The New Writing with a Purpose

List of contents

I. The Writing Process
1. Toward Purposeful Writing
The Writer's Environment and Habits
The Stages of the Writing Process
Making Decisions in the Writing Process
Selecting Your Subject
Analyzing Your Audience
Guidelines for selecting your subject
Guidelines for analyzing your audience
Determining Your Purpose
Forming a Working Purpose: The Hypothesis
Testing Your Hypothesis: The Discovery Draft
Purpose and Thesis
Guidelines for determining your purpose
Coordinating Decisions in the Writing Process
Seeing with a Purpose
Readings. Gail Godwin, Becoming a Writer. Wallace Armstrong (student), Brandon's Clown
Writing Assignments
2. Planning
Strategies and Your Journal
Keeping a Journal on your computer
Listing on your computer
Freewriting on your computer
Speculating on your computer
Interviewing on your computer
Reading on your computer
A Final Word about Planning
Readings. On Keeping a Journal. Richard Saul Wurman, The Five Rings
Writing Assignments
3. Drafting
The Scratch Outline
Drafting a Hypothesis
The Discovery Draft
The Descriptive Outline
Composing an Effective Thesis
Preparing a Formal Outline
Drafting on your computer
A Final Word about Drafting
Readings. Calvin Trillin, Comforting Thoughts. Ellen Haack (student), A Man with All Reasons
Writing Assignments
4. Revising
Looking to Revise
Reading to Revise
Revision Agenda
Revising: A Case Study
Revising on your computer
A Final Word about Revising
Readings. Andy Rooney, New Products. Sarah Penning (student), The Coupon Conspiracy (4th Draft)
Writing Assignments
5. Designing
Conventions of MLA and APA Style
Elements of Design
Typeface
Graphics
Color and White Space
Principles of Design
Proximity
Alignment
Repetition
Contrast
Headings
Breaking the Rules
Designing with Your Computer
Readings. Michael Rock, Since When Did USA Today Become the National Design Ideal? Andrew Gaub (student), The Telephone Paradox
Writing Assignments
II. Writing Structures
6. Common Methods of Development
Narration: What Happened?
Description: What Does It Look Like?
Process Analysis: How Do You Do It?
Comparison: How Is It Similar or Different?
Classification: What Kind of Subdivision Does It Contain?
Definition: How Would You Characterize It?
Causal Analysis: Why Did It Happen?
Exploring methods of development on your computer
Readings. John McPhee, Grizzly. Jane Graham (student), Watching Whales
Writing Assignments
7. Argument
Planning: Investigating the Argument
Drafting: Organizing the Argument
Revising: Eliminating Fallacies
Composing an argument on your computer
Readings. Anna Quindlen, Execution. Jon Seidel (student), Who Controls Information? (Our Side)
Writing Assignments
8. Paragraphs: Units of Development
The Requirements of Topical Paragraphs
Special Paragraphs
Revising Topical Paragraphs
Revising Special Paragraphs
Composing paragraphs on your computer
Readings. Ellen Goodman, Family: The One Social Glue. Bill Barich, La Frontera
Writing Assignments
9. Sentences: Patterns of Expression
Expanding and Combining Sentences
Types of Sentences and Their Effects
Revising Sentences
Three Pieces of Advice on Sentence Variety
Composing sentences on your computer
Readings. Pam Smith, Excerpts from a Painter's Studio Notes. Richard Selzer, The Knife
Writing Assignments
10. Diction: The Choice of Words
Denotation and Connotation
Three Qualities of Effective Diction
Revising Diction
Correcting Diction on your computer
Readings. James Thurber, The Microscope. Annie Dillard, Total Eclipse
Writing Assignments
11. Tone and Style
Tone
Style
Guidelines for revising your style
Checking your tone and style on your computer
Readings. P.J. O'Rourke, Third World Driving Hints and Tips. Patricia Hampl, Prague
Writing Assignments
III. Writing Research
12. Planning the Research Paper
Understanding the Assignment
Making a Schedule
Selecting a Subject
Finding Sources
Evaluating Sources
Guidelines for evaluating sources
Taking Notes
Planning your research paper on your computer
Writing Assignments
13. Writing the Research Paper
Organizing a Preliminary Outline
Developing a Thesis
Writing the First Draft
Creating the Introduction
Quoting Sources
Documenting Sources
Notes Listing or Evaluating Sources or Referring to Additional Sources
Listing Sources: Sample Entries
Designing the Final Draft (MLA Style)
Writing your research paper on your computer
Sample Student Research Paper
Writing Assignments
IV. Readings with a Purpose
14. Writing Strategies
Strategy One: Narration and Description
Lisa Widenhofer (student), Inside and Out
Andre Dubus, Digging
Questions about Strategy
Strategy Two: Process Analysis
Rob Sturma (student), Anatomy of a Garage Band
Barbara Ehrenreich, Selling in Minnesota
Strategy Three: Comparison and Contrast
Kris Modlin (student), Same Goal/Different Plan
John Steele Gordon, The Golden Spike
Strategy Four: Division and Classification
Larry Bush (student), Listmakers
Jessica Helfand, Television Did It First: Ten Myths About New" Media
Strategy Five: Definition
Sue Kirby (student), Depression
James Gleick, Attention! Multitaskers
Strategy Six: Causal Analysis
Yili Shi (student), Only Child Policy
Eric Foner, Changing History
Strategy Seven: Argument
Jill Taraskiewicz (student), The Recycling Controversy
Bill McKibben, The End of Nature
Writing Assignments
V. Handbook of Grammar and Usage
The Evolution of English
Understanding Sentence Elements
1. Recognize the Basic Elements of Sentences
2. Recognize the Basic Sentence Patterns
3. Expand and Vary Sentence Patterns
Writing Logical and Effective Sentences
4. Sentence Sense
5. Active and Passive Sentences
6. Maintain Parallelism among Sentence Elements
7. Word Order
8. Position Modifiers Carefully
9. Comparisons
10. Conciseness
Writing Grammatical Sentences
11. Eliminate Sentence Fragments
12. Eliminate Fused Sentences and Comma Splices
13. Agreement
14. Case
15. Verb Tenses
16. Adjectives and Adverbs
Choosing Effective Diction
17. Use a Dictionary
18. Consider Issues of Diction
Observing the Rules of Punctuation
19.Periods, Question Marks, and Exclamation Points
20. Commas
21. Unnecessary Commas
22. Semicolons
23. Colons
24. Dashes
25. Parentheses
26. Quotation Marks
27. Brackets
28. Ellipses
Observing the Rules of Mechanics
29. Capitalization
30. Italics
31. Quotation Marks
32. Apostrophes
33. Hyphenation
34. Numbers
35. Abbreviations
36. Spelling
A Glossary of Contemporary Usage
Acknowledgments
Index of Authors and Titles
Subject Index"

