View Author Bio
John Langan has taught reading and writing at Atlantic Community College near Atlantic City, New Jersey, for over twenty years. The author of a popular series of college textbooks on both reading and writing, he enjoys the challenge of developing materials that teach skills in an especially clear and lively way. Before teaching, he earned advanced degrees in writing at Rutgers University and in reading at Glassboro State Collee. He also spent a year writing fiction.
View Table of Contents
To the Instructor
PART ONE: Basic Principles of Effective Writing
Chapter 1: An Introduction to Writing
Understanding Point and Support
An Overview: How the Book is Organized
Benefits of Paragraph Writing
Writing as a Skill
Writing as a Process of Discovery
Keeping a Journal
Using This Text
Chapter 2: The Writing Process
Prewriting
Writing a First Draft
Revising
Editing
Review Activities
Chapter 3: The First and Second Steps in Writing
Step 1: Begin With a Point
Step 2: Support the Point with Specific Evidence
Reinforcing Point and Support
The Importance of Specific Details
The Importance of Adequate Details
Practice in Making and Supporting a Point
Chapter 4: The Third Step in Writing
Step 3: Organize and Connect the Specific Evidence
Practice in Organizing and Connecting Specific Evidence
Chapter 5: The Fourth Step in Writing
Step 4: Write Clear, Error-Free Sentences
Revising Sentences
Editing Sentences
Practice in Revising Sentences
Chapter 6: 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
Chapter 7: Introduction to Paragraph Development
Nine Patterns of Paragraph Development
Important Considerations in Paragraph Development
Using a Computer
Using Peer Review
Doing a Personal Review
Chapter 8: Exemplification
Chapter 9: Process
Chapter 10: Cause and Effect
Chapter 11: Comparison and Contrast
Chapter 12: Definition
Chapter 13: Division and Classification
Chapter 14: Description
Chapter 15: Narration
Chapter 16: Argument
Chapter 17: Additional Paragraph Assignments
PART THREE: Essay Development
Chapter 18: Writing the Essay
What Is an Essay?
Important Points About the Essay
Essays to Consider
Planning the Essay
Practice in Writing the Essay
Essay Writing Assignments
PART FOUR: Research Skills
Chapter 19: Using the Library and the Internet
Chapter 20: Writing a Research Paper
PART FIVE: Handbook of Sentence Skills
Preview
Sentence-Skills Diagnostic Test
Section I: GRAMMAR
Chapter 21: Subjects and Verbs
Chapter 22: Sentence Sense
Chapter 23: Fragments
Chapter 24: Run-Ons
Chapter 25: Standard English Verbs
Chapter 26: Irregular Verbs
Chapter 27: Subject-Verb Agreement
Chapter 28: Pronoun Agreement and Reference
Chapter 29: Pronoun Types
Chapter 30: Adjectives and Adverbs
Chapter 31: Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
Section II: MECHANICS
Chapter 32: Paper Format
Chapter 33: Capital Letters
Chapter 34: Numbers and Abbreviations
Section III: PUNCTUATION
Chapter 35: Apostrophe
Chapter 36: Quotation Marks
Chapter 37: Comma
Chapter 38: Other Punctuation Marks
Section IV: WORD USE
Chapter 39: Using the Dictionary
Chapter 40: Improving Spelling
Chapter 41: Vocabulary Development
Chapter 42: Commonly Confused Words
Chapter 43: Effective Word Choice
Chapter 44: ESL Pointers
Section V: PRACTICE
Chapter 45: Combined Mastery Tests
Chapter 46: Editing Tests
Sentence-Skills Achievement Test
PART SIX: Readings for Writers
Introduction to the Readings
Goals and Values
All the Good Things by Sister Helen Mrosla
Rowing the Bus by Paul Logan
The Scholarship Jacket by Marta Salnas
Joe Davis: A Cool Man by Beth Johnson
The First, the Clay, and the Rock by Donald Holland
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
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
Extra-Large, Please by Diane Urbina
Human Groups and Society
The Most Hateful Words by Amy Tan
The Storyteller by H. H. Munro (Saki)
Rudeness at the Movies by Bill Wine
Bullies in School by Kathleen Berger
From Father to Son, Last Words to Live By by Dana Canedy
A Drunken Ride, a Tragic Aftermath by Theresa Conroy and Christine M. Johnson
Reading Comprehension Chart
Appendix A: Answers and Charts
Preview
Answers to Sentence Skills Diagnostic Test and Introductory Projects
Charts
Appendix B: A Writer's Journal
Acknowledgments
Index
