective writing, whether it be a narrative paragraph, a cover letter for a job application, or an essay assignment. Updated with 11 new readings (including works by Carol Dweck and Ta-Nehisi Coates), new content on literary analysis and updated student examples, Exploring Writing engages students in the writing process and facilitates their development as academic and professional writers. This new title is also available in a low cost rental option.

EXPLORING WRITING: PARAGRAPHS AND ESSAYSTABLE OF CONTENTSPART 1 Writing: Skills and Process 21. An Introduction to Writing 42. The Writing Process 25PART 2 Basic Principles of Effective Writing 583. The First and Second Steps in Writing 604. The Third and Fourth Steps in Writing 905. Four Bases for Revising Writing 126PART 3 Paragraph Development 1626. Exemplification 1647. Narration 1758. Description 1849. Process 19510. Cause and/or Effect 20611. Comparison and/or Contrast 21612. Definition 23013. Division-Classification 24014. Argument 251PART 4 Essay Development 27015. Introduction to Essay Development 27216. Writing the Essay 28517. Introductions, Conclusions, and Titles 31518. Patterns of Essay Development 329PART 5 Research-Based Writing 36819. Information Literacy 37020. Working with Sources 38521. Writing a Research Paper 417PART 6 Handbook of Sentence Skills 434SECTION I Grammar 43622. Subjects and Verbs 43723. Sentence Sense 44224. Fragments 44525. Run-Ons 45726. Regular and Irregular Verbs 46827. Subject-Verb Agreement 47628. More about Verbs 48129. Pronoun Agreement and Reference 48530. Pronoun Types 49031. Adjectives and Adverbs 49632. Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers 501SECTION II Mechanics 51133. Capital Letters 51234. Numbers and Abbreviations 519SECTION III Punctuation 52435. Apostrophe 52536. Quotation Marks 53137. Comma 53838. Other Punctuation Marks 546SECTION IV Word Use 55239. Commonly Confused Words 55340. Effective Word Choice 563SECTION V Tests 57041. Editing Tests 571PART 7 Readings for Writers 588INTRODUCTION TO THEREADINGS 590GOALS AND VALUES 594EDUCATION AND LEARNING 646CHALLENGING SOCIETY 679Index 717