Table of Contents
PART ONE Composing: An Overview
Chapter 1 The Prewriting Process
Reading for Writing
James Joyce, “Eveline”
Who Are My Readers?
Analyze the Audience
Prewriting Exercise
Why Am I Writing?
Reasons for Writing
Prewriting Exercise
What Ideas Should I Use?
Reading and Thinking Critically
Discovering and Developing Ideas
Self-Questioning
Directed Freewriting
Problem Solving
Clustering
Figure 1-1 Directed Freewriting
Figure 1-2 Clustering
What Point Should I Make?
Relate a Part to the Whole
How Do I Find the Theme?
Stating the Thesis
Chapter 2 The Writing Process
How Should I Organize My Ideas?
Arguing Your Interpretation
The Elements of Good Argument
Building an Effective Argument
Arranging the Ideas
Chart 2-1 Checklist for Arguing an Interpretation
Developing with Details
Questions for Consideration
Maintaining a Critical Focus
Distinguishing Critical Comments from Plot Details
How Should I Begin?
Postpone If Nothing Comes
Write an Appealing Opening
State the Thesis
How Should I End?
Relate the Discussion to Theme
Postpone or Write Ahead
Write an Emphatic Final Sentence
Composing the First Draft
Pausing to Rescan
Quoting from Your Sources
Sample Student Paper: First Draft
Chapter 3 Writing a Convincing Argument
Interpreting and Arguing
Identifying Issues
Making Claims
Using Evidence
Using Reasoning
Answering Opposing Views
Organizing Your Argument
Using the Inductive Approach
Making a Counterargument
Arguing Through Comparison
Sample Student Essay
Dagoberto Gilb, “Love in L. A.”
Chapter 4 The Rewriting Process
What Is Revision?
Getting Feedback: Peer Review
Revising in Peer Groups
Chart 4-1 Peer Evaluation Checklist for Revision
What Should I Add or Take Out?
Outlining After the First Draft
Making the Outline
Checking the Outline
Sample After-Writing Outline
Examining the Sample Outline
Outlining Exercise
What Should I Rearrange?
Does It Flow?
What Is Editing?
What Sentences Should I Combine?
Chart 4-2 Transitional Terms for All Occasions
Chart 4-3 Revising Checklist
Combining for Conciseness
Sentence Combining Exercise
Rearranging for Emphasis and Variety
Varying the Pattern
Exercise on Style
Which Words Should I Change?
Check Your Verbs
Use Active Voice Most of the Time
Use Passive If Appropriate
Exercise on Passive Voice
Feel the Words
Exercise on Word Choice
Attend to Tone
Use Formal Language
What Is Proofreading?
Try Reading It Backward
Look for Your Typical Errors
Read the Paper Aloud
Find a Friend to Help
Chart 4-4 Proofreading Checklist
Sample Student Paper: Final Draft
Chapter 5 Researched Writing
Using Library Source in Your Writing
Conducting Your Research
Locating Sources
Using the Online Catalog
Using Indexes and Databases
Using the Internet
Chart 5-1 Internet Sources for Literature
Evaluating Online Sources
Using Reference Works in Print
Working with Sources
Taking Notes
Using a Research Notebook
Using the Printout/Photocopy Option
Figure 5-1 Sample Entry from a Divided-Page Research Notebook
Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting
Devising a Working Outline
Writing a First Draft
Organizing Your Notes
Using Quotations and Paraphrases
Integrating Sources
Block Quotations
Quoting from Primary Sources
Avoiding Plagiarism
Rewriting and Editing
Documenting Your Sources
Revising the Draft
Formatting Your Paper
Chart 5-2 Checklist for Revising and Editing Researched Writing
Sample Documented Student Paper
Sample Published Article
Explanation of the MLA Documentation Style
In-Text Citations
Preparing the List of Works Cited
Sample Entries for a List of Works Cited
Citing Print Publications
Citing Online Publications
Citing Other Common Sources
PART TWO Writing About Short Fiction
Chapter 6 How Do I Read Short Fiction?
