Preface p. xvii
Writing in College p. 1
Strategies for Writing in College Courses p. 1
Analyzing Your Writing Situation p. 2
Limiting Your Writing Topic p. 3
Laying Out a Plan of Organization p. 4
Some Criteria for Academic Writing p. 5
Q&A p. 6
For Practice p. 7
For Writing p. 8
What Makes Writing Successful? p. 9
Specific Characteristics of Writing That Works p. 10
Good Writing Says Something of Consequence p. 10
Good Writing Is Clear p. 11
Good Writing Is Well Organized p. 12
Good Writing Is Economical p. 13
Good Writing Is Grammatically Acceptable p. 13
Good Writing Has No Spelling Errors p. 14
Extra Touches p. 15
Vigor p. 15
Authentic Voice p. 16
Q&A p. 17
For Practice p. 17
For Writing p. 19
How Do Writers Write? p. 21
Different Ways of Writing p. 22
Explanatory Writing p. 22
Exploratory Writing p. 23
Writing That Explains and Explores p. 24
The Stages of Writing p. 25
Preparation and Planning p. 25
Drafting p. 29
Incubating p. 31
Q&A p. 32
For Practice p. 32
For Writing p. 33
What Is Your Writing Situation? p. 35
Audience p. 35
Purpose p. 36
Persona p. 37
Your Language Choices p. 38
Tone p. 38
Authenticity p. 39
Q&A p. 40
For Practice p. 40
For Writing p. 42
Drafting p. 43
Getting Started p. 43
With an Illustrative Example p. 44
With a Quotation p. 45
With an Anecdote p. 45
With a Description p. 46
With a Summary Paragraph p. 47
Common Patterns of Organization p. 48
Reasoning from Evidence p. 48
Assertion and Support p. 49
Definition p. 50
Cause and Effect p. 51
Comparison and Contrast p. 52
Classification p. 54
Narration p. 55
Choosing and Combining Patterns p. 56
Knowing When You Have an Adequate Draft p. 56
Q&A p. 57
For Practice p. 57
For Writing p. 58
Writing Clearly p. 59
Illustrating General Statements with Specific Examples p. 59
Making Your Readers See Something p. 62
Putting People in Your Writing p. 62
Choosing Concrete Words p. 64
Avoiding Deadwood Nouns p. 64
Choosing Strong Verbs for Clarity p. 65
Using Adjectives and Adverbs Sparingly p. 67
Adding Metaphors for Clarity p. 67
Q&A p. 68
For Practice p. 69
For Writing p. 70
Holding Your Reader p. 72
Choosing a Good Title p. 73
Writing Strong Leads p. 73
Keeping Your Writing Tight and Unified p. 75
Links and Nudges p. 75
Repeated Words p. 77
Using Conjunctions to Connect Sentences or Paragraphs p. 77
Keeping Paragraphs and Sentences to a Reasonable Length p. 78
Chunking Your Writing into Manageable Units p. 80
Avoiding Antagonizing Your Readers p. 82
Making Your Writing Look Good p. 83
Using Figurative and Connotative Language Sparingly p. 83
Avoiding Stereotypes and Offensive Labeling p. 84
Sexist Language p. 85
Using Racial and Ethnic Terms Carefully p. 85
Maintaining a Civil Tone p. 87
Q&A p. 87
For Practice p. 88
For Writing p. 91
Crafting Paragraphs p. 93
The External View of Paragraphing p. 93
Some Guidelines for Breaking Paragraphs p. 94
The Internal View of Paragraphing p. 97
Generalization with Supporting Details p. 97
Question and Answer p. 98
Statement and Illustration p. 98
Assertion and Explanation p. 99
Other Common Paragraph Patterns p. 99
Crafting Opening Paragraphs p. 104
Wrestling With Closing Paragraphs p. 107
Q&A p. 110
For Practice p. 110
For Writing p. 112
Revising p. 113
An Overview of the Revision Process p. 113
A Plan for Revising in Stages p. 114
Large-Scale Revision p. 114
Small-Scale Changes p. 115
Getting Response from Others p. 116
