Table of Contents

PART ONE: BASIC PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE WRITING

• An Introduction to Writing
  
• The Writing Process
  
• The First and Second Steps in Writing
  
  • Step 1: Begin with a Point
    
  • Step 2: Support the Point with Specific Evidence, Practice in Making and Supporting a Point
    
• The Third Step in Writing
  
• Step 3: Organize and Connect the Specific Evidence, Practice in Organizing and Connecting Specific Evidence
  
  • The Fourth Step in Writing
    
• Step 4: Write Clear, Error-Free Sentences
  
  • Revising Sentences
    
  • Editing Sentences
    
  • Practice in Revising Sentences
    
• Four Bases for Revising Writing
  
  • Base 1: Unity
    
  • Base 2: Support
    
  • Base 3: Coherence
    
  • Base 4: Sentence Skills
    
• Practice in Using the Four Bases

PART TWO: PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT

• Introduction to Paragraph Development
  
• Providing Examples
  
• Explaining a Process
  
• Examining Cause and Effect
  
• Comparing or Contrasting
  
• Defining a Term
  
• Dividing and Classifying
  
• Describing a Scene or Person
  
• Narrating an Event
  
• Arguing a Position
  

PART THREE: ESSAY DEVELOPMENT

• Writing the Essay
  
• What Is an Essay?
  
• Important Points about the Essay
  
• Essays to Consider
  
• Planning the Essay
  
• Writing an Exam Essay
  
• Essay Writing Assignments
  

PART FOUR: RESEARCH SKILLS.

• Using the Library and the Internet
  
• Writing a Research Paper
  

PART FIVE: HANDBOOK OF SENTENCE SKILLS

• Grammar
  
• Subjects and Verbs
  
• Sentence Sense
  
• Fragments
  
• Run-Ons
  
• Standard English Verbs
  
• Irregular Verbs
  
• Subject-Verb Agreement
  
• Pronoun Agreement and Reference
  
• Pronoun Types
  
• Adjectives and Adverbs
  
• Misplaced Modifiers
  
• Dangling Modifiers
  
• Mechanics
  
• Paper Format
  
• Capital Letters
  
• Numbers and Abbreviations
  
• Punctuation
  
• Apostrophe
  
• Quotation Marks
  
• Comma
  
• Other Punctuation Marks
  
• Word Use
  
• Using the Dictionary
  
• Improving Spelling
  
• Vocabulary Development
  
• Commonly Confused Words
  
• Effective Word Choice
  
• ESL Pointers
  
• Practice
  
• Combined Mastery Tests
  
• Editing Tests
  
• Sentence-Skills Achievement Test
  

PART SIX: SIXTEEN READING SELECTIONS

• Introduction to the Readings
  
• Goals and Values
  
• All the Good Things by Sister Helen Mrosla
  
• Rowing the Bus by Paul Logan
  
• Fifth Chinese Daughter by Jade Snow Wong
  
• Adolescent Confusion by Maya Angelou
  
• Tickets to Nowhere by Andy Rooney
  
• What Good Families Are Doing Right by Delores Curran
  
• Education and Self-Improvement
  
• Do It Better! by Ben Carson, M.D. with Cecil Murphey
  
• Anxiety: Challenge by Another Name by James Lincoln Collier
  
• Old Before Her Time by Katherine Barrett
  
• Let's Really Reform Our Schools by Anita Garland
  
• How They Get You to Do That by Janny Scott
  
• Dealing with Feelings by Rudolph F. Verderber
  
• Human Groups and Society
  
• Television Changed My Family Forever by Linda Ellerbee
  
• Rudeness at the Movies by Bill Wine
  
• Bullies in School by Kathleen Berger
  
• People Need People by S. Leonard Syme
  
• A Drunken Ride, a Tragic Aftermath by Theresa Conroy and Christine M. Johnson
  
• Appendix: Answers and Charts
  
• Answers to Sentence Skills Diagnostic Test and Introductory Projects
  
• Charts
  
• Acknowledgments
  
• Index