Notice the Structure
Consider Point of View and Setting
Study the Characters
Foils
Look for Specialized Literary Techniques
Examine the Title
Investigate the Author’s Life and Times
Continue Questioning to Discover Theme
Chart 6-1 Critical Questions for Reading the Short Story
Chapter 7 Writing About Structure
What Is Structure?
How Do I Discover Structure?
Looking at Structure
Tim O’Brien, “The Things They Carried”
Prewriting
Finding Patterns
Writing
Grouping Details
Relating Details to Theme
Ideas for Writing
Ideas for Responsive Writing
Ideas for Critical Writing
Ideas for Researched Writing
Rewriting
Integrating Quotations Gracefully
Exercise on Integrating Quotations
Chapter 8 Writing About Imagery and Symbolism
What Are Images?
What Are Symbols?
Archetypal Symbols
Phallic and Yonic Symbols
How Will I Recognize Symbols?
Reference Works on Symbols
Looking at Images and Symbols
Shirley Jackson, “The Lottery”
Prewriting
Interpreting Symbols
Writing
Producing a Workable Thesis
Exercise on Thesis Statements
Ideas for Writing
Ideas for Responsive Writing
Ideas for Critical Writing
Ideas for Researched Writing
Rewriting
Sharpening the Introduction
Sample Student Paper on Symbolism: Second and Final Drafts
Chapter 9 Writing About Point of View
What Is Point of View?
Describing Point of View
Looking at Point of View
Alice Walker, “Everyday Use”
Prewriting
Analyzing Point of View
Writing
Relating Point of View to Theme
Ideas for Writing
Ideas for Responsive Writing
Ideas for Critical Writing
Ideas for Researched Writing
Rewriting
Sharpening the Conclusion
Chapter 10 Writing About Setting and Atmosphere
What Are Setting and Atmosphere?
Looking at Setting and Atmosphere
Tobias Wolff, “Hunters in the Snow”
Prewriting
Examining the Elements of Setting
Writing
Discovering an Organization
Ideas for Writing
Ideas for Responsive Writing
Ideas for Critical Writing
Ideas for Researched Writing
Rewriting
Checking Your Organization
Improving the Style: Balanced Sentences
Sentence Modeling Exercise
Chapter 11 Writing About Theme
What Is Theme?
Looking at Theme
Flannery O'Connor, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”
Prewriting
Figuring Out the Theme
Stating the Theme
Writing
Choosing Supporting Details
Ideas for Writing
Ideas for Responsive Writing
Ideas for Critical Writing
Ideas for Researched Writing
Rewriting
Achieving Coherence
Checking for Coherence
Editing
Repeat Words and Synonyms
Try Parallel Structure
Casebook: Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
Joyce Carol Oates (1938- ) “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
The Story’s Origins
Four Critical Interpretations
Topics for Discussion and Writing
Ideas for Researched Writing
Anthology of Short Fiction
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) “The Birthmark”
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) “The Cask of Amontillado”
Kate Chopin (1851-1904) “Désirée’s Baby”
“The Story of an Hour”
Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941) “Hands”
Katherine Anne Porter (1890-1980) “The Grave”
Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) “Spunk”
William Faulkner (1897-1962) “Barn Burning”
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) “Hills Like White Elephants”
Langston Hughes (1902-1967) “Salvation”
John Steinbeck (1902-1968) “The Chrysanthemums”
Richard Wright (1908-1960) “The Man Who Was Almost a Man”
Tillie Olsen (1913-2007) “I Stand Here Ironing”
Hisaye Yamamoto (1921- ) “Seventeen Syllables”
Rosario Morales (1930- ) “The Day It Happened”
Chinua Achebe (1930- ) “Dead Men’s Path”
Alice Munro (1931- ) “An Ounce of Cure”
Andre Dubus (1956-1999) “The Fat Girl”
Raymond Carver (1938-1988) “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love”
Toni Cade Bambara (1939-1995) “The Lesson”
Bharati Mukherjee (1940- ) “A Father”
T. Coraghessan Boyle (1948- ) “The Love of My Life”
Sandra Cisneros (1954- ) “Geraldo No Last Name”
Louise Erdrich (1954- ) “The Red Convertible”
Ha Jin (1956- ) “The Bridegroom”
Katherine Min (1959- ) “Secondhand World”
Julie Otsuka (1962- ) “Evacuation Order No. 19”
Sherman Alexie (1966- ) “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona”
A Portfolio of Science Fiction Stories
Ray Bradbury (1920- ) “There Will Come Soft Rains”
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929- ) “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”
Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006) “Speech Sounds”
Kevin Brockmeier (1972- ) “The Year of Silence”
Sample Student Paper: Comparing Dystopias
A Portfolio of Humorous and Satirical Stories
Eudora Welty (1909-2001) “Why I Live at the P. O.”