Some Guidelines for Working in Groups p. 116
When Should You Stop Revising? p. 117
Q&A p. 121
For Practice p. 121
Editing p. 122
Some Guidelines for Editing p. 122
Review Any Specifications for Your Document p. 123
Check Details for Accuracy and Consistency p. 123
Check for Awkwardly Repeated Words p. 123
Check for the Most Common Errors p. 124
Check Your Spelling and Run a Spell Checker p. 124
Consider the Way Your Writing Looks p. 125
Proofreading p. 126
Q&A p. 126
For Practice p. 127
Considering Design p. 128
A Few Uses of Document Design p. 129
Planning a Design p. 131
Questions to Ask As You Plan a Design p. 131
Sketching Out a Preliminary Design p. 133
Estimating Costs p. 134
Considering Type p. 134
Fonts p. 135
Type Styles p. 139
Type Size p. 140
Color p. 141
Considering Layout p. 142
Direction p. 142
White Space p. 143
Chunking Information p. 143
Positioning Graphics and Artwork p. 144
Designing for the Web p. 145
How the Web Is Read p. 145
Web Site Structure and Web Page Design p. 146
Model Templates for Web Pages p. 153
For Practice p. 155
Writing Research Papers p. 156
Selecting a Topic p. 157
Pick a Good Topic p. 158
Define Your Purpose p. 158
Identify Your Audience p. 159
Formulate a Research Question p. 160
Researching Your Topic p. 162
Set Up a General Search Strategy p. 162
Use Primary and Secondary Sources p. 163
Do Original Research p. 164
Make a Research Outline for Using the Library and the Web p. 165
Find Things Out for Yourself p. 177
Be Open to Serendipity p. 178
Take Notes p. 179
Manage Sources and Quotations p. 179
Manage and Evaluate Electronic Sources p. 182
Writing Your Paper p. 188
Get Started p. 188
Choose a Plan of Organization p. 188
Write a Draft p. 189
Get Responses p. 190
Finish Your Paper p. 192
Q&A p. 193
A Sample Research Paper: "Artemisia Gentileschi: Artist Against the Grain" p. 195
Sending Electronic Communications p. 205
Writing for Online Readers p. 206
Email Dos and Don'ts p. 207
Privacy p. 207
Snap Responses p. 208
Unwanted Email p. 209
Handling Casual Correspondence p. 210
Handling Academic and Professional Correspondence p. 211
Resumes p. 212
Attachments p. 214
Q&A p. 215
For Practice p. 216
Giving Oral Presentations p. 217
Sizing Up the Situation p. 218
Find Out Where and When the Talk Is Scheduled p. 218
Find Out Who Your Audience Is p. 219
Determine the Purpose(s) of Your Talk p. 219
Writing Out a Rough Draft of Your Talk p. 220
Outlining Your Talk--and Planning Your Visuals p. 221
Deciding on Props and Visuals p. 222
Some Guidelines for Using Visuals p. 223
Practicing p. 224
Delivering the Talk p. 225
Answering Questions Carefully p. 227
Getting Feedback p. 228
Q&A p. 228
For Practice p. 229
For Writing p. 229
Model Documents p. 231
The First Page of a Print Academic Paper p. 233
An Academic Paper with Graphs p. 235
An Academic Paper with Headings and Visuals p. 237
A Plan for a Two-Page Spread in a Report p. 239
A Plan for an Academic Paper on the Web p. 241
A Summary p. 243
A Simple Presentation Slide p. 245
A Simple Proposal p. 247
An Application Letter (Printed) p. 249
An Email Application Letter p. 251
A Print Resume p. 253
A Scannable Email Resume p. 255
A Newsletter p. 257
A Simple Brochure p. 259
A Poster p. 261
A Flyer p. 263
A Program p. 265
An Agenda p. 267
A Press Release p. 269
Mastering the Conventions of Documentation p. 271
MLA Style p. 278
APA Style p. 283
Index p. 289