About the author

Joseph F. Trimmer is Professor of English Emeritus and Director Emeritus of The Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry at Ball State University. He is the author of numerous articles on literature, culture, and literacy, including THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION: THE FIRST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS (1978), UNDERSTANDING OTHERS: CULTURAL AND CROSS-CULTURAL STUDIES AND THE TEACHING OF LITERATURE (1992), and NARRATION AS KNOWLEDGE: TALES OF THE TEACHING LIFE (1997). Professor Trimmer has also worked on 20 documentary films for PBS, including the six-part series, Middletown" (1982). His textbooks include WRITING WITH A PURPOSE, 14th Edition (2004), THE RIVER READER, 12th Edition (formerly the RIVERSIDE READER (2016), and eFICTIONS (2002). Trimmer's A GUIDE TO MLA DOCUMENTATION, 9th Edition is a perennial bestseller; he has also published A GUIDE TO APA DOCUMENTATION."

Summary

Writing with a Purpose has always been distinguished by its emphasis on the role of purpose in the writing process, its comprehensive coverage for first-year writing, and its effective use of examples and exercises. Designed as a four-in-one (rhetoric, reader, research guide, handbook) for one- and two-semester composition courses, this respected and reliable text has helped train countless students. The Fourteenth Edition includes streamlined coverage to allow for expanded material on such critical topics as research and argumentation. A technology program, Writing with a Purpose Online, allows students to access writing guidance as needed while drafting and revising. Students receive the most up-to-date information on MLA documentation with the enclosed tri-fold card providing NEW 2009 MLA Handbook formats.

Product details

• Authors: Joseph Trimmer, Joseph F. Trimmer
• Publisher: Wadsworth Inc Fulfillment
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.01.2009
• No. of pages: 640
• Dimensions: 193 mm x 236 mm x 28 mm
• Weight: 1179 g
• Subjects: Guides > Law, job, finance > Training, job, career; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative linguistics