John Updike (1932-2009) “A & P”
Margaret Atwood (1939- ) “Happy Endings”
Ron Hansen (1947- ) “My Kid’s Dog”
David Sedaris (1956- ) “Nuit of the Living Dead”
A Portfolio of Graphic Stories
Art Spiegelman (1948- ) “Time Flies” from Maus II
Alison Bechdel (1960- ) “Fun Home”
Marjane Satrapi (1969- ) “The Vegetable” from Persepolis 2
PART THREE Writing About Poetry
Chapter 12 How Do I Read Poetry?
Get the Literal Meaning First: Paraphrase
Make Associations for Meaning
Chart 12-1 Critical Questions for Reading Poetry
Chapter 13 Writing About Persona and Tone
Who Is Speaking?
What Is Tone?
Recognizing Verbal Irony
Describing Tone
Looking at Persona and Tone
Theodore Roethke, “My Papa’s Waltz”
W. D. Ehrhart, “The Sins of the Father”
Thomas Hardy, “The Ruined Maid”
W. H. Auden, “The Unknown Citizen”
Edmund Waller, “Go, Lovely Rose”
Dorothy Parker, “One Perfect Rose”
Prewriting
Asking Questions About the Speaker in “My Papa's Waltz”
Devising a Thesis
Considering the Speaker in “The Sins of the Father”
Describing the Tone in “The Ruined Maid”
Developing a Thesis
Describing the Tone in “The Unknown Citizen”
Formulating a Thesis
Determining Tone in “Go, Lovely Rose”
Discovering Tone in “One Perfect Rose”
Writing
Explicating and Analyzing
Ideas for Writing
Ideas for Responsive Writing
Ideas for Critical Writing
Ideas for Researched Writing
Editing
Quoting Poetry in Essays
Sample Student Response on Persona and Tone
Analyzing the Student Response
Chapter 14 Writing About Poetic Language
What Do the Words Suggest?
Connotation and Denotation
Figures of Speech
Metaphor and Simile
Personification
Imagery
Symbol
Paradox
Oxymoron
Looking at Poetic Language
Mary Oliver, “August”
Walt Whitman, “A Noiseless Patient Spider”
William Shakespeare, “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?”
Kay Ryan, “Turtle”
Hayden Carruth, “In the Long Hall”
Donald Hall, “My Son My Executioner”
Prewriting
Examining Poetic Language
Writing
Comparing and Contrasting
Ideas for Writing
Ideas for Responsive Writing
Ideas for Critical Writing
Ideas for Researched Writing
Rewriting
Choosing Vivid, Descriptive Terms
Finding Lively Words
Exercise on Diction
Sample Student Paper on Poetic Language: Second and Final Drafts
Comparison Exercise
Chapter 15 Writing About Poetic Form
What Are the Forms of Poetry?
Rhythm and Rhyme
Chart 15-1 Rhythm and Meter in Poetry
Alliteration, Assonance, and Consonance
Exercise on Poetic Form
Stanzas: Closed and Open Form
Poetic Syntax
Visual Poetry
Looking at the Forms of Poetry
Gwendolyn Brooks, “We Real Cool”
A. E. Housman, “Eight